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  • BDD Moderators: Keif’ Richards | negrogesic

Benzos Alcohol withdrawal and Ativan

Cloudman115 said:
I disagree with this completely. I would rather live to 65 than 48. that’s almost 20 years of good living. I ain’t talking living into the 80’s and shit falling apart but making it into the late 50’s and enjoying life.
I don’t find it fun the way you and I drink. In fact, it’s sad and depressing. Yeah, drugs and alcohol can be fun for those who can use in moderation, but that’s not us. We abuse it until its gone or we’re gone, at least speaking for myself.

I’ve ruined the last 20 years of my life with alcohol and I am finally heading in the right direction. Alone, that may not be something your interested in and that’s fine. I enjoy your side of the view , but I will never agree with you homie.

I post updates on here so others struggling can see that there are others really trying to quit and how tough this is. I hope others tell their stories and give their advice.
one Day at a time is what I am doing now.I
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how is that you believe you will feel great in your 50s and living to 60s is actually without its problems? health deteriorates massively after testosterone drops down in men, which is when they hit 40s. by 50s, we will have 100 health issues + dealing with society and all the diseases and wars going on. if you do make it by 60, you will suffer so much, you wont enjoy living. but then even if you want to drink alcohol, you wont be able to , because too old and incapable of. I was actually thinking about this lately as I stop drinking. I am like "hmm its ok, i wont drink and Ill drink when I am old and enjoy life then". but thats quite stupid since, i wont be able to enjoy life at all when old, and trying to drink will be quite stupid, useless! Just gonna end up being an aged sick sober cretin
 
allone said:
how is that you believe you will feel great in your 50s and living to 60s is actually without its problems? health deteriorates massively after testosterone drops down in men, which is when they hit 40s. by 50s, we will have 100 health issues + dealing with society and all the diseases and wars going on. if you do make it by 60, you will suffer so much, you wont enjoy living. but then even if you want to drink alcohol, you wont be able to , because too old and incapable of. I was actually thinking about this lately as I stop drinking. I am like "hmm its ok, i wont drink and Ill drink when I am old and enjoy life then". but thats quite stupid since, i wont be able to enjoy life at all when old, and trying to drink will be quite stupid, useless! Just gonna end up being an aged sick sober cretin
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I guess I am under the assumption that if I quit drinking now, in my late 30s my body can rebound and I can have a decade or two of good living. Being able to travel, spend time with family and doing things I want to do before it’s to late.
I hate to say it, but I need to be selfish and just focus on myself. wars, mass shootings, Covid they come and go, the media hype’s up issues and we as a society believe it. I am not saying this shit isn’t horrific but I need to turn off the media, unplug. most this shit on the news doesn’t come near me with a 20 foot pole And if it does, not much we can do.
All my issues in life are self inflicted and from being a alcoholic for 20 years. See, I want to be sober, I drink because of pain, both physically and emotionall.
 
Well, it’s been 6 months, I had some decent streaks of not drinking, a couple 2-3 weeks off the booze every now and than.
my best success comes when I use valium 10mg 1-2 max per day for the initial 3 -4 day withdrawal, than micro dose 10 mg for 3-4 more days. Usually 60mg total. I stay good for 2 weeks sometimes 3, no drugs or alcohol. I than go back to it . 4-6 week binges. My will power is so weak! I don’t post cause I feel like such a failure.

well, I am working on day three,
day 1— 5mg valium (V) 3x, 2 .25 Xanax
day 2-— 5 mg (V) 2x, .25 Xanax
day3– 5mg (V) 3x, .25 Xanax ( my roughest withdrawal day)

now my plan
day 4— 5 mg(V) 2x
day 5— 2.5 mg 2x V
day 6— 2.5 mg 2x V
day 7-8 2.5mg per day V
day 9 jump
total 65 mg valium total & 1 mg Xanax total.
I will try to reduce even more, but I am working and need the comfort for the week.

