Slow, gradual reduction instead of abruptly stopping.
Inpatient help is strongly advised, or at least work with a caregiver/prescriber you trust.
Aim to be at a stable point before beginning a taper.
Know what withdrawals may be expected before you begin so you are not thrown off by these.
Diet correction and targeted supplements.
Work on improving gut microbiome health.
Sleep difficulties should be addressed before tapering.
Daily exercise, relaxation therapies, Qi Gong, Tai Chi, and yoga are all beneficial.
(Please read on for more expanded descriptions of the above summary.)
Gradual tapering is the recommended approach to coming off Restoril to reduce the intensity of withdrawal symptoms. Inpatient care is also strongly advised as, especially with sensitive persons, and long-term benzodiazepine users, clinically troublesome challenges may arise even during slow tapering.6
Where inpatient help is not available to you, please note that the following guidelines are not intended for self-administration, not intended for use in isolation, but for collaborative sharing and discussion with your clinical caregiver(s) and prescribing physician if you are tapering Restoril at home. This is a journey where you want trusted guides and helpers at your side.
Restoril tapering is best initiated when the person is somewhat stable, as opposed to experiencing ongoing sleep deprivation, hallucinations, paradoxical anxiety or akathisia, or other side effects. Seek clinical help to bring extreme side effects under control before attempting to simply reduce the dosage while unstable.7,8
Expect withdrawals and familiarize yourself with how these may manifest — the intensity and duration of these can help inform when and by how much to slow the taper or make other changes to your management strategies.7-9
Dietary changes can be highly beneficial. Avoid processed foods, refined carbs, and sugars, and do eat plenty of fresh fruits, vegetables, and protein. (See more detailed information about various orthomolecular nutritional treatment strategies and tools below.)
Exercise, especially regular aerobic activity, has many therapeutic benefits, including better quality sleep, stress relief, decreased anxiety, improved mood, etc. Results equal to those of psychotherapy have been demonstrated in published research.10,11
The percentage of dosage to cut can vary according to factors such as current dosage, length of use, general health, and age. If starting at a relatively high dosage, your prescriber may be able to proceed somewhat faster at the beginning compared to the end of Restoril tapering, where a careful slow-down would be expected.12
Inpatient Restoril tapering correctly done may take weeks to months to fully taper but may take longer in outpatient settings where rebound symptoms can linger for extended periods of time.9
Get checked for food allergies and modify the diet to exclude these foods.18
Keep blood sugar levels stable to avoid symptoms such as anxiety, moodiness, fatigue, mental confusion, or other complications of hypo/hyperglycemia. Avoid blood sugar spikes from high glycemic foods and beverages. Avoid drops in blood sugar from long periods of not eating or poor diet. Take frequent, small meals over the day that are protein-based rather than infrequent meals, or heavy, high-carb meals and snacks.19,26
Choose from a wide number of options for lifestyle interventions and physical therapies that can lower anxiety and raise mood without drugs, such as yoga, mindfulness meditation, personal counseling, Qi Gong, therapeutic massage, guided relaxation sessions, forest bathing, etc.20-25
At Alternative to Meds Center, we truly enjoy witnessing the success of our clients, as we teach our clients how to avoid the overwhelm often associated with Restoril tapering: weaning off Restoril can be quite comfortable when Restoril titration is done correctly.
Restoril tapering is one giant step on the journey back from dependence on benzodiazepine drugs.
Do Your Symptoms Require Restoril?
Delivering expert help with Restoril tapering, weaning, and titration, Alternative to Meds has been at it for 17+ years now. Over this time, we collected and have now published evidence to share our success. For those who are struggling with benzodiazepine weaning and titration, our program can assist where others could not. We know where the potential barriers are, such as toxic neurology, and nutritional deficiencies that can be tested for and accurately corrected. After these corrections, one’s neurochemistry can regulate. And of course, in all our programs, the key to success is found in individualized protocols and attentive, compassionate care.
15 Years Experience by Professionals Who Understand Your Journey.
Restoril tapering does not have to be fraught with pain, fear, and suffering. We have helped thousands of clients find an alternative and proven path to mental wellness without pharmaceutical drugs like Valium, Xanax, or other anti-anxiety drugs. No drug can “cure” anxiety, and too often, the consequences of such prescription drug treatment can result in increased and unnecessary distress.1 Tapering from benzodiazepines can be made much easier to tolerate when preparation steps are done adequately before weaning off Restoril and other anti-anxiety drugs.
