Hey Twang, still up 5:41 am...
Admitting is such a huge step. I first found this board looking for w/d symptoms, not thinking I was an addict so much as addicted, and just reading people's posts I saw the same behaviors, freaking out when the bottle gets low, counting the pills, being elated when you get a new bottle were the first ahas for me. And still I told myself if I were strong enough I could use "in moderation". But I admitted it first here and then to "live" people. I've only told 3 live people but it was such a huge relief. Two of them were professionals and I got such a non-judgemental and supportive response. Concern and care. I'm so glad you're starting to feel that, too. Relief. It's like the weight of the world.
It's been a godsend for me to have a doc helping me with this. They know about the safety issues, or can easily find out, what are common symptoms of w/d, etc. And mine is a pdoc w/ addiction treatment experience so she knows what drugs should and should not be prescribed during the w/d. I saw a post on here this summer from a woman who was prescribed ativan during ambien detox, I think by her primary care doc, which is such a bad idea. I used that as a rationale to try it myself and all it did was make this harder and longer. She finally had to talk to a pharmacist to get good advice. That might be an option for you, too.
I saw that in the hospital they do 10%/day for barbs but that seems really fast. I think that is with medical detox only. I've also seen where they switch people to valium gradually and then taper off the valium. Hopefully you can get better advice from Phil.
Finding a pdoc w/ addiction treatment experience might be an option, you can do it outside of your medical insurance if you can afford it, and then it won't be in your insurance records. This is basically what I'm doing. It's expensive, but I feel like I have to do something, because doing it on my own didn't work. So, got me one of those intro 0% interest rate credit cards!! (Oh and for me, not spending a few hundred bucks a month on drugs of sketchy if not illegal origin helps also!)
Hang in there Twang, try to get some professional advice if you can, it has made a huge difference for me. If not, keep up the good work, you're doing an amazing job, and hopefully Phil will have the info you seek.
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