I B Profane
Bluelighter
- Joined
- May 12, 2014
- Messages
- 580
Howdy y'all.
I have a long history of benzo use/abuse, taking up to 8mg alprazolam daily at my peak. I have since (over the course of over a year) used diazepam to taper myself down to the point where I do not take them anymore. I have a stash of emergency 2mg Ativans in case shit hits the fan, but those go untouched - I haven't used a benzodiazepine in two months. Withdrawals sucked, but the diazepam taper made it much more bearable, and I did not seize or go through anything life-threatening.
However, I still feel the PAWS of my withdrawl. Unbearable social and generalized anxiety, involuntary tics/facial muscle spasms, just generally feeling like crap all over. I was recently prescribed Gabapentin (Neurontin) at 300mg 3 times daily and it has worked WONDERS. I feel relaxed yet awake, very chatty and social (but not to the point of annoyingness like amphetamines), my body and mind feel great for the first time in, well, the many years I've been using and abusing various pills. I'm also an ex amphetamine and ex opiate addict - these days I stick to dabs (THC concentrate), caffeine (coffee and tea ftw), the occasional microbrew (not a big drinker) and psychedelics and dissociatives once in a blue moon. This gabapentin is having an unintended side effect of reducing my cravings for other drugs, which is simply AWESOME.
So gabapentin pros: reduced anxiety, reduced depression, reduced nerve pain and general "feeling like shit"ness, increased sociability, increased appetite, wonderful aid to insomnia....
What I'm curious about is the negatives, because I know if something is too good to be true it probably is. I have heard VERY conflicted reports about this drug on this site. Certain people claim that they use it for a very long time, in high doses, and experience no withdrawal upon qutting. Others have reported that it has terrible withdrawals, worse than opiates or benzos by some accounts! I would like for anybody who has been on this med, or knows anything about it, to chime in with any information they have regarding this drug, its pros and cons, and especially what withdrawal symptoms I would be faced with should I choose to stop, and how to minimize the intensity of said symptoms. I know that with any drug, tapering is the way to go. Given how mild this stuff is, I don't think I should have a problem slowly taking myself down from 900 to 0 - keep in mind I've kicked benzos, opiates, and amps before.
Thanks for the advice and have a wonderful day BL. Mods if this is in the wrong section please feel free to edit/move/merge/etc
I have a long history of benzo use/abuse, taking up to 8mg alprazolam daily at my peak. I have since (over the course of over a year) used diazepam to taper myself down to the point where I do not take them anymore. I have a stash of emergency 2mg Ativans in case shit hits the fan, but those go untouched - I haven't used a benzodiazepine in two months. Withdrawals sucked, but the diazepam taper made it much more bearable, and I did not seize or go through anything life-threatening.
However, I still feel the PAWS of my withdrawl. Unbearable social and generalized anxiety, involuntary tics/facial muscle spasms, just generally feeling like crap all over. I was recently prescribed Gabapentin (Neurontin) at 300mg 3 times daily and it has worked WONDERS. I feel relaxed yet awake, very chatty and social (but not to the point of annoyingness like amphetamines), my body and mind feel great for the first time in, well, the many years I've been using and abusing various pills. I'm also an ex amphetamine and ex opiate addict - these days I stick to dabs (THC concentrate), caffeine (coffee and tea ftw), the occasional microbrew (not a big drinker) and psychedelics and dissociatives once in a blue moon. This gabapentin is having an unintended side effect of reducing my cravings for other drugs, which is simply AWESOME.
So gabapentin pros: reduced anxiety, reduced depression, reduced nerve pain and general "feeling like shit"ness, increased sociability, increased appetite, wonderful aid to insomnia....
What I'm curious about is the negatives, because I know if something is too good to be true it probably is. I have heard VERY conflicted reports about this drug on this site. Certain people claim that they use it for a very long time, in high doses, and experience no withdrawal upon qutting. Others have reported that it has terrible withdrawals, worse than opiates or benzos by some accounts! I would like for anybody who has been on this med, or knows anything about it, to chime in with any information they have regarding this drug, its pros and cons, and especially what withdrawal symptoms I would be faced with should I choose to stop, and how to minimize the intensity of said symptoms. I know that with any drug, tapering is the way to go. Given how mild this stuff is, I don't think I should have a problem slowly taking myself down from 900 to 0 - keep in mind I've kicked benzos, opiates, and amps before.
Thanks for the advice and have a wonderful day BL. Mods if this is in the wrong section please feel free to edit/move/merge/etc