Benzos question regarding benzo withdrawal

[geraggh34]

So after using 1.5-3mg of klonopin and bupe a day for about 2 years and getting them off the street i decided to jump off the klonopin and get into an actual sub clinic. When i jumped off the klonopin i didn't have any seizures at all. After being off of benzos for a few months i started using them again for anxiety but jumping off before my drug tests (every two weeks). I've only had one other seizure from benzos and it was 7 years ago when i took 2-4+ mgs of xanax every day for about 2 months or so. Once i started taking them again (either 1-2mg clonazepam or .5-1.5mg of xanax) out of worry after about jumping off too high of a dose a used them for a total of 3 weeks. The last thing i took was .5 of xanax and i had a seizure the 3rd day after jumping off of them. I understand that the half life is much shorter with alprazolam than clonazepam but i'm still confused why i had a seizure off of a short and small habit jumping off of xanax and none taking 75-90 clonazepam a month for over 2 years?

I've talked to my doc about my anxiety and my counselor and they might start me off on a low dose of one of the weaker benzos which i'm okay with because i feel like as of now they really help an incredible amount dealing with a lot of anxiety on a regular basis.

I started taking clonazepam that i get from a friend again but now i take like .5 for a few days to a week and then take kava/gaba on days i don't take them until i get things sorted out with my doctor. Would 1 week on and off be too much to avoid dependence?

This seems like a silly thread for me to make but i wanted to ask for some input on anyone's experience with clonazepam withdrawal and alprazolam withdrawal. I'm honestly only worried about avoiding seizures right now (and passing my drug tests for now, of course)

 

[Phil.McKeer]

Everyone is different, and you yourself can have varying experiences with things like changes in your seizure threshold as time goes on. So no one can really say why you had a seizure off a short exposure where one didn't occur after a longer one.

Taper. That's the best advice I can give other than abstinence (might as well not risk a grand mal seizure which is what I'm assuming you're having when you say "seizure").

Also, aside from seizure, don't you get (and want to avoid) the other symptoms? I'm assuming you're getting some kind of tremors, zaps and insomnia if benzo d/c and w/d gives you seizures.

 

[geraggh34]

yeah, i'm just trying to take small doses specifically for the anxiety relief but i have to consistently jump off at some point (usually 4 days prior to my sub dr apt. every 2 weeks) until i get a small script, which my counselor and i have talked about, without worrying about pissing dirty for benzos. I take them for the anxiety relief, honestly i don't like how drowsy and lethargic i feel getting "fucked up" on them anymore.

In regards to the other withdrawal symptoms, i did have terrible rebound anxiety, some brain zaps and tremors (not too much insomnia surprisingly) when i jumped off my kpin habit of two years. When i had the seizure recently it was probably a 3 week binge, except this time i jumped off alprazolam instead of clonazepam and the symptoms were pretty mild besides the grand mal i had on the 3rd day without which felt like it came out of nowhere.

An example of my routine recently has been 1-1.5mg of klonopin 1-3 days then nothing for a day besides gaba and kava, 2 days of 1mg kpin none the next day and then around .5 for a day or two then i jump off 3 or 4 days before my sub apt.

At this point in my life i don't feel like i can completely stay abstinent, which i know is obviously not ideal. So i am just trying to manage skipping days and not taking benzos for more than a week straight so i don't end up in the hospital again from another grand mal. i quit taking alprazolam completely since it seems like my body just manages jumping off the klonopin better than alprazolam since i haven't flopped like a fish when jumping off of it.

I apologize if this thread seems silly, i just wanted to get some input from others who have possibly been in a similar situation as me. Any input honestly, besides staying completely clean. I really know that's my best option but i just can't do it right now. especially work, trying to get back in the social game, and talking to women and anyone in general right now. I feel so outgoing and confident when i take a small dose not to mention panic attacks, etc. Right now taking them as they should is honestly improving my life right now

 

[Gorillaboy21]

