• Select Your Topic Then Scroll Down
    Alcohol Bupe Benzos
    Cocaine Heroin Opioids
    RCs Stimulants Misc
    Harm Reduction All Topics Gabapentinoids
    Tired of your habit? Struggling to cope?
    Want to regain control or get sober?
    Visit our Recovery Support Forums

Benzos Benzo Potentiators?

Ruby Red Grapefruit juice is either 30% or 35% "fruit juice" depending on the brand. So whatever amount of cyp3a that inhibits, I find that even a little 15oz bottle of Tropicana split 10 minutes before and then during sublingual xanax is a worthwhile venture. There's definite potentiation (hits sooner and stronger), and I require a gallon of Wal-Mart brand Ruby Red grapefruit juice in my fridge at all times.
 
Vaya said:
Thanks for the info, I'll admit I'd trust the PDR myself as well.

Xanax was the benzodiazepine in question, so if that is not affected by cigarette smoking, well.... bring on the nicotine!

Same here, I'm prescribed 3-4mg of alprazolam a day and don't want nicotine decreasing the effects. I'm addicted to both so I would have to live with it either way.
 
Hmmm... I've really been thinking about Valerian + benzos lately, but it strikes me as an error on the same scale as mixing an SSRI + MAOI (not quite as bad, but almost, maybe more akin to mixing a bunch of 5HTP + SSRI, since AFAIK there are no 5HT agonists, maybe so, but whatever you get my point)...

Someone said it's safe though. Is Valerian a REALLLLLY weak reuptake inhibitor of GABA or something?

Or would Valerian counteract the effects of benzos, since it's not letting the GABA back into the receptors that benzos sensitize?
 
K'dOUTinAZ said:
Same here, I'm prescribed 3-4mg of alprazolam a day and don't want nicotine decreasing the effects. I'm addicted to both so I would have to live with it either way.

We are both in the same boat, then.

I am prescribed 1mg 4 times per day. I also smoke cigarettes.

Perhaps my regiment should be as follows:

T+0:00 Eight to Ten ounces of grapefruit juice
T+0:05 Marlboro cancer stick
T+0:35 My dose of brand-name alprazolam instant release

I'll check it out. I need the grapefruit juice - I'll buy it when I make a new Cactus run from the Home Depot... letcha know how it works.

On another note, I've come to believe you've been exposed to nearly ever form of benzodiazepine to have been created. A question, along these lines: Which has been the most effective for you? The most socially or solely enjoyable?

I'm out for the night.
Vaya
 
Last edited:
Much like antidepressants (or other drugs, for that matter), different benzos affect people differently. Though not considered to be as recreational for some, Ativan works well for my anxiety. Not so with my mother...she takes Xanax for her anxiety...Ativan just makes her sleepy...so, it would probably be a good medication for her insomnia (which is probably why she's prescribed it for insomnia)... :\
 
Isn't the clearance of a substance always sped up by nicotine since it's a stimulant? That's the reason you get less sedated btw not because of the clearance but just because it's a stimulant.

Nicotine works like a MAOi though ,wonder why it doesn't act like one with benzo's.
 
I'v read that Serzone (nefazadone -sp.) increases max plasma level of alprazolam to 4 times the normal level. It's safe (maybe not good for the liver) to take them both because many years back I took Xanax in the morning and afternoon, but the doc told me to skip the night time dose because I was taking Serzone at bedtime to sleep (and for depression). I was recklessly taking xanax back then, so I can't tell you first hand exactly how it was potentiated by Serzone.

Here is some info from medsafe:

--If alprazolam is co-administered with SERZONE, a 50% reduction in the initial alprazolam dosage is recommended; no dosage adjustment is required for SERZONE. When alprazolam (1 mg twice daily) and nefazodone (200 mg twice daily ) were co-administered to steady state, steady state peak concentrations, AUC and half life values for alprazolam increased by approximately 2 fold. Nefazodone plasma concentrations were unaffected by alprazolam although levels of the mCPP metabolite were increased. The concomitant use of alprazolam and nefazodone was also associated with an increase in psychomotor impairment presumably due to increased alprazolam plasma concentrations. The interactive effects of higher doses of these agents, such as the dosage levels of alprazolam used in panic disorder, have not been studied.--
 
Serzone is off the market? Damn! Well I've still got about 100, 100mg from 2003. Will they kill me (fast)? Or can I sue a drug co. for damages already incurred?
 
