Aa
hydrocodone and diazapam withdrawal
After being on vicodin and valium for an extended period due to back and knee problems and now being in physical therapy, I have begun reducing the medication I was taking. I believe I am experiencing withdrawal symptoms such as anxiety and diareah. How long will this last will reducing intake of these medications gradually until no more are taken work?
hi - who was the dr. in the boston area...i too am in that area and am desperately looking for a dr. who is experienced in addiction. can you let me know who he is please??? i'd appreciate it so much. thanks.
Not good that you're "slipping in" doses of valium. That will only escalate. You have had two doctors tell you should go back on and taper. Why don't you pick one and let them supervise you? I have never heard of someone becoming delusional as you are that long off of the drug but I guess it's possible if the doctors have heard of it. There is protracted withdrawl syndrome...it's actually called something else..I think Littleguy knows... but I was under the impression it was more a rebound thing with heightened anxiety, insomnia and panic attacks. Delusions are usually associated with acute withdrawl. I wonder if there could be something else going on. Anyway, you have doctors now who can advise you and supervise a taper and that looks like what they are recommending.
Thanks to everyone who responded. I saw one doctor who said that I should go back on the valium but that I need a psychopharmocologist to monitor me. If I am having that many problems than why not give me a script?
I called an expert in the field who also said I should go back on. He is in the Boston area and I live in New Jersey so I can't see him in person. He gave me the name of a doctor in New York.
I don't know what to do because I am terrified that I won't respond to the valium because I have been off of it for over 4 months. Some things have improved a bit but I don't know if it's because I have been slipping in tiny doses of the valium for the last few days. I don't want to become delusional again which I was after 3+ months off. Has anyone ever heard of that?
I would go back on in a heartbeat if I knew if would work for awhile. Then I would try to come off more slowly. The doctor I saw said I am in chronic benzo withdrawal w/ delirium.
Please, if any one knows what to do, please tell me. I don't care if I have to repeat the slower taper. I need to be sane for awhile. It's been toooooo long and my brain is a mess.
Hope you are all doing well.
I called an expert in the field who also said I should go back on. He is in the Boston area and I live in New Jersey so I can't see him in person. He gave me the name of a doctor in New York.
I don't know what to do because I am terrified that I won't respond to the valium because I have been off of it for over 4 months. Some things have improved a bit but I don't know if it's because I have been slipping in tiny doses of the valium for the last few days. I don't want to become delusional again which I was after 3+ months off. Has anyone ever heard of that?
I would go back on in a heartbeat if I knew if would work for awhile. Then I would try to come off more slowly. The doctor I saw said I am in chronic benzo withdrawal w/ delirium.
Please, if any one knows what to do, please tell me. I don't care if I have to repeat the slower taper. I need to be sane for awhile. It's been toooooo long and my brain is a mess.
Hope you are all doing well.
Ithink unwise is right. First and foremost make sure you are under medical supervision with a doctor that understands your circumstances and can help and who is qualified.
When I started this thread a week ago or so I really thought I was loosing it myself. I saw a doctor the following dfay and, interestingly enough, the doctor concurred with much of what the "non-doctors" (such as unwise) were saying.
So, I've increased my dosage of valium to about 12mg a day while I taper off the vicodin. When I'm done with that towards the end of the month, then I intend to go through a VERY slow withdrawal off the valium at the rate of 1mg per week.
If, after I'm off the valium, I find that anxiety, sleeplessness and other negative reactions continue, two doctors than suggested that I begin looking into treatment for anti-depressents. I really want to get off all pills, but, if like you, I'm in too much pain, than perhaps it isn't the valium and there are other chemical and/or psychological factors at work within you that you may be mistaken for valium w/d.
Good luck and stay calm. Spring is coming!
mmah
When I started this thread a week ago or so I really thought I was loosing it myself. I saw a doctor the following dfay and, interestingly enough, the doctor concurred with much of what the "non-doctors" (such as unwise) were saying.
So, I've increased my dosage of valium to about 12mg a day while I taper off the vicodin. When I'm done with that towards the end of the month, then I intend to go through a VERY slow withdrawal off the valium at the rate of 1mg per week.
If, after I'm off the valium, I find that anxiety, sleeplessness and other negative reactions continue, two doctors than suggested that I begin looking into treatment for anti-depressents. I really want to get off all pills, but, if like you, I'm in too much pain, than perhaps it isn't the valium and there are other chemical and/or psychological factors at work within you that you may be mistaken for valium w/d.
Good luck and stay calm. Spring is coming!
mmah
I'm a benzo addict. Sounds like protracted withdrawl which can be brought on by too rapid a detox. See a doctor. Try not to go back on the valium even though you're suffering. It is going to take a while for your brain to adjust - it can take a year to 18 months. There may be other non benzo meds you can take. I tried to cold turkey off of xanax and it was pretty much as you described - psychotic. I switched to valium and tapered off that. Getting of benzos is rough. Which brings me to unwise's post: Unwise, it's very hard to taper from short acting benzos as wd occurs between doses. Usually, you are switched to long acting benzo like valium and tapered from that. 2 mgs. of xanax would equal about 20 mgs. of valium. It takes awhile but if you do it too fast you can end up like toomuchpain.