More insights are given below that can be discussed with your physician, and added to a regular health regimen during your Restoril taper. The most comprehensive care for Restoril tapering is available at Alternative to Meds Center, a pristine and well-staffed facility that is designed to provide all of the above strategies and therapies and more.
A Neglected Area of Health: A Thorough Cleanout of Neurotoxins.
Before Restoril tapering is begun, the client can enjoy some relief from this preparatory action. Typically clients report improved sleep, calmer mood, and increased energy just from this very gentle pre-tapering step. This is because neurotoxins build up internally over a lifetime of chemical exposures to industrial compounds, air and water pollutants, food additives, heavy metal accumulations, and other sources. These toxic substances not only prevent the absorption of nutrients on a daily basis but also play havoc with normal neurotransmitter functions over time. With repeated exposures, these damaging effects tend to become progressively worse.2 It is no wonder that after their removal, many problematic symptoms can fade a little, a lot, or disappear altogether. This is an optimal time to begin customized Restoril titration under the care and guidance of medical staff.
Examples of Restoril Tapering Tools in Holistic Treatment
Neurotoxin removal through the use of sauna, chelation, ionic foot baths, etc.
*Randomized trials showed evidence that Reiki is an effective therapy for pain management as well as relief from anxiety.
Why is Restoril Tapering So Popular at Alternative to Meds?
Over the last 15 years, we have developed and refined our benzodiazepine tapering programs. A multi-phased approach allows the body to gradually and gently normalize after being ravaged by heavy drugs, perhaps non-optimum nutrition, and other circumstances and lifestyle choices that can be transitioned with care and guidance. In these ways, each client has the opportunity to attain a much more robust level of health and wellness. Each person is a unique individual and so the program is tailored specifically to meet the needs of each client.
Clients receive attentive and compassionate assistance all the way through their stay, from our amazing roster of medical doctors, holistic psychiatrists, clinicians, caregivers, and therapists.
In addition, clients receive a thorough education in matters of vital importance for self-care during the program and after leaving the program. These include learning the various roles that nutrition can play in maintaining natural mental health. This is especially helpful as they have access to their test results and can see exactly where and how neurotransmitter health can be supported and improved without drugs.
Other classes available to Restoril tapering clients at the center teach skills in stress reduction, holistic pain management, mood management, equine therapy, and many other essentials. In this way, the client is not only nurtured, but also gently and confidently put back in the driver’s seat when it comes to self-managing these fundamentals for health, energy, and happiness.
How Does Orthomolecular-Based Treatment Help in Restoril Tapering?
Decades of research on corrective nutritional protocols are available to draw upon, in selecting holistic pathways to improved neurochemistry and other health issues.3 In this way, the drug-based “norm” that passes for treatment in modern medicine can be bypassed. Drug-based “mental health treatments” seek only to numb the patient to their symptoms and are not designed to cure or fix anything at all. In stark contrast, orthomolecular medicine is the therapeutic use of nutrition to produce natural mental health and general health improvements. Such nutrition-based medicine has shown to be especially beneficial for those weaning off heavy drugs such as Restoril ( temazepam ) and other medications as well.2
Therapeutic nutrition includes a clean, nutrient-dense diet, and also pharmaceutical-grade, whole food-sourced supplements, both IV and oral, specifically chosen to coordinate with the needs of the client. We also design the individual diet and supplementation plan to be geared towards supporting the repair of damaged or compromised neurochemistry in the human body. Lab testing and coordination between the client and their care team inform how their best corrective nutritional therapy should be implemented. The elimination of stimulants such as sugars and caffeine would be one simple example, especially for those persons who wish to normalize hormones and other neurotransmitters which benzodiazepines can disrupt. Utilizing nebulized glutathione during Restoril tapering is another popular method of helping to restore the body by providing the natural substances that the body can use in its self-repair. 2,3
Meal planning is another useful application of orthomolecular-based Restoril tapering at Alternative to Meds Center. 4 Meals are prepared without chemicals, preservatives, artificial sweeteners, and clear of food additives like MSG or other poisons. Meals are prepared from mostly fresh organic locally sourced produce and non-GMO products. Daily consumption of at least one serving of fermented food provides another building block for restoring healthy gut and digestive functions.5
A healthy microbiome is essential as the gut is where the body produces most of the neurotransmitters and hormones that regulate and maintain human health. These actions help the process of Restoril weaning and titration to a marked degree.
