Patience.
 

I haven't much of it. Like many of us, maybe drawn to alcohol for the immediate effects. I am getting off xanax and have barely drank this past 5 weeks- I have another week solid now. So week one is behind me. I am a bit lightheaded from time to time. I went through this before with benzos and I know it sucks. But I just wish I could stop and be done with it instead of this long drawn out process. It makes me feel like quitting drinking is not a victory because I have to go through this as well.

The days when I did not take benzos and could recover from drinking with a hangover then get on with my life are gone. That really scares me. I think I am making progress and then I get lightheaded or feel wierd and see how far I have to go with the benzos. I am not on a high dose but it still isn't too great.

WTH have I done to myself :( I feel like a jacka**

Hi Sleepie. While I have no dorect experience of other drugs, I am aware of just how difficult and drawn out is the process of withdrawing from benzos. When I was newly sober, time seemed to go incredibly slowly, 3 weeks seemed longer than three years, so it must be even more difficult with benzo in the picture.

All I can suggest is taking it one day, one hour, one minute at a time. It WILL pass and it WILL be worth the effort. As a detox nurse explained to a woman I was working with who was withdrawing from benzos," if you are still taking the same amounts in two months time, everything will be the same, nothing will have got better, this drug is not working to make you better."

In early days I found the fellowship of AA very helpful, though, without the program, it was not sufficient to keep me sober.

You haven't done anything to yourself to feel guilty about. You have an illness to which there is a solution. It is possible to recover completely and have a life way better than you can imagine. Hang on to that, a better life is ahead.

one thing to check with the light headedness is sugar that your eating enough etc.. or maybe you need a piece of fruit to snack on or something.

and that feeling of wierdness yeah i know that one. Sometimes I feel something kinda like light headedness or dizzyness or as if things go in slow motion briefly. I got nothing on this tho no idea it comes and goes for me. Vertigo? heck do i know.

i know since i started eating more carbohydrates in my case the lightheadedness eased up some. I've also now learned that in the evenings if i' tired i'll also get lightheaded and feel like i might pass out. its taken me a long time to figure this one out and best I can figure is i'm simply tired and need to go lay down.

Carbs send my blood sugar high. I don't eat them. Maybe in a few weeks I'll feel better.

Oh, yeah. There are all kind of adjustments and phases to grow through. My latest, probably inspired by my relapse of last month: peripheral hallucinations. Corner of my eye kinda things. I was really getting wierded out last night. I stood up, turned around, and waited a moment. The moth I thought was hallucination fluttered up the wall behind where I had been sitting. That was relieving.

Force yourself to practice patience Sleepie it really helps with improving it

That works for me