Protracted withdrawal from Benzos

[joshua19]

Has anyone here experienced protracted withdrawal symptoms from taking benzodiazipines?

I was on Klonopin "as needed" along with a few months on Ativan "as needed" for two years and have been off for 29 months.  I still have withdrawal symptoms (physical) and have had them off and on since did a three month taper using Valium (longer half-life) and recommended by expert Dr. Heather Aston. who wrote the book "Benzodiazepines How they work and how to Withdrawal"

Anyway, I had a very stressful situation in December and my anxiety level is now thru the roof and I am fairly certain it is protracted withdrawal symptoms.  My therapist wants me to take Zoloft but I think it will only make things worse.
ANyone been thru this/

[Paxiled]

Google protracted withdrawal syndrome.  Lots of stuff on protracted benzo withdrawal.  Also happens with other addictive drugs as well as ssris and other meds affecting the brain.  Hard to know how often.

[AnxietyGuy1976]

Oh, I should clarify one statement I made in reference to SSRI's:

"I hate them". That's purely subjective, and an SSRI was the first long term treatment I ever used for anxiety, it worked very well. In fact, after a while I barely noticed I was taking them, and went quite a good while after stopping them, with no return of serious anxiety/panic.

I also recently considered going back to them, and I have a post in the forums explaining my situation, since onset years ago, up to recent, as to why. I still may.

Some of the "personal" side effects were just difficult for me to deal with.

[AnxietyGuy1976]

You were prescribed a long acting, lower potency benzo, and a short acting, high potency benzo at the same time, both for an "as needed basis"?

How often did you take each type? Was the idea that a long stressful day required a Klonopin, and a sudden attack that needs immediate results required Ativan?

How long have you been completely off of the Valium (and benzo's altogether)?

An SSRI may give you that daily balance to get through things, with less of a withdrawal issue compared to Ativan, but it of course will have side effects. SSRI's will also take a while to build up in your system to become effective; as long as 6 weeks potentially, or it may start working within a few days. This might mean you may need to consider a low dose of klonopin to ease into the SSRI, as-needed. If you only take .5mg a day, for 4 weeks, it shouldn't cause any real serious withdrawal at all (consult your doctor of course).

SSRI's are highly prescribed as a front line approach to anxiety, with or without depression, for long term use. I hate them personally, but my experiences with one (Lexapro), showed me that it worked well for anxiety and at the same time it eased my mood that was naturally a little depressed from my anger and fear of panic. I'm not diagnosed with, nor do I seem to have, depression. It almost made me a little overly happy, which was ok in a mildly euphoric way, but I was not my normal grumpy/sarcastic self (which was probably fine for those around me).

Anyways, it's certainly worth a shot. Just remember, it may take time to build up, in order to work fully. You may actually take a few step backwards at the start, and want to quit immediately. That almost always improves, so be as strong as you can while you swap over, and remember that the side effects will get better.