Question: Hello. I'm suffering immensely from a Temazepam taper gone awfully wrong. I tried to taper way too quickly and didn't cross taper with valium like I was supposed to. I was initially on a high dose (90mg) per night for over a year. On July 2nd, I dropped down to 60mg without adding any valium and felt just fine for the month of July. No real change in sleep or anxiety levels, just a little extra energy. Generally very happy. According to the taper schedule I was on, for every 30mg drop in temazepam, 15mg valium was to be added and then tapered off later. Exactly four weeks later, on July 30th, I decided to go down to 45mg temazepam (a 15mg drop). I considered adding 7.5mg valium to help prevent any withdrawals, but I figured if I was fine dropping 30mg before than I would be okay dropping another mere 15mg. Well boy did I make a huge mistake! And I'm paying the price every minute of every day and night now. A few days after being no 45mg, my mind and body went into full-on withdrawal mode: EXTREME anxiety, tremors, vomiting, zero sleep, and SEVERE body aches/weakness/muscle soreness. Fast forward two months now and I am still experiencing these symptoms in full, with no improvement, except that I am sleeping about an hour per night and not throwing up as much. But I get so nervous that I am weak in the knees and my legs give out such that it becomes hard to walk. My psychiatrist has added 2,700mg gabapentin (900mg 3 times per day), but I'm still having chest pains and all the other symptoms. Plus the gabapentin is causing weight gain. He has given me the secondary option to take 120mg valium (40mg 3 times per day). Do you think the valium would work better than the gabapentin for my withdrawal symptoms? Why do you think after two months from the taper my mind and body haven't adjusted and gotten ANY better? Would the valium make it difficult to exercise due to sedation, cause excess hunger, or weight gain? Since the taper, I can only exercise HALF as much because my body is SO WEAK from stress and anxiety (I swim and lift weights every day, but now more limited). What should my approach be to getting over the symptoms of these withdrawals? Thank you so much for all of your advice. I am in a desperate situation. I DO have a psychiatrist, whom I see next Thursday, but I am just seeking additional support and advice. He knows I'm getting advice from your site and encourages it, and I run anything by him before making any changes. Thank you and God bless,
It should be mentioned that I have adjusted my caloric intake and diet accordingly to my decreased ability to exercise as much, and in reality I am probably doing 2/3rds as much in the gym, but everything is SO MUCH HARDER from the weakness caused by the withdrawals. I'm wondering when this aching and lack of energy will go away? I know it's all stress induced. Thank you