Arcotg - New Member withdrawn from Alprozolam (w/response)

[Guest guest]

<<Hi !

I am a new member, who was on 0.5mg of alprozolam nightly for 3 years before,

reducing the dose to 0.25mg of the Alprozolam till Feb'11 until I was hit with

severe headaches when I lost sleep during the nights and decided to do away with

it by reducing the dosage slowly by split doses of 0.125mg twice. Then finally

do away with it in June '11. It was a so stupid of me to do it, but always

thought, the discomfort and anxiety attacks i experienced never could be due to

this tiny dosage. I was wrong, but I instead, I was running from one specialist

doctor to other to find what was wrong in my body, and they all sent me back

saying it is all in the mind. Though I know, it is the drug withdrawal effect,

till today I continue to believe there is something wrong in the body and have

spent countless hours trying to diagnose the imaginary disease.

Anyway, rightnow, my entire left side feels numb with skin loosening

continuously and heaviness and breathing through the left nostril, chewing food

on the left side, moving the left eye, left hand, left leg, raising the left

lung all seems just too straining.

I have tried many protocols using homeopathy and other suppliments, nothing

gives relief. I have a small daughter ( though I am 49) and I feel, impossible

to feel normal and feel like a 80 year old man with no energy. Though I sleep

for 5 hours, I always feel tired after waking up ( infact more tired ).

My spiritual route towards self-realisation has been severely eroded because of

my difficulty to breath easily. Ofcourse there are some mechanical problems from

my childhood days related nasal passage and breath space available in the

throat, but it is impossible to even breath for some sanity ( tremendous

stress). This is where alprazolam was I thought, was helping me to have some

relief. The muscle twitches coupled with weakness in hands, emaciation of left

thigh ( operated leg), emaciation of muscles in lower abdomen and hip area has

further reduced my stability.

Though I know, I need to reinstate the drug, there is a constant desire to avoid

( but then when I remember my small kid and wife, i feel stupid).

I hope I would get some real help at the earliest to ease my symptoms

temporarily, to get back some sanity in my life.

Thanks for all the wonder articles that I received.

Regards and Love

Arcot>>

** Arcot, you know what you need to do. In fact, you will be very lucky if

reinstating the drug helps. You've let yourself go this way a long time.

There's nothing to fix you except going back on the drug and coming off it

correctly.

Have you ever taken Valium? If there is no reason you should not take Valium

you would be better off to go on Valium instead of going back on Xanax.

The longer you hesitate the more damage is happening in your body.

Regards,

[Guest guest]

<<Oh dear ,

Thank you so much for your feedback. I tried valium, but it makes me feel more

drowsy. I tried Buspar and though it reduces the anxiety during day, it is of no

use to get strength to the weakened muscles. Can I try Buspar alongwith Valium,

if this protocol is permitted.

thanks again

Arcot>>

** Hi Arcot,

Valium and Buspar? It's that kind of thinking that got you where you are

today. It's a terrible idea to take a toxic drug to offset the ill effects of

another toxic drug. Instead, how about if we work at finding the dose that is

helpful to you but not as sedating as you've found it?

The goal is to get you back on a benzodiazepine and hopefully fix your

problems that came from coming off the Xanax too quickly. We don't want to

complicate things by adding yet another drug. We won't know how receptive your

body is to this until we try. Usually there is a 6 week window where one can

reinstate the drug. But changing the drug can end up possibly giving us more

flexibility. This is why I asked about Valium.

How much Valium did you take when you felt drowsy from it? What else, if

anything, were you taking at that time?

Regards,

[Guest guest]

<<Oh dear ,

Thank you so much for your feedback. I tried valium, but it makes me feel more

drowsy. I tried Buspar and though it reduces the anxiety during day, it is of no

use to get strength to the weakened muscles. Can I try Buspar alongwith Valium,

if this protocol is permitted.

thanks again

Arcot>>

** Hi Arcot,

Valium and Buspar? It's that kind of thinking that got you where you are

today. It's a terrible idea to take a toxic drug to offset the ill effects of

another toxic drug. Instead, how about if we work at finding the dose that is

helpful to you but not as sedating as you've found it?

The goal is to get you back on a benzodiazepine and hopefully fix your

problems that came from coming off the Xanax too quickly. We don't want to

complicate things by adding yet another drug. We won't know how receptive your

body is to this until we try. Usually there is a 6 week window where one can

reinstate the drug. But changing the drug can end up possibly giving us more

flexibility. This is why I asked about Valium.

How much Valium did you take when you felt drowsy from it? What else, if

anything, were you taking at that time?

Regards,

[Guest guest]

<<Hi ,

Thank you so much for your reply.

I tried with 5mg of valium one dose at Bed time. It started making me feel

weepy, dull, and much worse the next day. I persisted with this dosage for about

3 days , but I did not find the kind of relief I was expecting. Though it

removed anxiety to an extent, it became more difficult to breath.

