I was still withdrawing from other stuff…

I’m currently down to the last drug and it is the benzo.

I don’t eat potatoes…too starchy and they mess with my hypoglycemia. I have found other wonderful natural means to help me sleep and stay relatively balanced.

From my readings and discussion with my nurse practitioner I may need to began reducing the current 1/2 mg/2-3wks to 1/4mg/2-3 wks. soon. (Originally I started reducing at 1mg/1wk).

At this 1/4mg reduction rate I will have been tapering for for a total period of 17 months. (Oct ‘08- March ‘10). I was on 2-3mg of Klonopin. The last 5 mgs. I understand are the most difficult.

As an aside, I’ve been following the eating program set out in “Potatoes Not Prozac” and it’s changing my life before my very eyes, after only a few weeks. Can’t recommend it highly enough.

My w/d symptoms have been mild to moderate, certainly nothing severe. By the end of the year I’ll be free of this poison.

Sadly, most American physicians are ignorant about Benzo use and withdrawal. But thanks to Dr. Ashton and a few ther we can be drug free, safely.

Amen.
I think that is beautiful and I also think that for some brave souls there is still that place….dare I say I’m in it now at least some of the time…

also a place for ecstasy that is not thwarted with chemicals.

I know of people who have left mania’s untreated and came out the other side happier and healthier….more whole….and it was all experienced as a Spiritual Emergency….see my blogroll for info on Spiritual Emergency…

thanks for sharing.

I know this does quite go with the current post, but as I was looking through my past posts I found this quote and thought of you . . .

“She doesn’t want to take St. John’s Wort; she doesn’t want to be on antidepressants; she has stopped going to Dr. Payne. There has to be a place left in modern life for a crisis of the soul, a dark night that doesn’t have a chemical solution.”

Julia Alvarez, Saving the World

I have started withdrawing from Lithium. It gives me a feeling of hope that some day I will be free of the sedation that Lithium provides and that I will be able to live
without it.

I think information, in general, is always a good thing…but not everyone shares that opinion, and I don’t know what she might think.

If you have a relationship to her as a blogger you can let her know I would be willing to talk to her through email.

I certainly understand her issues as laid out in that one post.

http://vicarioustherapy.blogspot.com/2008/06/benzodiazepines-and-me.html

B-12 injections gave me a boost at one time. I don’t take them anymore though. B-6 injections help some people too.

Those are the only B’s I’ve heard people inject…are there others?

My new psychiatrist prescribed 10 milligrams of Adderall and my depression ended the next day, which truly was a miracle. (It was Thanksgiving day; and for the first time in years, I truly was thankful.)

My doctor told me that Adderall was addictive; but he also knew that nothing else had worked for me because I had tried everything else.

When the depression ended, and I can feel it end beneath the medication, we also knew I would have to go off it immediately without titrating down. That’s because my body responds differently to medication than other people, and we figured (correctly) that within one day, the Adderall could cause a hypomania.

When I take Adderall, I have to take Ativan at night to sleep or I can’t sleep at all. As soon as I get off the Adderall, I have to start the withdrawal process for the Ativan; otherwise it produces a residual depression each morning.

I had to figure out this by myself. Hopefully, this is my last bout with both drugs. Because of circadian rhythms, it’s quite likely that I can end the Adderall in July, and then start the two-month withdrawal from Ativan and remain drug-free (forever).

Hopefully, my new wellness regimen will work. Also, I am going to see a doctor about the possibility of injections of “B” vitamins if I start getting depressed in November–a standard period for my depressions–rather than using Adderall. I’ve been researching this and think it might work.

Again, Gianna, thanks for all the info.

Susan

The above applies to long-term chronic use. Occasional inconsistent use is not so much an issue.

I personally will throw away what ever remains when I’m done but that is a philosophical position I’ve chosen. I want to cope naturally with my crap. And basically this withdrawal process is a very good teacher for doing that.