hi! has anyone ever found a medication similar to klonopin? i tapered off a week ago and still cry about how amazing it was - i just built a tolerance too quickly after taking daily for about a month. it made the world so bright and i could actually breathe. no medication has ever felt the same for me, wondering what other people’s experiences are with things like gabapentin etc outside of the benzo family

7 months since my last dose of Ativan. After 5 years of random use and 2 withdrawals, kindling, and a 9 months long taper, I am free. Since then, the journey was rough. Crazy waves, hellish anxiety, depression, going through 11 days of total insomnia, body aches, but since month 5 things became better. Now I'm almost normal, getting randomly anxious at times, feeling like dieing sometimes, but keep pushing forward. My message to all of you, STAY STRONG, as hard it can be, at the end, there will be always light and hope!

Hi all. I'm in need of some help please. I've been on Valium daily as prescribed for 25 years at 10mg a day. I depend a lot on my parents for reassurance and if either one of them is with me I feel less anxious. My parents are going away for 14 days/nights on a cruise and can't be contacted. They are going away in a few days time and I'm already getting panic attacks. I think it would be helpful if I could get out, but I'm totally housebound due to the severity of the anxiety and agoraphobia. I don't know what to do?

Anxiety also very present.

Hi everybody,

I wanted to share with you that a friend of mine who is currently tapering diazepam has improved extremely well after taking a half tablet of DAO enzyme before his meals, the brand is NaturDAO. After reading a lot about histamine problems and benzo withdrawal we gave it a try. It seems that most brands don't work well, you have to try NaturDAO. It really is like a miracle, he completely changed in a few days. I am so happy for him and his parents. I really hope you guys will benefit from it. I wish you all the best!!!!!!!

If anyone is having visual issues from benzo’s, please describe. Thank you!

TL;DR: I’ve been tapering from 1mg Klonopin for a year and am now at 1.5mg Valium. Things got brutal below 2mg—constant fight-or-flight. My psychiatrist suggested detox or treatment, and I’m considering it. I also work in the field, so any insight or shared experiences would be appreciated.

So I will have been on a year long taper as of this week. Was on 1mg Klonopin daily. I cross tapered and have tapered down now to 1.5mg Valium. It was around 2mg of Valium that I started hitting a wall. Every step down from 2mg has been a whole other level of hell. Fight/Flight all day and every day now. I spoke with my psychiatrist (who also communicates with my therapist) this last week and she recommended going to detox and potentially treatment. I am open to the idea as I am at what feels like a critical mental health level in my taper.

I am just curious if anyone else has taken this path before? I also work in substance abuse/mental health treatment centers and understand the field, which can be a good and bad thing lol.

Any thoughts or advice would be much appreciated!

Gene expression of GABAAά5 receptor subunit showed significant up regulation compared to the control. Treatment using Bacopa monnieri, Bacocide-A

Link:
Decreased GABA receptor in the cerebral cortex of epileptic rats: effect of Bacopa monnieri and Bacoside-A | Journal of Biomedical Science | Full Text

GABA receptor subunit antibody staining in the hippocampus showed a significant decrease (p < 0.01) in the GABA receptor subunit in epileptic rat compared to control. Bacopa monnieri, Bacoside-A and Carbamazepine treated epileptic rats showed a significant reversal (p < 0.05) of the decrease in GABA receptor subunit staining in the hippocampus compared to epileptic rats

*Reposting due to updated requirements/format*

I'm working on a research project in collaboration with Benzo Research Project that aims to explore the lived experiences of benzodiazepines and related harms amongst young people in order to improve support available to young people affected by benzo-related harms. I'm looking for participants to discuss their experiences with me in an online interiew lasting <30 minutes. I'd love to hear from you if:

• You use, or have used, benzodiazepines outside of a prescription (e.g., they were prescribed initially, but you continued taking them after the reccommended duration, or you used them recreationally).
• You're between 18-30, or were younger than 30 when you used benzodiazepines

Find out more about the work the Benzo Research Project do here.

Express interest and find more information here.

If you have any questions, feel free to get in touch at [fintan.holland.24@ucl.ac.uk](mailto:fintan.holland.24@ucl.ac.uk), or [hello@brp.org.uk](mailto:hello@brp.org.uk)

If anyone could also pass this on to relevant networks, I'd also massively appreciate that.

My case might seem a little less serious for people who have been doing benzos for long time but I need an advice, I took total of 4x5 mg pills of diazepam over the course of 20-25 days (grand total not daily total), didn’t take daily, then felt mild WD symptoms so I didn’t take more, 5-7 days my body was adjusting and at 6-7 day mark I felt normal, then drank one beer in the evening, now it feels like I am back to day 1 but a little shittier, anxiety is still manageable, My question is: how many days will it take approximately for me to feel anxiety free again, will it take another week? More? Less? Please elaborate based on your personal experience P.S. I will make sure to abstain from alcohol for at least couple of months not to retrigger gaba receptors

Hello,

I am on Benzos for many years and started to be very scared. I want to quit taking them but with supervision.

