Hi Geralt--I'm really glad this conversation came up. I hate to say it but I'm also glad you don't visit that other site. I thought you might still be going there and it was scaring you. This is just a personal opinion but I found it detrimental. I believe the reason it is so filled with horror stories is that as we all know benzodiazepines are taken for psychiatric issues. Trust me, I am not insulting people with psychiatric issues. I have them myself and am very open and forthcoming about them. I'm nothing but supportive of anyone with any kind of psychiatric disorder. I've written about Generalized Anxiety and Panic. Its my entire recovery story. You know from my writing I see a psychiatrist once a week myself. My opinion is that many of the people (most of the people) on that site have psychiatric issues, are taking benzodiazepines without a doctor's knowledge, have gotten themselves addicted to them, have no current doctors support, are trying to get off them all on their own in an improper manner and they are freaking out with each other on that site. I don't find it a good place at all.
I will write a very brief horror story of my own that has a point then move on to positivity. I have been addicted to benzodiazepines for years. A long time ago I tried to taper off them very fast all on my own without any help. I experienced every horror story in the book and thought I was going to die and I went right back to actually taking more of the medication daily after such a horrible experience. End of horror story. The problem was I went too fast. I want to really repeat that twice. The problem was I went too fast.....too fast.
There is no race in getting off benzodiazepines. We've been functioning addicted to them and they don't really totally make our impairment googoo and crazy like alcohol does when we are drunk off our butts. So.....while slowly slowly slowly and sensibly getting off them, we simply continue to take them...and reduce the dosage in a controlled manner so symptoms are minimized or non existent until finally we are free from them. Alcohol, I find we need to get off of immediately because it makes us act like crazy people and our judgement is severely impaired. Not so with benzodiazepines unless we are taking some kind of ridiculous mg doseage to get high.
I've really had no symptoms slowly getting off Xanax Geralt. Actually I feel the healthiest and best I have in my entire life and I have a very positive mental outlook. Yet all the while I am right in the midst of a taper off of benzodiazepines as I write this this morning and I'm perfectly ok. I will be going to work this morning, going to the gym and interacting with my family.
You are welcome to write me always Geralt with any sort of PM you want. You already know that. At the same time, I would encourage you strongly to post what you are doing here publically so that we all can see it and encourage you along as well. I'll be here as long as you want me to be either publically or privately about this. I'd encourage publically but as said PM me anytime.
All that said, I hope you make a promise to me and to sober recovery that if you feel any sort of physical or psychiatric endangerment that you would immediately post that here and see a physician in the Netherlands and tell her or him everything.
Its really a shame this conversation isn't taking place on that other site and is taking place here instead. It really belongs on that site, but I like you don't go there, its not healthy to me to go there. Maybe someone else will see our conversation and it would help them too.
Good luck in facing this, I'm here and so is everyone in sobertobers. I think you already know that.
Hi everyone.
General, we miss you.