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Trying to get off Valium and opiates
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Join Date: Jan 2012
Posts: 5
Trying to get off Valium and opiates
I've had a tough time being only 22, I grew up in a house where addiction and violence were rampant and recently got put of an abusive 2 year relationship and am now trying to put my life back together. I have been prescribed benzos 5 months now and am currently tapering off Valium, I am now seeing a therapist/psychiatrist who did some tests and saw the Valium was doing more harm than good and told me I should try and get off it; he gave me some clonidine and I'm planning on getting off of it by the end of Feb. The thing is though, I have been on and off opiates for 2 years. I'm not sure why I get back on it, I go through terrible withdraws and then end up back on it. I'm trying to work while getting off these things and so here comes my actual question: do I try to get off these drugs separately or at the same time? Currently I am trying to taper down the opiates until I'm off the Valium and then I was planning on getting off the opiates, but I'm not sure if it would be better to do it all at once or if that'd be too hard on my body. Any advice or experiences would really help me. I'm looking into going to NA meetings but I'd also like advice on that because my psychiatrist recommends it but warned me that there is at least 1 predator in every NA class and a young attractive female might have some trouble.
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Join Date: Apr 2007
Location: Australia
Posts: 211,317
Hi pinkheart
I think you need to speak to your Dr, be honest about what you're taking, and ask what the best course of action would be.
As far as NA meetings go - I'm not a member but I expect they're just like any other slice of society or any other organisation....you'll find a crossection of personalities and types of people there.
Maybe you can check to see if there's a women's meeting near you?
D
I think you need to speak to your Dr, be honest about what you're taking, and ask what the best course of action would be.
As far as NA meetings go - I'm not a member but I expect they're just like any other slice of society or any other organisation....you'll find a crossection of personalities and types of people there.
Maybe you can check to see if there's a women's meeting near you?
D
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Join Date: Jun 2009
Location: The Great White North
Posts: 448
Hi Pinkheart: I would make sure that your Dr. and your pschologist are both aware of what the other is saying and prescribing. Are your Drs. male or female? Not sure if that matters but it just sounds very odd that a Dr. would tell an opiate addict NOT to go to NA for fear of being hit on. That just doesn't sit right with me!
Get your Drs. on the same page with you about stopping or tapering anything before you do it on your own. When I quit oxy I did it with my Drs.s help and support and it worked - never relapsed and been clean now 2.7 years. I could n't have done it on my own.
Is there someone you trust (male or female) who would go with you to a NA meeting? It might make you more comfortable. After all, even Sophia Grace has her Hype Girl, Rosie!
...Ruby...
Get your Drs. on the same page with you about stopping or tapering anything before you do it on your own. When I quit oxy I did it with my Drs.s help and support and it worked - never relapsed and been clean now 2.7 years. I could n't have done it on my own.
Is there someone you trust (male or female) who would go with you to a NA meeting? It might make you more comfortable. After all, even Sophia Grace has her Hype Girl, Rosie!
...Ruby...
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Join Date: Jul 2007
Location: CA Native
Posts: 2,509
I'm no doctor, but personally I'd really not wanna go through both w/d's at the same time, no. Esp. if I wasn't locked up in a detox the entire time.
And I would NOT worry about AA/NA meetings ... if you have to go alone, just go in a decent part of town, and go in the daytime. It's more the people in the neighborhoods I'd be worried about vs. the people in the meetings. Women's meetings are a good idea if you're concerned.
I've never EVER heard of women being assaulted in or around NA/AA meetings, myself. Esp. not by members. And I've been to a lot of groups. I wouldn't let that kind of fear stop you. And that number 'a predator in every NA meeting' (it's not a class, btw, it's a fellowship) sounds like made up BS.
Now, is there likely to be at least one guy who'd LIKE to sleep with an attractive young woman (voluntarily) in every meeting? That ... I would bet on. But the same is true at every office, every bar, every store, every PLACE you ever go. It doesn't make people dangerous predators.
I swear people watch TV nowadays and believe based on how many made-up STORIES there are about the subject ... that behind every corner lurks vicious sex predators in real life. It's really something like 10x more likely that a person is attacked/molested by someone they KNOW than someone they don't.
And I would NOT worry about AA/NA meetings ... if you have to go alone, just go in a decent part of town, and go in the daytime. It's more the people in the neighborhoods I'd be worried about vs. the people in the meetings. Women's meetings are a good idea if you're concerned.
