Benzos benzos on a 13 hour flight.

[defective_lise]

hello! long time no post. I detoxed off daily klonopin and now only use low-dose benzos occasionally.

but, I'm going to be on two 13 hour flights this summer to Beijing and back, and uummmmmm, just thinking about getting on an airplane turns me to jelly inside. last time I was on one, I had a huuuuge panic attack and a took a few low-dose xanax, which made me stop crying, but not much else.

what benzos would you recommend for such a long flight and when do you recommend taking them? I am most likely going to take a dramamine for vertigo before I get on (which makes me fall asleep, and will hopefully calm me down)...but then I have many long hours ahead. i seriously don't know about which half-lives/XRs would work the best in this situation...

 

[BruceLeeSwag]

hello! long time no post. I detoxed off daily klonopin and now only use low-dose benzos occasionally.

but, I'm going to be on two 13 hour flights this summer to Beijing and back, and uummmmmm, just thinking about getting on an airplane turns me to jelly inside. last time I was on one, I had a huuuuge panic attack and a took a few low-dose xanax, which made me stop crying, but not much else.

what benzos would you recommend for such a long flight and when do you recommend taking them? I am most likely going to take a dramamine for vertigo before I get on (which makes me fall asleep, and will hopefully calm me down)...but then I have many long hours ahead. i seriously don't know about which half-lives/XRs would work the best in this situation...

diazepam or clonazepam for a long flight should be ok but you should consider just trying to solve your psychological problem with flying instead of taking drugs to calm yourself down.

 

[ErgicMergic]

Xanax or Ativan would be best, to be honest, you can always take a small (50% ) redose 6 hours in if you wake up. You don't want to be passed out on a longer half life, sedating benzo like Klonopin or Valium and get dragged out of the plane by security/paramedics.

 

[oar9fi]

The other night I was monitoring one of the MEDLINK (for in-flight medical emergencies) Air Traffic Control channels on my shortwave radio & I heard them say they had an unconciouss 78 year old woman on board who had "overdosed" on an unknown amount of zolpidem + 2 glasses of wine. The person next to her must have freaked out when they couldn't wake her. There was a doctor who happened to be on the same flight who cleared things up by saying that it was just the zolpidem doing what it does best. Last I heard she was a little bit responsive but I guess they just let her sleep it off for the duration of the (trans-atlantic) flight.
My point is don't over do it. Because of people doing exactly that sort of thing, it wouldn't surprise me if the TSA started drug testing passengers (kidding... kind of)
I know I would take a benzo if I knew that some nasty hag or big black dude was going to be feeling up my junk & x-raying through my clothes. Have a nice flight! -oar9fi

 

[Fire&Water]

I would pick valium over xanax even though it is longer lasting & has more (muscle) relaxing effects

 

[defective_lise]

diazepam or clonazepam for a long flight should be ok but you should consider just trying to solve your psychological problem with flying instead of taking drugs to calm yourself down.

i wish this were true, but i've had anxiety disorder for over 10 years. lol. my parents will be there and they know i'll be loopy. but I think i will take a xanax or klonopin after the dramamine wears off and make sure not to take too much. thanks.

 

[tricomb]

I HATE flying, gives me terrible panic, so I usually have to dose before the airport, then again as we board the plane. I always dose sublingually so onset is in 5 minutes. Not only do I hate flying, I am very claustrophobic AND do not like crowds, so an airplane is about as close to psychological anguish as I can get. As a pain patient, the seats are also very uncomfortable which makes me have to adjust my benzodiazepine dosing to be safer mixing with my opioids. I'm not going to give my dosages because they apply to me and me alone.

For medium flights, I use triazolam or alprazolam.
For the shortest flights, like between north and south California, alprazolam does the trick.
For longer flights, like across the pacific, I prefer an initial dose of triazolam and then some alprazolam with redosing.

Please note that I have debilitating anxiety and could not fly without benzodiazepines, and am following my psychiatrists orders for how I am to dose, although I have been taking benzodiazepines long enough to use my own judgement, again, I have my psychiatrists approval to do so.


I do not condone the use of benzodiazepines at all if they're not prescribed to you, but fear of flying is definitely one of the things that benzodiazepines are great for, since it is acute anxiety, not chronic. So make sure that your prescribing physician knows about your plans to travel and ask him for advice on how to dose accordingly, he may elect to go with a different benzodiazepine than you are accustomed to due to potency or half life.

