Benzo Addiction and Withdrawal Timeline 

1: Prepare for 2 weeks or more of physical withdrawal symptoms and longer for regular sleep patterns to return. The initial symptoms that are typical for benzo withdrawal usually start off mild, with small bouts of anxiety, muscle aches, back pain, inability to be comfortable, and difficulty staying asleep and or falling asleep.  With short and ultra short-acting benzos this can take 2 to 12 hours to start to manifest. Longer-lasting benzodiazepines can take as long as 4 -5 days to start feeling the onset of withdrawal symptoms

2: Physical and mental withdrawal symptoms can take a few days to manifest and up to a week with peak withdrawal symptoms which can last up to two weeks or longer for severe cases.  This is the time when you are going to feel completely wrecked and horrible for what can seem like an eternity. Once you start to enter into peak withdrawal from benzodiazepines you will feel that this is going to last forever and it keeps getting worse. With muscle pains, insomnia, and the inability to find comfort in anything, time will seem like it is at a standstill. Minutes can seem like hours, days can seem like weeks. This is not meant to scare anyone away from detox but it is meant to show the need for medical supervision and treatment to help throughout the detoxification process. With medical intervention and detox programs, this discomfort can be held to a minimum with the ability to administer medications and keep you nourished and hydrated while monitoring you for any irregularities in your vital signs to ensure a safe withdrawal process.

3:  Once the worst part of the detox is over you can expect mild symptoms to reemerge randomly for the next few months. Benzodiazepines are typically prescribed for sleeping disorders and anxiety issues so expect these symptoms to become extreme during a benzo detox. You may not be able to tell the difference between the medication detox and your normal symptoms for the condition for which the medication was prescribed in the first place. It is common to feel periodic withdrawal symptoms for months after the initial detox symptoms subside. Depression and elevated anxiety are quite normal for a couple of months after the last use. A long-term drug rehab program can help you avoid relapse, which is quite common. After a medical detox is completed entering into short or long-term inpatient drug rehab can be the difference between long-term recovery and relapse. 

• Flu-like pains (feeling like you are hurting all over your body)
• Sleeping irregularities and insomnia
• Panic attacks with bouts of depression
• Loss of muscle coordination
• Pounding heart
• Nausea and vomiting
• Psychosis and hallucinations
• Heavy sweating or perspiration 
• Violent muscle spasms
• Seizures can be deadly for some 
  
  

• Eat healthily and get plenty of exercise
• Get a support person that you can call 24 hours a day if you are feeling like a relapse is imminent 
• Surround yourself with people who support and encourage you to be your best
• Find a hobby that you can get enjoyment and a sense of accomplishment.
• Try to free yourself from caring about what others think about you. You can’t change that anyway.
• Follow your dreams, and set short and long-term goals.
• Try and live in the moment, we can’t change the past or control the future, but we can make a difference in the present.