How LONG do Benzo Withdrawal Symptoms Last (my experience) 

Congrats for getting off and glad to hear you are improving. Slow and steady

Being still on my journey, taking slow affordable steps, please tell me what a benzo belly is?

@@regineheine5707 For me, my stomach gets severly bloated and looks like I'm 9 months pregnant.

thanks for sharing, David. I think that's great advice bcos the symptoms will indeed make you feel like you are going crazy

Cheers Jonny

thanks a lot for this. This is great advice.

20 years, multiple benzo types, I'm gonna die

@@logicone5667 Keep your head up brother. Is your body capable of exercise? Though for short duration, it helps with the hopelesness. Also the Wim Hof breathing method helped me a lot in lowering stress hormones, but only in the later stages of recovery. Wishing you a strong recovery journey

@@Jahzeta not so much now. I'll have to work soon as it's a requirement of probation. I'm doing a fast taper. I live in the worst state for drug treatment (Indiana) and can't do inpatient. I'll be good if I drop just as long as it's.

I bet I can workout, I walk a lot, pace for weeks.

"nobody understands except people who've been through it." 100%

@@windowsNwavesEven psychiatrists don’t know better.They should.

@@regineheine5707 they most definitely should

I'm so sorry Scott. Have you had any improvements over those 7 years?

@@windowsNwaves kicking goals now , Still a bit of fibromyalgia in my legs and short term memory loss.👊🙏

I am very glad to hear that. Not out of the woods obviously but still. I don't know if we are ever out of the woods with this shit@@scottshaw1714

@@windowsNwaves in my opinion, I damaged my central nervous systems. I can still feel deep within myself that I’m very lucky to have survived this. With the right mindset and mental strength to fight all of my demons.I found the big fella and I’ve realised now that he had my back right through my 7 years of living with the devil.Kinesiology helped me strengthen my mind to deal with all the pains that come with akathisia, Fibromyalgia and millions of other difficulties that long term use causes , I paddled a SUP every morning for 2/6 hours, this and my loved rescue dog Molly keeps me grounded.👊🙏❤️

Also 4mg clonazepam. 25 years prescribed use. Taken off over 3 1/2 weeks 5 years ago. Severely protracted. Have a neurologist report attesting to that.

Yes, I think it certainly doesn't help the longer you are on, but at a certain point i think there is only so much down regulation of GABA receptors that can happen...

Yes I agree. The rewiring of the brain back to normality can be excruciatingly and psychologically painful. Most won't make it. Especially women.

Yup. It differs.. I couldn't sleep for 3 weeks, I think that hurt me a lot. Tinnitus is unreal lately. 16 months sober, prescribed 17 years. I had hypomania for weeks and thought after the first 30 days when psychological effects almost stopped (except some memory loss) maybe it was over. NOPE. I even told my wife I felt way better. I did, then my body started. Akathasia SUCKS. I gained 20 pounds somehow too. Tight neck n chest, Tinnitus. I can't figure out the tight neck/chest. Naps ruin me. Avoid at all costs. Suicide and death thought all day every single day for months, psychological effects didn't stop until about 8-12 month as far as that. I feel way better unless I nap! Better isn't... better... hahaha

well said. Not a race and everyone's pace is different.

Ohh I haven't talked about this in any of the videos but I have also had many panic attacks when driving. Now where I live I mostly ride a small motorbike which is much more manageable for me, even though on the surface it is obviously more dangerous s

What are you struggling with still?

Everything I have a hard time concentrating I can’t feel a lot and I don’t feel like myself dizzy everything I eat drink or chew on I’m sensitive to I have been doing this for almost 4 years I thought I would heal by now I had two fast tapers fail had to reinstate at one point I didn’t sleep for a couple months

Hi Pam, I am so sorry to hear that you are being forced off. No one should be forced off these drugs. It is psychiatrist forcing you off? Do they have a taper plan in place?

@@windowsNwaves no plan

Your psych is forcing you off with no plan?? I would try to see someone else as soon as you can. Have a look at benzoinfo.com under their resources and see if you can connect with a provider that can get you a plan @@pamridenour5824

@@windowsNwaves government has bound doctors hands. Nothing they can do. As s bipolar person I'm waiting for the government to outlaw lithium.