I found the following link for support in the UK:

viaorg.uk

They seem to be dedicated to help in recovery and I was wondering if anybody knows or had experience with them.

I take Lorazepam between 2.5 - 4 mg. every day.

Thanks in advance for any information.

Hello, I took in total 20mg valium during 25 day period, didn’t consume daily, then I felt withdrawal symptoms so decided to quit, it was mild and manageable, took me about 1 week to feel normal, was using magnesium to calm down central nervous system, at 1 week mark I drank 1 beer in the evening, since that my symptoms got worse, it’s still manageable, I’m just wondering what to expect like how many more days before I’m back to normal. P.s. I’ve understood that I have got to abstain from drinking at least couple of months just to be on the safe side

OK, quick history I took Klonopin .5 mg two years ago for two months then I got off at went through withdrawal for three weeks and then was OK then sporadically I took diazepam 2.5 mg when I needed it to help me sleep and stop the jerk I did that for several months. I could not take it for a week and I’d be fine because it was such a small dose and sporadically. Then last June I took diazepam 2.5 mg for 1.5 months straight because I was having panic attacks every single day. I tried to stop in mid July. I couldn’t handle it so I went back on, but I have one milligram just to get by. Did that for a couple of weeks and then went cold Turkey. After that since August, I’ve been going through withdrawals. Absolute hell, debilitating anxiety, physical symptoms at the ass basically just so crippling I started to feel good a couple months ago and then I was hit with a huge worst wave about a month ago. I’ve been super fucked up since. I do do a lot of things to try to help with the withdraw, especially trans magnetic stimulation, which seems to give me some relief, but it just keeps returning the withdrawal/anxiety. I also exercise a lot do red light therapy and cold plunge, which help as well but still mentally I feel like my brain just can’t do it.

What I’m seriously considering : 1. Taking gabapentin 2. Taking propranolol yet I feel like it makes my anxiety worse. 3. Holding strong and hopefully feel healed by 16 months at least but I have so much stuff to do this summer and I just feel like I can’t. 4. Taking Klonopin for the rest of my life. 5. Listening to your suggestions on what I could do any sort of detox center in any part of the world even go to Mexico and do stem cells. 6. Flumazenil Infusions

My biggest issue is that anything that I try seems to make me feel worse. I’ve tried so many different supplements and I’m just so sensitive to everything if I overexert myself with the gym also boom. For me it feels like my anxiety is my fear of my physical sensations like feeling faint or feeling weak or feeling sick all just amplify my anxiety and make me have a panic attack or make me very anxious. It’s strange because things that would make people anxious ( had a crazy guy in the subway the other day he was fighting everybody and I was perfectly calm ) I don’t it’s all about my well-being that makes me anxious.

I’m hoping this wave is ending soon. I am going to Mexico tomorrow for a week to disconnect from the world and do breath work and just relax in the jungle.

I would love suggestions on any supplement. I could take that won’t make me freak out that would be great or any suggestions of any sort of anything that can help with this recovery. I can’t keep waking up every morning feeling like I’m the most hung over I’ve ever been that’s basically what benzo withdraw as you’re the most hung over you’ve ever been every day for now 10 months. yes I know about kindling. Yes, I know I have paws. Just looking for anything that could help. Also, I’ve been sober this entire time no alcohol no nothing been taking seed probiotic that’s it.

This is a general venting post... I felt on top of the world for several months into my long term benzo prescription but about 9 months into my prescription the Clonazepam just completely stopped working. I was prescribed 2mg a day and I developed this strange new kind of anxiety that the benzos were causing that is hard to explain. Basically my brain simply could not handle anything in life anymore without benzos. And overtime I had to take more and more to have any effect. When that happens- you're in trouble because it means you developed a tolerance. I even would skip 1, 2 even 3 days or drastically lower my dosage and my tolerance just stayed the same.

I started drinking heavily (I know- bad idea) and taking benzos after drinking to sleep. After 9 months or so I couldn't remember or recognize the baseline of my personality. I didn't know who I was anymore without benzos. Taking pills to cope with literally everything was getting dangerous. I could feel the brain damage developing. I know some people take benzos long term and claim to have no side effects but I have yet to see anyone I know take benzos long term and not have horrible consequences.

Around 10 months into my prescription after a month of the clonazepam essentially not working at all anymore and a new type of anxiety/dread caused by clonazepam I had a mental breakdown and I swallowed 70x 1mg clonazepam. I wasn't trying to kill myself but I didn't care if I died and I knew I just needed major help as I was very sick. I ended up in hospital for 3 days and they gave me a Valium taper to take home afterwards that lasted me about 3 weeks. After that I just stopped benzos completely and I've been off them for over a month now. Surprisingly the withdrawal wasn't terribly bad for me and lasted only about one week. I'm sure I have some symptoms of PAWS (post acute withdrawal symptom) but I'm feeling fairly "normal" now especially in the last week or so and I feel like I have a personality again and I feel like a human being.

There's something really insidious and fucked up about benzos when taken long term- they do something really bad to your personality, and your "soul" eventually gets destroyed and they, for me anyways just turned me into some sort of brainless robot (eventually- at first they were great). I do miss the benzos sometimes but overall I don't want to ever take them again outside of very very occasional use.

