Benzos (Likely) xanax dependence and some questions

[GABAking]

Long story short, I've been on benzos for 3 years with a couple few months break in between (started on valium, switched to xanax, switched to klonopin, now back to xanax). Tolerance is high; recreational xanax is like 8-9 mg; to go to school and just be relaxed, probably like 2.5-3 mg (although I can feel the therapeutic benefits at 1 mg).

Before the last few months, I was absolutely not dependent--no argument. I would eat about 100 mg xanax in 10-12 days, then stop with no taper or anything and feel fine (no physical w/d; some anxiety but weed fixed that). Then the cycle restarts. However, for the last month, I've had an extra 45 mg IR and 30 mg ER to substitue my normally benzo free last two weeks of the month. I realize I've been eating them almost daily (some days 2 mg, some days 12, it all depends). The longest break I've given myself has been about 30 hours and the only thing I noticed was some mild leg twitching.

The extra 45 mg IR and 30 mg ER are only gonna be around for one more "cycle." Then after that just 100 mg a month.

Do you guys think I'll be able to handle the drop? My goal after that will be to start using my 100 mg responsibly and have them last me the month (maybe by having a friend dispense it to me, etc). I know the dangers of benzo w/d and I will talk to my physician about it if it comes to that, but I'm just wondering what your guy's thoughts are

I know how structive benzos are. Great acutely, make things way worse in the long run. I want to stabilize on alprazolam again then talk to my doctor about a klonopin taper

 

[down508]

benzo dependence is a slippery slope my friend. it sounds like the two week break you were taking was preventing you from becoming physically addicted. My suggestion is to take them as prescribed, I know how hard that can be though, those things are like pringles. I would weigh the benefit of taking them with the cost, I came off a 50mg i.m. valium +15mgg i.m. midazolam habit a couple years ago, I went to detox but my insurance cut me off after 3 days. there are few things more sinister then benzo withdrawal. You should probably set aside your pills for the day and only take those with you when you go out, maybe give the bottle to a trusted friend/family member to hold on to and have them dispense them so your not eating them in random doses. sooner then later though your going to want to get off them completely, anxiety is a fact of life and the sooner you learn to cope with it without taking medication the better off you are. I'm no doctor so you can disregard what I'm saying, but understand that doctors have a financial motivation to get you on and keep you on those meds.

best of luck to you, if you end up getting off them the worst of it will be over in a month, and you will feel like a new man. since I kicked the habit in early 2010 I haven't felt any urge to take benzos of any kind. once they're out of your system you wont crave them nearly as much.

edit: honestly i didn't read your entire post til after writing this, and I'm glad to see you have some of the same ideas as me.

 

[trip407]

In my experience benzodiazepines dependence only manifest itsef after long continuous usage. In 11 years of usage i usualy dosed several days to up to two weeks and then took a break lasting from one to several weeks. I stoped because of decrease in effects even from ridiclous amounts after several days. I never really got withdrawls from this usage pattern, except the last year. But this was fixed with a quick diazepam taper over the couse of several days. The only dowside was that tolerance rose and rose to a point it was prohibitive expensive to continue usage. I would do a quick taper (like 5-10 days) and take a break if i were you.

 

[down508]

I don't see how it's possible you didn't experience withdrawals after 11 years. I was on the above mentioned meds for 6 months and my whole jaw would start chattering whenever I walked into the shade, had horrible anxiety to the point of being scared to go to the grocery store. I mean everyone is different but taking pretty much anything for 11 years and then stopping will cause some issues.

 

[trip407]

As i wrote i took regular breaks. It was more like i was regularly binging on benzos. And using longer acting benzodiazepines made the "comedown" probably easier. But i have to admite in the last year i would get sometimes massive headaches, irritability, and sensitivity to light when i used too long. When i had these symptoms i did a quick diazepam taper.

