even gradual benzo withdrawal no fun . . .

Helen518 · Post by **Helen518** » Tue Dec 02, 2008 8:22 pm

OK, so I'm not sleeples, puking and doubling over with cramps like 3 weeks ago, but my feet are tingling like crazy and it does not improve much with codeine (but neurontin, yes). I'm down to .125 mg Klonopin/day as of yesterday. My appetite recedes for a couple of days every time I cut it and my feet tingle like they are plugged into an electrical socket.

So after this week, I wonder, do I do .125 mg every other day? Will see what the psych says tomorrow night, I guess.

So glad I got advice from you all. I am now wondering if the one of the reasons I was so sick a week after my first IVF was a delayed benzo withdrawal . . . and not so much the hormones . . .

Post by **ViewsAskew** » Tue Dec 02, 2008 8:28 pm

I couldn't hack being that sick, so I cut down really really gradual. Like shaving 1/10th of it off at a time, lol. I still lost 35 pounds and was sick for almost 7 months.

I'd be careful how you cut at this point. This is when it was hardest for me. I really had to cut pills in tiny pieces or I'd be so sick. Hope you find a way that helps you get through this without being more sick than you are...and hopefully much less sick.

Aiken · Post by **Aiken** » Wed Dec 03, 2008 12:31 am

I tapered from ativan using klonipin. I think I had .5mg tablets of klonipin, and I was cutting them in eighths by the time I was done. I believe I did a couple of weeks of one fragment every other day before I quit.

Helen518 · Post by **Helen518** » Thu Dec 11, 2008 8:10 pm

Day 4 with no Klonopin! Very bad leg day but hard to say if this is related. No other withdrawal symptoms that I can detect. Yay.

Post by **ViewsAskew** » Thu Dec 11, 2008 9:34 pm

Very good.

Helen518 · Post by **Helen518** » Fri Dec 12, 2008 1:57 pm

I think I spoke too soon! Sometime yesterday the tingling started up and it got worse and worse so no meds would touch it. Not neurontin, not codeine, not hydrocodone. Also I was keyed up. Finally calmed down a bit around 3 am, but I had to wake up at 5:30. I WISH I could have slept in. My legs are in terrible shape and the weekend is coming, when there is almost no access to doctors . . . I hate this feeling of being terrified that nothing is going to help.

Post by **ViewsAskew** » Fri Dec 12, 2008 8:44 pm

It is a horrid feeling. I know that this is much harder than it sounds, but trying to relax into that anxiety can be very helpful. Like you, I just get so wound up with this happens. I feel so out of control. I can't always do it, but I've gotten so that if I just "go with it" I do much better. I just go with being up and try to accomplish something. If I can't do anything, I try to get into a rhythmic walk, almost a meditative walk. It's so natural to want to fight it and be upset that you aren't going to sleep, that you'll be tired...but that fight just seems to make me worse.

mackjergens · Post by **mackjergens** » Sat Dec 13, 2008 6:11 am

I always find when I become stressed when rls is very strong, its just best for me to get up and get busy, cleaning or doing something that requires me to MOVE my legs. If I try staying in bed I can really get out of control mentally and that only increases the creepy crawlies in my legs.

I have discovered that if the rls is not realllllly strong, I can sit in my rocker recliner and use my legs to rock, at least I am able to sit and keep moving. just take a pillow and blanket with you, so if you rls stops you simply lean back in recliner and sleep, because for me, if I get up and try walking back to bed, by the time i stretch out in bed the creepy crawlies start in again!!

I also have found that taking a hot bath will at times stop the rls, but that usually does not last long, but a hot bath and hitting the recliner and rocking is often a big help for me!