sezuires?

[tingtongtom]

as a lot of you know me and my valium/clonzaepam addiction has been brutal and pretty stupid getting up to 400Mg once. anyway, everybody told me to see the doctor and taper... well, the doctor said no, you should stop right now today and take these meds, sertaline or 'zoloft'. I asked about the dangers of not tapering and he said have you had epilepsy before, i said no and she said then you will be okay. Now, is there anybody here with an opinion on this. Yesterday was my last consumption of valium, which was 240MG, today I started my sertaline so what should I expect? Any withdraws....

[tingtongtom]

Day 6 with no valium, and I must say with the sertaline the actual desire for valium has been pretty non existent. I also believe that I contracted an illness at the same time as I decided to stop because yes I feel and felt as if I had the flu, but I am coughing up stuff and my throat is sore, the same as my gf had a few days before I stopped..

So it is possible to simply stop valium like that, even at high doses like I was taking, with a little help from sertaline and a good mental attitude. However, not everybody is the same and the doctor should know best

[tingtongtom]

Today i woke up and I was okay but then I had this chest pain that felt like somebody was squeezing my heart in their hand or sitting on my chest, it last for about an hour. I took my 1 daily dose of sertaline and meditated and it seemed to go away. Scared me though, felt like I was going to die for a while.

I also am ill ontop of the withdraws, or maybe it is part of it, sore throat, coughing up yellow stuff and a general blah feeling. I sill have bowel control though, but I assume that is with opiates on not benzo withdraws?

[tingtongtom]

Thanks madtram, It has nearly been 48 hours since I ate 240MG of valium and the only withdraws I have had so far are being slightly agitated now and then and sweating. I do live in thailand though, so yea its pretty damn hot anyway. I really do have that notion to STOP, you know it when you finally reach a rock bottom, I think I did.

Saying that, I have to go to malaysia in about a week and the train journey is 16 hours, I was thinking of buying 10 clonazepam to get myself to sleep as I cannot stand long journeys ...

[madtram]

Hope you are going ok, Ting.  It would be great if you can get it all over with.

[tingtongtom]

i feel actually happy today, i feel no anxiety, no pain and no depression. i am on 50mg and mixing it with nothing else. no desire to drink alcohol. i will stick with what this doctor said because if i try and taper again, however slow, i will probably fail. i am ot touching valium or clonazepam again. yes, i was on high doses, but we shall see, i am ready for the withdraws if they come, 2moro may be different as this is day 1.... thanks people

[sudie58]

yes, i must agree with madtram, i think your on too higher dose to come off valium cold turkey,try to get a dr. for a taper plan, best wishes.take care.

[madtram]

Well done on seeing the doctor, after all our pushing for this, I wish I had more confidence in his assessment.  Benzo use can lower the seizure threshold & it's not necessary to have a history of epilepsy for there to be a risk, particularly off the high doses you have been taking.

I would be surprised if zoloft helps much with the withdrawals, given that you have reported anxiety as your major issue rather than depression.   Zoloft is an SSRI which can be great for depression but has not been shown to help with anxiety.

I really hope that I am proven wrong & your doctor is right but I don't want you to get completely discouraged if you find the cold turkey approach too uncomfortable.  If Thai doctors generally regard it as fine to just quit valium, then there's a risk of getting the same answer if you get a second opinion.  However, I do believe that you would be so much more comfortable & successful with a safe taper plan, so if it were me, I would try to find a doctor that offer this.

I hope it goes well for you.

[needserenity]

how r u feeling now? any symptoms yet? I found that Zoloft can help tremendously in the 'later' stages of w/drawal...dont know how much later but it says it helps w/ agitation, bone pain, and depression, but narcotics craving seem to be greatly reduced or gone altogether!!!
So...that sounds promissing, huh? what was the dose of zoloft they put u on? oh, you are supposed to mix it w/ some herbal stuff????? um, i think it said valerian root,....i forgot the other two , but if ure interested, i'll go back where i found your info & get it. let us no how ur doing. i'm waiting for w/drawal from norcos to set in & i'm scared to death!!!!

[sudie58]

well if your dr. doesnt want you to taper, doctors usually put you on a valium taper to come off benzos, my husband is prescribed sertraline, its an antidepressant.but if you were on 240 mg of valium thats a high dose, and you will get withdrawal symptoms,