Chapter 9
Anti-Anxiety,
Anticonvulsants, Benzodiazepine,
And Sleep Medication Pre-Taper
Starting Your Pre-Taper
Note:
This pre-taper addresses several types of medication, as indicated
in this Chapter title. For the rest of this Chapter, the
word “benzodiazepine” is used alone to encompass all of the
medications included in the chapter title (Benzodiazepine,
Antianxiety, Anticonvulsant and Sleep Medication).
During the pre-taper and taper, you will address the immune
system, the hypothalamic pituitary adrenal-axis, cortisol
and the adrenals, along with enzymes that regulate anxiety,
sleep and other symptoms resulting from benzodiazepine
usage. While many of these symptoms may be viewed as mental
(anxiety, insomnia, and other subjective symptoms), we will
address them as physical symptoms.
You may already have heart palpitations or aches and pains
throughout the body. These side effects are addressed with
this program as well as any and all side effects you may be
experiencing.
You will
begin your pre-taper by taking the Neuro Day, JNK Formula,
and Neuro Night. These are the basic supplements used for a
benzodiazepine taper, and the majority of you will not need
any other
supplements.
If you are
also taking an antidepressant, you should reduce
the benzodiazepine first. You will be taking;
Neuro Day, JNK Formula, Neuro Night and the Omega 3
Supreme TG.
These
supplements should take care of most or all
daytime anxiety, panic attacks, sleep problems, etc.
If you have taken a benzodiazepine for a
prolonged
period and have depression or a tingling or numbness of the
extremities, the JNK Formula will be vital. Prolonged use of
a benzodiazepine massively depletes the B vitamin biotin and
leads to depression and tingling or numbness of an
extremity. To help address this you should get a biotin
supplement and take 5,000mcg daily.
A few
individuals will also have fatigue during the daytime while
taking these medications. If you are one of them, handle the
daytime anxiety first, have 3 good nights of sleep in
succession and re-evaluate the fatigue. For most people it
will go away with 3 good nights of sleep.
Remember, as
soon as you start the pre-taper, you simultaneously begin
keeping your Daily Journal and keeping your graphs up to
date.
Make sure to
note in your journal when existing side effects stop or when
there is a major improvement. This is very important.
Anxiety first
thing in the morning and again in the afternoon is a very
common side effect of benzodiazepines. By the time you are
ready to go to sleep at night, you are too stressed out and
fatigued from dealing with anxiety difficulties all day long
that sleep simply may not come. You could easily end up
feeling depressed due to this endless cycle of anxiety,
insomnia, anxiety, and insomnia.
Part of the
process of handling sleep is by addressing the anxiety that
is usually present during the daytime. You will be taking
the JNK Formula and Neuro Day during the daytime to help
with anxiety,
which will also help set you up for a good night’s sleep
when it is bedtime. It is much easier to go to sleep if
you are not all ramped up from daily activities or constant daily
anxiety.
If you are
also experiencing some degree of depression, do not be
surprised if the depression lifts during the pre-taper as
your ability to sleep improves, daytime anxiety abates or
other symptoms you may be experiencing vanish. Even so, as
you start to experience relief from your symptoms,
do not change anything;
just continue with the program. There are still many, many
gains available as
you continue through and complete
The Road Back
Program.
There are
optional supplements you can use along the way, but they are
here for specific symptoms that not everyone will have.
Again, most people will do very well with only taking the
Neuro Day, JNK Formula, and Neuro Night.
If you would
like to include some optional supplements, read through
Chapter 3 “Nutritionals Used on
The Road Back Program”
for a full list of optional supplements.
If mood is a
constant problem for you, try out a bottle of Omega 3
Supreme TG. Put 3 of the softgels in your mouth and bite
through the softgel, swallow the oil and remove the softgels
from your mouth. If this is what you needed for mood you
will feel the difference in minutes.
What
to do next:
Read through
the Chapter 14, How to Taper Anti- anxiety, Anticonvulsants,
Benzodiazepines and Sleep
Medication.
