I am in withdrawal from Rivotril. Will the side effects (anxiety and insomnia) eventually go away?

Question

i am in withdrawal from rivotril. two years ago i was taking 1.75 mg and every 6 months or so my psychiatrist had me go down 0.25 each time so now i am down to 0.25. it has been 11 days since i went down to this dose and i am finding it more difficult than the last time (anxiety and sleep). I was wondering when the anxiety will go away and the sleep will get better? if not, I'm trying to work out so that it won't be so bad but I can't wait for these symptoms to stop coming back! thank you! so how long will the side effects of withdrawal last? are they normal? I am very motivated to stop I just want the incomforts to go away that's all :=) agree thank you to 'you! by the way it's past the tanning effects i'm very happy!!! in 6 months i'll go down from 0.25 to ZERO!!!

Alexandre Chagnon · Accepted Answer

Hello, First of all, congratulations on the weaning! You are very strong and it's really beautiful to see the progress you've made over the past few years. 😊 You're right, the symptoms you describe are tingling, but they are normal. It's called rebound anxiety and usually patients complain about it for a few days at all dose reductions. That you find it more difficult now than at the last dose reductions can be explained by several causes (season, more stress in life, more difficult sleep due to life events). To ease the transition to lower doses now and in the future, I recommend a cell phone app called Headspace. This one will help you reduce anxiety and sleep better in the coming days by giving you access to a type of intervention called cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT). CBT is usually only available through psychologists, but apps like this one perform very well and help millions of patients every year. Yahooo!"👍 Good luck with the rest, Alexandre Chagnon, pharmacist