The recovery process for benzo withdrawal isn’t linear. We often feel better, only to sink back down into a wave of symptoms. Waves will happen for seemingly no reason, but we can minimize their risk by following a few simple guidelines.
- Avoid taking medications, vitamins, or supplements that are (a.) known to rev up symptoms (vitamin D, B, magnesium, and fish oil, for example) or (b.) are GABA agonists (works on GABA.) Alcohol, sugar, caffeine, and food additives are on the avoid list. If your doctor wants to prescribe something for you, please do your research. Don’t assume that your doctor “knows best.” Many are not educated about benzo withdrawal.
- Avoid stress. Emotional stress wears us down. It plays havoc with our central nervous system. If you have a lot of emotional unrest in withdrawal, find a safe person you can share with. Do your best to remain positive and upbeat. Be careful of the scary stories you tell yourself. Don’t believe them! Stress also comes in physical form. You’ll want to avoid rigorous exercise. It can trigger an uptick in symptoms. Seek help from friends and family for emotional and physical support while you recover.
- Avoid fatigue. Don’t overdo things. Take things easy. Go to bed at a reasonable hour. Take breaks during the day if need be.Many of us have insomnia in withdrawal. Do your best to sleep, but don’t stress about it. (Insomnia will fade away, in time.) Another type of fatigue we can experience is spending too much time on our devices. Light from the screen is exhausting to us. Limit your time online.
- Avoid overheating. Summer months can bring an increase in benzo withdrawal symptoms due to the rise in temperatures. Keep your body cool. Drink plenty of water. Plan outdoor activities for the cool of the morning or early evening. Use ice packs to cool down, if necessary.
- Avoid infections. Whether caused by a virus or a bacteria, infections rev up our symptoms. Make sure that proper hygiene is a part of your daily life; handwashing is a good thing! You may want to avoid shopping in crowded areas during cold and flu season. Gyms, movie theaters, and other places where you touch items that others have touched before you can be a breeding ground for germs.
Waves may happen regardless of how much you try to avoid them. They seem to be a part of the recovery process. Use all of your coping skills to manage if you find yourself in an uptick of symptoms. Ask family and friends to help you if you are unable to manage a part of your daily life. When you recover, you can pay it forward and help someone else who needs some sort of assistance.
No matter how bad your wave may be, it will go away, in time. Acceptance, patience, distraction, and gratitude are all good things to practice. Keep healing! (BTW: as I climb back out of the wave I currently find myself in, I will only be posting a blog on Monday’s. Gotta pace myself.)
Jennifer, thank you for another wonderful post. I can relate to several of those triggers in a big way! Stress is the most serious, just a tiny bit of it will push me into a horrible wave. This summer where I live has been blazing and I have been avoiding it as much as I can, except when I have to mow my lawn. UGH! I feel sick and a wave follows. There is one thing where I am very fortunate – coffee. I love coffee and I still have a cup with breakfast and it’s never had a negative effect. I have read so many people have huge waves from coffee and I feel sad for them. Dan
Dear Jen,You are still in wave after 6 years free?Frustrating.
I have been weaning off of klonopin since September . I am taking it very very slow because last year i was completely off for a month after only two months of weaning and i wind up back on it . I start to taper a bit when i start to feel better, usually takes me about a month to feel that i can start another wean . Well this month is different . I had a few good days and just when i thought i could cut back again I feel horrible . Funny how i just received your info about going through a wave. I didn’t realize that happens .Of course a thousand things are going through my mind about what could possibly be wrong with me now . I am so tired of being sick and tired . My bones burn . My goal is to be off by 2018. Even thought it’s a slow wean i guess setback still happen . I’m hesitant see my doctor fearing he would put me on some med. Thanks for sharing your story about the waves. I’m hoping that’s what’s happening ! God Bless
Dear Jen,
You are in a wave after six years free.Really frustrating news for all of us.
