![[dr. bob]](/dr-bob-sm.gif)
Dr. Bob is Robert Hsiung, MD,
bob@dr-bob.orgShown: posts 1 to 5 of 5. This is the beginning of the thread.
Posted by gloryb on August 30, 2002, at 14:30:39
I was wondering what the consensus is on this.
I'd been posting some things on tranxene, which
is a benzo. It had been increased by 3.75mg
per day. I'd only taken that much extra for a
couple of weeks. When the initial symptoms subsided
I stopped the morning 1/2 pill and kept taking the 7.5 at
night one. This had been my dose for a long time
and I was taking it for seizures. It had been
raised when another seizure med caused trouble
and I was having both anxiety and seizures.I felt great for the first couple of days. Then
the trouble started and it's consistant with
mild symptoms of benzo withdrawal. I'm wondering
if I should have tapered. I've been off the
morning dose one week and I'd like to keep going
if I can since I've gone this far. It seems crazy
to take a half pill every other day now or go
back to 1/4 pill or something like that. If I
cold-turkeyed for one week without knowing what
I was doing I should keep going. I had no idea
such a small dose would have that effect!I have anxiety, depression, some headache, sleeplessness,
inability to enjoy anything, etc. I figured
something was weird as I'd never experienced
anything like this in my life.Has anyone had a similar experience? How long
does this last before things go back to normal.
I'm hoping for the best since I'm one week into
this now.Thanks for all your help. And I think anyone
who takes these drugs for fun and gets addicted
needs them for real because they can't be
wired correctly!!
Posted by BrittPark on August 30, 2002, at 17:06:59
In reply to Withdrawing from a milder benzo, posted by gloryb on August 30, 2002, at 14:30:39
People's susceptibility to benzo withdrawal is quite variable. On average a person having taken 50% more of a benzo for 2 weeks is likely to have very mild withdrawal symptoms if any upon going back to the previous dose. However, Occam's razor says that you are very likely having withdrawal symptoms. The rule of thumb for tapering any psychoactive medication is no more than a 20% change every week. You might consider going back to taking your morning dose and tapering much more slowly.
Hoping you feel better soon,
Britt
Posted by totoslim on August 31, 2002, at 11:49:57
In reply to Tranxene withdrawal, posted by BrittPark on August 30, 2002, at 17:06:59
Be careful abou the tranxene I ttok for 3 weeks and stoped suddenly- it was terrible- anxiety, insomnia- I took it with effexor and had no idea about withdrawal now i know ( my doctor in hospital also had no idea)
Be careful with benzos and taper of slowly
Posted by gloryb on August 31, 2002, at 13:38:21
In reply to Re: Tranxene withdrawal, posted by totoslim on August 31, 2002, at 11:49:57
>Be careful abou the tranxene I ttok for 3 weeks
>and stoped suddenly- it was terrible-
>anxiety, insomnia- I took it with effexor and
>had no idea about withdrawal
>now i know ( my doctor in hospital also had no idea)These docs should warn us before giving us
these things and before changing doses. Since
I wasn't taking tranxene primarily as a psych
drug I was thinking of it as my other anti-
convulsants, which you can decrease by 1/2 pill
without a problem.How long did your symptoms persist? I'm hoping
since I've not totally stopped taking the drug
and simply dropped the dose back too quickly
I'll be feeling better soon.I have noticed today that a few things help.
Yesterday I was stressing over it. Bad thing
to do. I'm relaxing today and not worrying about
things. As a result I'm finding I feel better
and the symptoms sort of come in waves and then
go away. Hopefully this is the beginning of
the resolution!BTW---I'd already decided to change neuro docs
and this has sealed the decision. In fact, I
think I'll have the new one change my other meds
so I can remove the rest of the tranxene----very
slowly this time, and with a doc's advice all
the way!!gloryb
Posted by totoslim on August 31, 2002, at 15:27:27
In reply to Re: Tranxene withdrawal » totoslim, posted by gloryb on August 31, 2002, at 13:38:21
The symptoms lasted a little bit but i had no idea that the anxiety is caused by tranxene withdrawal- i also took effexor for depresion-it blocked my suicidal thinking but very low mood and fatigue were intorelable. So I did not know what was the cause of the anxiety- I have not got any anxiety berore- maybe the effexor caused it ( but I doubt)- I am 90% sure that tranxene withdrawal made effexor worked bad after three weeks of good action.
now I am taking zoloft 100mg and I will see (I weean off zyprexa from 5 mg through 2,5mg 1,25 mg to 0 now ) as an augument and we will see how it goes I hope depression will not return and I will be free of antipsychotics.
regards
totoslim
This is the end of the thread.
Psycho-Babble Medication | Extras | FAQ
Dr. Bob is Robert Hsiung, MD,
bob@dr-bob.org
Script revised: February 4, 2008
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/cgi-bin/pb/mget.pl
Copyright 2006-17 Robert Hsiung.
Owned and operated by Dr. Bob LLC and not the University of Chicago.