Consult with
your prescribing physician and/or pharmacist and layout your
drug taper
schedule.
Plan out the
second and third reduction of the medication as well at this
point to ensure you
are ready with the correct dosages of the
drug.
The Pre-Taper
For the next
7 days you will be doing your pre-taper. You do not reduce
your medication during the pre-taper.
Pre-Taper
Goals:
Improved sleep.
Vast
reduction or elimination of anxiety, fatigue
and insomnia.
Lessening or
elimination of other drug-induced side
effects.
Below are the
supplements you will take:
Neuro Day – Take 1 capsule
2 times a day 5 hours apart.
JNK Formula – Take 1
capsule twice a day.
Neuro Night – Take 1
capsule 15 minutes before bedtime
DAY ONE
THROUGH DAY THREE:
Use your
Daily Journal and rate your anxiety, panic attacks, insomnia
and any additional symptoms you may be experiencing. Rate
them from 1 to 10, with number 10 being the worst and
number 1 being no side effect or symptom remaining.
MORNING
SUPPLEMENTS:
If you take
your medication first thing in the morning, take the
medication as usual, and 1 hour later take 1 JNK Formula. If
you do not take the medication first thing in the morning,
take the JNK Formula first thing. Never take supplements
within 1 hour of medication.
JNK –
Take 1 capsule twice a day.
Neuro Day– 2 hours after the morning JNK Formula, take 1 capsule of Neuro
Day. Take the second capsule roughly 5 hours later
If you found
the morning JNK Formula reduced your daytime anxiety but the
anxiety crept back in near noon, you can take an additional
JNK Formula anytime you wish.
You can
adjust the JNK Formula and the Neuro Day around to fit your
specific needs.
BEDTIME
Neuro Night
– If you take
medication at
bedtime, take one capsule of the Neuro Night one hour before
taking your
medication.
If you do not
take medication at bedtime, take 1 capsule
of Neuro Night 15-minutes before going to bed. Take
the supplements exactly as described here for 3 full days.
If your anxiety levels are going down and your sleep is
improving, remain with this schedule.
HOW TO ADJUST
THE SUPPLEMENTS
Adjusting the supplements around to fit your own desires is fine
to do. If you are feeling very calm all day with 2 of the
JNK Formula and only 1 Neuro Day, just take 1 of the Neuro
Day. If you need to take the second JNK Formula or the
second Neuro Day within 3 hours of the first to keep the
anxiety levels down, it is fine to do that.
The point
here; we are all not the same. Some of us have morning
anxiety; some anxiety comes in the middle of the day. You
can take these supplements to fit you!!!
Neuro Day –
You can take 2 of these capsules in the day but only 1 capsule at
a time. Space out at least 3 hours apart.
Neuro Night
– If you find you are sleeping much better when you go to sleep
but you are still having difficulty going to sleep, take the
Neuro Night 1 hour earlier than you were taking it..
The concept
of adjusting the supplements during the program is
straightforward:
If you felt
an improvement after starting the JNK, but symptoms came
back later in the day, take an additional JNK capsule about
4 hours after the morning
JNK.
If you
responded well to the Neuro Day but the symptoms you are
fighting come back within a few hours, take the second Neuro
Day before the 5 hours has arrived.
If you
started getting tired during the daytime, and this is new
for you, try taking only 1 Neuro Day during the daytime.
If anxiety
always comes back at around noon each day, and it is not
time to take the JNK Formula or the Neuro Day for another
hour, adjust your schedule so you take 1 capsule of the
Neuro Day at 11am.
Make sure to
keep your Daily Journal and graphs updated each day. The
pre-taper is really that simple.
After 7 full
days of the pre-taper, you are now ready to begin reducing
the medication.
The key is to
keep good notes or at the very least, make a mental note of
how you felt. You can adjust the supplements around as you
like, but be consistent with how you adjust them.
If you feel a massive reduction of symptoms after taking the Neuro Day, you can adjust around the
time you take it. Try and keep the time at least 4 hours
apart though.
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