Orthomolecular Treatment for Psychiatric Disorders
The floodgates have opened wide of late when it comes to the use of nutritional factors in the treatment of psychiatric disorders such as bipolar, anxiety, depression, schizophrenia, and others. While the pharmaceutical industry has turned a cold shoulder toward much of this body of research, familiarity with this knowledge is rising as more physicians and psychiatrists become more confident in taking this approach to holistic mental health treatments. It is now well established that vitamin deficiencies, as well as impaired microbiome health, can play huge roles in symptoms such as depression and anxiety. With this knowledge, it becomes clear that simply masking symptoms with heavy drugs is no longer the only or the best choice as the first line of treatment.2,4,5
For more than 15 years Alternative to Meds Center has implemented orthomolecular medicine and many other holistic protocols in helping clients to overcome the challenges of impaired mental health, as well as walking back the negative effects of pharmaceutical drugs as part of well-balanced, safe, and gentle drug tapering. Is your goal of Restoril tapering improved mental health, and a lessened need to rely on prescription medications for relief? We agree there are much better solutions than harsh, aggressively disruptive drugs that cannot actually restore the things needed to sustainably return you to better health.2,3
For More Information About Restoril Tapering
Contact Alternative to Meds Center today and find out how easy it might be to enroll yourself or your loved one. You can ask us about insurance coverage and other questions about the program, and we would be happy to share more information with you.
If you have been searching for the best Restoril tapering program, or just want more information about the center, please get in touch and we will help and guide you carefully along your path to a brighter, healthier future.
9. Pétursson H. The benzodiazepine withdrawal syndrome. Addiction. 1994 Nov;89(11):1455-9. doi: 10.1111/j.1360-0443.1994.tb03743.x. PMID: 7841856. [cited 2022 July 26]
10. Sharma A, Madaan V, Petty FD. Exercise for mental health. Prim Care Companion J Clin Psychiatry. 2006;8(2):106. doi:10.4088/pcc.v08n0208a [cited 2022 July 26]
13. Petroff OA. GABA and glutamate in the human brain. Neuroscientist. 2002 Dec;8(6):562-73. doi: 10.1177/1073858402238515. PMID: 12467378. [cited 2022 July 26]
18. Teufel M, Biedermann T, Rapps N, et al. Psychological burden of food allergy.World J Gastroenterol. 2007;13(25):3456-3465. doi:10.3748/wjg.v13.i25.3456. [cited 2022 July 26]
This content has been reviewed and approved by a licensed physician.
Dr. Samuel Lee
Dr. Samuel Lee is a board-certified psychiatrist, specializing in a spiritually-based mental health discipline and integrative approaches. He graduated with an MD at Loma Linda University School of Medicine and did a residency in psychiatry at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center and University of Washington School of Medicine in Seattle. He has also been an inpatient adult psychiatrist at Kaweah Delta Mental Health Hospital and the primary attending geriatric psychiatrist at the Auerbach Inpatient Psychiatric Jewish Home Hospital. In addition, he served as the general adult outpatient psychiatrist at Kaiser Permanente. He is board-certified in psychiatry and neurology and has a B.A. Magna Cum Laude in Religion from Pacific Union College. His specialty is in natural healing techniques that promote the body’s innate ability to heal itself.
Lyle Murphy is the founder of the Alternative to Meds Center, a licensed residential program that helps people overcome dependence on psychiatric medication and addiction issues using holistic and psychotherapeutic methods.
Medical Disclaimer: Nothing on this Website is intended to be taken as medical advice. The information provided on the website is intended to encourage, not replace, direct patient-health professional relationships. Always consult with your doctor before altering your medications. Adding nutritional supplements may alter the effect of medication. Any medication changes should be done only after proper evaluation and under medical supervision.
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Where inpatient help is not available to you, please note that the following guidelines are not intended for self-administration, not intended for use in isolation, but for collaborative sharing and discussion with your clinical caregiver(s) and prescribing physician if you are tapering Restoril at home. This is a journey where you want trusted guides and helpers at your side.
In stark contrast, orthomolecular medicine is the therapeutic use of nutrition to produce natural mental health and general health improvements. Such nutrition-based medicine has shown to be especially beneficial for those weaning off heavy drugs such as Restoril ( temazepam ) and other medications as well.2
The floodgates have opened wide of late when it comes to the use of nutritional factors in the treatment of psychiatric disorders such as bipolar, anxiety, depression, schizophrenia, and others. While the pharmaceutical industry has turned a cold shoulder toward much of this body of research, familiarity with this knowledge is rising as more physicians and psychiatrists become more confident in taking this approach to holistic mental health treatments. It is now well established that vitamin deficiencies, as well as impaired microbiome health, can play huge roles in symptoms such as depression and anxiety. With this knowledge, it becomes clear that simply masking symptoms with heavy drugs is no longer the only or the best choice as the first line of treatment.2,4,5
