Galmond10: need advice

[Galmond10]

9 minutes ago, Altostrata said:

What is your current daily symptom pattern? Are you taking any drugs or supplements? Getting regular gentle exercise? How's your sleep?

 

Looking back over the last 6 months, how has your symptom pattern changed?

I usually have body pain daily with the severity changing daily or even intra day. I have vertigo daily with it never going away for 2 years now. Has it gotten better sins not as worse as the beginning but worse then it was when it seem to be getting better.

As far as supplements I tried many over the years but only took fish oil and magnesium religiously until a few weeks ago where I stopped taking them because I felt like there was no benefit.

The last six months are hard to describe I've had my best window and one of my worst waves ever lasting almost 3 months. I've had no major things change except my vertigo being consistently bad.

[Altostrata]

As you know, we don't know of a way to reverse post-acute withdrawal syndrome (PAWS).

 

Have you considered a few beads of Effexor, as mammaP suggested?

[ChessieCat]

On 4/28/2020 at 5:19 AM, Galmond said:

Was wondering does anyone have information or know someone that may have tried stem cell therapy to help rebuild there CNS after as withdrawal?

 

6 hours ago, Galmond said:

I don't seem to get many responses if any but here goes. Does anyone know or have information about vertigo as a withdrawal symptom. I've had vertigo for 2 years now and I'm just wondering if there is anything I can do to make it heal faster. Any info would be appreciated.

 

There are many existing topics on SA.  I like to use a search engine and add survivingantidepressants.org to my search term.

 

I suggest you do two separate searches, one for stem cell and one for vertigo.

[Galmond10]

17 minutes ago, ChessieCat said:

 

 

There are many existing topics on SA.  I like to use a search engine and add survivingantidepressants.org to my search term.

 

I suggest you do two separate searches, one for stem cell and one for vertigo.

I have already. But thanks.

[Altostrata]

No, stem cell therapy for withdrawal syndrome doesn't make any sense. No one would give it to you anyway.

[Galmond10]

On 6/27/2020 at 3:09 AM, Altostrata said:

No, stem cell therapy for withdrawal syndrome doesn't make any sense. No one would give it to you anyway.

Thanks for thoughts. But never say no one. I'm in Florida and there are two companies willing to give me treatment now. And just out of curiosity what about doesn't make sense.

[Galmond10]

On 6/26/2020 at 6:57 PM, Altostrata said:

As you know, we don't know of a way to reverse post-acute withdrawal syndrome (PAWS).

 

Have you considered a few beads of Effexor, as mammaP suggested?

At this point in time 2 years with no meds no it really isn't a consideration. But thanks for the suggestion.

[Altostrata]

Okay, seem like you do not want my suggestions. If you don't mind, I won't be responding to your topic any more. Please do not tag me.

[Galmond10]

34 minutes ago, Altostrata said:

Okay, seem like you do not want my suggestions. If you don't mind, I won't be responding to your topic any more. Please do not tag me.

I must say over the years I've read some very interesting and informative things that you have wrote. A lot of Wich were very helpful. I envisioned a very smart and caring person. I guess I was wrong. And a nother not there is no reason to be be rude if a person doesn't do what you suggest that's why it's called a suggestion.

[Altostrata]

Rather demanding of you, isn't it?

[Galmond10]

Yes I'm so demanding.

[Altostrata]

You may find a Facebook withdrawal group more to your liking.

[ChessieCat]

8 hours ago, Galmond said:

At this point in time 2 years with no meds no it really isn't a consideration.

 

I'd like to offer my personal opinion.  Having just been through almost 2 weeks of intense issues (not related to withdrawal) I can understand desperation.  Sometimes it isn't the intensity but the duration and we start to feel worn out, or what they call battle weary.  When we are feeling so desperate it can be very difficult to make rational decisions.

 

Psychiatric drugs are very strong.  My own experience was reducing my dose by 50% and after 2 weeks not being able to type.  I am a professional typist.  SA suggested taking extra drug and about 4 hours later I could type again.  I had a benchmark and knew it was related to the drug and not placebo.

 

You are considering stem cell therapy which will have it's risks and possibly drugs of some type may be used/needed.  However, the issues that you are experiencing are related to psychiatric drug/s.  I think a much better option would be to try 1 bead of Effexor.  If after 1 week nothing has worsened, but just stayed the same or only a tiny improvement, you could then increase by another bead.  I think this would be worth trying first.

