Click HERE to access the manual.

Click HERE to convert equivalent values from one benzodiazepine to another.

Click HERE to read one week's journal entry to get a feel for what I went through.

Click HERE to see my actual taper schedule from 0.5 mg Klonopin (10 mg Valium) down (I didn't keep a record prior to that).

Presenting a short, "What Worked for Me" dialog and a little history of my experiences in my journey out of "Benzo Hell".

What Worked for Me
My Journey out of "Benzo Hell"
or... My Benzo Nightmare
By Tony Pirog

1. Cross over to Valium.
   
   There is plenty of information in the Ashton Manual regarding why Valium is a preferred drug for tapering off of benzos. Visit: Benzo Equivalency Charts to determine what the equivalency is for changing over from various other benzos. I did the crossover in two weeks, from Klonopin to Diazepam (Valium), half at week 1, and the rest 7 days later. I began my taper once I had completed my crossover from 0.5 mg Klonopin to 10 mg Diazepam.
   
   Summary of reasons for choosing Diazepam:
   
   
   • Longer half life leads to fewer and less intense symptoms, also less occurrence of interdose withdrawals.
   • Reduced potency allows for smaller cuts since Valium is available down to 2 mg (equivalent to 0.2 Xanax, and 0.1 Klonopin).
   • Diazepam (Valium) is available in liquid form both in the US and in the UK. If your US doctor disagrees, print the following picture and show it to him/her.

   Click on the picture to see a full-sized image:
   
   

2. Smooth Taper
   
   
   • Rule of thumb tends to be do not taper more that 10 percent in any 10-14 day period
   • This does not mean you must taper 10% all in one go every 10-14 days.
   • I accomplished it by tapering 1/5 of 10% every two days on average. This means taper 0.1 every day, or 0.2 every 2 days, and so on.
   • Click HERE to see my actual taper schedule from 0.5 mg Klonopin (10 mg Valium) down (I didn't keep a record prior to that).


3. Anti Depressants
   
   
   • I was on Effexor through sometime late in '04.
   • Several months after I quit the Effexor, I began having horrifying tolerance withdrawals from the Klonopin and Valium I was on.
   • I was unable to go back on SSRI Anti Depressants immediately because they caused even greater symptoms of panic and fear.
   • After going through the entire gamut of meds my shrink could think of, he sent me for Electro Convulsive Therapy which of course failed to offer any relief.
   • Eventually, during a partial inpatient program for Cognitive Behavioral Therapy at the hospital, being under the supervision of doctors and therapists, I was able to get on an anti depressant and finally settled on Lexapro. I don't believe I could have got off the benzos without the help of the A/D. WARNING!: When in benzo withdrawal, if a patient wishes to start SSRI's they must be very closely monitored by their physician during the first few weeks while the body adjusts to the med.


4. Deplin
   
   
   • Go to http://www.deplin.com for more information.
   • Simply. sweetly, honestly: I didn't feel better until I added Deplin (a special form of vitamin B9) to my regimen. Without the Lexapro and Deplin I believe I would still be on benzos. Now I am getting my memory back. It works better than it has in 20 years. My confidence: I'm getting to be good at things I thought I was utterly incapable of doing anymore. And my stamina is improving too. Thanks be.


5. Support
   
   
   • Check out benzowithdrawal.com.
   • Please, stay away from "Benzo Island." Most of the highest page ranks point to BI, but only go there if you want to feel worse. They try to control your entire taper, and they make sure you suffer as much as possible. Then after filling you with even more fear and paranoia, they will reject you, and spit you out without any care for your pain or feelings. It is a toxic environment designed to massage the egos of the moderators and administrators. They will deny this, but their actions speak far louder than any words of denial. Be forewarned.


6. Why do I call it "Benzo Hell"?
   
   There is a pattern in many cases (I am not trying to explain away all "psychological" problems!), and here is how it goes:
   