Any suggestions? Or worries?
I guess I really should be posting after the withdrawal, cause staying sober is my life long problem
 
Cloudman115 said:
Well, it’s been 6 months, I had some decent streaks of not drinking, a couple 2-3 weeks off the booze every now and than.
my best success comes when I use valium 10mg 1-2 max per day for the initial 3 -4 day withdrawal, than micro dose 10 mg for 3-4 more days. Usually 60mg total. I stay good for 2 weeks sometimes 3, no drugs or alcohol. I than go back to it . 4-6 week binges. My will power is so weak! I don’t post cause I feel like such a failure.

well, I am working on day three,
day 1— 5mg valium (V) 3x, 2 .25 Xanax
day 2-— 5 mg (V) 2x, .25 Xanax
day3– 5mg (V) 3x, .25 Xanax ( my roughest withdrawal day)

now my plan
day 4— 5 mg(V) 2x
day 5— 2.5 mg 2x V
day 6— 2.5 mg 2x V
day 7-8 2.5mg per day V
day 9 jump
total 65 mg valium total & 1 mg Xanax total.
I will try to reduce even more, but I am working and need the comfort for the week.

Any suggestions? Or worries?
I guess I really should be posting after the withdrawal, cause staying sober is my life long problem
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One day at a time. Valium is the most addictive benzo I've read I don't have personal experience with it but it's extremely hard to quit by tapering
 
Micro dosing benzos , am i getting myself into trouble.? I will findout this Friday, going sober on the booze, low dose benzo 4 the 4 day weekend.
 
Alcohol and Benzodiazepines are the two worst compounds to withdrawal from, but I would have to say Benzodiazepines take the cake here. Use them sparingly, and keep the dosages low as possible and this means a lot. When you quit using the benzos for this purpose, taper off of them as well. If you follow this advice you shouldn't have much of a problem. If not, it will be worse than the alcohol addiction.
 
darvocet21 said:
What about barbiturates? How about certain psychotropic drugs like Lexapro, Trintillex and long term SSRIs.... my point is that your statement is typical of Reddit oversimplification
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One of the worst withdrawals I’ve ever been through was barbiturates I thought I was going to have a heart attack
 
Update Time:
drank heavily Thursday night & All day Friday. (Stuck in a blizzard) No benzos
Saturday—no alcohol. 5mg Valium (V) 1000 hrs, .25mg Xanax (X) 1800 hrs, 2.5 mg (V) 2300 hrs. No issues
Sunday— no alcohol. 2.5 mg (V) 0900, 5 mg (V) 1600, 2.5 mg (V) 2200. No issues
Monday— no alcohol. 2.5 mg (V) 0900, 5 mg (V) 1800, .25 (X) 2200. Tried to reduce, but couldn’t ( 3rd day is always tough)
Tuesday— no alcohol, no benzos so far. Had some anxiety, wanted to drink, had some more rebound anxiety, so, I will probably take 2.5 mg (V) before bed.

Wednesday’s plan, no drinking, minimal benzos.
I have 30 mg (V), .25 (X) left

I am worried because since early November, I have been taking 5mg (V) or .25 mg (X) before work Monday, Wednesday - Friday. That’s it. Never abused the Benzos but worried about some upcoming withdrawal from them. Also i would drink about every day of the week, with a gap here or there where I would try to quit. Sort of like my schedule above, but never determined

question— should I hold off on taking the benzos until I desperately need them because of the long half life, go cold turkey, or just taper down, maybe 2.5mg (v) or even better 1.25 mg (V) until there done?

also what do you expect is in store for me? I am off tomorow, but do have work Thursday & Friday ( might micro dose) and am off Saturday- Monday.


thanks,
fyi, I have taken Ativan 1-2mg daily in the past, January- April, to cut back, stop drinking and didn’t have any issues stopping the benzo. of course, I drank heavily afterword so who knows what would have happened.
 
since November 28 I have taken 19– .25 mg Xanax pills, 4.75 mg and 120 mg valium, total. If I convert the Xanax to 80 mg valium, I am at 200 mg valium / 30 days, 7 mg a day for a month, on average. Now, i don’t take benzodiazepines every day, but like I said it been about a .25 mg Xanax or 5 mg valium 4 days a week.
in November, oct 31 - 27 I took 100mg of Valium / 30 Days , 3.33 mg per day

300 mg / 60 days = 5mg a day? Does that make sense? I know different half life’s and I am a heavy drinker.
but day 4,mno booze or benzos and I feel good. Today is the start of day five, no alcohol, and day two, be it early, no benzos.
 
