Phenibut withdrawal - should I expect it?

[aspiringchemist]

I suffer with severe anxiety and I also love gabaergic drugs. I've been prescribed baclofen 10mg qid daily for about 2 years, diazepam 5-10mg daily (or another low dose benzo) for about 5 years, and added in phenibut almost one year ago to the day.

I want to be off this stuff and would rather not buy more. However I have been going through a family crisis for the last 7 months and it's ongoing. My baseline anxiety is very high and debilitating at times. Needless to say, I don't have any more funds to throw at phenibut.

My phenibut doses only got up to 2.5g daily for a couple of months over the summer. Since December I've been splitting my doses in half (dose in AM and PM instead if one large PM dose) and dropping them. Last week I was at 500 - 750mg twice daily.

I'm now at 500mg every 24 hours for the past 3 days. I let myself run out of phenibut and just took the last 500mg.

I also use the baclofen and diazepam as prescribed, as well as propranolol XR 60mg and have about 50 extra 10mg baclofen tablets.

Should I expect any appreciable withdrawl symptoms to present with this dosage, duration, and other meds on board?

 

[DrugOmen]

You got down to a decently low dosage the past few days so thats gonna help a lot. Some people dont experience much withdrawal and for some its pure hell.

Ive been on atleast 4 grams for almost two years. Leta just say that i make damn sure i dont run out. My worst and most extreme symptom is a tactile hallucination that feels like my neck and back ate burning and UNBEARABLY ITCHY! I cannot sleep at all because of that symptom alone.

 

[aspiringchemist]

Thanks for the response. I've been through phenibut withdrawl once before but that was only after a 2 week run. I've gone through many an opiate withdrawl as well, though I know the gabaergics are a different animal.

I make damn sure I don't run out of kratom. I just want off the phenibut. Unfortunately I don't have access to other gabapentinoids atm.

 

[cosmic charlie]

When I went through Phenibut withdrawal spending around a year each time on the drug. The withdrawal syndrome has very similar symptoms to benzodiazepine cessatation. The worst part for me was the insomnia it persisted for at least a week. But towards the end I got some clonodine and that blood pressure medicine helped a lot and I was getting some rest again.

Expect to have heightened anxiety for the first few days. It fwlt like I was in a constant panic attack. That part fades first for me. My doses got up to 10 grams a day at the worst and I jumped off around 1 gram. The lack of sleep was brutal and I had no energy to do anything.

The reason i got off is because it was giving me heartburn everyday towards the end. For many years I could control my use and take it sparingly and have since i was last hooked. But different times i got out of control and had to go through this. And like I said Clonidine helped me to rest and took away that panic response I was having.

Hang in there man.
Get off this stuff it's terribly addictive for some of us and if you can't control it anymore stop for awhile. I had to do that for a few years before i tried it again. And I actually threw out a tub last summer cuz I was dipping in it too much and stated getting heart burn again. I suffer from acid reflux so that might not happen to everybody, I take Protonix for it daily. Stay strong and don't order anymore no matter how bad it gets, it doesn't last forever.

Hope you feel better, take care.

~Charlie

 

[DrugOmen]

Thanks for the response. I've been through phenibut withdrawl once before but that was only after a 2 week run. I've gone through many an opiate withdrawl as well, though I know the gabaergics are a different animal.

I make damn sure I don't run out of kratom. I just want off the phenibut. Unfortunately I don't have access to other gabapentinoids atm.

I feel ya man. Was on opies for about 10 years but been on kratom for about 2 years along with the phenibut.

I jusy do those plus damn alcohol for maintenance and def choose to smoke weed everyday too. Plus when i get to trip thats my facoritw thing to do

 

[emkee_reinvented]

Wouldn't the Baclofen you are taking be of great help to prevent most of the withdrawal. No experience myself with either, some with Phenibut, but as they both act on GABA-b.