 

[Alex000]

If you were benzo dependent or benzo addicted, I am not sure benzos are the best choice in this circumstance, unless you know that you can take a benzo without falling back into dependence or experience serious "rebound anxiety" or other wd-esque symptoms. If you feel you can take a benzo, I would go with Klonopin because of its very nice and long duration of action, and its efficacy with panic/anxiety while not being TOO sedating. I do not know your history with benzos or your tolerance, so cannot really advise a dose because of this. I also don't know, because you were benzo addicted, how much a benzo could even do for you at a reasonable dose. I know this might sound unorthodox, but an opiate might be a better solution, if you have no issues with opiate addiction/dependence etc. You could chose any opiate really, and take it at an appropriate dose for your tolerance, and re-dose as needed on the flight. Opiates have been superior to benzos IME for real anxiety, and while they might not calm you like benzos, they would certainly calm you down and make you feel better for something as phobic as this. I always think if I ever had to confront one of my worst phobias, I would much rather have access to opiates than additional benzos (being it that I am already on benzos). If for some reason, you do not like that choice for anxiety, there is alcohol, which, while not completely ideal, would certainly help with some of the anxiety.

 

[tricomb]

I've always been completely and usually hopelessly dependent to benzodiazepines, yet still required to travel... Funerals, holidays, visiting family, visiting foreign lovers , I definitely don't think clonazepam is a good choice but this is based on my own extensive personal experiences and the commonly available information about it's metabolism, onset, duration, etc.

 

[Alex000]

I've always been completely and usually hopelessly dependent to benzodiazepines, yet still required to travel... Funerals, holidays, visiting family, visiting foreign lovers , I definitely don't think clonazepam is a good choice but this is based on my own extensive personal experiences and the commonly available information about it's metabolism, onset, duration, etc.

I am interested to hear why you feel this way. The only possible draw-back of Klonopin would be the fact that its effect can be a bit more "subtle" and so the individual might not be aware that he or she has taken enough? I am just speculating, and even that is a bit far-fetched. Triazolam and alprazolam work for you, and I can understand why, but you have to re-dose on longer flights with either if your anxiety re-surfaces. Alprazolam is a very good choice as far as benzos go, for this type of thing, but the flight is 13 hrs., not say 2 or even 4 hrs. I just think it could prove generally insufficient. Clonazepam, I think, would be best if a benzo is to be elected in this case, possibly with low-dose alprazolam for initial boarding and take-off, as well as any breakthrough phobic anxiety.

 

[tricomb]

For me, clonazepam has the efficacy of a breath mint, in fact, I would prefer a listerine strip during a panic attack than a Klonopin. Shit's absolutely useless to my body.

Triazolo-benzos work the best for me for anxiolysis and also have pronounced sedative/hypnotic effects which become less sedating after regular use.

Redosing for me is hardly a problem, doesn't take many calories to move a pill from my pocket to under my tongue, hahaha, dissolves in one or two minutes, effects begin in 5. Can't beat it.

Honestly, even for a 13 hour flight I would rely just on triazolam and alprazolam, redosing for me is no big deal and is more effective than trying to avoid redosing with a longer acting yet extremely ineffective benzo.

 

[doppelganga196]

Lorazepam has been very good to me on a 7 hour flight. 2 mg with a blond beer @ the airport bar, then 2mg sublingual while awaiting takeoff & i was nodding until the takeoff pulled me awake again. Good stuff, & i dont even have the slimmiest fear of flying it's just after many years & literally dozens of lights i now prefer to get nicley sedated, hence muscle relaxed comfy & have the flight pass much quicker than when sober.

 

[80mg]

I say kolonopin and xanax redose. Kpins work very long. And the xanax will help. It sucks you had an addiction to kpins tho.

 

[SassyFrassyLassy]

I would recommend klonopins just take it a lil before yout flight cuz it takes longer to kick in than xanax but has a much longer half life and should hold you thru the flight. Happy trails!

 

[a tree]

Lorazepam has been very good to me on a 7 hour flight. 2 mg with a blond beer @ the airport bar, then 2mg sublingual while awaiting takeoff & i was nodding until the takeoff pulled me awake again.

i don´t know how the threadstarteds tolerance is affected by his former addiction, but for a person, who is not used to benzodiazepines, 4mg lorazepam is a very high dose.
i would stick to alprazolam, lorazepam or bromazepam (depending on, if you want to sleep). personally i wouldn´t take a benzo with a 100 hour half-life for a 12 hour flight.