I try to keep my mind from wondering. war, people freezing to death in cars and being plowed into snow banks. My shit isnt that bad.
I don’t think I have to worry about serious side effects of benzo withdrawal, at least, I hope not, but I am ready for some discomfort.
never had DT’s or seizures from alcohol withdrawal, just rebound anxiety, insomnia and weird ass dreams.

I do have a couple benzos left, I can use if need be .

what am I in 4 with my benzo usage listed above ?
 
darvocet21 said:
What about barbiturates? How about certain psychotropic drugs like Lexapro, Trintillex and long term SSRIs.... my point is that your statement is typical of Reddit oversimplification
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Yeah, those drugs don't compare either. And I didn't over simplify anything, I touched on the two topics at hand. The compounds you mentioned don't have anything to do with this conversation. Benzodiazepines are and always will be the worst class of drugs to come off of. Don't really care about your point.
 
Cloudman115 said:
Well, it’s been 72 hours from last drink, heading into day four. I have been a alcoholic for 20 years. I was sober for 2 months up till Christmas Eve and have been drunk almost every day Since. I usually drink a minimum of 6-8 beers, 9% alcohol, from 4pm to 8pm, more on the weekends. I recently in life, have added Ativan into the mix to recover from my drinking. It works great lowering my blood pressure, reducing the hallucinations and the rebound anxiety That comes from the withdrawaI. I am starting to think I am relying on Ativan too much on days I don’t drink, usually .5 mg when I know I will be drinking again soon.
so, day 1 no alcohol I took a total, of 1.75mg , second day was rough especially at night with the Vivid thoughts, anxiety, shadow people ( I love the shadow people 🧟‍♀️) and my worst symptom high blood pressure at 170/95 so I dosed 2.25mg total (1.75mg at night), my blood pressure reduces to 140/85, pulse is good at 72, oxygen is high, i get 5 hours of sleep, wake up and go to work. So, day three no Ativan so far! Great. I know I’ll dose .5 maybe 1mg tonight to help sleep. I realize I still have it in my system but so far so good.
I guess, my question is should I worry about benzo withdrawal after I remove all alcohol withdrawal in the next couple of days?
never been addicted to benZos and since January 1, I’ve taken them maybe 20 times usually at .5mg daily but sometimes 4-5 days at 2mg. Always with some breaks of heavy drinking In between.
I am serious about staying sober, getting healthy again and not going down a benzodiazepine road. If I use 2 more days at 1mg should I just jump or should I taper? Any worries? I guess I will see.

i needed to write this because I fucking love the knowledge on hear thanks
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You're setting yourself up for alcohol withdrawal complicated by benzodiazepine withdrawal.

I've been hospitalized for alcohol withdrawal. I was a fifth of liquor or two bottles of wine a day drinker for about 10 years from 2002 to 2012 every day.

I went to the doctor and just the control of the withdrawal. I was on 2 mg of Klonopin and 15 mg of Valium three times a day.

Go to a doctor, if you're having hallucinations. That means you are a prime candidate for delirium tremens and your blood pressure and heart rate can become so f***** up that they can't save you. You literally die.

If you're having that type of withdrawal symptoms, you need to pound some thiamine right now, because you're at risk for Wernicke's encephalitis.

You're actually absolutely playing with fire and you need to go see a doctor. Self-medicating with the Ativan, while you're trying to taper or just cold turkeying with the Ativan, you don't know if that's enough.

You need to be detoxed, and you need to be put on a significant benzo dose so that you can maintain your sobriety.

I'm not going to lie. It took me 3 years to taper off the benzos but I was sober for 3 years, and I stayed sober for another two, and now I control my drinking at just three drinks a day.

You can do it man.

PM me if you want. I'll talk to you about it all day long. And not AA.
If you can take control over your drinking then your powerful over it. You have power over it. Ativan and Valium and Klonopin or whatever benzo your doctor wants to prescribe gives you power to not drink.
 
darvocet21 said:
One day at a time. Valium is the most addictive benzo I've read I don't have personal experience with it but it's extremely hard to quit by tapering
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Valium is the easiest benzo to quit by tapering.

Doctors transfer you from Xanax and Klonopin to Valium and Librium because Valium and libium are easier to taper off because they have a very long half life up to 200 hours which is more than a week.

Xanax half-life is 8 to 12 hours, that's why people get addicted to that s*** real quick.
 
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