 

We have a member here who had tapered slowly with minimal issues and stopped at a low dose.  But they were still experiencing some uncomfortable withdrawal symptoms.  For a little while afterwards they would dip a toothpick in their drug liquid and put that on their tongue and it made a difference.  Another member (Fresh) would sometimes take a tiny little bit of powder and found doing that helped.

[Galmond10]

I am actually part of a Facebook group. What's sad is that a person that seeks help because they hate there life and wish they where dead most days trys to find some reasoning or answers to his life in hell and I get disrespected and I get two warnings from altostratus for being mean or rude to a moderater. And I have done no such thing. Let me guess I'm going to get a nother warning for doing nothing wrong.

[Galmond10]

1 minute ago, ChessieCat said:

 

I'd like to offer my personal opinion.  Having just been through almost 2 weeks of intense issues (not related to withdrawal) I can understand desperation.  Sometimes it isn't the intensity but the duration and we start to feel worn out, or what they call battle weary.  When we are feeling so desperate it can be very difficult to make rational decisions.

 

Psychiatric drugs are very strong.  My own experience was reducing my dose by 50% and after 2 weeks not being able to type.  I am a professional typist.  SA suggested taking extra drug and about 4 hours later I could type again.  I had a benchmark and knew it was related to the drug and not placebo.

 

You are considering stem cell therapy which will have it's risks and possibly drugs of some type may be used/needed.  However, the issues that you are experiencing are related to psychiatric drug/s.  I think a much better option would be to try 1 bead of Effexor.  If after 1 week nothing has worsened, but just stayed the same or only a tiny improvement, you could then increase by another bead.  I think this would be worth trying first.

 

We have a member here who had tapered slowly with minimal issues and stopped at a low dose.  But they were still experiencing some uncomfortable withdrawal symptoms.  For a little while afterwards they would dip a toothpick in their drug liquid and put that on their tongue and it made a difference.  Another member (Fresh) would sometimes take a tiny little bit of powder and found doing that helped.

 

[Galmond10]

Hello. I'm interested in a story written about a women that wrote about her coming off benzos. She was a medical professional and wrote her story very well. I found it on this site almost 3 years ago. I desperately need to find it again. Thanks in advance

[Galmond10]

Hello. I was 2 and a half years free from meds. I cold turkey from cymbalta.  8 weeks ago I had a cervical fusion. They put me on valium. It's slow dose but because I wasn't fully healed from my cold turkey cymbalta I'm have tons of symptoms that are debilitating. Any recommendations or suggestions on how to taper of valium.

[Altostrata]

Welcome, Galmond10.

 

What are the symptoms you're having now? Are you taking any other drugs?

 

In what form and dosage is your Valium? @Shep and @Frogie will consult.

[Galmond10]

1 hour ago, Altostrata said:

Welcome, Galmond10.

 

What are the symptoms you're having now? Are you taking any other drugs?

 

In what form and dosage is your Valium? @Shep and @Frogie will consult.

Twelve weeks at 5mg or less a day.

Burning, tingling, itchy skin. Serve muscle spasms and pain, in leg, agitation, trouble sleeping, dizziness and stomach issues.

Also on Flexeril  5mg three times daily. Just dropped Flexeril to 2 twice daily.

[Altostrata]

Have you discussed your apparent adverse reaction with your doctors?

[Galmond10]

1 minute ago, Altostrata said:

Have you discussed your apparent adverse reaction with your doctors?

Yes

[Galmond10]

@Altostrata,

 

Hi, I am Garrett's father logged in on his account. He is currently taking 1/4 of a 5mg three times a day for a total of 3.75mg per day (25% reduction from previous 5mg/day). Today  is the 2nd day on this dosage. He is experiencing burning, itching skin as well as muscle jolts. 

 

Do you recommend we stay the course, or should we be talking a different course?

 

Edit: His doctor is a neurosurgeon and has no background nor understanding in this area. 

 

Edit2: He is mentally confident he has set himself back to 2-1/2 years ago or more.  Does this seem possible?

[manymoretodays]

On 1/3/2021 at 8:13 AM, Galmond10 said:

Hello. I'm interested in a story written about a women that wrote about her coming off benzos. She was a medical professional and wrote her story very well. I found it on this site almost 3 years ago. I desperately need to find it again. Thanks in advance

 

Hi Galmond10,

Could it have been Dr. Christy Huff?