 

[aspiringchemist]

Thanks for sharing your story Charlie. The withdrawl you describe is very similar to what I experienced when I quit once before.
Maybe the phenibut is why I get heartburn so much... killer attacks out of nowhere that have me on the ground contorted and eating tums like candy, sucking down water.

Omen - I'm glad kratom is working for you! I've been using it since sometime around 2014 daily.

Emkee, yes baclofen would likely mitigate much of the withdrawl syndrome. However I have been taking baclofen at 40mg daily for a few years so I'm pretty tolerant to it as well.

I don't have much experience with quitting phenibut so I wasn't sure if I should expect any issues jumping from the dose I'm at currently.

I should add that I know how to treat the withdrawl symptoms and also know when it's time to ask for help. I'm just really hoping for a smooth drop off with the other meds on board.

 

[Betternow]

As of this morning, I am almost 48 hours after my last phenibut dose. I didn't realize I was taking it. It's simply in an energy shot in our gas station. I was using it for the exhaustion i was feeling after 14 days clean off all opiates. I only found out when I started looking up the ingredients-no B complex I have in my drug cabinet works that well! Anyways, I have been taking them now for almost 2 weeks sometimes twice a day. Not even sure how much is in each shot. It only says 1367 mgs proprietary blend.

I hardly slept at all last night. I guess my question is, did I just extend my opiate addiction out? How long will this last? Any advice on this?

 

[Keif' Richards]

OP, especially when taking into account the fact that you have some sedative medication on hand just in case you need to "break the glass" and medicate your anxiety. As you know everyone is different, but there are also people who take so much Phenibut that there digestive system gets inundated with powder to the point where they require medical attention. Let's be real, it's a drug that, for certain segments of the population is highly addictive. Although I don't consider it to be an acutely dangerous substance like any Gabapentioid.

This doesn't mean there's no consequence to becoming severely dependent. The withdrawal is considered to be quite severe and most medical facilities/detox's are either completely unaware of what Phenibut is or lump it in with synthetic weed, bath salts et cetera. This makes it difficult to get adequate treatment for what can actually be a rather devastating withdrawal syndrome similar to, but less severe than that of Alcohol or Benzodiazepines.

Given the dosages you've listed and the fact that you've been able to self-titrate, I don't expect there to be anything severe following complete abstinence.

 

[Hezman94]

Baclofen only lasts like 2 hours unfortunately.

Wouldn't the Baclofen you are taking be of great help to prevent most of the withdrawal. No experience myself with either, some with Phenibut, but as they both act on GABA-b.

 

[aspiringchemist]

Thanks for all the responses everyone. I feel confident that I can smoothly drop off. I found a vial with 550mg of phenibut in it and consumed that at my regular 24 hour mark. So it's been 4 days at 500mg every 24 hours. I'm good to jump tomorrow and don't expect much issues but will report back.

Keif- I agree, phenibut can be highly addictive for some people, myself included... I was just going to finish that old tub last April and now it's almost April again and I haven't missed a day lol. I've read many of the accounts of withdrawl and experienced it once myself. I'm fortunate to not have increased my dose over 2.5g daily.
Phenibut definitely has potential to become harmful and cause a severe gabaergic withdrawl syndrome.

A rather prominent pain clinic in my community (that I used to be a patient of) does routine screening and they don't include phenibut in their panel but kratom was listed under "Bath Salts/Synthetics". To me this is an illustration of the lack of understanding exhibited by much of the medical community around some of these substances.

 

[Betternow]

I am on day 3 from ct. Imodium has really helped along with l-theanine, Ashwgandha and CBD oil. Seems too good to be true. So, please tell me-will the correct amount of Imodium (taken as directed) prolong these withdrawals?

 

[aspiringchemist]

Glad to hear you're doing well!

I'm not sure that loperamide has any direct effect on the withdrawl from phenibut other than maybe stopping any diahhrea. I could be wrong though...

Last 550mg dose was 24 hours ago. Took 40mg baclofen last night and another 20mg upon waking this morning. I know it's typically closer to 48 hours that the withdrawl tends to present but again, I'm not too concerned at this point.

