Addiction and TRT - Benzodiazepine effects on testosterone.

[burnoutat42]

Be patient. I have known people that tell me it took them 6 months to a year to feel "normal". It is not easy to get off these drugs.

I'm trying brother however after finally managing to do the impossible "Get off klonopin", after a 15 month taper.. I wasn't prepared for PAWS! It appears I'm now going through (PAWS) or Post Acute Withdrawal Syndrome. I have spend 15 months scouring the message boards over at "Benzobuddies", as well as quite possibly watching every video there is associated with "Benzo W/D", on Youtube.com.

This is both pain and suffering on an entirely different level "One can't put it into mere words"! It's difficult enough taking care of myself not to mention taking care of my son as well!

Cheers,
RC

 

[Tgrappler]

Brother thank you so much for your reply! I have been laying in bed "Fasting", for days praying for my misery to end! If it weren't for my son I would have ended things a long time ago! After 15 months of tapering off this drug I wasn't prepared for this recent "Wave", as I had a decent "Window", only a few weeks earlier.

I saw my DR yesterday who ordered a "Complete Metabolic Panel", "Lipid Panel", "CBC w Diff W Pitt", "Antinuclear Antibodies", "FSH and LH", "Testosterone Total", and "Thyroid Cascade Profile"! I'm going to go and get my blood work done either today or tomorrow!

I have every symptom you referenced above coupled with around "Eighty additional symptoms"! I'm glad you experienced a brief respite from the majority of your symptoms after the cream was administered! At least you now know that a great deal of what you have been going through was hormonal in nature. I will pray for you even though my faith in God has been shattered at this point!

Like you I feel like I don't have a drop of testosterone flowing through my veins and I'm emotional as hell! Only those who have tapered from these class of drugs could quite possibly begin to remotely understand both the intense pain and suffering associated withdrawing from these drugs! If it makes you feel any better I only left my house a few times last last summer as I became extremely "Agoraphobic"! Every little thing stresses me out as well which is why for the most part I'm confined to my bedroom at this point!

I would write more however I feel like absolute garbage! I'm taking "Kratom", around the clock for physical pain and drinking boatloads of Ginger Tea to help with my intense nausea at times! I might fast for five days or so as it appears every time I eat something I get extremely nauseated! Not to happy about the aforementioned as I recently started training again which gave me something to look forward to)-:

In closing hang in there man as it sounds like you have undoubtedly come along way "Your a warrior / fighter", hope you know that!! Please write back when you have time time as I'm sure there are many out there who could quite possibly benefit from hearing your story!

Cheers,
RC

hey buddy, i really appreciate your response. a brother in misery indeed. i read my own story in your post. i'm also here for your support, feel free to reach out at any time.
what's even more interesting is that i am also a Kratom user. I'm only using it to help me with anxiety and initially after i herniated a disk in my neck ~2 years ago. (i was deathly afraid of going on opiates, i know myself well enough... and i would be done if i went that route).
granted it's not really a cure for anything, but even if i'm getting some placebo and some relief of this horrible panic, i'll take it.

today is a little better. i know that TRT can work, i have felt quite good (even recently), better than i have in years. last few days was a set back, but i'm determined to keep fighting ... i'm in constant communication with my doc, who's been amazingly responsive and helpful. I'm really blessed to find a caring person and not just an MD with a nice diploma.

i sincerely wish you to start getting better soon. there is hope. get those labs done... man you should have seen me at my last lab work. i was sweating bullets, my face was a nice shade of green, i really didn't think i would walk out of that place. i did. and lived and still here today. it's bizarre, but i also had (sometimes sill have) "difficulty" leaving the house. never in my life was i so anxious about simply walking outside or driving to the store. some days i can't even imagine driving and probably it's a good thing. definitely should not be on the road in this shape.

like they say "if you are going through hell, then don't stop and keep going!". thank you for your reply, it's awesome to know that i am not "alone" in this. please keep me posted on your progress. strength, willpower, discipline and a little luck! let's do it.

 

[burnoutat42]

hey buddy, i really appreciate your response. a brother in misery indeed. i read my own story in your post. i'm also here for your support, feel free to reach out at any time.
what's even more interesting is that i am also a Kratom user. I'm only using it to help me with anxiety and initially after i herniated a disk in my neck ~2 years ago. (i was deathly afraid of going on opiates, i know myself well enough... and i would be done if i went that route).
granted it's not really a cure for anything, but even if i'm getting some placebo and some relief of this horrible panic, i'll take it.

today is a little better. i know that TRT can work, i have felt quite good (even recently), better than i have in years. last few days was a set back, but i'm determined to keep fighting ... i'm in constant communication with my doc, who's been amazingly responsive and helpful. I'm really blessed to find a caring person and not just an MD with a nice diploma.

i sincerely wish you to start getting better soon. there is hope. get those labs done... man you should have seen me at my last lab work. i was sweating bullets, my face was a nice shade of green, i really didn't think i would walk out of that place. i did. and lived and still here today. it's bizarre, but i also had (sometimes sill have) "difficulty" leaving the house. never in my life was i so anxious about simply walking outside or driving to the store. some days i can't even imagine driving and probably it's a good thing. definitely should not be on the road in this shape.

like they say "if you are going through hell, then don't stop and keep going!". thank you for your reply, it's awesome to know that i am not "alone" in this. please keep me posted on your progress. strength, willpower, discipline and a little luck! let's do it.

