posted
Does anyone have numbness?? My head is numb,my nose, my face,my arms,my backside,both my legs and feet. I was given high doses of ativan for anxiety and had to cold turkey them. Have a host of symptoms that have been with me 12 months. I know I have been bitten by ticks in the past and trying to determine if the benzo activated the lyme. SYMPTOMS I have had for 12 months and currently still have:: Severe head pressure, unrelenting Severe dizziness,unable to lay or sit must pace can not ride in a car or watch tv, or read Can only sleep around 3 hours when I wake dizziness starts all over again, disoriented and stumble around drunkedly Vision problems can not read,write,watch tv,drive or ride in a car,cook,nothing Loss of coordination can not perform even a simple task, totally nonfunctional Severe pain in lower legs and feet,burning and stinging. Severe stomach problems,gut bloated Can not even do a simple checkbook, cognitve problems, memorty and thinking ability not there Skin is looks like aligator skin but is paper thin, if i pick it at all huge red marks. I am in bad shape and starting to think I may have lyme that was activated by the benzo. Had all other tests that were normal,MRI,EEG,EKG,CTscan of brain and stomach,Doppler of neck veins,etc. Getting another lyme test with western blot. Unable to care for myself my wife must take care of me. Anyone this bad or know of anyone???
Posts: 17 | From Florida | Registered: Jun 2011
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posted
Sorry if this post isn't organized too well, I am not doing well, it's been a long time too.
Posts: 17 | From Florida | Registered: Jun 2011
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posted
Oh yeah forgot. Severe anxiety like electricity running through my veins. Gasping for air, unable to breathe at different times and length. If more comes to me I will add
Any insight would help
Posts: 17 | From Florida | Registered: Jun 2011
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posted
Well that definitely raises a lot of questions... I definitely feel for you, I went through almost all those things in the last year. Especially the constant anxiety that feels like electricity, though I liken it more to bugs under my skin.
The big question I have though is did all this start when you cold turkeyed the ativan ??? Very dangerous thing to do by the way... especially on high doses, you really should find some and wean yourself slowly. I mean I take ativan as well but started after all these symptoms.
If it did mostly all start after the ativan then I would say its a chance its withdrawal, those are all things that it can cause. If not then they are also very common lyme symptoms, severe anxiety and paranoia was actually some of my first symptoms. Sorry I cant think of much else but it really could be either, or maybe a bit of both. Personally I limit my use of the ativan and have yet to have any problems ( that I know of )
Posts: 72 | From chico, ca | Registered: May 2011
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posted
The ativan did not help me made me worse and worse. I was paradoxical to it,could not taper all it had me doing was dancing around day and night. Yes, all of these symptoms started after the cold turkey. I was perfectly healthy. But they are not improving and the dizziness is dibilitating. I had pulled ticks from my skin in the past, the last one only 6 months ago.
Posts: 17 | From Florida | Registered: Jun 2011
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posted
yea I guess its certainly possible that the lyme ws dormant and triggered somehow... I often suspected that alcohol did the ssame in my case.
How long has it been since you stopped the ativan ? And how long where you on it ? As far as I understand benzo withdrawal does get progressivly better over time
Posts: 72 | From chico, ca | Registered: May 2011
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posted
I was on it 3 months been off 12 months. I am slightly better but still suffering badly. The dizziness has never left. I am in hell. Can do nothing all day but pace around and gasp for air. Scared that lyme may have been activated Severe depersonalization and derealization, in a dreamworld. Vision is so off can't even shave and showering is almost impossible even at 12 months.
Posts: 17 | From Florida | Registered: Jun 2011
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posted
oh yea from all that I ve ever read about benzos you should definitely be quite a bit better, plus it dosent seem like you wouldve gotten too bad a withdrawal from that length of time. Of course I m not a doctor or anything but yea that seems unlikely.
For a long time I kept thinking the same thing as you, all these symptoms where triggered in me by drinking ( too much ) so I finally stopped and for a long time thought it was some kind of delayed alcohol WD from 10 years of drinking. After 8 months I said ok theres something else here !! I would definitely look into LD as it certainly sounds a lot like my early symptoms and others I ve talked to. I can really relate to the air hunger thing too. FOr what its worth your not alone man, I ve been out of work for 5 months and really wanting to return.
Posts: 72 | From chico, ca | Registered: May 2011
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Hambone
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
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posted
Every single thing you wrote is what happened to me.
The first 2 years off benzos, I could not even write.
I sent you a private message.
Posts: 1142 | From South | Registered: Dec 2010
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Hambone
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 29535
posted
What were you put on Ativan for?
Anxiety?
Because Lyme and Bartonella can present as anxiety/panic.
Posts: 1142 | From South | Registered: Dec 2010
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posted
A lot of your symptoms sound like babesia to me.
In my opinion the ativan is a non-issue at this point. While you were taking it it may have masked some of the lyme and or babesia symptoms, but I do not think it actually activated the infections.
Hubby has been on various doses of oral and IV ativan for most of the 10 years he has been sick. He has been on as low as 1/2 mg daily up to 8 mg IV for a month while in the hospital. Most of the time the dose has been 3 or 4 mg daily.
There are a couple of nutritional supplements that may help with anxiety. Hubby takes these and finds them helpful. l-theanine and also SAM-e. L-tyrosine may or may not help as well. The SAM-e and l-tyrosine need to be taken on an empty stomach.
Since you have been sick for a while your Western Blot may come back negative -- but that does not mean you do not have lyme or another coinfection.
You really need to get to an LLMD or if unable to travel or can't afford it then the next best thing would be to start on the Buhner herbal protocol from the Healing Lyme book. It may not get you all the way well, but it can be a good starting point. But start much slower than the doses listed in the book until you see how you react to each herb.
Good luck and let us know how you are doing.
Bea Seibert
Posts: 7306 | From Martinsville,VA,USA | Registered: Oct 2004
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dmc
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
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posted
Seibert & carol have great experience & advise.
You do not say if you were treatred for co-infection.
Please print out the green lyme booklet from http://lymepa.org an easy read on the right side of page
If you've got so many symptoms that didn't go away...you still are infected w/something.
you can read dr.B's treatment guidelines
You may not have been treated long enough or treated for the TBI (tick borne illness) that's culprit now.
Hambone
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 29535
posted
I know the doctors where you live are FAR from Lyme literate.
There is only one who dabbles in Lyme, he might be able to help. I will send you his name in a private message.
You are exactly where I was 5 years ago. I seriously could've written everything you wrote.
I became HIGHLY sensitive to all supplements after withdrawing from benzos, so anything you take, go slow and see how you react first.
I did end up being low in thiamine and B-6, but I could not just supplement with it in normal doses or I would get worse. I had to practically take newborn doses. I've had to work my way up over the years and I STILL can't tolerate normal doses.
Withdrawal from a benzo ( especially cold turkey ) is nothing short of hell on earth and it can last years in a small mumber of people. Just be 100% sure you don't have underlying Lyme or a co-infection or it will be impossible to heal from that.
You REALLY need to see a Lyme doctor.
Posts: 1142 | From South | Registered: Dec 2010
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