 

[Fixed5217]

honestly dude at your level and your period of usage you definitely need to stabilize and seriously consider the clonazepam or valium taper. Alprazolam is definitely a bitch, especially with the half-life. The thing about benzo withdrawal is that it gets worse each time....and what goes down will rage up. This site has some great info: http://www.benzobuddies.org/

 

[laCster]

dude, abusing benzos is not cool. take like 2-3 mgs, dont go on binges, they will definitely make you more psychologically and physically addicted. xanax is short acting, so it will only stay on your receptors for like 12 hours, then you have almost no active xanax in your body. when you binge, your receptors are continuously agonized from the benzos causing a greater degree of upregulation (your body will try to compensate for the excess benzo/GABA which will create more receptors leading to tolerance), and down regulation of production native monoamines by your receptors

 

[BananasAndOranges]

dude, abusing benzos is not cool. take like 2-3 mgs, dont go on binges, they will definitely make you more psychologically and physically addicted. xanax is short acting, so it will only stay on your receptors for like 12 hours, then you have almost no active xanax in your body. when you binge, your receptors are continuously agonized from the benzos causing a greater degree of upregulation (your body will try to compensate for the excess benzo/GABA which will create more receptors leading to tolerance), and down regulation of production native monoamines by your receptors

I have been on benzos for 6+ years , Gabaking please stop abusing useful medicine, It hurts Everyone else who may really need this medicine. All I can say is GROW UP if youre Abusing benzos. Its a childish thing to abuse like that but thats my opinion. btw I have been on Xanax for about 3ish years straight or 2 1/2 and I just switched to an XR with the IR works way better

 

[Trigeminal]

I have been on benzos for 6+ years , Gabaking please stop abusing useful medicine, It hurts Everyone else who may really need this medicine. All I can say is GROW UP if youre Abusing benzos. Its a childish thing to abuse like that but thats my opinion. btw I have been on Xanax for about 3ish years straight or 2 1/2 and I just switched to an XR with the IR works way better

Are you being serious right now? You are on a forum for recreational drugs and you're trying to fucking preach at him to not take abuse benzos because it can "hurt YOU?" Shut up.

 

[TaSiPtR]

Can totally agree with you on that I was using anywhere from 2mg to 12mg Xanax also & after 336-48 Hrs would go into full blown tonic clonic seizures from the WD's it is fucking horrible man. Scary stuff !!

I don't see how it's possible you didn't experience withdrawals after 11 years. I was on the above mentioned meds for 6 months and my whole jaw would start chattering whenever I walked into the shade, had horrible anxiety to the point of being scared to go to the grocery store. I mean everyone is different but taking pretty much anything for 11 years and then stopping will cause some issues.

 

[xxxyyy]

I have been on benzos for 6+ years , Gabaking please stop abusing useful medicine, It hurts Everyone else who may really need this medicine. All I can say is GROW UP if youre Abusing benzos. Its a childish thing to abuse like that but thats my opinion. btw I have been on Xanax for about 3ish years straight or 2 1/2 and I just switched to an XR with the IR works way better

what in the name of fuck is that supposed to mean?

 

[macd610]

I don't see how it's possible you didn't experience withdrawals after 11 years. I was on the above mentioned meds for 6 months and my whole jaw would start chattering whenever I walked into the shade, had horrible anxiety to the point of being scared to go to the grocery store. I mean everyone is different but taking pretty much anything for 11 years and then stopping will cause some issues.

Down, you said that your entire jaw would chatter when in wd's. If I run out early,by the third day I get the most terrible feeling in my jaw, neck and throat. it's very hard to explain, it's almost like the muscles themselves inside my throat are tight... sometimes it gets to the point where I feel my throat is closing up. I find myself constantly stretching my head back (as one would do if looking straight up at the sky, sort of) and I also try and stretch the muscles in my jaw all the time. These things are not the only symptoms I experience, but they are probably the most uncomfortable ones. Pretty scary too when I feel the muscles in the front of my neck/throat are tightening so severely.
Anyone else been through comparable stuff?
Gab, I'm sorry that I can't offer any advice. Like others have said, obviously some sort of taper will be in order. It really can be hard and I wish you the best of luck.

 

[BananasAndOranges]

Xxxyyy wtf do you think it means? It means Theres no need to take that much Xanax ever. This thread is rediculous. This is a harm reduction forum not a how high can I get off a script of anxiety medication. You fuck everyone over anytime you abuse medications like that. Why the fuck do you think so many pills dont exist anymore? Be a responsible fucking adult is all I am saying.



