Posted by Blue Cheer1 on April 9, 2002, at 23:45:06
In reply to Benzodiazepine withdrawal and prostatitis., posted by mikel on April 8, 2002, at 11:50:59
> I have been dealing with anxiety and depression for the last 3 years, trying various combinations of benzos and antidepressants. I have what I think is a winning combination of 10mg prozac and 800mg SAMe. I am in the process of reducing my xanax dose from .75mg/day to 0 over the past 3 mos. and I am almost there, down to the last 1/16th of a milligram. So far the withdrawal has been difficult but tolerable.
>
> A month ago I developed prostatitis that my urologist suggested antibiotics, which so far have not helped a great deal (no culture was done). This may be totally unrelated, but I wonder if my prostatitis could be a manifestation of xanax withdrawl. In some cases they believe prostatitis is caused by increased muscle tension in the pelvic floor muscles, and one treatment approach is valium to relax these muscles. So it makes sense to me that my withdrawal could be associated with prostatitis. Anyone know of a connection between prostatitis and benzo withdrawal? Or for that matter, an association with prozac or SAMe?Hi Mike,
You can almost bet on it being related to benzodiazepine withdrawal. It happened to me when I discontinued Valium. Of course, the urologist prescribed a course of Cipro for 6 weeks (no effect). Stress is a common cause of chronic prostatitis, and there aren't many things more stressful than discontinuing BZDs. A psychiatrist who did some of the basic research in developing Valium recommends tapering off a benzodiazepine 50% of your baseline dose in the first 2-4 week period, then interrupting the taper process for several months (staying at 50%), then continuing with the final taper attempt. You might consider going back up a little until your prostatitis resolves - then resume the withdrawal.
Good luck,Blue
poster:Blue Cheer1
thread:102391
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20020408/msgs/102589.html