gofobroke

I stopped drinking on 1-10-2011, almost 1 month or so. But that really doesn't matter because the alcohol was easily replaced by pills of varying sorts. Any that I could get my hands on. I have a pdoc. that has been prescribing me Klonopin (benzodiazepine) for over a yr. so know I'm hooked on those and want to come off of them. But benzo. tapering lasts months on end at my dosage. Plus, with the classes I attend, it's very hard for me. As I have socialized and generalized anxiety disorder. That coupled with borderline personality disorder, diagnosed in the hospital by a team of psychiatrists, makes it very hard to cut the klon. dose.

I have an old sponsor willing to take me on again. i feel a definite connection with him and want to work the steps. But I feel like I cant count my sobriety date as today. I've stopped using pills rec. but will be on the prescribed klonopin for a long time.

Frustrating!!!

Impurrfect

((goforbroke))) I don't know what dosage of Klonopin, my stepsister was on, but she was totally not functioning...and has memory lapses of what happened when she was on them.

She was put in a one-week detox, though had to stay a few extra days because she also has fibro and severe heart disease. She hasn't touched them since, even though her husband has a prescription for them and the bottle is right there (HE doesn't abuse them).

I don't know about mental disorders, but I know other people, here, have been through the same rollercoaster, and they've found other ways to cope.

I hope you have a long, honest talk with your dr. and explain that you don't want to be hooked on these things. Find out your options, check into whether a medical detox is available.

Keep reading and posting, here...you're not alone.

Hugs and prayers,

Amy

trappeshot

hang in there man

gofobroke

Thanks for the replies. The kicker about benzos. is how long it takes to titrate down on them at my level (4mg.). It takes months upon months to avoid depersonalization, extreme paranoia, seizures and much more. It's something my pdoc and I are going to try soon using the Ashton method of slowly substituting lorazepam (longer half life) than reducing that to nil.

Impurrfect your right. Memory and general cognition is affected by long term benzo use at relatively high doses. Which becomes worse as the neurotransmitters react to the lowering of the drug by up regulating. Trying to find homeostasis the neurons basically go haywire and glutamate (excitatory transmitter) is overproduced.

chrisb245

Way to go gofo! Your doing the right thing my friend. I'm currently c/t xanax, and I can tell you it is not the way to go. Just remember to stick to your schedule. You can do it. We are here for you.