These are descriptions of how individuals experienced various symptoms during withdrawal. While everyone's withdrawal is unique and symptoms will be different for everyone, it may be useful to know what others went through.
All withdrawal symptoms can be caused by things in addition to withdrawal. If a symptom is persistent or you are worried by it, it is always a good idea to get it checked out by your doctor to ensure nothing else is going on.
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Definition: (n) Pain or throbbing in a given muscle or group of muscles.
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What I've Felt:
"You feel a tension, tightening, or nexus of pain in a given muscle group, whether it's fatigued from use or not. Some people describe shooting pains, as with an acute injury, while others have a dull, constant ache; still others describe a cramping or a locking-up of the muscles."
"I've felt, due to withdrawal stress, that I'm constantly contorting into awkward, unhealthy positions, even while asleep. For me, pain has not been a huge issue, though I have felt old injures -- a broken leg, and wrist, damaged IT bands, and turned ankles -- flaring up again. I have also felt localized, shooting pains emanating upward from my feet, which often feel like they're sinking into the soil when I walk."
"The muscles in my neck and shoulders have been very stiff, at times seizing such that I can barely turn my head. My face muscles freeze as well, leaving me with a flat affect, expressionless." -Matt
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What I've Felt:
“While not my worse symptom, I am conscious of an all over body tension and ache. The muscle tension in my head and jaw are the worst. I have also experienced quite a bit of cramping in my feet. " - Anthea
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What I've Felt:
"My muscles feel as if they are whirling around in my back and neck and whacking me. My neck feels as if it has collapsed into my shoulders. Feels as if ribs are sticking into me and whirling around as well, but I guess it's the muscles and the nervous system. I'm dizzy and balance is off. My shoulder blades are stuck, feels as if a knife is piercing through my torso. Hurts to type much. If I put my hand on my body, I can feel the movement in the muscles. Hurts to breathe, stirs up muscle pain when I breathe in and out. Neck and top of torso are so rigid. Muscles feel as if they have turned into bones and stick into me. Even my butt muscles are doing this. When I use my jaw to talk or eat, I get pain going all through my body. Same thing happens when I eliminate. This is just a small amount of what is happening. I should add that it feels as if I have a hole in my neck at the back, sometimes in the front as well. It's very painful. It feels as if the joints in my throat part of the neck have slipped over one another and there are creepy crawlies under my skin in my back."
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What I've Felt:
"Since I came off diazepam, the muscles in my upper back and shoulders are so tight that I feel rigid and my shoulders are permanently raised up into my neck. Apart from being painful, this affects my breathing and I often feel breathless and can't get a proper breath because the tension caused by the tight muscles makes breathing shallow and light. This then causes dizziness and lightheadedness. It is a vicious circle. I have had regular massages but this does not release the tension and rigid muscles."
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My Coping Strategies
 | Acceptance |
| Meditation |
| Progressive Muscle Relaxation |
| Take a hot shower or warm bath; apply hot or cold packs to the sorest areas |
| Sit with good posture -- your spine straight, shoulders down, and head and neck erect and rigid, as if you were being lifted toward the sky by the crown of your head |
| Yoga |
| Trigger Point Therapy |
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