Regards,
Sas
I hear you. It’s frustrating living through this crap again. Sigh. But a good lesson for us all. We must pace ourselves. Not expose ourselves to chemicals, etc. we don’t have to become paranoid or hyper vigilant about it, but we must take good care of ourselves. I’m seeing small improvements from resting. I sit out in my garden a lot and listen to the fountain and the birds. It helps.
Dear Jen,
Good to hear that you are feeling good.If you are requested to compare this waves with those early wave how do you rate your current one?Do you think It is possible to work full time after 3 or 4 years free.I am 30 months free with 7 months failed taper.I was in benzos for 7 years.Took a lot of them.
Thanks
Sas
Hi Jenn, I hope you continue to see improvements through this horrid wave, and have found comfort in your beloved garden. I totally agree with you about the “triggers”, I am convinced it was the stress of my work hassling me to go back that sent me on the downward six and a half month wave. I can empathise with you its just too barbaric for words, and we do need to listen to our bodies. As I now approach 8 months on 03/08, I can feel a minute improvement in my symptoms. (not nearly enough). So I feel blessed that this wave might be calming down.
Jenn is it normal after a big spiral down, that you feel a little brighter?
Hope you keep getting better and that this is the final farewell to all your symptoms, you deserve to be free.
Love and hugs across the Pond
Jackie
Edinburgh
ps This is mad but I kept doubting I was healing, so I bought a very inexpensive “spiritual healing” beaded bracelet” it’s bright blue, I wear it everyday not for its so called healing powers, but as a reminder that I am healing!
Dan I too have not had any adverse affects from coffee, at least we can still enjoy a cuppa.
Love to all x
Thanks Jackie. I know I’ll recover from this setback. We do get well! Hope you are turning more corners. Sending my love.
I’m not good. But I’m
Getting better. This wave is all physical. It hit very hard. Was unable to get up. I’m more able to stand now. But the dizziness and head pressure is very exhausting. Lots of pain. Pressure. Burning. Tingling. I do think we can work after benzo withdrawal if we watch ourselves. Some people will never have a wave and they can jump back into normal life. Others aren’t so lucky. It’s an individual thing. Just do what’s best for your CNS.
Hope you come quickly out of this wave Jenn. It could be your very last one…..
I’m feeling so much better now after a pretty horrible wave at 7 years off. I had been working physically very hard for the prior three years building houses and it all caught up with me…
Now at 8 years off (blimey! Has it really been that long?), I have many days where I feel completely well and just the odd grumbling of symptoms usually caused by stress……still hard for me to cope well with stressful situations…..but working at it…..
Thanks again for all your wonderful blogs and look after yourself…..
I’m glad to hear your wave is better. Keep healing. I will, too. Life is wonderful, no matter what.
Jenn, I am so sorry to hear about this wave. I am praying for you and know that with God’s love guiding you, you will come out the other side with many more blessings. You are an inspiration! Much love.
Jennifer, I’m starting month 38 today and the existential fear is KICKING MY BUTT! It’s worse than ever. Are you sure this goes away? Just reread your “39 months off” post and I’m worried and scared.The one thing I need to go away just won’t. Why won’t God hear my plea? It’s like He’s turned a deaf ear, and His back, to me. The most important person in my life is no where to be found. Distractions are no longer working for me. Nothing holds my attention for more than a minute without the fear of death creeping back in. I need HELP!
I’m so sorry you’re still struggling with this. It will fade away, in time. I found myself thinking more about death than normal once I was out of the thick of it, but the fear went away. And then, even that got better. Most human beings are afraid of death. It’s the unknown. And, our egos can’t comprehend not not having consciousness as we know it. That’s even harder to deal with when we are in withdrawal and feeling so much fear. You won’t struggle with this forever. Do your best to distract. One of the things I did was to sit with the fear. Allow it. Breathe. And then get on with my day as best as I could.
