Phenibut Addict... help please

[PheniFiend]

I'm a 34yo male who is no stranger to heavy drug use. I've been addicted to morphine, meth, xanax, valium, alcohol and Hydrocodon, to the point of horrible withdrawals, many times.

2 1/2 years ago I quit doing drugs altogether, until about 3 1/2 months ago when I found phenibut. Now my habit is around 7 to 12 grams a day. I have been using phenibut daily for all that time, starting with 2-3 gram doses and gradually increasing to where I am now.

My whole life I have dealt with depression with psychotic expression, PTSD, insomnia, anxiety and ADD. I've been prescribed many sleep aids and anti anxiety meds and SSRIs... blah blah blah. Anyway, after all the magical things I read about the social and mood lifting effects of phenibut, I had to try it.

At first it was everythi g I hoped for and more. I got out of a 2 month long lethargy and depression, I got a promotion at work, picked up a prominent service position in my community, and was even sought out by my ex girlfriend, who I am with now and have been for 2 months. By all accounts something had changed about me, I had made a real turnaround. Only I knew that without phenibut none of it would be possible.

Obviously, I had foolishly skimmed over the horror stories of dependence and withdrawal. I wondered, could this be sustainable? In short:

NO! 3 weeks ago I began to have horrible digestive problems. Guts constantly churning, nausea, loose or watery stools, going to the restroom 8 to 10 times a day. In the morning before I dose myself I am filled with dread and depression at the day, with a headache and a fatigued body. Even when I am peaking from my dose I still feel ill. Strange electrical sensations throughout my body, a knocking sound tgat repeats in my head... for a while i kept asking people "do you hear someone knocking?" Until i realized it was auditory hallucinations. I also have frequent headaches and dark urine.

Despite the high doses my anxiety has returned worse than it has been in years. I am also very irritable. I wear a scowl on my face almost constantly from the discomfort. This is horrible. I have to quit but I'm not sure how. And if the effects are this bad now, hoe am I going to get through this without exposing myself and ruining my life?

NOONE in my life knows I have this habit, and if I tell anyone I would be homeless tomorrow with nowhere to go. With my history of mental illness, I am SO AFRAID to go through this. I am deathly afraid of going into drug induced psychosis again. I need to somehow get off this stuff without anyone knowing I'm doing it.

I know I'm being longwinded, but I'm not sure what to say. It seems there are very few detailed reports of getting off phenibut. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Honestly, just some moral support would be excellent right now.

 

[Jabberwocky]

Welcome to BL OP!

Do you have a doctor? You would really benefit from a diazepam taper. There are other medications that can be used to achieve the same ends (getting you off phenibut relatively comfortably without necessarily leaving you dependent on something else), but diazepam seems like a best choice in these kind of scenarios (it sounds like you experienced a bit of DTs!).

Given phenibut's action I wouldn't be surprised if a similar drug like baclofen could be used to replace, stabilize and the taper off of. Most doctors would be more willing to prescribe baclofen than diazepam, but then again most doctors don't have a clue when it comes to managing gabaergic withdrawal.

 

[PheniFiend]

Dr.'s are very conservative where I am, and it is in my medical records that I am an addict. No doc here will give me diazepam, but I just talked to a friend who has plenty of xanax for me, thank god. (Even though I havent touched benzos in years) and I have him looking for some lyric or gabapentin also. Thanks for your input tooth

 

[truenamebrand]

OP,

I went through phenibut withdrawal myself. The acute stage of withdrawal is pretty short, luckily. Extreme insomnia, anxiety, twitching, restlessness and muscle spasms are common, and make up the brunt of what I dealt with. However, the post-acute stage can last several weeks, so be prepared for that. I found after the fourth day or so things improved, but my sleep did not for at least three weeks.

Benzos are probably the best remedy (if you can avoid just becoming dependent on THEM), but not even benzos will COMPLETELY alleviate the withdrawal. Benzos, of course, are GABA-a agonists, while phenibut is GABA-b. Diazepam helped me, but it wasn't a cure-all.

I also used gabapentin. If you can indeed get your hands on it, it too will help a great deal. As much as the benzos will, in all likelihood. I found it extremely helpful. Also, if you run out of benzos, or if you think you're able to (or should) swap them out at times during the process, clonidine can also help with the physical symptoms of anxiety and with sleep -- if you can obtain some.

(I still keep a couple clonidine on hand to this day in case of emergencies where I do not have my clonazepam.)

Best of luck.

 

[DementiaSavantPlus]

I feel compelled to contribute here as have been through a similar ordeal. I wasn't measuring, but I would estimate that I ingested 15-20 grams of phenibut per day for about 6-8 months. Over this time period, never once did I skip a single day, and its important to note that this high dose of phenibut produced no effect whatsoever for at least half of that duration.

Then, I quit cold turkey (not my decision). Many times had I been through the typical one week of free-floating anxiety and insomnia that is commonly associated with this drug. But jumping off of a high dose resulted in a solid week of no withdrawal symptoms at all, and then a sudden onset of deep psychosis, fully "realized" hallucinations, paranoid delusions, burning nerves, etc. I have undergone harsh benzo withdrawal, and this I would call hyper-benzo WD. After another week, I went to a clinic and requested a few lorazepam. This completely reset me. After sleeping for the first time in a while, I woke up feeling virtually normal.

So, a benzo will help immesnsely, but I would allow the withdrawal symptoms to reveal themselves before you treat them with another GABA-activator (cross-tolerance may decrease).

Here is some precedence for my personal story: http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.3109/14659891.2012.668261

 

[Lucy Bookit]

There are a lot of herbs that are GABA agonists that might help--ashwagandha, skullcap, valerian, kava. (I would make sure that none of these react with any type of prescribed medications you might take.) There is a possibility they could provide some relief from your withdrawals.

Hope you get through it and are feeling better soon!

 

[PheniFiend]

I feel compelled to contribute here as have been through a similar ordeal. I wasn't measuring, but I would estimate that I ingested 15-20 grams of phenibut per day for about 6-8 months. Over this time period, never once did I skip a single day, and its important to note that this high dose of phenibut produced no effect whatsoever for at least half of that duration.

Then, I quit cold turkey (not my decision). Many times had I been through the typical one week of free-floating anxiety and insomnia that is commonly associated with this drug. But jumping off of a high dose resulted in a solid week of no withdrawal symptoms at all, and then a sudden onset of deep psychosis, fully "realized" hallucinations, paranoid delusions, burning nerves, etc. I have undergone harsh benzo withdrawal, and this I would call hyper-benzo WD. After another week, I went to a clinic and requested a few lorazepam. This completely reset me. After sleeping for the first time in a while, I woke up feeling virtually normal.

So, a benzo will help immesnsely, but I would allow the withdrawal symptoms to reveal themselves before you treat them with another GABA-activator (cross-tolerance may decrease).

Here is some precedence for my personal story: http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.3109/14659891.2012.668261

Man thank you I really needed to hear that. I've been looking for people who have actually been through this and you are the first firsthand account of high doses that I've seen. If you could describe more about the growth of your habit and the progression of your health over that time I'm sure you could help ALOT of people who search. Harm reduction for sure.