 

[-Guido-]

I HATE flying, gives me terrible panic, so I usually have to dose before the airport, then again as we board the plane. I always dose sublingually so onset is in 5 minutes. Not only do I hate flying, I am very claustrophobic AND do not like crowds, so an airplane is about as close to psychological anguish as I can get. As a pain patient, the seats are also very uncomfortable which makes me have to adjust my benzodiazepine dosing to be safer mixing with my opioids. I'm not going to give my dosages because they apply to me and me alone.

For medium flights, I use triazolam or alprazolam.
For the shortest flights, like between north and south California, alprazolam does the trick.
For longer flights, like across the pacific, I prefer an initial dose of triazolam and then some alprazolam with redosing.

Please note that I have debilitating anxiety and could not fly without benzodiazepines, and am following my psychiatrists orders for how I am to dose, although I have been taking benzodiazepines long enough to use my own judgement, again, I have my psychiatrists approval to do so.


I do not condone the use of benzodiazepines at all if they're not prescribed to you, but fear of flying is definitely one of the things that benzodiazepines are great for, since it is acute anxiety, not chronic. So make sure that your prescribing physician knows about your plans to travel and ask him for advice on how to dose accordingly, he may elect to go with a different benzodiazepine than you are accustomed to due to potency or half life.

I'm the same way. I have yet to fly but if I did I would need a proper dose of Alprolozam or Etizolam. That on top of my methadone would ensure I end up sleeping the whole flight. I would not be able to stand the thought of being awake and aware of the fact I am in a crowded metal box thousands of feet in the air. I would bug out. I don't like being trapped.

 

[tricomb]

The pure thought of it makes me want a xanax, heh..

 

[TomRx]

Every individual is going to have medications affect them differently. I have taken most all of the benzos for both anxiety and sleep and in my case I have found that I like having both Xanax (Alprazolam) and Valium (Diazepam) on hand. I get the largest strength of both, 2mg Xanax which can be broken in to 1/3rds or 1/4s depending upon brand or Diazepam 10mg which is scored in half. I used to have severe anxiety attacks, though not related to flying, and used the Xanax mainly for that because for me it was less sedating so it would resolve an anxiety episode yet not knock me out to the point I could not continue working. Also since it is relatively fast acting and you can take various doses you can try a smaller dose and if needed add to it. With Valium you may get more sedation. Both of them however I like because they do not stay in your system for too long a period of time. I am not feeling the effects of either after a good 8 hours of sleep for example so for your 13 hour flight I would think either would be fine. Sometimes I combine the two for sleep but I have been taking both for 30 years and have a tolerance and take the smallest effective dose to keep things under control. So I would go with something you know the effects and dosage of and also go with something most recommended by the doctor that is prescribing it to you. While alcohol can intensify the sedative effects of benzos it also has the ability to be a dangerous mix so I would not suggest that. It is not really a good idea IMO.

 

[DaftPunkFan]

I say kolonopin and xanax redose. Kpins work very long. And the xanax will help. It sucks you had an addiction to kpins tho.

Yeah I would do this, but I'd do Valium with Xanax redoses.

Quick question... For someone who is tapering off benzos, if I were to take a single dose of Xanax (0.5-1mg) to help on a flight, would that completely fuck up my taper? I realize that's a small amount of Xanax, but considering how much Valium I'm at (3.5mg) that's quite a lot more.

I know it would make me feel sooooo much better, but I'm just wondering if I would end up waking up the next day feeling terrible or not...

 

[tricomb]

Usually you'll wake up the next day and not remember much of the situation that triggered anxiety, a side effect of the benzodiazepines that does not help you overcome any fears.

@Daftpunk, definitely don't take that much alprazolam, that is overkill considering your current tolerance. Try 0.25mg and if you must add another 125 micrograms (0.125mg) which is 1/8th of my 2mg bars. I wouldn't manually divide doses smaller than the four sections of 0.5mg in your situation, I recommend you use a pill cutter. If you have bars, I cut them vertically the long ways down the bar first then it's easier to just break off a section because the score is still easily visible.