Addiction to prescription drugs is treated just like any other addiction. If you were to enter into a rehab program the process would go something like this..
First you enter into detox. This is where they take you off the drug completely. You will experience flu like symptoms for about a week, possibly a bit longer. During this time you will want to go back to taking the drugs (depending on the dosage you have been self medicating you should spend a week cutting back slowly,say you take 20 pills a day cut back to 15 10 8 5 3 0, you will still experience with drawl but it wont cause as much damage) if your dosage is smaller than that quit cold turkey.
Also try to stay away from natural stimulants such as caffeine or sugar. Drink lots of water and eat when you feel you can.
Soon after the with drawl people normally go in one of two directions,
1. You feel clear headed and optimistic. This is the more rare of the two but its it can lead to a relapse more quickly. This is because you may start piling on the things you want to do and overwhelm yourself. If you are a happy overwhelmed it can be easier to rationalize taking drugs to "chill out".
2. You can possibly slip into a depression. You have been messing with your brain chemicals by taking a drug that stops some neurotransmitters from performing their proper functions, now that you are allowing all these things to flow naturally you may be unprepared to feel things as strongly as you do. In this state it can be very easy to turn back to the drug to feel better
I would like to say there are allot of people who do this own their own successfully, but if you do not seek some sort of outside help you will most likely not stop. You brain is trained to want anything that makes us feel better, that's why when we think we are hungry we eat. Your body has now had a taste of this wonderful magic pill and will do whatever it can to get it back. Because its in our minds ( after you have completed step one your body has no physical dependency on the drug) it is almost impossible to fight on our own. You should call a hot line or join an NA (some places have meetings for prescription drugs)
Good luck and I wish you the best. You took a step in the right direction by asking, and don't try anything until you are sure you are ready to get your life back.
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As you may know with Valium, you cannot stay on the same dosage forever, you have to either up it or withdraw, so your GP will help you withdraw without condemnation.
Also, despite obtaining your medication illegally, the police cannot be informed due to confidentiality and this would prove counter-productive in your treatment anyway.
If you need support going to see your GP about this, the leading mental health charity MIND has drop-in cent res all over England and Wales.
One of their advocates would gladly attend the consultation with you if you asked for their support.
Here are links to their website, where you can search for your local drop-in cent re and read more about advocacy.
I think the second answer is good, but please be very careful in withdrawing from Valium. Valium withdrawal is very dangerous; seizures and death can be the result of not withdrawing slowly and carefully. Withdrawal from Valium is not merely uncomfortable like withdrawing from heroin; it really is dangerous.
Several years ago I had training with a psycho pharmacologist, who said that withdrawal from Valium (and other disappears) should only be attempted under medical supervision, because of the possibility of seizures and of rebound anxiety. She recommended, for example, that a person taking 10 mg 3x daily should reduce a quarter of one tablet daily, and stay on that dosage for at least one week; if all goes well, reduce another quarter tablet and continue that dose for another week. During the first week, to make it clearer, you would take two whole tablets and three quarters of a tablet daily; the second week, you would take one whole tablet and two three-quarter tablets, and so on. If you felt anxious, you would remain on the lower dose until the anxiety diminished, and then go back on the quarter tablet per week schedule. Since you were not prescribed the medication, you are probably taking more than a recommended dose; I really think you would be foolish to attempt to detox on your own. Your GP might tut-tut at you, but cannot tell anyone about your problem and will undoubtedly be glad you want to get off the drug.
You have already taken step one,appreciating that you have a problem, and step two deciding that you want to do something about it.Step 3 is to see your GP who,if he is any good will either help you himself or refer you to the community addiction team.
It won't make a difference to your GP's helping you even if the Valium were not prescribed.
See your doctor and get the help he/she will give you.
Someone I know just stopped after years of prescription Valium and had a hell of a time. She decided to go it alone.Anorexia, insomnia, diarrhea, disorientation. Even her teeth ached. It lasted for a couple of months - the worst effects then started to tail off. Not a good thing to witness.
Get help.
Valium is highly addictive and a drug which is often abused and obtained when not prescribed.
By saying you are addicted is you admitting to yourself that you have a problem. As hard as it is you've done it.
Go to your GP, they know drugs can be got from illegal ways and shouldn't judge you.
In addicted to Valium. Im too afraid to approach my GP as they are not prescribed. Ca -
03-03-2010, 04:05 AM