Dr. Huff is active at the BIC(Benzo information coaltion) and I did find this Blog, which I hope is helpful.  I think you'll find more of her story, there too, if this isn't the specific one, you wanted.

https://www.benzoinfo.com/author/christy-huff-m-d/

 

L, P, H, and G,

mmt

(*** I merged your question with your new Introduction topic as well)

[Altostrata]

On 1/3/2021 at 6:17 PM, Galmond10 said:

Burning, tingling, itchy skin. Serve muscle spasms and pain, in leg, agitation, trouble sleeping, dizziness and stomach issues.

Also on Flexeril  5mg three times daily. Just dropped Flexeril to 2 twice daily.

 

You started both of these drugs at the same time? When did the itching start?

 

It is possible you are allergic to one of these drugs. To ascertain which it is, please keep daily notes of times of day you take your drugs, their dosages, and your symptoms throughout the day. Post 24 hours of notes at a time in this topic, in a simple list format with time of day on the left and notation (symptom or drug and dosage) on the right. This can show adverse effects from your drugs.

 

I'm going to merge this account with your earlier account, although you were banned. You'll have to update your signature -- follow these instructions Please put your drug and withdrawal history in your signature You may need to use a computer to do this.

 

[Galmond10]

14 hours ago, manymoretodays said:

 

Hi Galmond10,

Could it have been Dr. Christy Huff?

Dr. Huff is active at the BIC(Benzo information coaltion) and I did find this Blog, which I hope is helpful.  I think you'll find more of her story, there too, if this isn't the specific one, you wanted.

https://www.benzoinfo.com/author/christy-huff-m-d/

 

L, P, H, and G,

mmt

(*** I merged your question with your new Introduction topic as well)

Thank you for the help. That is a great read. But I did eventually find it. It was posted by Alto a few years ago. I believe it's called what's happening to you brain on benzos or something.

[Galmond10]

11 hours ago, Altostrata said:

 

You started both of these drugs at the same time? When did the itching start?

 

It is possible you are allergic to one of these drugs. To ascertain which it is, please keep daily notes of times of day you take your drugs, their dosages, and your symptoms throughout the day. Post 24 hours of notes at a time in this topic, in a simple list format with time of day on the left and notation (symptom or drug and dosage) on the right. This can show adverse effects from your drugs.

 

I'm going to merge this account with your earlier account, although you were banned. You'll 

have to update your signature -- follow these instructions Please put your drug and withdrawal history in your signature You may need to use a computer to do this.

 

Thank you for the advice. I'm doing exactly those things you've recommended.

[Galmond10]

galmond10's Dad again,

 

He was experiencing muscular convulsions for an extended period of time yesterday, even after administering 5mg by 3:10PM of the intended 3.75mg for the day.  Long story short, it took an additional 5mg, or 10mg total for the day to hit equilibrium.

 

Since we have not honestly been tracking by date and time until yesterday, I do not know how to accurately calculate the residual level of Valium in his system.  I have put together a chart attempting to calculate where his current residual and projected future residuals are to formulate an effective tapering plan.  We are currently utilizing @Altostratarecommendations to observe and document dosages and symptoms and respond ahead of the curve.  I realize we do not have a complete picture at this time because we are not factoring in Valium taken for the previous 4 days, but we will have a better picture develop over the next couple of days.

 

Total/Day       1.25               1.3 7:00 AM 1/4/2021   1.1 2.5             3.6 1:00 PM   1.1 2.4 1.25           4.8 3:00 PM Monday 1.0 2.3 1.2 5.0         9.4 8:00 PM   0.8 1.8 0.9 4.1 1.25       8.9 9:00 AM 1/5/2021 Tuesday 0.7 1.7 0.9 3.8 1.2 1.25     9.5 1:00 PM   0.7 1.5 0.8 3.5 1.1 1.2 1.25   10.0 5:00 PM   0.6 1.3 0.7 3.2 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.25 10.3 10:00 PM   0.5 1.3 0.7 3.1 1.0 1.1 1.1 1.2 10.1 11:00 PM   0.5 1.3 0.7 3.0 1.0 1.1 1.1 1.2 9.9 12:00 AM

 

 

The table above is making assumptions that may or may not be correct.  BTW, the Total/Day column is meant to identify total residual in the body at hourly increments.  I have hidden many rows to present the data in a succinct fashion.  The residual is based on a linear full life cycle of 72 hours (or a half life of 36 hours).  The top number in each row is the quantity administered and the numbers below represent the residual remaining on a 72 hour full life cycle.  This may or may not be correct, but it is a SWAG.

