Misc XR Amphetamine reducing need for benzo, can it be for real?

[speedballs_over]

Hi - tl: I need sig. less benzo on days I dose Vyvanse as prescribed, 30-mg. Any idea why?

I was wondering if anyone else has, or can posit an explanation, why I need less clonazolam on days I take Vyvanse 30-40 mg in the AM?

I require about 1 - 2 mg clonazolam in the AM on days when I don't take my Vyvanse with a baking soda (1T in 6-8 oz H2O), and go back to bed, to awake 1.5 - 2 hours later - a slight bit sweaty but not feeling the need to reach for my C-lam, and that to me is a serious positive to Vyvanse.

On days I dose the Vyvanse as described, I usually end up taking about 0.5 mg C-lam, sometimes none until afternoon. I get up at 9AM regulaly, sleep well in general and ear decently, take Mag citrate 500 to 1000-mg day (that icnludes the mass of the citrate).

Days I dose Vyv + 0.5 mg C-Lam in the AM (both @ 7AM), I have no anxiety all day until about 10, sometimes 12 hours after initial dosing. So, it not only reduces need, it lengthens the duration of time b/w C-lam doses!

This has been a surprise, a great thing. I've cut my C-Lam from 5.5 mg/day to 4.8 rather quickly - three weeks - with only AM anxiousness or a bit of trouble getting to sleeep. As with most benz w/ds (typically) these w/d effects wane in a matter of days.

Sure, tapering a medium duration benzo I must take at least three times a day, I get squirly - if I go more than 10 hrs without C-Lam - except the days when I take a 30-mg dose of Vyvanse.

Please - I'm well aware.... Shit - forgot what I was going to write... (C-Lam causes memory issues at my dose, one of many reasons to get off it despite having an 8 year supply (assuming a 10% loss of material / potency).

Oh yeah... please no lectures on my C-Lam dependece, as you can read I'm lowering it and plan to move to Diclaz/diazepam as soon as an Ashton Taper will be do-able when my stash of diclaz and dizaepam is sufficint to cover my C-Lam dependency. I have a gram of diclaz and about 400 10-mg Valium. Haven't calculated if that's enough to do the taper at two week intervals of drops. I've tapered b/f so I'm going the slow route. I'll make that calc soon...

Bnz withdrawal has generally not been too difficult, but I anticipate this one to be rougher as my dose and duration of use (nearing the year mark) will make it more difficult. Trying to avoid serious kindling.

Thanks! I reaaly would like some good replies, I don't often get many replies to my posts, please if you have anything to concurr, different experiences or knowledge of what might be going on with reduced need for benzos while on Vyvanse (d-amphetamine extended release) chime in!

 

[ovo1024]

Whoaaa is all i gotta say lol. But the amount of diazepam & diclazepam if sufficient enough should make the taper not to bad. C-lam is a potent RC benzo. Sorry i couldn't elaborate on the reason you need less when taking amps

 

[Jabberwocky]

Other than avoiding withdrawal, why have you been taking benzos? I have known amps to help with anxiety and depression, so perhaps you're noticing relief from those types of things from the light amp use as you lower your dose of benzos?

 

[speedballs_over]

Amps do cutail my anxiety....

^^ second reply is likely correct.

My first use of amphetamines was shortly after I was diagnosed with GAD/Panic disorder (about age 25). When I was a kid or in college even, professionals such as psychs and Internists didn't really believe anxiety was a problem for children. The prevailing belief was that anxiety was a symptom of depression - a co-morbidity only, or an artifact of our post-industrial revolution lifestyles presenting in adults only.

Shortly after being diagnosed with GAD/Panic but declining treatment - I though psychs were crazier than I back then, so after diagnosis I let it be - I found a source of pharmaceutical API (active pharm. ingredient) amphetamine. All I wanted (100s of gs) - for the risk of getting caught stealing it.

I quickly discovered to my surprise that amphetamine - along with all it's expected effects - gave me a calmer mind, more focused and one that nearly completely obliterated my anxiety. I had access to Librium as well, but I wasn't sure how to dose that. Apparently the few times I tried it, it did nothing for me which is a surprise. Hard to recall decades later. Anyway, that's how I discovered amps covered my anxiety. The poster above reminded me of this experience. I wasn't taking anything else at the time except smoking fine, homegrown cannabis and a 2 beer a night habit left over from college.

I suppose the d-amp from Vyvanse is doing the same today - it curtails a lot of my inherent anxiety thus lessening my desire/need for a benzo.

All the better for my situation as I want to taper of this dose of C-lam and get back to a reasonable dose / switch to a longer acting benzo. I likely will be on a benzo the remainder of my life, unless I come off this time without significant kindling. I've been up and down with benzos for over 15 years now. First prescribed by my methadone clinic's psych! 4-mg/day clonazepam. 200-mg/day of methadone and 4-mg/day of clonazepam did the trick for sure. It also wasn't the most productive combination.

I got a second degree while on methadone so I wasn't completely blank. I had many good years on methadone, but it was that high of a dose I needed to block heroin and keep me straight to be responsible and do well academically. 200-mg/day is relatively a lot. Many people and a lot of clinics would never try to go that high. I couldn't stop relapsing until I hit about 180 - 190. The next ten were to make it a nice round number.

Back on track - for me, and perhaps some others with anxiety disorders:

Amps alone = less anxiety unless provoked (i.e. I should be anxious), less anxiety than baseline (4/10 anxiety level, baseline is a 8/10 and panic attacks a 10/10)
Amps + benzo = muted benzo response, muted amp response, but feel less of a need for benzo, less anxiety than baseline (3/10 - so better than amps alone, but not by much)
Clonazolam (or any decent benzo) alone = less anxiety than baseline (0/10). C-Lam in particular - completely obliterates anxiety.

I wasn't diagnosed with ADD (or whichever DSM code the psych gave me) until a few years ago. I've been on and off Vyvanse since. Great stuff for those that need it. It does occasionally make me tired, that happened b/f I switched from clonazepam/diazepam to clonazolam - so it isn't necessarily the benzo breaking through and causing sedation.

C-Lam really only sedates me if I sit down and do nothing. As long as I keep moving, I'm good to go, but my memory is shot, so I think yeah, maybe time to switch back to a long acting benzo at a much lower dose and get back to simple anxiety relief and then someday, if ever, completely come off benzos.

Thnaks.