Benzos O.D. leading to coma

[Anymousandworried]

Wasn't sure where to post this and couldn't find anything related, so I opened a new account.

I am prescribed .5 Xanax (x4), 15mg temazepam, ans 1200mg gabapentin per day. I do like to be a little recreational with my dosage but nothing overvoard. I have been on this regime for a year now so tolerance is a thing.

One night after an ER visit I was prescribed some tramadol for my back, as I had hurt myself moving. We had to finish moving the next day.

I wake up in the ICU intubated a week later. With a million questions being thrown at me.

I had apparently taken (34) .5 xanax, 4 temazepam, maybe 4800mg gabapentin, and my entire bottle of 15 tramadols (I assume 50mg).

I don't remember taking a single pill. I don't even remember coming home from the DR that night to get the tramadol for my back. Waking up in that icu with tubes down my throat is the most traumatic experience I've ever had in my life. I was in a coma for a week. I almost left my baby boy without a father, and my wife without a husband when she found me breathing one time a minute.

I'm really hoping someone can shed some light on this. What in the hell happened? Why don't I remember anything? I would never purposefully take that many pills. Now I'm terrified to take my medication for my anxiety which is making things worst. I know there's no magic answer, but could somebody with some knowlege/ experience please help me understand?

Thank you so much

 

[mortuaryscience]

How did they know that you had taken that much? Did they guess based on blood levels? Did undigested pills come up after your stomach was pumped? If can definitively say that you'd never take that many pills, maybe you were in a "fugue" state. I've heard of people on sleeping pills, etc. getting up in the middle of the night and do all sorts of things, like turn on an oven and go back to bed, with no recollection of it in the morning. Could someone have tried to poison you, by putting all of this in food/drink? You might find some better info on Benzobuddies.org. Please let us know if you find out anything more. I'm sorry to hear of your ordeal. It sounds truly horrific.

 

[T. Calderone]

Since you are prescribed .5 mg Xanax and take four a day (correct me if I misread that) together with the temazepam, I'm guessing that you took your meds without remembering it. So then you took more and this caused the complete memory loss. It's not uncommon for people to experience "benzo amnesia" and combining with the other drugs likely pushed you into the danger zone.

May I ask do you usually take temazepam during the day? My mother used to take her sleeping pills with vodka sometimes and make phone calls and stuff which she had no recollection of doing the next day. It was embarrassing for her but it happens to the best of us. Don't beat yourself up and thank God your wife found you and they were able to save you!

Also, I wanted to ask if your doctor is aware of what happened? What you can do in the future is keep a daily pill reminder. They are dispensers that you can purchase at a pharmacy. This way you will know if you took your dose to avoid confusion. You could also have your wife hold on to your meds if you feel that this may happen again. Take care and welcome to Bluelight!

 

[keeping]

i guess you must have got super high by mixing your normal dose of benzos with your brand new Tramadol and you just go so high you kept forgetting that you'd already taken your meds, or maybe you just partied too hard? either way you got a touch of the benzo blackout

happened to me once when i combined clonazolam and morphine

 

[Anymousandworried]

Sorry for the delay. I had just gotten my prescriptions and they counted my pills remaining in my bottles. My doctor does know what happened, but my next appointment isn't for a couple weeks. Still had refills that were not cancelled, so maybe my psych wants to wait and talk to me about It?

The psych in the hospital said Xanax and valium are both notorious for causing you to forget you took your medication. Their best guess is I took my regular dose, multiple times