r/benzorecovery

I had Benzo belly-constipation my whole taper (5 years) and now Lack of appetite (7-8months). For the first 4.5 years the constipation was really persistent ! Had to used laxatives every 3 days for a year 1/2 because I could not go at all. I done multiple test and tried all types of treatments and nothing has worked , my diagnosis is just IBS-C. I have lost 30lbs , muscle loss and shape of my body. I force myself to eat as well since I don’t have an appetite. If my constipation persist and let’s say this is my new “normal” should I get a colonic inertia surgery? It’s when they take out certain part of your intestines due to slow motility. My motility is basically gone. I done SIBO test and it was negative but I I still did sibo treatment twice in the past 2 years but it doesn’t help much.

did benzos damage my brain-gut axis this bad that I just can’t recover at all? I seen a lot of post not just on here but on Fb about people have Benzo belly years after getting off benzos and it won’t resolve.

Been on diazepam 10mg/day (5mg morning, 5mg evening) since mid 2025 for anxiety. Recently got a full blood panel back and my urinary free cortisol came back nearly undetectable, basically confirmed HPA axis suppression from the benzo. No surprise given the duration, but seeing it on paper hits differently.

The daily fatigue is real. Every morning feels like running on empty, heavy legs, zero energy, just flat. Then somehow by late afternoon things feel more human. Anyone else notice this morning/afternoon pattern? I'm guessing it's the blunted cortisol awakening response but would love to hear if others experience the same.

My plan is to start sertraline(zoloft) first, stabilize on it for 4-6 weeks, then begin a slow hyperbolic taper (10% or 5% every 2 weeks with liquid drops). The idea being the SSRI provides a soft landing when the benzo comes down.

Has anyone here started an SSRI while still on a benzo before tapering? How did you manage the initial activation anxiety? Did the benzo actually help buffer it?

Feeling kinda ready to get off this thing but trying to do it right. Any experiences welcome.

My dr cut me off out of nowhere and I have no interest in getting another dr. I take 1.5mg of Klonopin a day, I have 120 1mg tablets and have no access to more or any other benzos and detox isn’t really an option. Is this enough to taper down? Ive been on for about 2 years. Anyone have advice? Thanks

I have been tapering from my 4mg Klonopin for several months. We do it in 0.125mg every 2 weeks. I have been up and down emotionally, due to my depression but had a good solid month of doing well up until about two weeks ago. I've been depressed again, anxious and wake up dreading a new day, every day. Today I've been crying, terrified to go out and just downright horrible. I am down to 2.375mg and I think the taper might be affecting my moods and mental health, but I don't know. All I know is that I was doing well, and now I'm not. Could it be the taper? Even though we're only going 0.125mg? Good Lord, today has been so incredibly hard. I don't know what's going on, why I'm this way and what to do.

I am based in the UK near the end of adhd medication titration with a private provider but have been using unprescribed benzos at a low daily dose.

I’ve reached out to my local drug support in my area and they are able to offer medical tapering off the benzo but if I went ahead, they would need to communicate this with my GP and likely my ADHD provider.

I am currently using 1mg Xanax per day and have been for about 4 months. I have access to Valium and I’m wondering how easy it would be to just do the taper myself to avoid these issues with my ADHD medication.

My concern is that my ADHD provider would just stop prescribing my meds due to this. I need the meds to function and finish my PhD thesis so can’t let this happen. But I also want the support to come off of Xanax.

If I decide to not go with the medically supervised taper, how would I best go about this myself with Valium? I’ve looked at the Ashton manual but it’s not clear how long a taper needs to be for 4 months of daily use

Month 5 off benzos and I realized I don’t really get full windows or full waves. (I hear ppl can get a window for weeks)

It’s more like pieces of both throughout the day. A few calm hours, then some anxiety or mental symptoms, then things settle again later.

Physical symptoms are mostly gone now, but the mental stuff is still annoying: hypervigilance, intrusive thoughts, OCD-like uncertainty, feeling mentally fried.

Anyone else improve this way instead of getting clear full-day windows?

Hi!

Last night I reached a meaningful milestone for me: 2 months benzo free. I wanted to share it, in case it gives hope to some of you but also to thank you because a few days ago, I hit a wall; I was considering taking some and this sub was helpful to keep me on the right path.

So anyway, I was on benzos regularly for years and in the last few years, I’d take 3-4 mg of clonazepam about 3 times a week, sometimes more, sometimes not at all because I was out of pills. When I noticed I started getting physical withdrawal symptoms, I decided to stop. I asked my family doctor and psychiatrist to help me with a quick diazepam taper. Both refused because they didn’t trust me to not binge with the diazepam too. So I was on my own. I did what I had to do to stop. Because of my binging issues, I couldn’t handle a long taper. I checked with my pharmacist and with my addiction counselor: they supported me. So in that regard, I was lucky. I won’t go into more details because most people absolutely need to do a slow taper, especially in the context of long term daily usage.