Well brother I just drove myself 4 miles to get my blood drawn! Like yourself I'm amazed that I somehow managed to go considering how deathly ill I feel! I try to avoid my neighbors like the plague these days however somehow managed to tell most of them that I'm going through "Benzo W/D", and then proceed to tell them how many people die from such each and every day! In addition to them not thinking I was ignoring them I wanted them to understand the seriousness of the situation!

They all seem to be extremely understanding however there is no possible way one can understand seeing me for (IE) two weeks ago going to the beach for a week straight to once again "Agoraphobic"! I have been told it's not true Agorphobia as not only is it "W/D related", but all tends to come and go which isn't the case with true agoraphobia.

Like yourself I have trouble going to the store however it appears that when "I'm in a fasted state", it makes things a tad easier. I managed to go the store with my son after getting my blood work done however it was an extremely "Tense", jaw clenching, teeth grinding experience! When I do drive I try to go late at night when possible! I can't help but ask how many folks that live around me are going through this or something similar right now?

I see allot of "Males", when cruising the message boards on sites such as Benzobuddies, and Youtube still feeling deathly ill "Three years post benzo taper"! Maybe I'm wrong however it appears predominately more females then males pull through all things "Benzo W/D", faster? Could this possibly be attributed to men needing more "Testosterone", in order to feel well both physically and mentally? It just seems like in my experience that women's endocrine systems / Central nervous systems bounce back faster especially "Post Menopausal Women", who may perhaps already be taking hormones to manage their menopause?

I have had people tell me "Well your 42 years old now your body might not jump back as fast this time around"? My rebuttal to aforementioned statement goes a little something like this! The most prestigious "Bodybuilding Title", in the world was won by no other then Shaun Rhoden, last month! Mr Rhoden, just so happens to be 43 years old...Wow imagine that!

All we have is each other my friend as "Were basically the ones pioneering this entire thing", as conventional or western medicine offers little to no help! I'm glad your feeling quite good recently as it appears you have somehow managed to put certain pieces of the puzzle together! Lets keep this going brother as not only will we be helping ourselves but even more importantly countless men all over the world! I certainly don't see this problem getting any smaller with an estimated 900,000 new RXs for Benzo's written every year do you?

Nice to hear your taking Kratom! I take quality "Organically Tested Kratom" which helps with the physical pain (IE) burning legs, joint pain, muscle pain, etc however unfortunately does very little with respect to my overall sense of well being)-: I could argue however that a quality "Red Bali" strain at times both calms me down as well as enables me to sleep more times then not(-: I miss taking my Kratom with "Grapefruit Juice", however feel at the current time following a 16:8 or 20:4 intermittent fasting protocol is more important!

In closing hang in there bud and please let me know if you need anything? Please stay in contact with me and let me know how things are going for you! Once again thank you for reaching out to me as I have been hopelessly losing faith with each and every passing day! When I started this journey I was hoping that somehow perhaps when I was finally off all of the RX drugs I would feel better. Well that time has come and gone and I now feel worse then ever before!

Cheers,
RC

 

[Thezodiac1991]

Anyone here have experience of Drug/Alcohol Addiction while on TRT?

I was always a very anxious person in social situations since my teenage years.

I'm 31 now and more or less grown out of my anxiety issues.

Over the years I was prescribed benzodiazepines many times and eventually became dependant on them daily.

I'm currently tapering off them slowly, but it's a long process and can take 6-12 months at my current dose.

I was tempted to wait until getting off all medication completely before beginning TRT to see what effect that would have on Test levels - but decided I'd rather not wait any longer.

I've known since I was 20 my Test levels were very low, but never pursued TRT until recently.

TRT so far seems to help with anxiety symptoms and the benzo withdrawal symptoms.

Does anyone have experience with TRT while dealing with addiction or withdrawing from prescription medicines?

Hi there did you have to disclose youre anxiety and medication to treat to get on Trt? Im kinda ashamed and would rather not disclose it with anti aging clinic but am worried the bloodwork requisition panel or other tests will detect and disqaulify me from getting life changing help with trt what should i do?.