chelating and coming off sleeping meds

[Guest guest]

Has anyone tried tapering off sleeping meds (benzodiazepines?) whilst

chelating? I went on Lormetazepam 10 months ago because I was

desperate for sleep. They worked and I have slept much better

since. I read recently that the 1mg I take every night is the

equivalent of 10mg of Valium(!) so I decided I should taper off

them. I have dropped my dose by 25% and have pronounced withdrawal

symptoms. I need to keep chelating with DMSA every week as my

mercury symptoms get too bad, but I am worried that I am doing too

much to my body at once. I feel awful, have a big headache and a

constant sore throat, and am very depressed. As far as I can read,

benzo withdrawal affects primarily the adrenals / thyroid / CNS - all

my weak areas!!

There is some debate on benzo forums about the similarity between

benzo addiction and mercury toxicity - but I know that my problems

are due to mercury. I became sick 3 years after a trip to the

dentist, and have the full house of fatigue, weak adrenals / thyroid,

blood sugar problems, and a compromised liver. I am 15 months post-

amalgam removal and have done 20 rounds DMSA at 12.5mg so far. I

take 6.5mg of Pred a day, as well as Armour and T3. I was feeling

better before I tried coming off the sleeping tablets...

I think the answer will be to reinstate at least some of my sleeping

pill dosage to the point that I am more comfortable, and chelate

mercury to get stronger before trying to come off the sleeping pills

completely. Has anyone got any views / input?

thanks

Nicola

[Guest guest]

I am on one of the benzodiazepines (Klonipin) for anxiety, not for

sleep issues. It has been very effective at a low dose. I haven't

tried to wean off of it.

I notice on p 145 of AI, Andy says that these things can be addictive.

One thing that I can suggest is if you want to wean off try to do so

very, very, very gradually. I had major problems weaning off of Paxil

(a totally different thing) but was able to get off of it by weaning

slowly.

The other thing would be to supplement GABA. I found that I felt much

better when I supplemented GABA consistently 4x per day. On p 145

Andy says that " GABA is the natural compound that is similar in action

to these " .

Also, Mg and progesterone are calming and make me sleepy.

J

>

> Has anyone tried tapering off sleeping meds (benzodiazepines?) whilst

> chelating? I went on Lormetazepam 10 months ago because I was

> desperate for sleep. They worked and I have slept much better

> since. I read recently that the 1mg I take every night is the

> equivalent of 10mg of Valium(!) so I decided I should taper off

> them. I have dropped my dose by 25% and have pronounced withdrawal

> symptoms. I need to keep chelating with DMSA every week as my

> mercury symptoms get too bad, but I am worried that I am doing too

> much to my body at once. I feel awful, have a big headache and a

> constant sore throat, and am very depressed. As far as I can read,

> benzo withdrawal affects primarily the adrenals / thyroid / CNS - all

> my weak areas!!

>

> There is some debate on benzo forums about the similarity between

> benzo addiction and mercury toxicity - but I know that my problems

> are due to mercury. I became sick 3 years after a trip to the

> dentist, and have the full house of fatigue, weak adrenals / thyroid,

> blood sugar problems, and a compromised liver. I am 15 months post-

> amalgam removal and have done 20 rounds DMSA at 12.5mg so far. I

> take 6.5mg of Pred a day, as well as Armour and T3. I was feeling

> better before I tried coming off the sleeping tablets...

>

> I think the answer will be to reinstate at least some of my sleeping

> pill dosage to the point that I am more comfortable, and chelate

> mercury to get stronger before trying to come off the sleeping pills

> completely. Has anyone got any views / input?

>

> thanks

> Nicola

>

[Guest guest]

One idea would be to get another non-addictive thing to help with

sleep while you are weaning off the benzo. I am not familiar with

most of the OTC options for sleep, but I know there are some. I have

used benadryl for this purpose and found it very effective at times.

Also, some antidepressants in very low doses (and thus low risk of

side effects) can help with sleep.

Check Andy's suggestions in the book for insomnia. Melatonin is on

his list, I can't remember the rest.

Other thoughts - warm bath with epsom salts in the evening, castor

oil pack (I often sleep with one).

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