Anyone taking benzos PLEASE READ

I have taken .50 mg clonazepam for RLS for about 15 years. I take 900 mg gabapentin at bedtime. It wears off after about four hours, and then my RLS awakens me. I take the clonazepam, and after 30 to 45 minutes, I fall asleep and get another 3 to 3.5 hours of sleep. I feel great almost everyday and am very active. Clonazepam has been a godsend for me.

If you want to taper off any benzo, I highly recommend you read Dr. Ashton's work on how to do it. As far as I am concerned, she is the foremost expert.

Interesting that Clonazepam has worked for you with your RLS. It didn't sort our my PLMD unfortunately.

It is tapering off that causes issues for so many people. I have actually read the Ashton Manual. I have tried her cut and hold technique but find small, dry cutting is working better in terms of reducing s/x. Albeit that it is taking forever.

I hope others do chime in because benzos affect nearly every part of your body from your tiny eye muscles to the muscles in the inner lining of all blood vessels, in addition to many many other ways benzos affect the brain and any glutamate/gaba A (g/g) interaction. The reason I am continuing this post is to help raise awareness that our respiratory system is deeply affected by benzos, but not to argue. At one point in my discontinuation/recovery my oxygen sats were consistently in the 80's, not just during sleep because my lungs weren't working very well. They too had been altered in contraction/relaxation ways plus the brain depression decreased the message to breathe. Organs/tissues/neuro receptors and neurotransmitter manufacture (in the g/g system) are all deeply affected...and regular detox like alcohol/opioids are fast and the patient is usually released in a week...but with benzos the real research says a 10% cut every 2-4 weeks is the safest and these benzos have half lives up into 30 days...so any last dose won't be gone til a usual detox place has sent a benzo patient home to completely disintegrate.
Can some ppl walk away? Yes, of course, but this is a huge hidden problem only now rearing its head in the USA, ironically because every single celebrity death has had not only opiates/opioids involved, but benzos in many shapes. Tiger Woods finally listed all his meds (legally prescribed) and he was on 3 different benzos at the same prescribed time.
And as Chalkie pointed out, stopping and restarting even once can mess you up PHYSICALLY not drug seeking addiction ways and make it even more difficult to try again.
I hope ppl don't get mad, I am not trying to turn this into a benzo help board but many of us with sleep apnea with insomnia problems might not even be aware they are on a benzo...if a person is taking Ambien they are in this category too.
And Chalkie, taking forever is quite OK because every single cut makes your body eventually make up the difference by building/reactivating receptor sites and to make its own gabaA. Too dang bad it all takes so long and we feel so unwell!!

MimiLou wrote: ↑

Tue Jun 19, 2018 4:33 pm

I hope ppl don't get mad, I am not trying to turn this into a benzo help board but many of us with sleep apnea with insomnia problems might not even be aware they are on a benzo

I won't get mad - that's for the regulars here to decide. But, I will say you are an alarmist with no medical or even science background who is spreading misinformation.

As DFD has already pointed out, your doctors made a mess out of you by not putting you on a reasonable tapering program. I'm very sorry this happened to you. But, you are not the correct person to advise people on the use or discontinuation of the use of benzos.

Tricky Wash wrote: ↑

Tue Jun 19, 2018 5:08 pm

I won't get mad - that's for the regulars here to decide. But, I will say you are an alarmist with no medical or even science background who is spreading misinformation.

As DFD has already pointed out, your doctors made a mess out of you by not putting you on a reasonable tapering program. I'm very sorry this happened to you. But, you are not the correct person to advise people on the use or discontinuation of the use of benzos.

Here's some science for you.https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Effects_o ... zepine_use

https://www.rcpsych.ac.uk/healthadvice/ ... pines.aspx

Quote from above article:

"How long should I take a benzodiazepine for?
Up to 4 weeks - no longer. This should really be just to give other (often psychological) treatments a chance to work."

https://www.aafp.org/afp/2013/0815/p224.html

Plus the BBC programme linked above.

I hope you consider all this scientific enough. There is plenty more out there easily found on Google.

I am not trying to turn this into the benzo forum either. But I think it is well worth a thread. There is such widespread ignorance about these drugs in the medical profession. Only recently my GP actually said to me "people stay on benzos for years with no problems". The RCP article is explicit about this.

And if you look at my AHI stats above it is very relevant to PAP as cutting benzos appears on this evidence to suggest careful monitoring of AHI is desirable and tweaking
of pressures may well be necessary.

Sometimes what you term alarmism is justified. It is a kindness to prevent others from going through needless hell. I wish I had seen a post like this a few years ago before I got hooked. Anyone who "gets mad" has no place doing so tbh.

I speak from bitter personal experience and can only advise anyone offered these terrible drugs beyond the 2-4 week mark to think very carefully, read the exalted SCIENCE and make your choice. Short-term use is sometimes necessary and a different matter.

Anyone else who has suffered because of benzos, I know it is tough identifying with a minority opinion and risking getting shouted down - but if you know you are right, as in this case, you need to.