@@windowsNwaves life is going to suck from here on out. Don't see any good days ahead.

hi there. Antihistamines are generally not addictive, but you can build up a tolerance to them which can lead to you upping the dosage. Unfortuantely, some of the "drowsy side effect' antihistamines are anticholinergic drugs. Research on those is not promising : www.health.harvard.edu/blog/common-anticholinergic-drugs-like-benadryl-linked-increased-dementia-risk-201501287667 That said -- while you should of course talk to a doctor and I am not one -- taking benadryl for a couple of months probably helped me keep my sanity and I would have likely never slept during that time without it.

Only take 1 when you can't sleep. There's absolutely no reason to take more. That helped me a lot getting sleep around a month after, I couldn't sleep no matter what though for 3 weeks. Not a single minute. I'm at month 16, took valium 17 years. Tight neck n chest, tinnitus, occasional akathasia. Napping is a BAD idea. I swear!!!!

@@windowsNwaves What about melatonine ?

Anxiety is an ongoing battle but I would say at the 9 month mark it was way less along with the derealization episodes. I ddidnt have any DP/DR after the 9 month mark.

@@windowsNwaves how was your routine like during this period?

@@isaacm159 my routine was all over the place depending at what point I was at during my withdrawal. By 9 months I was making sure to get outside as much as possible, take long walks, drink lots of water, eat as healthily as I could with the MCAS symptoms etc. I made this calendar for myself and every day I got through it was like a ceremonial thing marking it off on the calendar. Time is key.

Fuck meee. I am so so so sorry. Such a brutal setback from something that seems like it could not be a big deal. Have those 15 months been more or less the same? Some improvement? Sending you love and healing

@@windowsNwaves its pretty brutal. First 8 months was akathesia. That left. I have extreme agoraphobia now (this sounds even absurb to me, dude i was a security k9 guard at pubs and clubs) and never sufferred from it with my initial withdrawal. I cant even leave my house now. Litterally start shaking and get lightheaded, its 100% NOT mental in my head. The setback gave it to me). Im burning. Im swaying side to side like a pendulum. Severe back and nerve pain. Im now "sensitive and allergic" to bassically all foods. I eat rice and meat and drink water. I was drinking coffees and coke prior to setback from antibiotic. Its turned my life upside down completley. The crazy thing is that I never really believed people that such a thing could happen. And yes its very very real. So if any advice I can give you. Your one day going to be 5years ofd benzos and consider yourself healed. Then you take an antibiotic or other drug and get thrown into litterally hell. And when I mean hell, imagine withdrawal thats 5x worse than the initial you went through. Unable to stand or walk type withdrawal. So yeah, its 15 months and unrelenting. I fear ive done alot of damage nor do I believe in "full healing". I do believe we all get to a point of 90% recovery "eventually" but we "simply lie in wait" until our next trigger. I do believe that the drug causes massive neuronal changes at a deep celluar level.especially to do with the histamine h3 brain receptors. There is many people at 12 years off and still just as sick as they were at 5 months off.. I totally see why now. It can and does happen.

I had akathesia for 8 months. Lost everything dude. Please please research meds before you take them. Take antibiotics when its life or death. And same with PEPCID. Pure evil. Im a real mess.

I am 613 days off now and I would say yes, I am back to normal..I'm better than my baseline even.. but that's thanks to a lot of other lifestyle changes as well

No I have stopped taking it. It is not a controlled medicine. The generic name is diphenhydramine.

I was taking it nightly to help fall asleep but ended up with Afib - Benadryl will cause it - so be very careful.

​@@THXx1138good to point this out, thanks. And that's not to mention the possible long term neurological side effects

Hi there, please send me an email at lifeafterbenzos@gmail.com

@@windowsNwaves I'm doing it now thanks

Yes. Indeed Akathesia. My bad. My computer freezes half the time I try to go back and edit things on this piece of junk.

@@windowsNwaves’m tapering off of benzodiazepines prescribed to me for 14 years. It’s horrible. The whole mind altering state of benzodiazepines Is unbelievable

​@windowsNwaves You did good. I was looking what kind of videos were on RU-vid, I wrote a script myself. I want to warn people. It's been worse than anything anyone can prepare for... thanks man. Month 16, took valium 17 years. Akathasia SUCKS. I only get it lately if I mess up my sleeping pattern. There's something to that... I swear! Tinnitus every day.. again bad sleep/naps (any napping at all) makes my Tinnitus soooooo loud it's almost unbearable. Tight chest n neck. That's all... getter way better. Cheers.

Sorry mate can you translate that

@@windowsNwaves I used to benzo as long as 4 years...now dosis 0,25 Mg..I eat benzo 3x in a day...how the way to stop it?