The withdrawal was rough at times. But at two months, it looks like the worst of it is behind me. Most days, I’m so glad I’m off that poison. But some days, when life gets really hard, I miss it. I’m trying my best to not give in on those days. So far, sleeping on it has resolved the problem. I wake up and I think “so glad I didn’t take anything last night”. I also don’t keep any at home just in case I can’t help myself in the moment. Fingers crossed that it keeps working for me.

To those trying to get off benzos: I hope you succeed. And to those who succeeded: I’m proud of you.

EDIT: To the people who keep downvoting me every time I mention I didn’t do a long taper, you’re not helping. If my family doctor, my psychiatrist, my pharmacist and my addiction counselor didn’t have a problem with the way I handled *my* recovery, you shouldn’t either. I’m not encouraging anyone to follow in my exact footsteps. I’m simply sharing my journey. We’re here to encourage each other, not to bring each other down.

Hi all,

I have been using diazepam for about 10 years now, 10mg every night for sleep.

I'm realizing that it has changed me as a person and that it no longer helps me. So it's time to quit. I really want to quit.
I have encountered a rapid detox of Diazepam one time, not by choice but because I thought I didn’t need it anymore and I just stopped taking it without thinking about it.
After a couple of days I suddenly started being extremely nauseous at work. I headed home thinking it was a stomach bug and I had to stop several times on my way home to vomit.
The next couple of days could be described as being in a constant state of apathy, not being able to feel any joy, feel anything really.
It rapidly evolved to extreme anxiety, shaking, trembling before I realized it was the Diazepam. I took a pill and lo and behold, I felt normal again.
And this was only after a year of usage.

Fast forward to today, I feel enslaved, constantly afraid of not having enough pills at home, even though it literally does nothing anymore but stave off withdrawal symptoms.

I can’t do this anymore, I can’t be a slave to a pill, I really want my clearheaded mind back. It’s time to stop this madness.

So I am asking your advice on a taper schedule. I know there are a lot of tapering schedules online, the ashton protocol being one of them, but they don't take into account the number of years of usage.

I would like to get rid of this poison as fast as possible, but I can’t decide on how slow or how fast I should taper nor what to expect after the taper is over.
6 weeks? 12 weeks?

I stopped smoking successfully 15 years ago CT after 14 years of smoking a pack a day and I did it by cultivating the right mindset : to achieve freedom of slavery, there is a price to pay and this price is accepting that withdrawal will not be easy.
I have the same mindset today, I know I will have to pay a price, but I have to admit I’m scared to death of never feeling the same again after quitting a benzo.

I would be extremely grateful for any advice or experience shared by people with a similar background.

Anything really that you did during your withdrawal and proved to be an aid is welcome.

Thank you 🙏

Tell me

I’m 4.5 months off of CT xanax (one year use roughly) what I have are the mental symptoms which are imo worse than the physical symptoms, I’m working full 8hrs shit in office, time here drags it’s as if the 8hrs are endless, i try my hardest to distract myself by doing tasks but the tasks take up three hours only what am i supposed to do with the rest of the time, my brain keeps running in circles i feel mentally exhausted and fatigued fighting off withdrawal induced depression. Whoever decided that regular daily work hours should be 8hrs is crazy.
How do u cope with work?

I quit Lorazepam 2 mg and then Valium 5mg CT Feb 2024 I am around 27 months off. I have been completely symptom free for over 7 months, high-functioning and feeling joy and enjoying life. I suffered from horrific symptoms like seizures, psychosis, low blood sugar, and delirium, and a million other symptoms.

I have gone through severe malnutrition during my withdrawals and decided that after 27 months that it is safe to incorporate smoothies.

I started doing all-in-one shake powder, with protein powder, super greens, cow colostrum, chia seeds, hemp, flax seed, with greek yogurt, almond milk, fruit, and a bunch of other things.

Since doing that I have been back in acute withdrawals and have been paralyzed, stuck in bed, but the symptoms are not as severe as before. It also triggered PMDD which I didn’t experience for 7 months and thought I cured the hormonal imbalance.

I could not handle any vitamins or other products during my withdrawals as it would cause extreme symptoms, debilitating waves, food intolerance etc.

