Hi all,
tl;dr (full story below): my friend had been taking 30 mg of diazepam per day for around six months but stopped about three weeks ago. They stupidly relapsed after going on a bit of a coke binge and took high doses (60-80 mg) two days in a row to help with sleep and the comedown. They asked me if this will put them back to square one in terms of benzo withdrawal, or will they be okay as they got through three weeks without benzos? P.S. they take 600 mg pregabalin a day for anxiety.
my friend called me a while ago and is currently off their nut after a 2-3 day coke binge. They have gotten some sleep each night with the help of quite high doses of diazepam (e.g., 60-80 mg + 600 mg of pregabalin), but the problem they were seeking advice on is related to the fact that they had been dependent on diazepam for around six months and recently got clean; they were using diazepam because they were/are addicted to prescription opioids/opiates (for over 10 years) but they have been clean from morphine/tramadol/dihydrocodeine/codeine for around six months, which they would take very high doses of together about 3-4 times a day, and had recently (about three weeks ago) stopped taking diazepam which they were using to help with their anxiety. They had been stable on 30 mg diazepam per day for six months after the opiate withdrawal and reduced diazepam quite rapidly over the course of a week from 30 mg to 0 mg (even though they were aware of the risks and the 'Ashton' guidelines for tapering: they just wanted to get off benzos). Pregabalin was used to achieve this, and after an initial few days of ingesting about 1200 mg pregabalin, they dropped down to 600 mg (which they said is the high end of therapeutic doses) and remained stable on that with the plan to taper when they felt ready. Being an idiot though, my friend bought a substantial amount of coke for one person with no tolerance to the drug, but they are not inexperienced with it, it had just been many years since they lined up the tracks. And we finally get to the question they asked (which I was unable to answer): after taking high doses of diazepam two days in a row, are they going to face benzo withdrawal again, or will the three-week period of being free of diazepam reduce or eliminate this risk? I will pass any advice you can provide onto my friend, I am sure they will be very grateful.
tl;dr (full story below): my friend had been taking 30 mg of diazepam per day for around six months but stopped about three weeks ago. They stupidly relapsed after going on a bit of a coke binge and took high doses (60-80 mg) two days in a row to help with sleep and the comedown. They asked me if this will put them back to square one in terms of benzo withdrawal, or will they be okay as they got through three weeks without benzos? P.S. they take 600 mg pregabalin a day for anxiety.
my friend called me a while ago and is currently off their nut after a 2-3 day coke binge. They have gotten some sleep each night with the help of quite high doses of diazepam (e.g., 60-80 mg + 600 mg of pregabalin), but the problem they were seeking advice on is related to the fact that they had been dependent on diazepam for around six months and recently got clean; they were using diazepam because they were/are addicted to prescription opioids/opiates (for over 10 years) but they have been clean from morphine/tramadol/dihydrocodeine/codeine for around six months, which they would take very high doses of together about 3-4 times a day, and had recently (about three weeks ago) stopped taking diazepam which they were using to help with their anxiety. They had been stable on 30 mg diazepam per day for six months after the opiate withdrawal and reduced diazepam quite rapidly over the course of a week from 30 mg to 0 mg (even though they were aware of the risks and the 'Ashton' guidelines for tapering: they just wanted to get off benzos). Pregabalin was used to achieve this, and after an initial few days of ingesting about 1200 mg pregabalin, they dropped down to 600 mg (which they said is the high end of therapeutic doses) and remained stable on that with the plan to taper when they felt ready. Being an idiot though, my friend bought a substantial amount of coke for one person with no tolerance to the drug, but they are not inexperienced with it, it had just been many years since they lined up the tracks. And we finally get to the question they asked (which I was unable to answer): after taking high doses of diazepam two days in a row, are they going to face benzo withdrawal again, or will the three-week period of being free of diazepam reduce or eliminate this risk? I will pass any advice you can provide onto my friend, I am sure they will be very grateful.