I just want to add to this thread cause im currently also tapering benzos that i got hooked on by accident (not really accident but you know what i mean not intentionally) and i was at 1-2 mgs kpin,xanax, or 10-25 mgs valium daily for a year.
it started cause i was trying to taper off h and opiates but everytime i would make progress kicking or tapering i would mess up somewhere along the line either cause i had work or cause of school or something abruptly that randomly came up and i needed to be well for it... a lot of times i feel its an excuse to use but thats another thread lol.
well whenever i would mess up id be taking benzos and gabapentin for a week or 2 at those points and eventually toelrance built and it got to the point where i caught myself taking benzos and gabapentin daily with my normal opiate/H dose to stay well and normal.
So after over a year i realized im addicted to both gabapentin and benzos at a 1-2 mgs xanax level and 1-2 grams of gaba a day with .5 garms of H.
I ended up slowly taperiing and quitting gabapenting and i ahve an entire timeline thread on here when that happened im now 100% off that, and than i started my benzos taper.
Im officially down to .25-.5 mgs xanax , or 2-5 mgs valium a day and im quite proud of myself. Ive stabilized at .5 mgs i feel completely normal i even get a bit of a benzo buzz in the morning the first hour or two it kicks in. Im just curious, if i jump off will i have problems at this point? Ive been taking .5 for 8 days now and a few days i took .25 mgs and everyday i switch one day valium one day xanax for the different half lives of metabolites and im wondering if im at danger at that dose or not for seizures.

Id also like too know how long id have to wait until i could take benzos again for my upcoming 5th attempt to quit opiates. Or if i could use them at all or not since i got addicted to them, thnaks

 

[Tranced]

So after using 1.5-3mg of klonopin and bupe a day for about 2 years and getting them off the street i decided to jump off the klonopin and get into an actual sub clinic. When i jumped off the klonopin i didn't have any seizures at all. After being off of benzos for a few months i started using them again for anxiety but jumping off before my drug tests (every two weeks). I've only had one other seizure from benzos and it was 7 years ago when i took 2-4+ mgs of xanax every day for about 2 months or so. Once i started taking them again (either 1-2mg clonazepam or .5-1.5mg of xanax) out of worry after about jumping off too high of a dose a used them for a total of 3 weeks. The last thing i took was .5 of xanax and i had a seizure the 3rd day after jumping off of them. I understand that the half life is much shorter with alprazolam than clonazepam but i'm still confused why i had a seizure off of a short and small habit jumping off of xanax and none taking 75-90 clonazepam a month for over 2 years?

I've talked to my doc about my anxiety and my counselor and they might start me off on a low dose of one of the weaker benzos which i'm okay with because i feel like as of now they really help an incredible amount dealing with a lot of anxiety on a regular basis.

I started taking clonazepam that i get from a friend again but now i take like .5 for a few days to a week and then take kava/gaba on days i don't take them until i get things sorted out with my doctor. Would 1 week on and off be too much to avoid dependence?

This seems like a silly thread for me to make but i wanted to ask for some input on anyone's experience with clonazepam withdrawal and alprazolam withdrawal. I'm honestly only worried about avoiding seizures right now (and passing my drug tests for now, of course)

There is a technical term which describes how your body becomes more and more susceptible to benzo side effects over time. I'm not sure what it is but I've read about it on here a few times. I'm sure somebody else will know.

This certainly seems to be the case for me. Three weeks on alprazolam is easily enough time to cause a seizure during withdrawal. Always taper. Especially if, presumably as above, you've had them before and a degree of neurological change has taken place.

 

[JBrandon]

Kindling effect ^

 

[Tranced]

Kindling effect ^

That's the one cheers.

Op ^this is probably why.

 

[geraggh34]

Thanks, that's good to know . Are there any otc or legal herbs/medicines that could help prevent seizures? Regarding the kindling effect i assume that even a week straight of a low dose like 1.5mg could even put me in withdrawal now

 

[RandomClean3]

Get chlordiazepoxide from an actual doctor. No addict asks for it so if you explain your situation you should be fine, but it has a very long half-life and it should be much easier to taper off (clonazepam and alprazolam are just too potent)

 

[RandomClean3]

1,5mg of either is about 60mg of diazepam, that's not a low dose, at least when it comes withdrawal. Don't take any herbal stuff, it might be dangerous. I would simply switch to a low potency, long half life benzo and taper off slowly, you've been taking them for a really long time, rushing it can be a counter-productive. Anticonvulsants are not shown to help in benzo withdrawal.

 

[geraggh34]

Damn, that's a bummer. Well, after my seizure i stayed clean for two weeks and since then i've only been taking clonazepam for the past 3 weeks and and have been skipping up to 3 days once a week so hopefully it won't be so bad if i taper down for a short time along with skipping days like i have been

Edit: and like i said, i took up to 3mg a day for 2 years and jumped off clonazepam and didn't have a seizure. It seems a bit more forgiving than xanax in terms of the seizure, also neither of those kicks were that bad. Not even close to jumping off 80mg of oxymorphone habit, just very scary. Also, is it okay to take GABA, L-Theanine, or Kava during withdrawal?

 

[JBrandon]

I don't think those three things will hurt, but I also don't think they're gonna be panaceas.