I've never EVER heard of women being assaulted in or around NA/AA meetings, myself. Esp. not by members. And I've been to a lot of groups. I wouldn't let that kind of fear stop you. And that number 'a predator in every NA meeting' (it's not a class, btw, it's a fellowship) sounds like made up BS.
Now, is there likely to be at least one guy who'd LIKE to sleep with an attractive young woman (voluntarily) in every meeting? That ... I would bet on. But the same is true at every office, every bar, every store, every PLACE you ever go. It doesn't make people dangerous predators.
I swear people watch TV nowadays and believe based on how many made-up STORIES there are about the subject ... that behind every corner lurks vicious sex predators in real life. It's really something like 10x more likely that a person is attacked/molested by someone they KNOW than someone they don't.
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Join Date: Jan 2012
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Thanks for the support. My current dr (psychiatrist) is male and he said NA is a good tool, but just to be aware of predators-he says he hasnt seen many succeed without NA or something similar-he wasn't bagging on NA, just telling me to watch out.
Has anyone had experience with trying to get off multiple things? My psychiatrist is giving me guidance for getting off these meds and my primary care dr is aware of my meds, but has not been helpful and kinda got me into the situation with the Valium because he just prescribed it without the correct info-I asked him about withdrawal and all of that and he said it wouldn't be a big deal since I needed it for anxiety, turns out he was wrong about the big deal part.
Has anyone had experience with trying to get off multiple things? My psychiatrist is giving me guidance for getting off these meds and my primary care dr is aware of my meds, but has not been helpful and kinda got me into the situation with the Valium because he just prescribed it without the correct info-I asked him about withdrawal and all of that and he said it wouldn't be a big deal since I needed it for anxiety, turns out he was wrong about the big deal part.
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Join Date: Jan 2012
Location: Washington DC
Posts: 96
Getting off opiates and benzos is a big deal. It seems the opiates make the benzo side of the wds a lot harder.
I would talk to your doctor about getting a medically supervised detox at a hospital since I assume you have health insurance.
From what I've seen others go through with benzo's, it's horrible.
Talk to your doctor. Bezo wd's can be pretty dangerous.
I would talk to your doctor about getting a medically supervised detox at a hospital since I assume you have health insurance.
From what I've seen others go through with benzo's, it's horrible.
Talk to your doctor. Bezo wd's can be pretty dangerous.
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Join Date: Jul 2007
Location: CA Native
Posts: 2,509
How much valium are we talking here over these 5 months? There's a big difference between 200mg/day for 5 years and 10mg/day for 6 months. Kicking from the former (or anything around there) is dangerous, around the latter ... not so much. And how long/how much is your current continuous opioid bender?
Obviously the frank and honest discussion w/the doc is a good idea, but personally if it were me I'd shoot for weaning down and kicking the benzo's first, unless your dosage is real low on those and real high on the opioids and/or there's other mitigating factors (like one is 'legal' and one is not).
Have you ever just run out of the valium and gone without for a couple days? If so, how uncomfortable has the experience been?
My guess also is that staying on either one is going to make the detox of the other less unpleasant, particularly having the valium for the opioid withdrawals. However, you miss the opportunity to just 'get it all over with', which there's something to be said for if you can pull it off, and do so safely.
A LOT of what I'd personally suggest is possible/not possible and/or dangerous ... would be dictated by your dosages and how long you've been at it in general, and how long at those dosages.
Obviously the frank and honest discussion w/the doc is a good idea, but personally if it were me I'd shoot for weaning down and kicking the benzo's first, unless your dosage is real low on those and real high on the opioids and/or there's other mitigating factors (like one is 'legal' and one is not).
Have you ever just run out of the valium and gone without for a couple days? If so, how uncomfortable has the experience been?
My guess also is that staying on either one is going to make the detox of the other less unpleasant, particularly having the valium for the opioid withdrawals. However, you miss the opportunity to just 'get it all over with', which there's something to be said for if you can pull it off, and do so safely.
A LOT of what I'd personally suggest is possible/not possible and/or dangerous ... would be dictated by your dosages and how long you've been at it in general, and how long at those dosages.