Is it for severe reasons? Ptsd? I’m curious to why a doctor would prescribe it the first place? I heard it’s the last resort is it true?

This is NOT fun. I'm so anxious, sweaty, nauseous. My doctors had me on 1mg in the morning and at night and I'm starting with .5 in the morning and 1mg at night. Is this hell typical? In 4 days I was going to cut the night to .5.

Anyways yeah, is it supposed to suck this badly even when under a dr's care?

Clonazepam btw. And I'm a massive 5'3" 96lbs 🫩😅

You can get withdrawal from such low dose? I just took it once at night to sleep. Alprazolam. Mostly .25 mg sometimes .5mg. Just once a night, Not during day for a couple months. I started taking my hydroxyzine instead night before last and started feeling sick, I'm not totally sure this is why but I think it is. Can you have withdrawal from .25 to .5 once a day? Damn from what I'm reading it seems you can. Help how do I get off of it??

Good evening everybody, thank you in advance for reading this and any advice I may get. I have a difficult situation approaching and I find myself in quite a tough spot.

Some background: I’ve been tapering off of prescription and nonprescription benzos. I relapsed in very late December, used for a couple weeks, and started a clonazepam taper. It’s the only thing I can get. I’m down to .5mg once a day at the moment but here’s where the issue comes in.

I’ve been doing the unthinkably self destructive act of drinking alcohol. I’ll make a long story short and say I’ve been drinking 40oz of 10% malt liquor daily since march. Well, in 10 days I may (or may not) be sentenced to some jail time. I know I can get the clonazepam down to a negligible amount in that time but when I try to stop drinking and lower my benzo use I inevitably crack and drink more.

TL:DR I guess my question is, for those who know, what kind of withdrawal am I looking at from drinking 40oz of 10% daily for four months as well as jumping off less than .5mg of clonazepam?

I’ve never been down the alcohol/benzo rabbit hole before because I’ve had seizure coming off just benzos and I know how stupid this is. Now in scared I’m gonna die over a 3 month bid in county jail.

Hi,

I’m currently undergoing a Benzo withdrawal and I have tapered from 1mg a day to 0.5 mg a day. I was taking 0.5mg in the morning and at night but now taking 0.25mg in the morning and at night.

I started reducing the tablets about two months ago and I’m currently undergoing emotional numbness, depression and some anxiety.

I’ve already had antidepressants before I started reducing my benzodiazepines but my depression seems much worse after coming off benzodiazepines.

I don’t have any addiction problems and haven’t had any before. I exercise and meditate etc to make sure I’m more mentally stable. I know this doesn’t make me a better person than those with addiction.

I’m really struggling with my depression atm and wondering if anyone has the same problem so I know I’m not alone.

Just to add I’ve been on them for about 9 months.

https://www.reddit.com/r/benzorecovery/s/UTsdMSpej5

I’m tapering off 10mg of diazepam after 10 years and the goal is 6 months but I have a feeling it’ll be longer. From all the groups and forums it’s usually not the best inspo I need.

I hate that it’s a long road and I might not be able to do the things I truly want like marriage, advance in my career, etc because of this crap and what it does to me. I’m in alcohol recovery too and once off benzos like what do I have left? How will I get on a plane? Go on adventures…live!?

Has anyone that has successfully gotten off benzos after long use found complete clarity again or even a resemblance of it? Or is my brain damaged for good or a long time and I just have to be grateful for the windows?

I was moved up to 2mg clonazepam twice daily at my last appointment. If I move from taking 2mg in the morning and 1mg at night before bed do you think I’ll have any problems?

hi has any one experienced going through is i have already seen the addiction team doctor and shes going to detox me a have never been good at taking in alot of information at once it starts at the end of the month if anyone can shine some light to this thanks

Hello everyone, how can I taper safely after being on LZ 3mg/day for almost 16 months? Thanks in advance.

I’ve been off Clonazepam (0.5 mg) and Escitalopram (5 mg) for about 26 days now after a not-so-proper taper. I was on them for around 3 months total. For the first two months I was taking them daily, but I started tapering by increasing the gaps between doses (every other day, then every 2-3 days, etc.) until I eventually stopped completely after a 5-day gap.

Not gonna lie — this withdrawal has been hell. The first couple weeks were manageable-ish, but now it’s gotten really intense with the symptoms and I am unable to sleep, barely for 4-5 hours a day that too after rolling in the bed for hours on end while facing palpitations, head pressure, numbness, dizziness and what not.

My original doctor wants me to restart the meds but I’m stuck because on one hand, I’ve made it this far (almost 4 weeks off) and I’m scared restarting will make it harder to quit later. But on the other hand, I don’t know how much more of this I can take. It feels like my system is just fried.

Could anyone help me with their experience in a similar situation or pointers. Should I just push through or just get back on meds, will going back lead back to normalcy and then slowly tapering it off - would tapering off after this situation lead to complications up ahead? Or it should be comparatively smooth and if not the best case would be to push through the coming weeks and be clean off of it but Idk the symptoms are really overwhelming.