 

A couple of data points and symptoms not included in the chart are he took 5mg of Flexeril at 11:00AM on Monday, 4 January.  He began dry heaves shortly after.  Uncontrollable muscular convulsions reminiscent of O2 toxicity or epileptic I have observed in my life began around 12:30PM.  He was also administered 10mg of Baclofen at 8:00PM Monday night concurrent with the 5mg of Valium.  I apologize if I have not laid this out in enough detail, but I am very exhausted at this time.  Please help us if my assumptions are incorrect.

[ChessieCat]

Alto has requested daily symptoms notes.  The link was provided in her post.  Please read the following quote from that post which explains why and how:

 

Quote

 

 

Keep notes on paper about your daily symptom pattern and drug dosing

 

Are your symptoms worse at any particular times of day? A symptom pattern that occurs regularly over several days could mean the symptoms are from withdrawal, other adverse effects of drugs, or something else you do on a daily schedule.

 

In the course of discussion in your Introductions forum topic, you may be asked to keep notes on paper of your daily symptom pattern, including when you take your drugs, their dosages, and any symptoms. We ask this because there may be something we can do to reduce the symptoms.

 

What we need to see for every single day over several days is what symptoms you get before and after you take your drugs. If you're not taking any drugs and have withdrawal symptoms, we still need to see your symptom pattern throughout the day:

 

The time of day, dosage, and severity of symptoms are essential information. Include

 

- Time and dosage for all drugs taken throughout the day, psychiatric and non-psychiatric.

- Following each dose, note any symptoms. If you are having a reaction to the drug, it may take hours for a symptom to show up -- that's why we ask you to keep notes all day long.

- If you're not taking any drugs, your symptoms throughout the day.

- Your sleep pattern. Since so many drugs disturb sleep, if you find you're waking in the middle of the night, it could be from a drug you took earlier in the evening. If you're not taking any drugs, there may be ways you can improve your sleep.

 

 

 

[Galmond10]

12 hours ago, Galmond10 said:

Thank you, we are taking better notes today and will post later today 👍

 

[ChessieCat]

Please remember to post a 24 hour period at one time headed by the day and date.  Keep the notations simple so it is easy to read and add any additional information at the bottom.

[Galmond10]

Will do.

[Galmond10]

Wednesday, 6 January 2021:

 

7:30AM – Chills, Tingling/Itching Skin, Hypersensitivity to touch

7:30AM – 1.25mg Valium

8:00AM- Feeling a bit better

10:00AM – Agitated, Dizzy, Nauseous, Pain mainly in legs, BP: 110/84, Pulse: 108

10:00AM – 1.25mg Valium plus 5mg Baclofen

1:30PM – Agitated, Dizzy, Nauseous, Arm/Hand Tremors, BP: 118/90, Pulse: 90

2:00PM – 1.25mg Valium

3:00PM – Feeling a bit better

6:00PM – Agitated, Dizzy, Nausea

6:00PM – 1.25mg Valium

7:00PM – Feeling better

10:30PM – 2.5mg Valium

 

 

Thursday, 7 January 2021:

7:00AM – Chills, Itchy/tingling skin, Dizzy, Nauseous, Coughing

8:00AM - Agitated

8:00AM – 2.5mg Valium

9:00AM to 1:00PM - no notable symptoms.

 

We have stopped taking the Baclofen.

[DaBro]

https://www.survivingantidepressants.org/topic/10914-what-is-happening-in-your-brain/

 

I think this is the Benzo story you are after @Galmond10  it has helped me put my symptoms in context. 

[Galmond10]

@DaBro thank you. That was it.

[ChessieCat]

23 hours ago, ChessieCat said:

Please remember to post a 24 hour period at one time

 

[manymoretodays]

Ahhh.  Dabro beat me to it. 

 

7 hours ago, DaBro said:

https://www.survivingantidepressants.org/topic/10914-what-is-happening-in-your-brain/

 

I think this is the Benzo story you are after @Galmond10  it has helped me put my symptoms in context. 

 

A lot of this applies to AD's as well.  Different receptors, of course, but some of the same processes in WD.  Very nice article.

 

And best. L, P, H, and G,

mmt

 

Edited January 8, 2021 by manymoretodays
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