How To Taper Off Temazepam Completely (Page 4)

Please help; doctor doesn't want me as a patient anymore, reasons are ridiculous and too long to get into, but now she has put me in a jam. I was taking Clonazepam 2mg. 2 tablets 2x per week(for anxiety & sleep), & Temazepam 30mg. 2 tablets 2x per week(for sleep). I have been on both these drugs for 2 1/2 years & want to get the heck off them. I noticed the last couple months; neither appeared to be helping the anxiety/sleep issues I have had; so basically I just want off both. I have been Clonazepam free for 11 days now. I CANNOT believe how I feel--like I could crawl right out of my skin; anxiety ridden, non stop talking,completely wired,nerves jumping in arms & legs, more and more and on and on. Bad idea to go cold turkey, but did & now out of them. So I have to deal with the withdrawal with that one I guess.... But like I mentioned, I also want to get off the Temazepam. Am not going to go more crazy & quit cold turkey on that one too. My tablets are 30mg. & I normally took 2-30mg. tablets on Mondays & Fridays. Since I don't have a doctor anymore--can anyone suggest how to taper till completed weaned off? I want to get off this crud asap. (as you probably notice, I have a high tolerance). Thanks everyone!!!

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Kelly, With resolve, self-confidence, fortitude, patience and a little luck, you will succeed; but the help of a good friend and a good therapist (or psyciatrist that doesn't believe in drugging) would be beneficial. Have you read this entire thread?

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thanks k for the responce-im a little afraid since im 63 and was never told it was addicting.i have a good shrink that agrees a mg a month may work. kelly

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Kelly, "you have nothing to fear but fear itself". Reading this entire thread should help you understand what you, your doctors and our medical system have gotten you into. Can't think of any reason your age should prevent you from stopping. A therapist I know got off by:
1. stopping until she couldn't stand the withdrawal effects anymore
2. starting again until she could
3. and repeating 1 & 2 until she was off.

That requires the discipline to make sure that each time off is longer than the previous one. Tapering is fine, too, but probably takes longer. From what I've observed, I'd say the brain heals from the effects of drugs more slowly than it damages itself, but how long getting off is going to take can't be predicted for anyone.

Eat and drink a healthy diet, get plenty of exercise and rest (don't worry if you can't sleep or learn CBT-I), and keep your mind occupied, preferably with things you enjoy.

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P.S. It's not "addicting" unless it makes you keep wanting to take more of it. That's one way drug manufacturers fool people with advertising; because although saying "addicted" and "dependent" are used interchangeably, the roots of the words have different meanings. When you see/hear an antidepressant ad that says "[drug] is not addictive", they're counting on people hearing "[drug] does not create dependence". To the extent that a psycho-active drug causes the brain to change itself, it creates dependence. The extent varies from person to person, but for most people psycoactive drugs create dependence.

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k-thanks again-but i am really terified. the thought overwhelems me. it consumes me 24/7- what aew your experiences with meds? i enjoy talking to you. kellii need to stop dr google

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Worry and anxiety are possible withdrawal symptoms of most psychoactive drugs (even alcohol), so if you're worrying more than you were, that's probaby why. If you cannot control worry by recognizing it as a misleading feeling your brain is giving you because the drug changed it, you should not try to come off without someone around to watch over you 24/7 until you can control the worry, anxiety, etc. I said "fortitude"; I meant mental fortitude. I'm sorry for you, but the companies that make the stuff don't want you to quit; they spend a lot of money figuring out how to get people to believe their product works and is harmless.

It is well-known that sleeping pills should not be taken for more than a few days and don't give the kind of sleep you need. Did you get a check-up or examine your diet to see if there was a physical cause for your insomnia? If there was a psychological cause, and the drug just put off dealing with it, you'll have that to deal with eventually, too.

My experience is helping someone who had been given 13 different drugs (none ever worked and most had awful side effects) over about 18 months by 4 psychiatrists (they refused to stop the drugs). I provided the 24/7 care (that phase is long past). It's been 19 months, most of the withdrawal symptoms are gone, but there's no way of knowing if they'll all go away, because ECT, which can cause permanent damage, was also done.

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I was on higher than 30 milligrams and I tapered down to 1 milligram in about 2 or 3 months without medical assistance.

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mari-congrats. wouldyou give me som feedback

any info would help. w/d symptons and your taper schedule.
thanks kelli

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mari-how long did you take tamz and what dose? all info is helpful. thanks. kelly

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anyone tapering tamazpan-would love to hear your experiences. just starting out-all info is helpful. thanks. kelly

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kelly

Fundamental to anything having to do with psychoactive drugs is that they affect everyone differently. That means that someone else's withdrawal symptoms, taper schedule, doses, how long they took them, and other experiences won't necessarily apply to you and could actually discourage you or give you unrealistic expectations for your own situation.

I have noticed that people who have been through withdrawal are not always happy to talk about it, probably for the same reasons veterans don't like to talk about their battle experiences. Don't be surprised of you don't get answers to your last 3 inquiries, and if you do get answers, be thankful; but remember that they don't necessarily apply to you. You have been taking a psychoactive drug for a long time. The fact that you are hooked is proof that your brain has changed itself to compensate. The brain has amazing healing powers, and can undo what it did to compensate. The issue is what you can psychologically deal with during the process, and only you can determine that. If you haven't read all 60+ posts to this thread, do so.