   
   • Patient goes to doctor with minor sadness, grief, or vague feelings of depression or anxiety.
   • Doctor prescribes some form of benzodiazepine, most likely Xanax nowadays.
   • Patient feels better.
   • Patient only goes to doctor from now on for prescription refills.
   • Over time the pills don't work any more. Patient gets a larger prescription.
   • At some point the "med" no longer offers any relief.
   • Patient tries to cold turkey and experiences horrifying physiological symptoms of terror, depression, heart palpitations, sweats, rolling panic attacks and a whole host of other physical symptoms that feel like fear. May even experience a seizure.
   • Patient goes to psychiatrist utterly freaked out! Begs for help. Doctor tries anti depressants, anti psychotics, mood stabilizers, MAOI's, just about everything in his arsenal. Also gives the patient Valium or Klonopin "As needed!"
   • Patient ends up in a Psych ward. Doctor diagnoses him/her with generalized anxiety disorder possibly even bi-polar disorder. Patient attends CBT (Cognitive Behavioral Therapy). It doesn't help! Why? Because it isn't a psychological problem!. It's the body's "normal" reaction to benzodiazepine poisoning. It is physiological at its root. The body reacts with all the symptomology of intense terror, and any normal human will interpret the symptoms as irrational fear. I've seen the strongest men and women get felled by this monster. Check out: Benzo Stories for more stories of Benzo suffering.
   • Patient never finds out that the problem is benzo withdrawal. God help that patient! He loses his house, wife, family, friends, job. And he never gets better.
   • OR... The patient may or may not lose, house, husband, job, etc, but discovers a web based support forum, reads the Ashton Manual and starts slow tapering from benzos.
   • Many succeed in getting off benzodiazepines and healing, and they never have that unnaturaly intense anxiety, panic and symptomology again. These patients get their life back together, and are able to enjoy life again.
   
   
7. My Story, summarized:
   
   
Had my first nervous breakdown during finals at college in 1977.

In 1995 I started taking Prozac for depression. I had been taking Xanax on and off the previous 10 years or so. I believe my cognitive skills took a hit as soon as I took my first doe of Xanax, and that caused me to experience more anxiety and depression. I don't remember what made me star the Xanax.

July of ’96 I had a “conversion experience”. It never occurred to me that the high I was experiencing might be from the Prozac.

I immediately stopped taking the Prozac believing that Jesus would now be my protection from depression and anxiety in the future. I was wrong, and had another massive breakdown in July of ’97. I had to take 7 weeks off work before I could return reasonably functional. I was on an anti-depressant and a sedative and was seeing a counselor regularly.

By '98, I was on Anti Depressants, sedatives, and “Adderal” for “Adult Attention Deficit Disorder”. I was taking the sedatives at night to sleep, and the Adderal during the day. These were all prescribed drugs. I thought I was Superman.

In '04 decided to come off Valium using a super slow approach. I was tapering 2 mg every couple of months. I would go into withdrawal after 17-21 days and then start feeling better after some time and then I could resume my cuts. At 12 mg I could take it no longer. I had quit Effexor some while before and other than the Valium I was drug free.

I had my biggest breakdown in ’05 when I hit the 12 mg low of Valium. In May of that year I started seeing another doctor. I tried to get back on anti-depressants (I had stopped taking them … I don’t remember when) and they only caused panic attacks. I was put on the most powerful drug available (An MAOI called Nardil), and that caused other severe problems.

In September of ’06 I had Electro Convulsive (Shock) therapy. This caused memory loss and greater anxiety. I have been unable to work since. I was totally isolated at home until January ’07 when I started an outpatient program at a local hospital. I started anti depressants during my time at the hospital. They started me on a benzo taper, and gave me neurontin and tegretol to help, but I packed those in a while later because I didn't believe they were helping. I was also given Doxepin for sleep. I quit the 50 mg Doxepin a few weeks ago when my prescription ended and I forgot to refill it and am sleeping fine without it.

Here's a list of drugs I was given during an 18 month period spanning May 05 to September 06:

Effexor
Doxepin
Clomipramine
Nortriptyline
Venlaflaxine
Nortriptyline
Mirtazapine
Isocarboxazid
Fluoxetine
Citalopram
Duloxetine
Isocarboxazid
Phenelzine
D-amphetamine Salts-er
Modafinil
Alprazolam
Diazepam
Clonazepam
Oxazepam
Buspirone
Propranolol
Risperdone
Olanzapine
Ziprasidone
Lamotrigine
Tiagabine
Zonisamide
Nardil
Marplan
Rispersal
Lamictal
Geodon
Adderall
Cylert
Provigil
Zyprexa

Diagnoses during this time:

Bipolar II disorder
Bipolar II disorder, mixed
major depression
dysthymic disorder
generalized anxiety disorder

And all this to treat the symptoms of benzo addiction. GRRRRR! Makes me want to puke!

I do consider getting off benzos to be a huge success. My cognitive skills have improved dramatically since I got off. My memory is amazing now considering my age and expectations. I was convinced that I was permanently brain damaged but it turns out I was wrong!

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Disclaimer: This will not work for everyone. This is not to be used as a substitute for a doctor. In no way am I suggesting, implicitly or explicitly, that anyone else follow my taper plan. I am not offering medical advice nor practicing medicine without a license.