Benzos how long does it take to get addicted to benzos?

[Grondelduck]

I thought myself to be quite the strongwilled person, yet it seems I too am quite susceptible to their addictive nature. Started out with oxazepam, which I really liked. Gradually moving on to diazepam. Seeing how easily I fell in that habit, I quit then right then. Wasn't untill quite a bit later when I discovered Etizolam. The effects are quite different from the more famous benzo's but then again, that's probably why I like it so much. It's a lot easier to control and still works wonders for average/medium anxiety. Though be warned, even Etiz can sneak up on a person. I used it to help me sleep after an intensely stressful day, and continued that trend for a week, then a second(I did however need it, the experience still plagues my mind this day from time to time), however, when I tried sleeping without it the 3rd week I found myself twisting and rolling around for hours before catching sleep. The same thing happened the rest of the week, diminishing by the day or 2 though.

Now I simply use it for comedowns when necessary ( I know it doesn't induce sleep, but it calms then mind and sleep will follow for me then.)
Only time I use diazepam is when visiting the dentist. Bastard never wanted to use an anesthesia when filling a tooth or 2 when I was a kid. Hell, didn't even knew it was possible till my mother told me at the time.

Satan's dentist: "Anesthesia's are for girls"

We finally decided to switch dentists after that haha.
I wish I was making that up. Grew up in a small extremely religious and oldfashioned village, ya'll should hop over some time. *Shivers*

 

[TaSiPtR]

Mate get off your high horse if you think you were physically addicted to heroin way sooner than a month & not even everday let alone multiple use per day then your kidding yourself you did not have a habit maybe get flue like symtoms for 3 days or so get over yourself. Yes everybody is diferent but subdetox genuinely needed these meds prescribed if you read her second post you'd understand.

 

[Captain.Heroin]

I can only offer experience on how not to get addicted to benzos as I haven't ever had a benzo dependency.

Don't allow your usage to exceed 1 week. If it's 1x per day. More than 1x per day, really should be 3 days or less. More often is not advisable unless theres a rather feasible reason.

I have had 0.5 mg to 1mg alprazolam orally for at least 7 days in a row with no withdrawal when i quit. I only would do it once around night time for recreational effects or for insomnia relief.

 

[Trigeminal]

Mate get off your high horse if you think you were physically addicted to heroin way sooner than a month & not even everday let alone multiple use per day then your kidding yourself you did not have a habit maybe get flue like symtoms for 3 days or so get over yourself. Yes everybody is diferent but subdetox genuinely needed these meds prescribed if you read her second post you'd understand.

I'm not on a high horse, I'm telling you my experience. Did I have a full out, pants shitting withdrawal from
heroin? No. Did I have withdrawal? Absolutely. My point is that I seem to get addicted to drugs extremely easily.

And also, my opinion, no one "needs" benzos for suboxone withdrawal. It's just not that bad. They might prefer to have benzos but they definitely don't need them.

 

[heavyriffer]

If you have to use them you have to, no big deal. Im still tapering from Clonazepam after about 3+ years of use for major anxiety/panic. only used Ativan a few times. Kicks in fast for those stressy panic symptoms and calms you down, you will be ok after a month no problem.

 

[SubDude]

Have used Benzos off and on most of my life but never regular enough to get a habit. I did fine only using 10-20mg valium or 1-2mg xanax no more than 2-3 times a week 'as needed' on MMT... Subs is different for ME though. Been using an avg 1-1/2mg x or k-pins everyday for a couple of yrs. I know I would have a big problem quitting and believe my dr does too. He was on vac [visit before last] and his replacement told me he could see I was using a benzo other than prescribed k-pins... said it looked like tem..something which i've never used. I guess the combination of switching back and forth wasn't quite clear on the screen... first I knew they could determine different benzos from a urine screen. Anyway, saw my regular dr a few days ago and he said nothing about it...

 

[Morkin]

20 mgs of etizolam, 20mgs of zopiclone in 3 weeks. Stopped two days ago. Could not sleep for even a minute all of last night. Some depression (normal), anxiety (not normal), disturbed bowel movements, loss of appetite.

