I unwittingly got addicted to oxazepam when given it for anxiety from my doctor, she gave me 3 months supply all at once, however, I didnt take the large doses she prescribed, I just took it on an as and when basis. However, I took it every night for sleep and now feel I cant sleep without it 50mg. I tried to cut to 25mg but terrible anxiety in the early hours.

Was wondering if to try baclofen. Would prefer to take that, does anyone know if you can just swap one for the other, or I would have to reduce one whilst increasing the other. I have managed to get some over the counter here in France, really cheap too. As I have this underlying anxiety most of the day and also insomnia, I thought baclofen would really help.

Before I start though i need some advice on how to start it with the oxazepam.

Hey...I read the book My Way Out and ordered from her site a GABA all natural supplement. I take a dosage of that when I take a Xanax or even on days that I do not take one. I am thinking that it will counteract the effects of the benzo on the brain as far as the GABA is concerned. I'm still experiencing success despite the xanax so I'm not sold that it really affects TSM totally.

Dr. Eskapa said only that benzos would hamper TSM progress -- not ruin it altogether. Same with titrating off benzos -- alcohol makes the process longer, but not futile. I have seen progress on both fronts. We can do it!

If you do not take xanax daily then maybe you are not yet dependent and can do without it??

When I first went to the MWO site I was surprised to see them selling GABA. GABA is a substance produced in the brain, and both benzos and alcohol affect GABA production. The usefulness of taking synthetic GABA in supplement form has been questioned; much of the literature says GABA as a supp does not cross the blood-brain barrier and so is of little or no use. Here's a good discussion:

http://www.denvernaturopathic.com/news/GABA.html

Xanax has a short half-life and is tough to titrate down. Ashton (cited in a post here by Eskapa) recommends gradual crossover to a longer-acting benzo such as valium before tapering off. At benzodetoxrecovery.com, the crossover drug of choice is mostly klonipin, also a long-half-life benzo. I think it is because so many of us already were on it anyway.

This is probably a Dr. Eskaba question, but how about taking OTC supplement Lithium Asporotate while coming off of Benzos?

Hi Lena,

I would certainly support the statement that 'the usefulness of taking synthetic GABA in supplement form has been questioned'. I took a GABA supplement (Seredyn) for several months approximately 18 months ago; it was completely useless in my case.

V.

I mentioned this elsewhere but wanted to post it here.

I've noticed that the TSM progress of the Benzo Bunch is, on average, about the same as members of this board generally.

Not sure what this means, except -- NO WORRIES/NO FEAR!

Bob3d this is for you

Hi Folks,

It's exactly a month since this thread was started and I, for one, would be interested in comparing notes with other members of the benzo bunch.

I'm still tapering off clonazepam, being currently on 0.16mg daily which, going by Prof Ashton's website (Table 1), is equivalent to 3.2mg of diazepam. For every week that goes by, my intake is reduced by approximately 10% on the previous week. I think I may be noticing higher-than-usual anxiety of recent but it's just about acceptable so I'm going to press on. For anyone wondering how the dickens I measure 3.2mg with any accuracy, I'm using an oral solution of clonazepam and I use a 1.0ml syringe. As reported elsewhere, I will not take my last dose of clonazepam until September this year! Talk about the long haul.

Other than the possibly elevated anxiety, I am not aware of any other withdrawal symptoms.

So, how are others getting on? Have you started tapering off? Have you decided to stay on benzos? Any feedback will be of interest.

All the best,

V.

Update:

I was at 5 mg Valium per day one month ago.

This week I am stable at 2.5 mg Valium per day and will stay at this level for the remainder of the week. No anxiety today to speak of. I had a bout of anxiety Sunday, after not taking any Valium for 72 hours... stretching the envelope a bit too much. One 2.5 mg pill and all was better.

After the weekend, I'll titrate down again.

Bob