Help?

[raincat]

I'm having some symptoms. Possibly mild benzodiapine withdrawal. I was taking .5mg of lorazepam for a bit then went down to .25 for a month and recently stopped. The evening before yesterday, I was about 5 or so days off of it and I started having some physical symptoms (nausea, dizziness, heartrate 130bpm, etc) and anxiety. I went to the ER. They concluded it's nothing serious, but likely from going off lorazepam. So the night I went to the ER and the night after (last night) I have been taking .25mg again. I don't have symptoms as bad as when it seemed to start but they're still there even though I'm taking it again. It's unpleasant but nothing unbearable. I haven't slept last night due to being a bit nauseous and twitchy. I also went slightly up on my Lamictal dose on the same time as stopping lorazepam, maybe that would have something to do with it, idk. Would a mild withdrawal be like this?

It might have been building up for a while, in generally lately I've been more anxious and prone to having an upset stomach. I had assumed the upset stomach might have been related to how I recently kinda messed my body up starving and might be still recovering from that. Maybe not. I don't know. I contacted my doctor and she doesn't have much to say right now. My next appointment in a few weeks. Anxiety is definitely the worst part. Hopefully I get to sleep soon. I'm ok.

[yarkadin]

May I ask how long you've been on the benzo all together and if you took it consistently each day?  If you were taking it for months and months I can see how going even from .25 to 0 would cause a problem, but I don't think a major one.  I've heard you need to cut it down to fractions.  It sounds like the Lamictal may be the culprit here... just speculating.

Personally I had a weird spike a few weeks ago in all of my HPPD symptoms and the only medicinal conclusion I could come up with was the Clonazepam I was taking on and off.  But I was doing it very sporadic and uneven.  I didn't have anxiety or dizziness or heartrate issues though.  A few days back my HPPD was so off-the-chart that I just said, hell with it, and I took 1mg to fall asleep... and the next day I felt great!  I took .75 mg last night.

My philosophy over the years has been to avoid all medications all together if possible... this year it's been rough for a variety of reasons.  But I will tell you something, even if you do start all of these drugs - try for the love of your favorite God or deity or action hero to not take them for long.  That's the only suggestion I will give you...  because the longer you are on them, the chances are the harder it will be to get off of them, and no one wants to be dependent on any meds.  I'm saying this in broad terms.  If you are experiencing very severe symptoms and cannot handle life without them, then it is another story.  I am speaking more for those with mild problems.

 

[raincat]

3 hours ago, yarkadin said:

May I ask how long you've been on the benzo all together and if you took it consistently each day?  If you were taking it for months and months I can see how going even from .25 to 0 would cause a problem, but I don't think a major one.  I've heard you need to cut it down to fractions.  It sounds like the Lamictal may be the culprit here... just speculating.

Personally I had a weird spike a few weeks ago in all of my HPPD symptoms and the only medicinal conclusion I could come up with was the Clonazepam I was taking on and off.  But I was doing it very sporadic and uneven.  I didn't have anxiety or dizziness or heartrate issues though.  A few days back my HPPD was so off-the-chart that I just said, hell with it, and I took 1mg to fall asleep... and the next day I felt great!  I took .75 mg last night.

My philosophy over the years has been to avoid all medications all together if possible... this year it's been rough for a variety of reasons.  But I will tell you something, even if you do start all of these drugs - try for the love of your favorite God or deity or action hero to not take them for long.  That's the only suggestion I will give you...  because the longer you are on them, the chances are the harder it will be to get off of them, and no one wants to be dependent on any meds.  I'm saying this in broad terms.  If you are experiencing very severe symptoms and cannot handle life without them, then it is another story.  I am speaking more for those with mild problems.

 

I had been taking lorazepam for a few months consistently every day, at .5mg. It was necessary so I that wasn't psychologically tortured 24/7. Even with it things were super rough. Maybe increasing the Lamictal is contributing to this but I'm having a lot more symptoms and different than the Lamictal side effects that I usually get after increasing it. The ER doctor said it could be both but leaned towards it mostly being from lorazepam.

