i have been on diazepam 20mg a day for the past 1 yrs,i quit cold turkey about 3weeks ago due to balance problems,i didnt know i shuldnt have quit the drug in the manner i did,it was after i quit that i started having some crazy symptoms,headaches,loss of interest in social activities,lost of interest in sex,having the balance problems still,and always feels like am going to fall off standing or walking,cant function properly and have been through this horrible feeling for de past three weeks,my doc keeps telling me is due to the drug i have this balance issues which is my biggest worry among the symptoms i have,i cant go to work or do anytin functional,plz help me see the way forward...cos if am to still bear these symptoms for only God knows how long,i cul lose my jobs as wells as so many other important things...tnx
Have you seen the Ashton Manual?
hello, you need to go back to your doctor, explain your symptoms, probably go back onto diazepam, get stable, then very slowly and grsdually come off it, instead.
Jackie is right , check out the Manual but also check out youtube. Lots of people on there who are either going through withdrawal or have gone though it & how they did it & how their feeling. Your so not alone. I'm sure headaches & feeling dizzy could be part of it if you never had those problems before. I hope the doctor checked you out for anything else it could be instead of just saying it's because of the drug. And if he thought it was the drug he should have told you what to do. Check youtube. You'll be ok. Just keep saying to yourself, "this too shall pass"
Hi Imo,
First i need to ask, why where you on the drug? Cos if you took it for anxiety for example, you should now be on anti anxiety meds while u slowly taper off diazepams.
Secondly, if u took diazepam for sleep oe something else, please kindly talk to your doctor, the go back on the medication, though not 20 mg again, maybe 10 or 7.5, then gradually taper off for about2 months, the side effects will not be there as it is now, please not that, when im saying dont go back to 20mg, cos when i tappered ofd this drug on my own, by the time i was on 1.25mg, hoping to go off in a week or so, my DR wanted me to tapper from the start because he didnt believe i had genuinely stopped this meds, so he put me back on the first dose, once i took it i had a bad overdose and almost passed out, cos my body had adjusted to a tiny dose and the drug was almost out of my system when suddenly i just hit my body with a high dose again...
Talk to a Dr. Please, asap, u dont have to suffer.
Take care×××
@jackie,i’ve seen the ashton manual but i dont understand it completely.....but my greatest concern is why i started feeling loss of balance whilst still on the drug?could it be that the drug was triggering me to up my dose inorder to reach the same goal i had at 20mgs a day or what?cos i started feeling loss of balance before i stopped the drug and after i stopped,it has become worse,my head seems so heavy that i cnt even stand without feeling of falling,my doc prescribed lorazenpam for me last week 2mg a night to help me sleep,i took it for only one night and i felt so normal like always and it seemed i had never felt sick dat night,but i stopped becos i read online that one shuldnt take benzos when having sleep
apnea and i have a bit of it,so i stopped
tnx so much nigel,i have tried telling the doctor i needed to function daily inorder to get my affairs moving,he just wouldnt listen to me,he keeps teln me i have passed the danger stage after staying off the drug for three weeks now,he said atleast i wont have seizures and other risky symptoms.so he is insisting i hang on and bear the symptoms which i think are making me not functional at all,but i really need to get functional to get my life on track,am tired of staying indoors becos of the muscle tightness which ranges from my head like my brains are so tight and lack of concerntration and also feels like my head is disjointed from the rest of my body....plz i really need some help
tnx sharon,thats exaclty what am thinking and my doc doesnt make me feel comfortable trying to talk him into getting me back and tapering me off slowly,i really need some help to come off this with less symptoms
hello ama,i got on diazepam by one physician assistant whom i think knows little about these drugs last october becos of panick attacks,i took them and saw they were helpful,i cnt remember if i took it after that month or night again untill i had anada attack and therefore took it continously after that just to calm myself down everyday,i got used to thise drug that i didnt even realise it was that dangerous,but i assume that i took it everyday after october cos i cnt really remember well,but i started having balance problems three weeks ago and tot it cul be de drug making me feel loss of balance,so i abruptly quit taking the drug not realising how dangerous quitting at once cul be,so after i quit,i started experiencing some headaches,migraine headaches,chills in de morning after waking up,burning sensations radiating from my whole body,the loss of balance intensifying,muscle stiffness,not really enjoying social activities anymore,thinking am never going to recover from this,thinking am going to die and afraid to go out....plz i really need a lot of help as to what to do now cos i need to get on my feet and keep my job and my life moving on
hello, ama is correct. you need to go back onto diazepam, or amother benzo, and then come of them gradually and slowly. you may need am anti depressant and anxiety medication. you need to go back to your doctor to explain what has happend. you really do need to speak to your doctor.
Hi Imo************ LONG REPLY ALERT!!!
you see,, thats why i asked why you started the drug, now u have answered my question, i will advise you not as a doctor but as a friend in your shoes,
After i had my first panick attack i was given this drug, but for temporal use, i abused it cos it worked faster and felt good, but what i needed the most was my escitalopram medication prescribed for anxiety/panic disorders and not the benzo, i didnt know this, so fast forward, i realized my mistakes, tapered off very well and slowly so well that even when i attempted as low as 5mg i had over dosed, that was how well my body had been cleansed of this drug...