I initially thought that perhaps these symptoms have nothing to do with benzo withdrawal but now I am not so sure. Thought it was low blood sugar, but it’s fine. Low blood pressure is also fine. I also got iron infusions during my withdrawals and I’m getting a blood test to see if my levels dropped, but I am not sure they did.

Did I trigger my body with all these extra nutrients? Should I stay away from smoothies and protein powders? Did anyone go through the same?

I do fine when eating healthy meals and food for the brain, but can’t handle any more than that. I had the same problem when I tried taking Vitamin B1 and 5htp.

The only thing that stands out is I did throw up once during the return of symptoms and have never thrown up during my entire withdrawals, so maybe it’s not a benzo thing? Was fine right after I threw up too.

Thought my body would get used to it.

Thanks! 🙏

Yesterday I took a rescue dose — stupid me — one extra cinolazepam pill because I had a complete mental breakdown from the ME crash and from the situation at home. My mother hit me and I feel like I’m living in constant terror and stress. I just couldn’t handle it anymore. Now I’m scared I messed up my taper badly.

My symptoms have already been extremely severe for a long time. My heart pounds constantly at every little thing, I have severe bruxism, I’ve barely eaten for 5 days, and I honestly feel like death is hovering around me. Even the double dose didn’t really sedate me or knock me out because my fight-or-flight state and hyper-reactivity feel so extreme. Things that calm other people down don’t calm me at all anymore.

Sometimes I feel like I just want to sedate myself to get through the day, but even benzos barely touch the hyperarousal and autonomic overload. I don’t understand what’s happening — maybe the ME crash is extremely deep and my nervous system is just stuck in survival mode.

I’ve even started thinking maybe I should just stay on benzos because the severe ME already feels unbearable on its own, and dealing with both severe ME and benzo withdrawal at the same time feels impossible. Part of me thinks maybe I’ll never get out of this crash anyway, and at least the benzos might reduce some of the suffering, even if only a little.

My doctor hasn’t really helped me either. He didn’t even explain properly that cinolazepam is a benzo, and once I realized it, I told myself I wanted to get off them. At first tapering wasn’t even that hard, but after so much stress, repeated mental breakdowns, and crashes, it feels like my nervous system completely switched and now I’m trapped in this loop again.

I’m 32 and honestly I can’t really see a way out right now 🙁

Hello, it's 9:30pm aprox right now. I have been tapering Clonazepam for 9 months now and since last monday, my dose is 0.5. I usually take it about this hour, before going to sleep

Today I made the fucking stupid decision of taking crushed ER Morphine (MST Continus 30mg) that belonged to my mom before dying for the first (and last) time at 2:50pm aprox. It expired 2 years ago ffs. I have no excuse other than I was tired of feeling like crap.

The thing is, can I take my daily dose of clonazepam? Should I delay or skip it? I still feel dizzy and sleepy, not as much as when the MST hit, but I do.

Thank you in advance.

Hi so my brother is 26 and has been on abusing depressants for a few years now: Xanax, fent, weed are all I know but basically a lot of downers. He decided to quit but didn’t tell us he did it cold turkey which we know is unsafe to do. Since Saturday he’s been confused and delirious, not making coherent statements, watched a show and thought He experienced it himself. Sometimes he’s himself and he recognizes us and then he’s responding to something in his head.

We took him to the emergency room and they let him go only after a 2 hours, gave him something to calm him down, a prescription for Benadryl and another medication to help with nausea and gave rehab places to call.

Me and my mom have been cleaning him, giving him light things to eat and drink, gave him weed after confirming it could help with the tremors and so far it’s been helping. He can keep light food and water down better than before but he’s still confused and hasn’t really been to sleep.

I just got some valerian root for him but is there anything else we can do to help make this withdrawal process easier? When does the confusion fade? Should I take him to another hospital or try a rehab facility? He doesn’t have a primary so I can’t get suboxone but would that help him? This is day 4 if that matters.

Please any and all advice is appreciated!

I’ve been taking Klonopin 3-4 times a week for about 8 months for anxiety and I really need to stop. It’s making my anxiety worse overtime and in between doses I experience worse anxiety. I’ve definitely become dependent on them. I started with 0.5mg but that doesn’t do much anymore and now I take 0.75-1.25mg some days. I also realized skipping days and not staying on a consistent dose is doing me more harm than good?..I plan to use the Maudsley method. 1mg for 2 weeks, 0.95mg for 2 weeks, 0.90mg for 2 weeks, and so on until I hit 0mg. I hope that it goes well. I am so grateful for this medication but at the same time I need to stop. What are your thoughts? I would really appreciate any input.

I've been sober from benzos, alcohol, and cocaine for 3.5 years (completed a php program 5 months). I came off prozac 8 months ago.