Sounds like you need another doc or hospital, because the one that simply cold turkeyed you didn't know what they were doing, and took an enormous risk in doing so. The whole point of seeing a professional to get off benzos is that it is serious business, as you well know, and for Christ's sake, you could (and did) cold turkey at home. It's a travesty you had to probably pay good money to be put through the whole ordeal again while allegedly under the care of professionals.
There are others here who probably know a lot more about this than I do, but when I went into rehab, some of the drugs I was addicted to other than vicodon were valium/xanax/ativan, and a lot more than what you were taking a day. I was given a patch--can't remember the name--and was given a small dose of xanax for a few days before they stopped it altogether. My own personal experience of withdrawal at that point was painful and depressing, but I did not go into classic withdrawal, not did I suffer hallcinations or any of the other things you are going through. You should seek out another facility or doctor who will offer you a more empathetic and considerate treatment than simply putting you through something you could do at home on your own.
Like (almost) everyone else here, I am not a doctor, so please take my advice with that in mind and at face value, and listen to what others have to say. My own personal suggestion at this juncture is that you should either continue taking the valium ONLY UNTIL you can get yourself to a good doctor or facility, or better yet, get your ass to an emergency room RIGHT NOW--that's what they are there for!!! As you have already experienced, withdrawal from benzos is living hell and could result in seizures which can be life-threatening. I would rather see you take the medication and live until you can find PROPER treatment, than run the risk of hurting yourself or even dying by going cold turkey again without medical supervision. Sometimes it's hard to pick up the phone or go through the process of finding the right facility when you are hearing voices or hallucinating. But if things are as bad as you say they are, then the one you can do right this very moment if you really feel like you are losing it, is to get yourself to an ER without delay. I doubt that they would simply make you go cold turkey without administering some kind of anti-seizure meds as well as something for the hallucinations and pain. They may also hook you up with a good shrink, which it sounds like you need. I know you had a negative experience before which may make you reticent to try it again, but rather than advise you to simply keep taking the drug to stave off insanity, I would rather give you the hope that you can find relief and proper care for your problem by putting yourself in the hands of a hospital or physician. And that's something you can do right this very minute.
Do you know someone who can drive you to an ER if you can't do so yourself? If not, and if you cannot drive, then call 911 and get an ambulance. You need help and you need it now, and as much as we are here for you, you need to seek professional help right away. If taking your dosage will give you a clear enough head to proceed to get help, then take it--at this point, I don't know what it could hurt--and then go to ER before you hurt yourself further.
None of us like to see anyone in your kind of pain, and I am responding here because no one else has so far--though someone else may be typing there own response as I type this. Hopefully I have given you good advice. At the very least, I am worried and want to see you get help. So please get it, and keep us posted.
Good luck to you...there is a way out of all this.
There are others here who probably know a lot more about this than I do, but when I went into rehab, some of the drugs I was addicted to other than vicodon were valium/xanax/ativan, and a lot more than what you were taking a day. I was given a patch--can't remember the name--and was given a small dose of xanax for a few days before they stopped it altogether. My own personal experience of withdrawal at that point was painful and depressing, but I did not go into classic withdrawal, not did I suffer hallcinations or any of the other things you are going through. You should seek out another facility or doctor who will offer you a more empathetic and considerate treatment than simply putting you through something you could do at home on your own.
Like (almost) everyone else here, I am not a doctor, so please take my advice with that in mind and at face value, and listen to what others have to say. My own personal suggestion at this juncture is that you should either continue taking the valium ONLY UNTIL you can get yourself to a good doctor or facility, or better yet, get your ass to an emergency room RIGHT NOW--that's what they are there for!!! As you have already experienced, withdrawal from benzos is living hell and could result in seizures which can be life-threatening. I would rather see you take the medication and live until you can find PROPER treatment, than run the risk of hurting yourself or even dying by going cold turkey again without medical supervision. Sometimes it's hard to pick up the phone or go through the process of finding the right facility when you are hearing voices or hallucinating. But if things are as bad as you say they are, then the one you can do right this very moment if you really feel like you are losing it, is to get yourself to an ER without delay. I doubt that they would simply make you go cold turkey without administering some kind of anti-seizure meds as well as something for the hallucinations and pain. They may also hook you up with a good shrink, which it sounds like you need. I know you had a negative experience before which may make you reticent to try it again, but rather than advise you to simply keep taking the drug to stave off insanity, I would rather give you the hope that you can find relief and proper care for your problem by putting yourself in the hands of a hospital or physician. And that's something you can do right this very minute.
Do you know someone who can drive you to an ER if you can't do so yourself? If not, and if you cannot drive, then call 911 and get an ambulance. You need help and you need it now, and as much as we are here for you, you need to seek professional help right away. If taking your dosage will give you a clear enough head to proceed to get help, then take it--at this point, I don't know what it could hurt--and then go to ER before you hurt yourself further.
None of us like to see anyone in your kind of pain, and I am responding here because no one else has so far--though someone else may be typing there own response as I type this. Hopefully I have given you good advice. At the very least, I am worried and want to see you get help. So please get it, and keep us posted.
Good luck to you...there is a way out of all this.
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