Hello everybody! Been one year off clonazepam. All of the physical symptoms are gone, only thing that's staying is this crippling depersonalization and agoraphobia. What have you done to make it feel better? because of it I still cannot go to work. Thank you.
Posted Apr 6, 2022, 7:21 AM UTC
Congrats on passing one year!! I’m 17 months of .5mg klonopin for 25 years. I also have ptsd and started my taper when I had an undiagnosed thyroid problem, both of which also cause dp/dr to different degrees. I didn’t know or understand that my dissociation was layered and from multiple underlying causes. If there is anything else you are dealing with in your life, it might be contributing to your derealization.
My dissociation started to lift recently and it’s had a positive impact on my agoraphobia. Not long ago, I really only felt safe going places with my husband or my dog. I think in the next six months you will see the derealization start to shift and break up. Some people say it feels like they are waking up slowly. For me it’s wild when it happens and there’s a lot of integration to deal with but it is happening. Practical things that helped me are ways to connect, like music, animals, nature and walks.
NAC, and a quality probiotic seemed to really help. But I couldn’t ignore CBT exercises. DR and fatigue are my only real symptoms anymore, and I’m finding that it might have a lot to do with gut health. Trying BPC 157 this month. I’d say exposure therapy is absolutely essential for agoraphobic fears, the sooner the better.
I have bpc but couldn't get my head to try it. I guess I tried so many things I'm tired of trying :( let me know how it goes! As soon as I leave the house I get intense dp/dr and no matter how much I force myself to go out, doesn't seem to become milder. Already taking nac full time.
lol
Fuck I'm sorry! This scares me because my biggest problem is agoraphobia and I'm still in the taper stage.
I wish I could offer some advice but I'm in the same boat as you. I tend to do everything in cover of night because of much less people out. I just try to play around everything that makes me nervous.
I had a post about this a while ago. Most people said it will get better over time, do positive and realistic thinking and a lot of people said make sure to healthy diet.
Good luck! We're all in this together
Don't be scared, I had dp/dr before starting benzos, but absolutely not gut wrenching like this. For many people agoraphobia went away easy. Wish it would be the same for me :(
I wish there was an easy to fix it. Luckily we live now where everything we need can be delivered and we can go to school and work online! So we are not totally screwed at least. There are ways around it for the time being while we figure something out