I'm waiting for my order from a few weeks ago too. But I had to throw in my two cents for everyone struggling.
Even if your WD are from un-prescribed use, doctors will do something to help. The seizures are bad, they constitute a medical emergency. If you're having serious WD symptoms, see a doctor. You may not get benz0s, but at least atav4n or something similar. If you're not yet at WD, hit up an ER with panic symptoms (sharp chest pains, narrowed vision, feeling like you're going to die or going crazy, etc.). A lot of ER doctors are happy to give a small dose of benz0s to free up a bed, and maybe if they're kind maybe a very small prescription. It's not a good way to get them for long-term use, but it can get you by.
Another word on this, as I have been through this situation and know the medical system/rehab system pretty well....
Doctors are like any other profession. Some are good and some are not so good. Some understand and some don't get it. The only one why really is considered the world expert on this stuff is Dr. Heather Ashton in the U.K. She's semi-retired, but has left the world a ton of information on benzo research, at all levels, including withdrawal.
See here:
http://www.benzo.org.uk/manual/
Yes, benzo w/d is serious. Maybe the most serious of them all. You can have seizures, but typically not the ones you die from (not that this is any consolation as any seizure is serious stuff).
Doctors have a duty to act in your best interests and "do no harm" but they vary on what this means. If you go to the ER and lay it all out on the table (as I have done twice now), a few things will happen, most likely, depending on your treating physician.
First, as you can see from the Ashton Manual, the best course of action is to put you on Diaz (BTW, Ativan is a benzo...there are about 20 of them, including the "Z" drugs, even though they don't classify them as such) and taper you down slowly. Hardly any doctors understand this or are willing to prescribe you the Valium to let you do this on their own. I can't say I blame them for the "on your own" part, but not immediately giving you another benzo to me is malpractice. More likely is them giving you, like Kinder said, a bed and some kind of benzo and maybe a sleeping med (maybe Zolpies, which acts on the same brain receptors as benzos, but just not for long) for a day or two and then releasing you to a recover facility...and God knows what will happen there, as the majority of them believe God will cure you while you detox. They typically (at least in the US) will start and wean you off at a
much lower tart dose and faster wean rate than Dr. Ashton recommends. Of course, the problem here, as she explains, is that you are not truly off of the med, as your body may take a year or longer to truly get back to normal. These things are no joke. Diazepam is recommended because it has the longest half life (so you all on Valium probably have a few days after you run dry before the physical danger sets in, even though the psychological danger may be immediate). Personally,
Second, you may get discharged with a month or so supply of a benzo and be told to see your general physician. Of course, many of us go through a "month's supply" in days (largest recommended dosage for Valium is 30mg per day, but rarely do they prescribe this). If this happens, be sure to ask for some Gabapentin (or Neurontin), which is an anti-seizure medication, or something similar...because if you wind up in the same spot on your own, you really will have to gut it out...which I have done and can be done, but you want something like Gabapentin (which is not controlled and is far more likely to be prescribed if asked for) to reduce the risk of seizure.
Third, you may get monitored for a few days so you are out of the "danger zone" so to speak, (which depends on what kind of benzo you were taking because of the half life...yet many doctors don't know this), laying there in agony while they claim it's best and will make sure you don't die from a seizure (gee thanks guys!). Be sure to ask for the anti seizure meds in this case.
There are really two components of benzo withdrawal. The psychological and the physical. Ashton and others claim the physical depends on the type of benzo you were on. But there is a good and bad aspect to this. If you are on one (see her charts) that has a longer half-life, then the physical w/d will take longer, but the reduction is slower, so your body may not be is such a state of shock as the one that are shorter. I think that's why the benzos of choice in the U.S. are so dangerous...because they not only have high Diazepam equivalents, but they have relatively shorter half lives, so it's like falling off of a cliff from a large dose. Xanbars and Conopees come to mind.
If you really want to get clean, the way to do it is to follow Dr. Ashton's method, and fortunately Diaz is pretty inexpensive and can he gotten in decent quality.
NONE of this is medical advice, as I am not a doctor. I am just relaying my experience and knowledge.