 

[aspiringchemist]

It's now been about 36 hours since my last phenibut dose. I am definitely experiencing the onset of some withdrawl symptoms - sweaty, shaky, increased anxiety, and a little scattered feeling. Oddly though I kind of feel better without taking phenibut.

I just took another 20mg baclofen. I took 20mg 8 hours ago.

Thanks everyone!

UPDATE: now at 48 hours without phenibut. Baclofen really has worked well to mitigate the withdrawl. I've also been using diazepam, but find 20mg baclofen three times daily works well so far.

 

[emkee_reinvented]

Baclofen only lasts like 2 hours unfortunately.

"Don't believe that is true "The half-life is between 4.5 and 6.8 hours in healthy subjects" So add a source and we have discussion ".

That's my first thought.

" If this is your personal experience you are probabbly a fast metabolizer. No experience with it myself only some Phenibut and that last's. "

Then occured, and then this came up

"So take that half live comment throw it in the bin. Just realized active and half life are not the same. Experienced it myself with OD's"

the link link to half life which has nothing to do with activity.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3229794/

 

[aspiringchemist]

2nd this on the half life ^

IME I obtain noticeable effects from baclofen for a good 5 to 6 hours.

During this minor withdrawl period I start to get uncomfortable about 6 hours after the last baclofen dose. I woke up at 5am this morning and had to take 20mg to get back to sleep for a few hours. I had taken my increased dose of 40mg the night before around 8pm (during the beginning of phenibit abstinence yesterday evening I took 40mg instead of the regular 20mg).

Typically when I was taking phenibut all year I would take phenibut in the morning and afternoon, and then stack 20-40mg baclofen later in the evening. Doing this I have never felt the need to redose in the middle of the night.

It's interesting to track this a little bit. I hope others find it useful in some way. As Kief said, there's a dearth of information about phenibut withdrawl and appropriate medical treatment.

 

[emkee_reinvented]

2nd this on the half life ^

IME I obtain noticeable effects from baclofen for a good 5 to 6 hours.

During this minor withdrawl period I start to get uncomfortable about 6 hours after the last baclofen dose. I woke up at 5am this morning and had to take 20mg to get back to sleep for a few hours. I had taken my increased dose of 40mg the night before around 8pm (during the beginning of phenibit abstinence yesterday evening I took 40mg instead of the regular 20mg).

Typically when I was taking phenibut all year I would take phenibut in the morning and afternoon, and then stack 20-40mg baclofen later in the evening. Doing this I have never felt the need to redose in the middle of the night.

4 times a day and the period with Phenibut added 3 times.

I only had 100 grams but Pheni lasted uncomfortably long at dosages 1 gr and below, 24 + . Unforgiving stuff..

 

[Betternow]

Glad to hear you're doing well!

I'm not sure that loperamide has any direct effect on the withdrawl from phenibut other than maybe stopping any diahhrea. I could be wrong though...

Last 550mg dose was 24 hours ago. Took 40mg baclofen last night and another 20mg upon waking this morning. I know it's typically closer to 48 hours that the withdrawl tends to present but again, I'm not too concerned at this point.

Free and clear, buddy, after 5 days! Keep this up, everyone needs ur experience!

 

[aspiringchemist]

Free and clear, buddy, after 5 days! Keep this up, everyone needs ur experience!

Thanks!

It's been 4 days now. I'm actually surprised by the lack of withdrawl symptoms I've experienced given my duration of use, sensitivity to GABA withdrawal, kindling, and generally severe anxiety and PTSD. I would have quit a long time ago had I known.

IME, this time around, dropping down to 500mg every 24 hours over the course of 2 months from 2.5g/day and using baclofen made discontinuation of phenibut a breeze. I am grateful because I know how severe phenibut withdrawl can be.

Thanks for everyone's input and support. I hope this thread assists others in their journey to cease using/abusing phenibut.

Peace