Get on Diazepam if you want to taper maybe some Librium too. Im not trying to be rude or mean or disrespectful but I read too many post like this. First of all if you are having anxiety attacks 24-7 try xanax xr and rake it with each IR dose so you dont have any ups and downs. I just hate hearing that someone taking more than 8+ mg of xanax I mean cmon. What is that even doing anymore? ID ask my doctor to switch me to something else but thats just me I really wish you the best but seriously your going to get some help that is a really high dosr

 

[tricomb]

I think that the OP would benefit from respecting benzodiazepines as tools rather than toys.

You go to school to learn about life and gain perspectives you were blind to before. Taking 8mg of alprazolam at school for recreational purposes is a waste, of your potential, time, energy, opportunities, and intelligence. Benzodiazepines are notoriously bad to mix with school due to their amnesic and other cognitive impairment effects. Your education is a time period when memory and recall are important. Take it from someone who's been there, your actions are counter productive.

Abusing benzodiazepines and other GABAergic drugs is a horrible path to take, these are mood altering drugs, and the consequences of chronic abuse are dire.

@OP, if you fear your physical or mental wellbeing, you should ultimately make an urgent care appointment with a physician to get prescribed diazepam or something similar to taper with. If you can't make that happen, go to the ER if you have to.

 

[brutus]

You go to school to learn about life and gain perspectives you were blind to before. Taking 8mg of alprazolam at school for recreational purposes is a waste, of your potential, time, energy, opportunities, and intelligence. Benzodiazepines are notoriously bad to mix with school due to their amnesic and other cognitive impairment effects. Your education is a time period when memory and recall are important. Take it from someone who's been there, your actions are counter productive.

QFT. I don't remember an entire semester of college due solely to abusing benzos in a manner similar to the OP.

 

[teological]

BananasANDOranges, I can see where you are coming from, with the thought that people abusing these drugs heavily MAY impact people who need them for legitimate use.

That being said however, why is this thread rediculous? The guy is not here boasting about his dose levels, rather here trying to get help on his issues with his abuse of the drug, which is affecting his life (education, wd etc), so do you think this is really within his control? Do you think that he is abusing the drugs so that they can be banned?

This is clearly a harm reduction thread my friend, and if you are so worried about people like him ruining it for people like you, grow up. Get a sign, sit in front of your parliament house and protest for the legalisation of drugs, otherwise umm... GTFO.

 

[TyLannister]

BananasandOranges,

1) Before throwin your crap towards a guy asking a question in his own thread, please find the "Harm Reduction towards Spelling and Grammar" forum.

2) Its like the other people who do the same thing you just did, with the only difference being they are talking about pain medication. I just LOVE the person who says something along the lines of, "THIS IS MEDICATION! YOU SUCK AT LIFE AND HAVE TERRIBLE BODY ODOR!! I HAVE BEEN TAKING OXYCODONE FOR 300 YEARS, AND AM CURRENTLY PRESCRIBED 4 MILLION MGS A DAY, AND HAVE NEVER AND I MEAN NEVER THOUGHT ABOUT ABUSING MEDICINE.

Point Being: Its really easy to call someome out like that, when one is comfortable and always has plenty. If that were not the case, I am willing to bet that if those stated above had their comfy script ripped away from them, they may act in a different way.

3) You are on this forum. This isn't the type of website that pops up as an advertisement while shopping on e-bay for a throne to buy to look even more high and mighty.
Point Being: You found this place somehow. That means you more than likely did a search for some question that was on your mind involving drugs, which points to two things
1) You were doing a search for xanax or another benzo. Does not mean that your abusing xanax, however those who truly use their script "so properly" will usually not obsess/discuss said script to said medication.
2) You did a search that was related to a different drug. If that were the case and you have/currently taken other drugs, than you are abusing your medication technically as I am sure the leaflet that says DONT MIX WITH whatever while on this medication and/or your doctor giving you said medication based on the fact that he believes you are not a drug user (even if occasionly), dealer, or have obsessive thoughts about any sort of drug, including the script he gives you (which ties back into numero uno, explaining that since your here you have spent free time reading about your medication which is obsessive, or any other drug which means that your not only obsessive, but if your in another thread talking about smoking weed and how you love it, an abuser of your medication as well).

GoodMorrow
-"Ty"