Thank you Jennifer for your reassurance. I figured, in my heart, not my brain, that since I’ve had 60% drops in the fear a few times, that it will eventually go away. You described exactly what I’m feeling. I keep picturing myself gone, dead, not breathing, in a casket, etc. and ohhh, eternity with an “old guy”, for ever and ever. I’ve never had thoughts like this in my life, before. It’s bizarre to say the least. I had such a close relationship with Jesus, that I was never afraid of dying. If this is our brain’s way of protecting us, then it really sucks! I hate that word, but I can’t think of a better one right now. Maybe this will be my last wave of the mental crap. Hoping, and hanging on. Thank you again. You are so kind!! ♥♥
How are any of us to have any hope of relief or any kind of life when we cannot find a single example of someone who has recovered from this? I was checking in with your blog only to find you are unfortunately in a wave after 6 years. Be well! Get Well!!
I think the ultimate outcome is wellness. Eventually. Some may have lingering symptoms such as mild tinnitus, but most of us recover. I consider myself to be mostly healed, and was living a rather large life. It caught up with me. But even now, as I slowly get better, I’m able to do things I couldn’t do years ago. I just baby sat my very active 11 month old granddaughter for a little bit. I may not feel in tip top shape but my life is blessed. As you recover more, you’ll see that the reality of healing is happening.
Dear Jain,
How you compare this current wave with previous ones in terms of severity? What are your difficulties in this wave?Hope you soon be well.Your journals I read everyday.They are my guide.Sorry for poor English.Its not my mother tongue.
Regards,
Sasa
This wave has been the most severe in terms of body symptoms that I’ve had in years. I didn’t know what was happening at first. It was like getting the flu, mono, and being hit by a truck all at once. I had pain, tingling, burning, Head pressure, weakness, dizziness, etc. I was mostly bedridden for a little bit. I’m slowly getting better. I can get up and do some things. I’m driving again. I have to be honest and say I was shocked at the severity of this wave. But I’m grateful I’m getting better relatively quickly. I’m also grateful that the mental symptoms I had during the first few years off did not return. This was a body wave only. Whew!
I wanted to follow up with how you think leaky gut and candida may be affecting us. Do you think this could be the missing link between those who recover and those who seemingly do not or take extended periods of time to heal? Also what has been the longest stretch of time you have been symptom free. Thanks Jennifer for all that you do!!
I’m not at all an expert on leaky gut or candida. We aren’t sure what actually causes benzo withdrawal symptoms. There are lots of theories, but to my knowledge no one has proven anything. That being said, we don’t know the factors that are in play that causes one person to get terribly sick while another has little or no symptoms. It’s a good idea to eat healthy. Avoid gluten. Lots of vegetables and fruits. No junk food. No highly processed foods. One ingredient foods are best. And look for hidden MSG in products. It’s been known to make us worse. No booze. No sugar. No caffeine. We all will get better in time. Patience. Good food. Positive outlook. Gratitude.
Jenn,
You need to take a break from this blog. It’s killing you. Every time you writ,e you bring back horrible memories and only delay your healing. Just Stop!!!
Dear Anonymous, thanks for your concern. Much appreciated. However, it’s not the blogging that brought on my wave. Quite the contrary. My writing is cathartic. I realize how much healing has taken place over the years. I believe the stress of my cross country drive alone, my intense gardening make over, plus sad news from a few different fronts was more than my CNS could handle in a short time. I was also drinking quite a few cups of decaf a day, so I was getting more caffeine than usual. Coupled with a heat wave we had and it was the perfect storm, so to speak. I’m getting better every day. I’m driving again. Baby sat my eleven month old granddaughter for a bit yesterday. I’ll get back to my normal
Baseline and better. I’m sure of it. I’ll also stop pushing myself so hard. I forget I’m close to sixty. I think I can still do things I did in my twenties. 😉
I have noticed also that most of those things trigger waves. If I exercise too much, I hit a wave. If I am too much in hot temperature dehydrated, I hit a wave. If I have too much stress or sleep too little, wave begins. Even for “normal people” those things can cause problems but for people in benzo withdrawal, these things can cause problems and on the top of that trigger WD symptoms that can take long time to solve.
Sometimes when I feel better, I forget that I am sensitive to different things I was not before. Then I do something stupid such as exercise too much or eat something not good for me, and then the symptoms start again.