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Join Date: Jun 2009
Location: The Great White North
Posts: 448
Originally Posted by pinkheart39 
Thanks for the support. My current dr (psychiatrist) is male and he said NA is a good tool, but just to be aware of predators-he says he hasnt seen many succeed without NA or something similar-he wasn't bagging on NA, just telling me to watch out.
Has anyone had experience with trying to get off multiple things? My psychiatrist is giving me guidance for getting off these meds and my primary care dr is aware of my meds, but has not been helpful and kinda got me into the situation with the Valium because he just prescribed it without the correct info-I asked him about withdrawal and all of that and he said it wouldn't be a big deal since I needed it for anxiety, turns out he was wrong about the big deal part.
Has anyone had experience with trying to get off multiple things? My psychiatrist is giving me guidance for getting off these meds and my primary care dr is aware of my meds, but has not been helpful and kinda got me into the situation with the Valium because he just prescribed it without the correct info-I asked him about withdrawal and all of that and he said it wouldn't be a big deal since I needed it for anxiety, turns out he was wrong about the big deal part.
I never had to w/d from more than one thing so I have no good answers for you there. There's where you need your Drs. help.
There are many people on the forum that are/have been detoxed from more than one substance. I'm sure there are more that will come along to give you more advice, help and support.
...Ruby...
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Join Date: Jan 2012
Location: New Jersey
Posts: 1
I have been down a similar path, withdrawing from opiates and benzos, both at the same time and also separately. My problems with panic attacks, anxiety, depression and ADHD make the withdraw from xanax the absolute worse. I feel that all of the emotions, both good and bad, that have been suppressed for how ever long I was on those meds surface and an uncontrollable rate. I have felt just about every acute and protracted withdraw symptom that is listed for xanax and as a result, I would stop the opiates before the xanax because the acute tends to disappear a little quicker for me than the benzos.
What I have also learned is that very few doctors, either GPs or specialists, understand the severity of these symptoms. Focus has been given to alcoholism and opiate abuse, both "treatable" by writing prescriptions for a cross-tolerant drug and tapering down slowly. The thing about benzos is that tolerance can skyrocket out of control much, much faster than alcohol or opiates; you take too much of either and death is highly likely, whereas benzos can be taken by the fistful with basically no possibility of a lethal lose. This makes writing and maintaining a taper schedule extremely difficult for a GP.
Anyhow, I think I may have gotten a little wordy with that post. If you can find an addiction psychiatrist, great! If not, just try to be honest with your other two, give them a time frame for when you want to stop and stick to it. Veering off the schedule for even a few days can completely destroy your road to sobriety.
Good luck!
What I have also learned is that very few doctors, either GPs or specialists, understand the severity of these symptoms. Focus has been given to alcoholism and opiate abuse, both "treatable" by writing prescriptions for a cross-tolerant drug and tapering down slowly. The thing about benzos is that tolerance can skyrocket out of control much, much faster than alcohol or opiates; you take too much of either and death is highly likely, whereas benzos can be taken by the fistful with basically no possibility of a lethal lose. This makes writing and maintaining a taper schedule extremely difficult for a GP.
Anyhow, I think I may have gotten a little wordy with that post. If you can find an addiction psychiatrist, great! If not, just try to be honest with your other two, give them a time frame for when you want to stop and stick to it. Veering off the schedule for even a few days can completely destroy your road to sobriety.
Good luck!
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Join Date: Jul 2007
Location: CA Native
Posts: 2,509
Welcome to the boards epain 
However, I'd point out that opioids, alcohol and benzos are ALL CNS depressants, and, as such, all can kill you via OD.
It's all about tolerance ... there was a time I easily could've taken 50 percocets worth of oxycodone w/o OD'ing ... surely a 'fistful' if there ever was one. But that's enough to kill like 3 people w/o any tolerance to opioids.
I'm fairly certain the same principle applies to benzos
I hear what you're saying about treatment though in the sense that there's no 'buprenorphine/methadone' equivalent for benzos.
However, I'd point out that opioids, alcohol and benzos are ALL CNS depressants, and, as such, all can kill you via OD.
It's all about tolerance ... there was a time I easily could've taken 50 percocets worth of oxycodone w/o OD'ing ... surely a 'fistful' if there ever was one. But that's enough to kill like 3 people w/o any tolerance to opioids.
I'm fairly certain the same principle applies to benzos
I hear what you're saying about treatment though in the sense that there's no 'buprenorphine/methadone' equivalent for benzos.
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