Note I also went through 10ish mgs of various RCs like 6-APB, AMT (& used the benzos to get to sleep) thru this period.

Knackered right now.

 

[hatrix]

I went through around 45-50mgs of etizolam in a couple weeks using around 5-6mgs each day I took some and after about 2 weeks when I ran out and went cold turkey I experienced flu like withdrawal symptoms. I ended up being sent home from work I looked so terrible and felt like I was going to vomit everywhere. I had the flu like symptoms for about 2 days and then was back to perfectly normal.

I'm going to say that with a decent dosage like what I was taking of any benzo, you would experience slight withdrawal after stopping in just a couple weeks.

 

[AlphaMethylPhenyl]

I don't know about you mate but it took less than 5mg alprazolam over a month to get me having withdrawal symptoms upon stopping.

 

[5StarSquatHotel]

was on 20mg of daily diazepam for 6 years and switched to tamazepam for 5 years after that -am now on 10mg of that 5 days a week and i am still not addicted imo. i sometimes take a months worth in the first week and other than sleepless nights and slight anxiety elevation i do not suffer at all. either i am used to feeling shitty or the wd is masked by opiates?

 

[crazycatman]

I went through about 250-300 etizolam in 2 weeks (sometimes combined with alcohol) or so (with the last 5 days always being 2mg, 2mg, 1mg, 1mg, 1mg). Biggest wd effect I noticed was changes in my sleep. Ever since the 1mg per day I found it really hard to sleep (fall asleep and stay asleep) and when I did sleep most of it was spent in the rem stage with really detailed and rememberable dreams (not nightmares or anything like that, more like not being sure if it's just a story I'm playing in my had or and actual dream). After a few days without any etiz the sleep effects are beginning to fade, still some problems falling a sleep (but I had that since I was a kid) and the dreams are still a little more intense. Few days after everything is back to normal except that I take a long time to fall asleep (but I had that before touching any gaba drugs). Did that several times in the last two years (sometimes a little more etiz for a little longer, sometimes a little less etiz for a shorter amount of time), basically the same results every time. And luckily I haven't noticed a relevant increase in tolerance between the binges. Other wd symptoms were basically non existent, maybe a little more daytime anxiety (but nothing bad) and softer stools.

Also if the insomnia is a big problem, ghb (if you can get it), will help immensely, just take it before sleep after stopping the etiz. Works really well, but can be addictive with more than 1-2 doses per day. And it can also get you problems with the police.

Never did nearly enough of other benzos to compare wds.

 

[Aphex747]

^dark - opiates will absolutely mask a minor wd but if your having a full blown benzo wd, you would defintely know it. i have a light one, i experience dephoria and boredom when im not on my benzos. i stare at the wall and watch the day go by feeling strange, or the opposite of content. but as soon as i take some klonopin, im sweeping, mopping, its like theres so much stuff to do at my house, but i dont realize it in mild benzo wd. its like i feel discouraged from doing almost anything. BUT if i take even 5mg hydrocodone, it completely goes away. i feel good, the day suddenly has a purpose, and i feel good, not like im having an off day. im tapering off benzos atm and when i jump off im using some vicodin ive had saved. that way if i feel a little weird that last week, opiates will surely make me feel good, happy, content. add some valerian root in with that, and maybe a beer or two before bed, if you use your vic's up in the day. you dont want to trade one addiction for another, or worse, start a second physical habit. i never mix opiates with benzos, so i have something to make me feel good later on in the week if i need it.

benzos 1x a week/opiates 1x a week is safe to do, unless i mean your slamming bags of heroin. just get some weak opiates (NOT TRAMADOL-lowers seizure thresh hold) and in conjunction with valerian root and a few beers to top off the night, youll get through this easy. just dont get hooked on vicodin. KNOW for a fact, that your only using them to ween off the benzos. i highly recommend some cannabis indica as well. some dank shit.

 

[Aphex747]

my benzo tolerance is tapered down so low, i can take 5mg of flexerill (i know it lowers seizure thresh hold, but not as bad as tramadol) 3x a day and not experience muscle tightness, and it even mellows me out. so after all this consideration, ive realized im not addicted to benzos, i just think i am.