Started having panic attacks again in november due to work related stress. I reinstated prozac about 8 weeks ago. Increased prozac dose 4 weeks ago. Well I went into a manic state for a two weeks. The week after I was hypomanic and never been so depressed in my life. Haven't worked in three weeks.

Finally got in with a expensive psych who knows his stuff and he says when ssri cause mania I could be bipolar. I told him my father and grandmother may be undiagnosed bipolar, further pointing to evidence of bipolar 2 or cyclothymia. The prozac was making me feel like i was rolling on MDMA, def not normal.

Anyways, while in hypomania, i went to the er +/- two weeks ago with high blood pressure and panic attack. Administered 2mg ativan and immediately started feeling better. Prescribed 20 1mg ativan pills at ER. Took 2 a day for 10 days while cold turkey prozac (effectively stopping the mania). My psych added daily 25mg lamictal, letting that build in my system and I believe it is making me feel stable. I start an IOP wednesday.

Upon my request, my psych has prescribed a taper of clonazepam 0.5mg 20 pills while I'll be in IOP (saving me thousands of having to do a detox facility, very greatful). He kind of mumbled a taper schedule and said figure it out, said it should be tapered over two weeks considering I was only on ativan for 10 days. Does anyone have a good taper protocol given my situation? Should it be two weeks? Three weeks? I have a strong foundation of sobriety and am confident I will not abuse or overuse the medication. Looking for a good taper plan to move forward tomorrow.

I am pretty emotional because I feel like im looking back at my life and seeing the times my symptoms of bpd2 pop up and how I was trying to control it with drugs and alcohol. I am looking forward to working through that trauma and processing the eventual official diagnosis i anticipate getting while in the 8 week IOP program.

Any help is greatly appreciated. Thank you for taking the time to hear my story.

Normally I take 3 mg of lorazepam but for the last month I abused and took 10g daily bjut nothing really bad happened until I tried to off myself on Saturday and I took 20 mg crushed in water , they couldn’t took it from my system since i didnt ingest it in pill form , since then it’s been hell yesterday I couldn’t stop pacing , I was restless beyond normal I broke everything in my room , I had akatisia , an intense feeling of agitation , horrible insomnia. So my parents had to call sos doctors , they did a Valium/diazepam injection it helped me with the agitation and slept a little , but a few hours after it came back , they recalled them and they did another injection so I could sleep at night even tho I had ready took 30mr of zolpidem before they arrive I couldn’t sleep , I feel like hell , my legs hurts , we are looking for a good psy to help me stop Ativan ! What do you recommend ? What titration ? With Valium or not ? I feel like I am going insane , I also have GI issues ! I don’t live in the us and here the doctors aren’t that good with helping you stop a medication without harming your brain or body ! I can’t with this feeling of agitation anymore and horrible pacing it’s horrible. What can I do please help ???????? Thank you

Im addicted to benzos and alcohol since 4 years.
Been to medical detox twice, 2 seizures, liver problems.
Yesterday night i tried to kill myself
Took 28mg of lunesta ( eszopiclone) 60mg of temazepam. On top of that i drank 700ml of vodka in 3 hours. Wrote a goodbye later, went to bed, hoping it knocks me out but nope. I waited 1 hour and still couldnt sleep. Ended up being awake for the whole night.
How is this even possible. Even if it hadnt killed me why not atleast get me asleep fpr 10-12 hours so i dont have to be awake.
I dont understand it.
Dont know what to do from here.

Im unemployed, insomnia and eczema since being a child. If I had a gun i would have done it in 5 seconds.
I have valium to taper of this but i dont know if i should do it. Maybe a seizure could kill me. Maybe a seizure could result in me ending up in a wheelchair not being avle to speak which would be even worse.. I dont know.
Any advice is appreciated
Thank you

Honestly I did something I never do. I went and got a vape pen containing THC. (I already know vaping is hard on the lungs). I did it because I had a meltdown, like when is it any different huh? The other day when I vaped just a little bit I started thinking more. And I brought up the gravity of my situation to a family member, and I felt more scared about it than normal.

But other times, I’ll vape and it helps me fall asleep. My wife doesn’t agree with it, and I recently had an increase in dosage on my antidepressant (I know), so I’ve just been feeling off in general and acting different (like buying THC pens).

This is like throwing a monkey wrench into the gears or did it help you?

Psychiatrist appointment in two weeks and going to try to slowly lower this 1mg Klonopin for 15 months with as little of pain as possible. My psychiatrist is up for whatever and open to suggestions so I would like some kind of game-plan going in. I’m curious what’s worked or hasn’t worked, how many mg at a time, whatever you have to offer as suggestion.