I'm also a very sensitive person and on the smaller side. If I weighed just a little less I'd be in the child category for Tylenol dosage guidelines, haha. But again, this current situation isn't serious at all. Extremely mild in the range of benzo withdrawal, assuming that's what happened. Annoying and tiring to deal with but I'm holding up ok and it's mostly gone at this point. My biggest problem right now is just a moderate headache.

I don't like having to depend on drugs either... I can barely do anything without them though, I have multiple severe issues. Unfortunately I am that exception you talked about. But I'm careful about not putting drugs in myself that aren't needed.

Luckily I've gotten a few scraps of sleep today, so that's a win.

[Jay1]

Increasing the lamictal dose seems the more likely culprit, to me. It's quite a strong medication.

Your Lorazepam dose is low and you are taking them sporadically, so the likelihood of withdrawals are low (though not zero). 

A bad sleep pattern will also exasperate any spikes. I imagine if you get that under control, you'll feel back to baseline. I tend to take Melatonin for 1-2 weeks when I hit an insomnia spell.. It makes me a bit groggy for those weeks, but then i can stop taking them and maintain a decent sleep pattern. 

[raincat]

On 11/25/2024 at 4:27 AM, Jay1 said:

Increasing the lamictal dose seems the more likely culprit, to me. It's quite a strong medication.

Your Lorazepam dose is low and you are taking them sporadically, so the likelihood of withdrawals are low (though not zero). 

A bad sleep pattern will also exasperate any spikes. I imagine if you get that under control, you'll feel back to baseline. I tend to take Melatonin for 1-2 weeks when I hit an insomnia spell.. It makes me a bit groggy for those weeks, but then i can stop taking them and maintain a decent sleep pattern. 

How long would a bad Lamictal thing last? I reversed both medicine changes, so back to .25 lorazepam every evening and 100mg Lamictal, I also changed it so I don't take all the Lamictal at once, instead 50mg in the morning, 25mg about 5 hours later and the remaining 25mg 3 or so hours after that. I started taking the Lamictal in very divided doses out of anxiety that it's the cause of this. My doctor didn't tell me to do that. It might not have been a good idea, idk... The symptoms that were different from the Lamictal side effects I usually got are gone (other than some anxiety about the pain) and now it seems a lot like what Lamictal did with headaches and jaw pain being my main issues now... I don't think Lamictal ever bothered me this much before, I don't know what happened. I am currently in pain. It's rough. It seems like when I wake up I am at my best, then throughout the day pain slowly worsens and peaks in the evening, at which point I take some OTC pain medicine and the dose of lorazepam. I don't know what to do. I can't live like this. Did I make a medication mistake? How do I get out of this? I don't know who to go to, my doctor doesn't have anything to say other than keep taking the lorazepam. All I can do now is try stay positive and cope.

Adding this cause I forgot, I also stopped taking 3 supplements - vitamin D3, magnesium citrate and fenugreek. I am prone to vitamin d deficiency and the other 2 I was taking since there's a bit of evidence they may help with pain. I was prescribed a hormone pill that I choose not to take since it drastically alters your blood levels of Lamictal, and I've heard fenugreek can alter hormones.. maybe not taking that would reduce my hormone levels and make the dose of Lamictal I'm taking effectively much larger? It makes sense as an explanation... I don't know though. I wish there was a clear way to tell exactly why this is happening to me and what to do about it!

Edited November 28 by raincat

[Jay1]

My spikes tend to last from 1-4 weeks.. but every one is different. Try to get your sleep pattern under control and take it from there. You will get through this, keep that in mind and try to stay calm. 

[Spartan]

Great insight and sharing from everyone. 

It came to mind that my current psychiatrist and pharmacist advised me to take my Lomotragine dose in the morning only because it can contribute to insomnia. There might a connection here with your "sleep challenges". (Though night time formulations of lamotrogine maybe available also).

Can totally relate to the nausea thing increasing your dose , especially also if you sensative. I accidentally took a double dose one morning and ended up in ER too. 

Likey as most have suggested it maybe a partial combination of the two, as lowering one and increasing the other may contribute to the new  combined side effects. 

I hope things level out for you soon and find a new equilibrium and baseline. 

 

 

[boyo4202]

Yeah, I second the lamotrigine causing insomnia. I wouldn't take it any less than six hours before you go to bed.