 

[Psychonauticunt]

Technically benzodiapines never lose effectiveness for anxiety (and panic attacks?). You develop tolerance to the side effects such as sedation.

Technically, this is bullshit, according to just about everything I've ever read, apart from isolated and disputed reports that people have been able to use anxiolytics at the same dose for extended periods of time without losing efficacy.

To make a statement like that across the board is completely wrong and 5 minutes' Googling will show you that. Tolerance to sedative/hypnotic effects develops much, much faster, but tolerance does occur to anxiolytics as well.

i personally wouldn't worry about a month's worth. If u dont use benzos to get fucked up then u will most likely be able to taper for them easily. IMO, even if u quit benzos after a month's time with a rather low to med-low dosage, I don't think that w/d would be dangerous for u in terms of seizure risk. You may be a bit uncomfortable if u cold turkey after a month.

I've tried to quit cold turkey after using lorazepam at 1-3mg per day for 4 weeks and it was absolute hell. Lorazepam is the worst benzo to withdraw from in my experience (makes alprazolam, clonazepam, diazepam, and temazepam seem like a walk in the park, even after taking those at higher doses for longer periods of time), and dependence leading to withdrawal symptoms can develop at therapeutic doses in as short as two weeks.
Lorazepam might work wonders for coming off the 'Xone but out of the 17 benzos I've tried, lorazepam is the most physically addictive, and produces absolutely horrible withdrawal very quickly. You may be fine, and the withdrawal won't be dangerous, but it may be unpleasant to a point where a quick taper with a longer-acting benzo is necessary.

 

[weekend addiction]

I need benzos medically. So for me as soon as the first time I took them I knew I would be on them the rest of my life.

 

[paradiseride]

1 month use will trigger full withdraw. 10, 15 days = mild withdraw if the dose is low, IME. But you can taper down safely.

 

[ferinox]

Minimized is relative. The doctor doesn't know how any one person may respond to the drugs. And there's no good treatment for benzo withdrawal. Opiate withdrawal, clonidine is great. Alcohol withdrawal, benzos are great. Benzo withdrawal is in my mind the absolute worst withdrawal and there's fuck all that can be done for it.

I agree that benzo withdrawal is hell but there are things you can do to make it significantly more comfortable. Here's a 7 day drug cycle example that I found helpful coming of clonazepam:
first day-20 mg diazepam
second and third day- 2000 mg niacinamide, 2 grams theanine, 750 mg magnesium citrate
fourth and fifth day-1200 mg gabapentin
sixth and seventh day-1.5 grams phenibut, 60 mg Delsym every 12 hours
eighth day- 17.5 mg diazepam
repeat until completely off diazepam for about a month.

Some people may scoff at niacinamide being on that list but I'm sure those people haven't tried it. It's my second favorite supplement for anxiety right below phenibut. It's amazingly effective. The comfort aids in this system get stronger over the week as diazepam leaves the system slowly before it's levels are renewed each week. I included delsym with the phenibut to prevent tolerance buildup as it's known for having particularly rapid tolerance onset. Phenibut effects Gaba B but not Gaba A so it can be used to help with the taper. After I had gotten off benzos entirely for a month, I repeated this cycle but lowered doses of each med every time after that. I didn't think it was really necessary to taper bc I didn't use anything on the list daily but I did it just to be safe. I had no problems lowering the cycle med doses.

I'm replying to an old post but maybe somebody can find the system I used helpful.

 

[pamelacorey]

I have wkd mild 53 in nursing home a year took Xanax 18 years feeling dizzy can't talk now.. Can't walk help me

 

[Thanatos9]

Couple of weeks taking every day will probably give you rebound anxiety and insomnia when you stop, matter of semantics whether you want to call that withdrawal (imo it's a weak withdrawal symptom). After a month you're in for pretty much full benzo withdrawal (although depends on your dosage).

Psychological addiction depends on the person, in animal studies benzos are not hugely addictive compared to other drugs, it's mainly people with stress/anxiety disorders who get psychologically addicted.

 

[kookla79]

How long were you on suboxone before your doc decided to take you off of it? I've been on it for about 4 months and I know im not ready to be taken off it. I know some people have been on it for 7 years, I don't want to be one of those.