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DON'TQUIT COLD TURKEY!!!!!!!!! We lost insurance coverage around Jan 1. About two weeks later my wife had hallucinations followed by a seizure and convulsions. Transported to hospital ER and stabilized.. Hospital doctor REFUSED to believe it was related do Temazepam withdrawal. I must add it was discovered she had developed a heart condition.. Doctors say that was related to her being prescribe Effexor. Maybe so. But Temazapam MUST no be taken lightly. We probably should seek an attorney relater to both Temaazapam and Effexor. DON'T JUST BLINDLY FOLLOW WHAT YOUR DOCTOR SAYS. CHECK IT OUT AND MAKE UP YOUR OWN MIND BEFORE TAKING ANYTHING.. After all your doctor only knows what the drug Rep or drug company tells them.. Why else drop all the drug commercials on TV have the comments adout what MIGHT HAPPEN to you if you takentheir drug!!!!!!!!!!

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ken-how long and wat dose did your wife take-did she c/t off or taper down? i hope shes doing well now,im just beginning taper-all info helps. kelly

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Doc put me on Temazapam 30 mg about 4 weeks ago. I never took it for more then 4 days in a row. I am now trying to stop on my own. Have not slept in 2 nights. I am told to just hang in there and it will get better soon. I was very nervous about even trying it and wished I had never started

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I just rode it out. I have been alone all my life anyway with little to no emotional support so the feeling isn't much different. I was on 30 milligrams.

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Hey, I am NOT a Dr. but I cut down by breaking open the capsules and gradually lowering the dose. I want to quit too.

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How do you accurately measure the dose when you break open the capsules?
I am 38 and have been taking 30mg / nt of Temazapam as prescribed for 2 years. I also take 7.5mg /nt of Zopiclone. I was prescribed Temazapam to allow me to gradually wean off the Zopiclone while still providing a sleep aid. I wanted to get off Zopiclone because I found it affected my long term memory and concentration and caused grogginess which carried over into the day. Originally my dose of Zopiclone was at 15mg. I have been taking Zopiclone for 8 years now and taking Temazapam for two years. I had to increase Temazapam over time to 30mg because the initial dose of 15mg became ineffective due to dependence. My doctor told me it is not safe to exceed 30mg of temazapam so I have not attempted that.
I've found reducing or eliminating Temazapam has caused sleep to go from a solid 7-8hrs/nt to 2-3hrs of shallow sleep/nt and in addition it's caused hot sweats and irritability. I have never been able to go more than 3 days off Temazapam because of work/family responsibilities.
Most recently I ran out of my prescription (Temazapam) and after 48 hours without the medication my breathing got shallow and I felt dizzy and anxiety level went through the roof. It was very scary and I feared I would lose consciousness. I realized it could be because my body needed the med so I took it and all those symptoms subsided within an hour and I slept.
I am now fearful of attempting to go off the med. My body does not seem dependent upon the Zopiclone at all, it's side effects are only a nuisance. The Temazapam withdrawal is terrifying. I was ready to call the ambulance.
The Temazapam is available here only in 15 and 30mg capsules. I have no interest in substituting any other medication for Temazapam for I've read all of the posts in this forum and I'd rather not introduce any other substances to my brain.

Suggestions would be appreciated.

-I also take 450mg of Wellbutrin for 8 years and plan to continue that regimen.

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You're right, I can't be really accurate about lowering the dose by breaking the capsules, I just kind of "eyeball" it. What you described sounded like a panic attack. That's the bad thing about benzo's, the awful anxiety that comes from trying to stop them. I'm sorry you went through that. I have been treated on and off for anxiety; I quit Xanax cold turkey and seriously prayed to God just to take me if the withdrawal was not going to go away. It was horrible. I am terrified that temazepam, after two years, will be the same ordeal.

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Heather: If you've read this entire thread, then you've seen that worse insomnia is a possible symptom during withdrawal from sleeping pills. That you're apparently one of the unlucky many means if you want to get off the stuff, you'll have to somehow get through withdrawal insomnia. Getting some training in CBT-I might help; if not during withdrawal, certainly to prevent future insomnia after you've withdrawn. As far as accurately measuring the dose when breaking open capsules, ONLY IF IT IS SAFE TO DIVIDE THE CAPSULES, WHICH IS NOT THE CASE WITH ALL PSYCHOACTIVE DRUGS, Allie's answer is adequate. Sleeping pills have a relatively short half-life in the body, therefore the amount in your body can vary significantly over the course of a day. By comparison, inaccuracy in the dose won't be as large. It's hard to tell from your post how you're trying to decrease your dose. As you've seen, stopping cold is not a good idea; however, decreasing the dose every day is also not a good idea, because if your body doesn't have time to adjust to the change, withdrawal symptoms can reasonably be expected get worse with each change. Don't expect this to be an easy or a fast process. Your brain had plenty of time to modify itself to counteract the effect of the drugs you took; it will need as much or more time to reverse those changes. Nothing says you have to decrease your dose by 15 mg or 7½ mg or even 5 mg, but unless you're super sensitive, changes less than 5 mg may not decrease withdrawal symptoms enough to matter, while dragging the process out. What's important is to restrict your decreases to a level of misery you can tolerate. Stick with each decreased dose until you feel you're ready to decrease it further. I hope you have someone around when you're doing this; withdrawing alone is also risky.

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Heather (P.S.): Are you aware that Wellbutrin has insomnia as a "possible" side effect? Insomnia as a Wellbutrin side effect would have a physical cause, in which case CBT-I may not help much.

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