Grapefruit juice has already worked in the past, but I tried 2 Tagamet tonight 30 min. before consumption, and am not impressed.
 
YES I just picked up my script of zannies and they have a sticker now saying grapefruit juice is a no no with xanax ...
 
does tagamet increase potency of klonopin and diaza? I tried it....took 400mg of tagamet. and havent noticed anything stronger than normal.
 
9volt said:
Ruby Red Grapefruit juice is either 30% or 35% "fruit juice" depending on the brand. So whatever amount of cyp3a that inhibits, I find that even a little 15oz bottle of Tropicana split 10 minutes before and then during sublingual xanax is a worthwhile venture. There's definite potentiation (hits sooner and stronger), and I require a gallon of Wal-Mart brand Ruby Red grapefruit juice in my fridge at all times.

goto a smart and final store or supermarket that sells 100% grapefruit juice. look at the back of the label. don't settle for that 30% juice crap.
 
After having a browse of this thread i'm going to endeavour to get 15mg or so of Diazepam and try it out with a belly full of grapefruit juice, I will be interested to see what happens.

Only other potentiation I have ever tried is with "Quick-Ez" antacid and dexamphetamine... Potentiation noticible. But wasn't enough for me to run to the shops for antacids whenever I want some dexies.
 
ok, i have 'eaten the cow' [as we russians say] on this matter and I have the following to say .

YES, grapefruit juice MAY potentiate the effects of alprazolam [and I recall from what my prof. told me, all of the triazolo analog benzos blah blah blah etc], But I do not care for studies or tweed-suited professors. So I tried myself.

Certain brands of juice work better than others. The juice must be yellow not pink. It must be fresh, not from concentrate, it must have no extra calclium additives [don't know why...ask k'DoutinAZ' he must somehow know]/ Drink one big tall glass 30mins before ingestion of alprazolam...and then take the alprazolam with the juice - swallow it, do not keep it under your tongue [again don't ask me why, I'm not a biochem major]. Have another glass about 20 mins after all this [take 50-100mg hydroxyzine to avoid excessive trips to the bathroom]. It works. I have done this 3 times. 3 times normal ingestion on empty stomach at my usual wake-up time - 2mg. And then thrice during my normal wake up time with the grapefruit juice method [no hydroxyzine involved..that was just an addendum from personal experience].

Although grapefruit juice CAN, and in my case, DID potentiate effects, it gave more of a sedative effect, rather than a giddy, lightheaded xanax effect that we all love. It makes the drug stay in your system longer [for me, 3-5 hours longer than usual]

I have tried the same with diazepam [no difference in effect at 15mg], midazolam, bromazepam, temazepam, lorazepam, nitrazepam, and flunitrazepam [yes, I have a 'history'...and none of it worked. It only works on alprazolam.


PS. My suggestion, instead of ingesting pints of juice until you gag, why not just have a little shot of brandy with your pill? It's the best feeling ever....why go through all this garbage with the graprefruit juice. If someone told you that beet juice was a potentiator...I fear to think.
 
Valium said:
...and then take the alprazolam with the juice - swallow it, do not keep it under your tongue [again don't ask me why, I'm not a biochem major].

This is because grapefruit juice inhibits a digestive enzyme that works on the alprazolam molecule. Ingesting the pill by means of swallowing it exposes it to the gastro-intestinal system, therefore allowing the digestion of alprazolam to be inhibited. If one were to take the pill sublingually, this would *completely* nullify the point of drinking the grapefruit juice, because the alprazolam is thus absorbed directly into your bloodstream via the blood vessels/membranous tissue located underneath your tongue and therefore is not exposed to the inhibitory actions that take place w/in the digestive tract.

As for your suggestion of the volume of GFJ to drink, IME you are drinking way too much. I find that a single glass of GFJ 30 minutes prior to ingestion noticably potentiates the effects of the alprazolam, but leads to *less* sedation towards the end of the experience than if you were to, say, drink as many glasses as you suggested.

That last part is just my two cents, though.
 
So, if, hypothetically, I am trying to wean off Xanax and/or Valium (usually taking 3-6 mg Xan a night, for sleep), would eating some grapefruits (+their skins, i am serious) and/OR drinking some wine HELP me gradually lower my nightly dose...???

Have tried valerian+melatonin with Xanax and it DID seem to help me lower my dose per night.
 
^^^^
Yes. this method was my saving grace getting off the dosages that I was on. Go slowly though. Good luck.
 
Top