Note how ever that as i slowly tapered off this drug, i started my anti anxiety meds which is the long term treatment, not just for quick relief, i was prescribed 5mg for starts and i eventually went up to 7.5mg, thpugh people take up to 20, 30, 40, i was patient with the small dose and added therapy, changed diet, plus yoga to my plan and it helped me support this small dose of medication work better, right now as we speak i take as low as 1.25 Nitrazepam, which is just a quarter tab, because the anxiety meds have finally kicked in ( note that anxiety meds make u feel more anxious before they work perfectly, that why my doc kept me on a tiny dose of benzo to take care of the extra anxiety from the escitalopram)
In summary, u can see your doc, on his advice, get on a proper treatment foe your anxiety/ panics, when he gives u drug options, join review groups and prepare your mind for what to expect, some docs even let you choose between 2 meds depending on how ur body will react.
On your Drs recommendations, Get back on ur diazepam low dose and tapper slowly.
Disclaimer:
I am not a Doctor and cant give medical advice, but i feel your pain, ive been there, i can relate and advice you just patient to patient...
All the best dearxxx
ok nigel,but i doubt if this doctor will listen to me,he will rather tell me if i can endure this for 3weeks,why cnt i move on?he is so hard to convince....but are u so certain that is de diazepam that made me start expiriencing loss of balance in the first place?
thanks Ama,but do u think starting on a lower dose than i was previously will work perfectly for me?cos i was on 20mg a day,10mg in the morning,10mg in the evening,so how do u think i should spread my doses inorder to have no further problems?just seeking ur advice or opinion on this....i dont know if u’ve ever had any withdrawal symptoms?and if u did,was loss of balance and muscle stiffness part of them?
Benzos are notorious for drug tolerance. That's why they are now only allowed to be prescribed for 2 to 4 weeks . Please google beating benzos, benzo buddies.
sounds like all the side effects of dangerous drug benzodiazepine. I was on them for many years and had interdose withdrawal unknowingly. My advice is to get off this stuff but it has to be done slowly and safely to avid acute withdrawal syndrome and severe wd. Please . These drugs are now being banned .
@ama, i went to see the doctor yesterday and he just wouldnt listen to me on that,but i can surely tell you that am suffering very much,my head feels like a balloon on it,i cant stand or walk without experiencing some weight on my head and every part of my body,my muscles becoms stiff and am limited to just lying down....i dont know wat to do anymore to feel some relief for about 5mins self
Trying to get off the diaz slowly but feeling really down. Did you need an anti depressant to help with slow withdrawal, i am wondering if i need to speak to specialist about all this
Can you just see another doctor??
This is soo bad...
Here i have the option of choosing my Doctor, it was until i met the 3rd one that i got real satisfaction.
Im sorry i know exactly how u feel, don't give up, please...
its highly likely your balance problems are anxiety related, as well as the muscle stiffness. anxiety causes muscle tension. ive had both of these in the past, which mainly went away, once i got my anti depressants sorted. the balance issues and degree of muscle tension you have, suggest your anxiety is extremely high. benzos can be of great benefit in the short term, and probably stopped me from being hospitalised earlier this year. i havent forgotten the state i was in when i was pescribed them. their problem is you cant rely on them for long term benefit, because you become dependant and tolerant. your balance problem in the first place, could have been caused by you becoming tolerant to 20mg, and your anxiety returning, causing the balance problem again. increasing benzo dose wouldnt have been the answer. this could suggest you need a more long term treatment for anxiety, like an anti depressamt. your anxiety hasnt improved over the last year, but for a long time, diazepam treated the symptoms, until you became tolerant to it. has your doctor suggested an anti depressant, because thats what i think you need for the long term. you took diazepam for a year at 20mg, but then stopped the new low dose benzo, due to concerns about sleep apnea? you had anxiety issues, diazepam treated the symptoms for a while, then it stopped dealing with them, which suggests your anxiety has probably worsened. you stopped diazepam immediately, which made things worse, although like your doctor said, you are over the worst. you are now taking nothing, but your anxiety is extreme. if you do nothing, its goimg to take forever for your anxiety to come back down, if it will. personally, i dont think it will come down, because you got anxious pre diazepam, and although the symptoms were dealt with the diazepam initially, it was still there, and is now much worse. if your current levels of anxiety go on for a long period, it may turn into depression. if you can afford to, pay to see a physciatrist. initial consultation would cost 500. you can arrange to see one within a couple of weeks. they would be tbe best qaulified, to deal with your situation, in the shortest time. gps afe often guessing, and will follow a pyschiagrists recommendation, ie, will not object to it. you could ask to see a nhs one, but its likely to take 6 months, and its not guaranteed you will get to see one. as i see it, your options are either carry on as you are, and hope your situstion improves, or try am anti depressant. a pysc would be the best person to see, if you are able to. they have considerably better knowledge and experience. personally, i wouldnt trust a gp with mental issues.
nigel,tnx so much,but i usually do not have so many of the panick attacks anymore,but like u said,my depression is way up,i dont know if using anti depressants could also cause one to have withdrawal symptoms when you wanna stop taking them,but i feel if i could solve the muscle tension and or balance disorder problem,i could be gud to go.i have never had a worst situation in my life like this time,i really hate myself for been in this situation.but apart from seeing a psychiatrist,what else do you think i could do to improve on my muscle tension and balance disorders?i hardly make time to think about so many thing this days,because i dont want my blood preasure elevated....should i go back and come out slowly or i shul just still follow my doctor’s word that i hv already passed de dangerous stage and for that matter,i should hold on?