Recovering benzo addict needing help
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Join Date: Sep 2011
Location: Asheville,NC
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Recovering benzo addict needing help
I'm new to this forum. A bit of background first. I'm 35 and have been abusing marijuana since high school and the past 5yrs I've been eating klonopins. My Dr prescribed them to me for sleep. I had no idea how bad benzodiazepine's were for you or how easliy I could become addicted. But now I know after having to go to rehab for 28 days. They took me off them cold turkey. I've been out of rehab now for almost 3 weeks and have been going to NA meetings 5 days a week. It's a good group that I go to but it's hard to relate. Most people in NA are there for opiates or cocaine and I feel different. They say keep coming back so I am but I need a sponsor and have no idea how to get one. Do I make an announcement in the meeting? I quit smoking cigs as well so I don't really hang before or after meetings. I'm kinda just going to the meetings and listening right now. I'm having nitemares daily. I've been isolating myself cause most of my friends still drink and smoke weed. I'm constantly bored it seems. I'd like to start step work but I don't know where to begin. At the meetings everyone talks about how things in their lives just keep getting better but right now I don't see any improvement in mine. Alcohol was never my drug of choice but now all I want to do is drink. I know I shouldn't but I can't help the urges. I feel as I could control it ya know? But maybe thats just the disease talking. Not sure what to do at this point. I've been doing a lot of reading and hanging out with a girl. But she still smokes pot and drinks but not in front of me and not a lot either. I've also heard that caffeine is bad for benzo withdrawal, is that true? Well enough rambling, any words of advice would be appreciated. I'm 45 days sober and tryn to make it another 45. Thx for your help.
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Join Date: Jan 2011
Posts: 1,126
If you seriously want to do NA, you should get a sponsor. And don't think you are unique in regards to benzo withdrawal. Most of the NA and AA rooms I've been in, even though benzos weren't the common drug of choice, I've found those who know the unique withdrawal experience the can create.
How much were you taking? I was prescribed 20 milligrams of Klonopin per day for years, and my withdrawal was something that wasn't fun even with medical supervision.
I was confused in your post; you say that you are abstaining from alcohol? Or not? Alcohol acts on the same neurotransmitters as benzos -- in a different way, but it still tickles them -- and anecdotes scream that booze will aggravate withdrawal.
As far as hanging around people who still smoke pot and drink, well, I couldn't do it. I had to dedicate myself to recovery, and that entailed hanging only with others in recovery.
If you have been off benzos for a month, the worst is behind you. The dangers of seizures, hallucinations, palpitations, high blood pressure, all are in the past. However, I do strongly urge you to consult a doctor, be honest in how much you were taking, write down you symptoms, consult the benzo support forums online, and keep going to meetings.
Recovery takes months and years, not 45 days. Do get a sponsor. Share in a meeting that you want a temporary sponsor, and I'm sure you will have several people come up to offer support.
You took the leap and went to rehab. Are your sure you want to stay sober? I only ask since you are hanging around someone who still smokes pot and drinks. I just don't think that's wise, weather this girl has your heart wrapped tight or not.
I'm glad you're here and glad you're posting. Recovery is work. But you do have to work at it every hour of every day for months before you start seeing your own life getting better.
How much were you taking? I was prescribed 20 milligrams of Klonopin per day for years, and my withdrawal was something that wasn't fun even with medical supervision.
I was confused in your post; you say that you are abstaining from alcohol? Or not? Alcohol acts on the same neurotransmitters as benzos -- in a different way, but it still tickles them -- and anecdotes scream that booze will aggravate withdrawal.
As far as hanging around people who still smoke pot and drink, well, I couldn't do it. I had to dedicate myself to recovery, and that entailed hanging only with others in recovery.
If you have been off benzos for a month, the worst is behind you. The dangers of seizures, hallucinations, palpitations, high blood pressure, all are in the past. However, I do strongly urge you to consult a doctor, be honest in how much you were taking, write down you symptoms, consult the benzo support forums online, and keep going to meetings.
Recovery takes months and years, not 45 days. Do get a sponsor. Share in a meeting that you want a temporary sponsor, and I'm sure you will have several people come up to offer support.
You took the leap and went to rehab. Are your sure you want to stay sober? I only ask since you are hanging around someone who still smokes pot and drinks. I just don't think that's wise, weather this girl has your heart wrapped tight or not.
I'm glad you're here and glad you're posting. Recovery is work. But you do have to work at it every hour of every day for months before you start seeing your own life getting better.
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Join Date: Jan 2011
Posts: 1,126
About coffee: I had to avoid all stimulants for a month or more, gradually finding that I could tolerate coffee. I smoked like a beagle hooked up to a cancer study machine, and had to drop the B Vitamins I was prescribed.
Diet, exercise and meetings were critical to my early recovery. And insomnia was persistent for a long period in early withdrawal, but after a month or so settled out.
Please do consult a doctor.
And do be wary of Dr. Google. I had the and have a penchant for reading about symptoms, then developing them!
Any tinnititus? I had that for about six months, but it went away.
Diet, exercise and meetings were critical to my early recovery. And insomnia was persistent for a long period in early withdrawal, but after a month or so settled out.
Please do consult a doctor.
And do be wary of Dr. Google. I had the and have a penchant for reading about symptoms, then developing them!
Any tinnititus? I had that for about six months, but it went away.
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Join Date: Sep 2011
Location: Asheville,NC
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Im not drinking alcohol. I completely drug free right now. When I was taking the prescription my doc had me on 3mg per day. I was taking 5 or 6mg per day. When I came off I had some severe anxiety, panic attacks, and mild hallucinations. How long before my withdrawal symptoms go away?
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