@@naya-fadilla I can't give medical advice here. I would see a doctor that understands the harms of benzo withdrawal and get on a tapering schedule (although it sounds like you may already be tapering?). Have you read this: www.benzoinfo.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/Ashton-Manual.pdf

@@windowsNwaves first time i use benzo i 4 Mg in a day...but step by step i tapering until 0,25 mg..need 3 years to 0,25 mg

That was probably the worst for me as well. It was 5 months going into 6 that I honestly wanted to die as well. It was a bit after 6 months that it started improving somewhat and then 9-12 months where things really started to get better. I honestly thought it would never happen. Hang in there. It will get better. It might not be this month or next. But it will. Time is the medicine.

@windowsNwaves was you in bed losing your mind no joy?

How are you now ?

@@jrman413 8 months off and suffering

@@user-tz1ni5dw5ghow are you today 1year

Were you forced to cold turkey?

Yes. Remarkably so. Before I was taking 50mg just to have a shot at falling asleep. Now I'm falling asleep on my own.

When your sleep return to normal?

I really started noticing an improvement in the 8-9 month mark, but many nights I was still taking benadryl to fall asleep. It was 12 months+ that I stopped taking benadryl completely. I still supplement with Magnesium threonate and l-theanine these days, but those are widely considered to be net positives for physical health and anyway, they have a light footprint compared to drugs! @@buangbenzo

​@@windowsNwaves some sources say that magnesium threonate crosses the blood brain barrier which can interfere with recovery for individuals whose GABA receptors are already sensitive, is difficult to stop and interferes with GABA and glutamate receptors. what is your experience like? Do you still use it to aid sleep? Do you develop chemical sensitivity during withdrawal? Bcos i do and i'd be very careful when trying new supplements

I did have suicidal thoughts..never with honest intention. But I did think a lot about how much relief death would bring. And yes, certainly depression. I was in a really dark place. 5 months was a rough time for me as well. What were you taking, how long etc. and taper?

@@windowsNwaves I'm polydrugged (Took Zoloft 2 days, Klonopin 15 days and zopiclone 5 days) after a bad reaction from a medicine called Reglan. I stopped all cold turkey after this short term because they were causing more problems. I have so much pain now. I do not know if I will make it

How are you going? I hope you have found some improvement 🙏

​@@windowsNwavesI wanted to cut me throat with a knife during insomnia nights.. Then I went back to benzos

​@@windowsNwavesnow I am considering to slowly stopping these medicine

Sorry that should read depersonalization, it's when you start to feel detached from yourself, both your body and mind, thoughts etc. you start to feel outside of yourself. It's terrifying when it happens. Absolutely awful

@@windowsNwaves Whoa! So sorry for you and everyone in your situation. Cant believe these terrible pills are prescribed legally by doctors. I’m developing anxiety, but I’m terrified of these pills. I ain’t taking em EVER! I took one once and it gave me a panic attack. That’s how I got here. Doing research on these meds. No way man. I’m just gonna to accept my anxiety and roll with it. I couldn’t go through what you guys are going through. It’s torture for years! My heart just breaks for all you people. You’ve truly been victimized by the medical system. Truly hope you feel better very soon

​@@bigd5080you are definitely right to steer clear of them. I am off now for nearly two years. Still have plenty of anxiety but my anxiety is now better than it was before I started taking benzos. And that's through mostly lifestyle changes. Thanks for your message

@@bigd5080 So good to hear that you are learning from our mistakes. Would not wish this torture on anyone and nice to see that you are aware of the situation without having to go through this hell. For many that have been through this it is comforting to realize that speaking out can prevent even one person from having to go through the same experience. After everything is said and done...learn to cope with the anxiety either now or later....but leaving the pills out of the picture will save you from a world of hurt. Thanks for your compassion in understanding the horrors of these medications and wish you all the best.

@@bigd5080 Reach out for the roots of your anxiety. Watching videos of Jerry Wise was an eye opener to me. Felt sad at first, but improved my vision why I went through periods of depression since I was a child. The patterns showing up in my family of origin went on into my adult life. I “ found” and attracted partners who followed the same pattern . I am on my recovery journey now. I am 67 . I am not angry . I didn’t know better. At times I couldn’t stand wind, it scared me. Doesn’t anymore.There is hope. Every individual is equipped with all the means necessary. Otherwise nature would have implemented a “ system” to cope with this. In healthy families caregivers are in charge to help developing means to self soothing and independence. Lambs stand up and walk one hour after being born. Humans don’t.That’s why the impact is so huge.