Should I add pregabalin to help me taper off benzodiazepines? I'm feeling lost.

@patricia When you say you’ve been through several severe withdrawals, did you get them while tapering or after you tapered/stopped your medication? How severe were your symptoms? To understand this information would give a better picture of your tolerance. It’s so hard to know which way to go with these drugs, I sympathise with you very much.

@RO Hi ro! <3 It's a long story, and I'm not sure I'll be able to explain it very well. I started taking psychiatric medication when I was around 18–19 years old. I was prescribed paroxetine (paxil) and bromazepam for periods of increased anxiety and panic attacks. After taking paroxetine for two or three years, I stopped it much more quickly than I now know I should have, and I experienced terrible withdrawal symptoms. I couldn't sleep, I had extreme anxiety, and basically, I wanted to die. I don't remember all the details anymore, as it was 12 years ago, but it was awful. Since then, I've tried several other medications: escitalopram, sertraline, venlafaxine, vortioxetine, desvenlafaxine, fluoxetine... I've generally spent around two or three years on each one because I've always wanted to try coming off them. My ideal life has always been to be able to live without medication, because I managed to do so until I was 20. But I've never been able to. I've always tapered faster than I should have, and I'm a person who seems to be particularly sensitive to changes in these medications, so things have never gone well. So, at the moment, I'm taking fluoxetine (prozac) in liquid form and tapering it down. Last year, I was taking 40 mg of fluoxetine because I was hospitalised for two months over the summer in a private hospital but the same awful idea of mental problems. Now I'm taking around 16 mg of fluoxetine - 20 mg of liquid fluoxetine (which is equivalent to 5 ml), and I've currently reduced it to 4 ml in two months. I'm also taking 3 mg of liquid diazepam. The problem is that I switched from bromazepam, which I used to take in capsules, two 1.5 mg capsules a day, to liquid diazepam because I've read that diazepam is better for tapering off benzodiazepines. But I'm not sure whether that was the right decision. I've been experiencing quite a lot of anxiety, so I went to see my psychiatrist, who suggested adding pregabalin (25 mg the lowesrt dose) to help me taper off the benzodiazepine. So now I really don't know what to do. I did take the pregabalin yesterday (25 mg), but I haven't taken it today because, honestly, I'm not sure whether adding yet another medication makes sense. I don't know. I feel very lost, and I'm not even sure I've explained myself properly. I'm sorry. Also, I'm Spanish, so I have to translate everything, as my English isn't very good. I sometimes get tired of hearing myself repeat this story because I feel like I've been telling it on so many different forums for so many years. But this time, I feel like I'm finally taking it seriously. At the same time, taking this seriously feels like more than a full-time job. It's as if I'm dedicating my entire life to this, and I'm starting to feel quite exhausted by it all. I hope you can understand what I mean. Sending you a big hug, and thank you so much for asking and for caring about what I'm going through.

After trying so many drugs over so many years and not feeling any better, why try more drugs? It just doesn't make sense. Taking a new drug to withdraw from an old drug is just kicking the can down the road.

I would just research herbal remedies that work on the GABA receptors, like benzid do. I have tried the first time ever for a month ashwaghanda. worked well. I would recommend you see also an endocrinologist, cause maybe your hormones might be out of balance. for that I take monk pepper, which gynecologist do prescribe. I also take Valeriana against tensions or anxiety. I take benzos 1,5-3mg only when the anxiety is unbearable. but I need to cut off coffeeine cause studies have shown that after 3-4 weeks of constant consumption a generalized anxiety disorder can be triggered, cause caffeine spikes the cortisol levels+ in addition to to normal cortisol flush of the body in the morning so we can wake up- I. combination with coffeine this could be a fatal combination. beside that to reduce cortisol - melatonin is a antagonist. wouldn't take it daily. but it helps most definitely. a herb with good effects on anxiety (shown in studies) is chamomile: I put 4 bags in 1 cup and feel relieved. take your time to test herbal helpers. but also healthy alternatives like long warm baths with lavender oil, salt...lavender oil calms, salt helps the nervous system leading the nerve signals much better. hope that helps. please research on your own for further details and find your passion for traditional medicine be it from Europe, u.s, china, or India. as they say for each ache there's a plant growing.