I sleep max. 5 hours at night, with nothing during the day. If I still manage a

30min. nap in the afternoon, i feel much worse after the nap. I sincerely feel,

I have a serious respiratory problem in the post-nasal space and my left nostril

is permanently blocked.

My current condition: entire left side feels too heavy. All the muscles from toe

to head on the leftside feels as if they would prefer to sleep than wakeup and

move. On the contrary, right side muscles groups are working great. I feel, life

is too much of a burden to carry any further.

warm thanks again

arcot>>

** Arcot, in my experience, this may be an upper respiratory problem but it

stems from going off a drug too quickly. It is a rebound reaction of the

cholinergic nervous system. The parasympathetic nervous system relies almost

entirely on the cholinergic transmission to function properly. So when either of

these are not functioning well, the other won't be either. Going off a drug too

quickly creates chaos in all neurological systems it causes chaotic misfiring of

neurotransmitters (in this instance it has mostly to do with acetylcholine).

These chemical messengers are relied upon for proper functioning of the

parasympathetic and sympathetic nervous system.

Are you familiar with a drug called Benedryl? Here in the U.S. we can buy it

over the counter (without a prescription) and it is used for people who get

stuffy noses or allergic-type reactions to the trees, flowers, etc. It is from

a family of drugs called anticholinergics.

When a person abruptly (meaning suddenly or too quickly) stops taking a psych

drug, they react by having many different symptoms including stuffed, or over

time, infected nasal passages. Taking a drug or remedy for this only helps

while it's being taken because the cholinergic nervous system is confused and

keeps over-responding.

Here's the hard part -- once you've done this to yourself, the best resolution

is to try to go back on the drug you stopped taking. Success at this varies.

Success is almost guaranteed if a person has only been off the drug 6 weeks or

less. After that, it is less likely to be successful and also difficult to

predict. The best chances are for people who had taken only that one course of

drugs, never a course of any other psychotropic drug.

Other than that, to fix things from where they are now requires lab testing

and a strict supplement protocol. I'd like to be able to tell you things

improve but the worst situations I've seen are people who go off a drug (or

several) too abruptly and then do absolutely nothing but wait. The most common

outcome is that they become completely disabled.

Where do you live and what kind of access do you have to alternative

practitioners?

Regards,

[Guest guest]

<<Hi ,

Thank you so much for your reply.

I tried with 5mg of valium one dose at Bed time. It started making me feel

weepy, dull, and much worse the next day. I persisted with this dosage for about

3 days , but I did not find the kind of relief I was expecting. Though it

removed anxiety to an extent, it became more difficult to breath.

I sleep max. 5 hours at night, with nothing during the day. If I still manage a

30min. nap in the afternoon, i feel much worse after the nap. I sincerely feel,

I have a serious respiratory problem in the post-nasal space and my left nostril

is permanently blocked.

My current condition: entire left side feels too heavy. All the muscles from toe

to head on the leftside feels as if they would prefer to sleep than wakeup and

move. On the contrary, right side muscles groups are working great. I feel, life

is too much of a burden to carry any further.

warm thanks again

arcot>>

** Arcot, in my experience, this may be an upper respiratory problem but it

stems from going off a drug too quickly. It is a rebound reaction of the

cholinergic nervous system. The parasympathetic nervous system relies almost

entirely on the cholinergic transmission to function properly. So when either of

these are not functioning well, the other won't be either. Going off a drug too

quickly creates chaos in all neurological systems it causes chaotic misfiring of

neurotransmitters (in this instance it has mostly to do with acetylcholine).

These chemical messengers are relied upon for proper functioning of the

parasympathetic and sympathetic nervous system.

Are you familiar with a drug called Benedryl? Here in the U.S. we can buy it

over the counter (without a prescription) and it is used for people who get

stuffy noses or allergic-type reactions to the trees, flowers, etc. It is from

a family of drugs called anticholinergics.

When a person abruptly (meaning suddenly or too quickly) stops taking a psych

drug, they react by having many different symptoms including stuffed, or over

time, infected nasal passages. Taking a drug or remedy for this only helps

while it's being taken because the cholinergic nervous system is confused and

keeps over-responding.

Here's the hard part -- once you've done this to yourself, the best resolution

is to try to go back on the drug you stopped taking. Success at this varies.

Success is almost guaranteed if a person has only been off the drug 6 weeks or

less. After that, it is less likely to be successful and also difficult to

predict. The best chances are for people who had taken only that one course of

drugs, never a course of any other psychotropic drug.

Other than that, to fix things from where they are now requires lab testing

and a strict supplement protocol. I'd like to be able to tell you things

improve but the worst situations I've seen are people who go off a drug (or

several) too abruptly and then do absolutely nothing but wait. The most common

outcome is that they become completely disabled.

Where do you live and what kind of access do you have to alternative

practitioners?

Regards,