Common Benzo Withdrawal Questions and Answers
- I have read that my withdrawal symptoms are a sign of healing. Is this true?
No, symptoms are never a sign of healing. Symptoms, by definition, are signs of a disorder or disease - a change from what is normal - whether in appearance or function. In benzodiazepine withdrawal, symptoms are a sign of change in normal nervous system functioning. Your body doesn't have enough of its own GABA, and it also doesn't have enough benzo to compensate for the deficit. The result is that you experience withdrawal symptoms.
- I often hear and read the term "addicted to benzos". Am I truly addicted to a drug?
No, you are not addicted to a benzodiazepine. An addiction is a psychological condition. Addiction is the continued use of a harmful substance in order to gain some short term pleasure in spite of obvious harm. Benzos lop off the highs and lows of human emotions. The notion of pleasure comes from people who are ignorant of the effects of benzos.
A person becomes physically dependent on benzodiazepines and suffers withdrawal symptoms if benzos are withheld. This is the result of physical dependency sometimes referred to as benzo-sickness. Addiction has become the term incorrectly attached to this syndrome. To say that someone is addicted to benzos is false, demeaning, and prejudicial to innocent iatrogenic benzo victims. The problem is a biological dependence on a benzo to make the nervous system work correctly. It is not an issue of addiction.
- One publication states that "recovery" occurs in "fits and starts" and "is not linear". I have often heard that it is normal for symptoms to wax and wane, and some days I do feel a lot better than other days. Does this mean that recovery is a random process and that we have no control over it?
This notion of non-linear repair is repeated without examination. As a new titration is begun, your usual symptoms may increase and decrease within a 24 hour period. These symptoms are your own syndrome. They fluctuate over a 24 hour period with the greatest degree usually occurring at dawn. While symptoms may remain for a while, over time they fade in intensity. Near the end of your titration, you should experience only very mild symptoms or none at all.
The following are some causes for feeling those fits and starts:
- Your taper plan calls for uneven dosing throughout the day.
- Your taper plan calls for the cut amount to be made in only one of the day's doses making benzo levels markedly uneven.
- Your taper plan calls for dose reductions that exceed your body's ability to quickly adjust to that change.
- Your taper plan calls for dose reductions before a crossover to another benzo has been completed.
- Your taper plan does not take into account the fact that many foods, herbs, and drugs will cause an increase in the liver enzymes (CYP 450) that clear the benzodiazepine from your body. The interactions of these substances can sabotage your effort to maintain a very constant but evenly declining drop in benzo levels. This causes sudden drops in those benzo levels. That causes symptoms to increase.
Actual recovery is the return of the GABA receptors to normal function. Recovery is being confused with symptom fluctuation.
- Is it true that continuing to titrate my dose below 0.5mg of Valium is unnecessary? Wouldn't it be better to 'jump off' at around 0.5mg of Valium so I can be free of benzos?
The results of this practice are clear. This practice will increase symptoms just as it would if you had made a 0.5mg cut at any other time in your taper. To make your last cut a 0.5mg cut of Valium, is in essence a cold turkey withdrawal from that 0.5mg.
The last cut you make should be equal to your usual benzo cut. If your usual cuts have been 0.01mg of Valium, you should cut right down to that last 0.01mg and then make your final cut. It cannot be stressed enough how much pain and damage can be avoided by continuing to taper in this manner.
- I have read that if my taper takes a long time or that I remain holding at a particular dose, I will become more dependent on the benzo and will reach tolerance for my new dose amount. Does this really happen?
To answer this, we must define "more dependent" and tolerance.
Dependent refers to the condition in which your body requires some level of benzo to make your existing GABA do its work. Dependence may come about with benzo use of decades or weeks. It is an individual thing and right now cannot be predicted.
Tolerance means that your body now has just passed the point where the amount of benzo is maintained well enough to still augment GABA and so prevent withdrawal symptoms. After this point, you will need an increased dosage to maintain the same therapeutic effect. Tolerance withdrawal usually is explained as the result of a body's becoming better at clearing the drug. This is done mostly in the liver, and the increased efficiency in clearing the benzo may continue to increase. This allows withdrawal symptoms to appear even when the benzo dosage is not reduced.
When you reduce your daily dosage by an acceptable amount, your body responds by increasing its GABA levels at the proper site. The increased GABA levels make that cut amount of benzo no longer necessary. The change is small. It is done daily in keeping with your body's ability to either up-regulate GABA or to increase its presence at the proper place on the GABA receptor.
You are using small benzo dose reductions resulting in small degrees of repair. Therefore, as you gently reduce the benzo and increase GABA function, you are actually reducing your benzo tolerance. Now think further. If your body did not respond to tapering by improving your GABA status, would you be able to make another cut? What else allowed you to reach zero mgs? You are decreasing your tolerance and not increasing it.
Relax and let your own body do its work.
- While reading, I saw the terms 'water titration', 'milk titration', and 'milk method'. Is it always better to use milk as your liquid for a benzo titration ?
No, you should use a liquid that is compatible with the benzo being titrated. The method may or may not use milk. It is essential to use the liquid or emulsion in which your particular benzo is soluble. Key words are being used without understanding the science behind why a particular liquid is more suitable to a particular benzo.
Milk can aid the creation of a solution. It has properties that make it extremely useful. It contains both water for volume and fat as solvent. Milk is a useful tool for creating a solution, not a suspension. To read more about the difference between a suspension and a solution and why it makes a difference, click here.
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Benzo Victor....not victim
- The days of using a standard, one-size-fits-all method are passing. You no longer have to feel like your withdrawal process is completely out of your hands. Open discussion about all aspects of benzodiazepine withdrawal is key to making wise choices.
- You can help yourself. Being informed is the first step. Be a benzo victor...not a victim.