Benzos Switching from Aprazolam to a longer acting benzo, temazepam?

[PurpleKush1]

Okay so im taking between 5-6 mg of alprazolam a day. Sometimes ill add some diazepam and/or some clonazepam on top of that. At first i took xanax for the high when mixed with alcohol but i stopped drinking and im trying to get myself in order. I know most would say switch to diazepam or clonazepam. Problem is, clonazepam doesnt relieve my anxiety and panic attacks as much as xanax does, and it makes me very dysphoric on its own.

Diazepam is a joke, i got to take 5-6 10 mg pills to baaaarely get the same anxiety relief as .5 of xanax. I dont even take the xanax for the high so much now, every 2-3 days ill mix it with other benzos to get a bit fucked up but i take it to be able to function. It helps me keep my calm in a job wehre there are some retarded clients quite often, helps me talk to people, to socialize kinda. And of course it relieves the general anxiety i feel all day and the panic attacks.

Thing is xanax is like the crack of benzos. I need to pop/sublingual one every 1-2 hours, or i start sweating getting hot flashes and shaking. Waking up in the morning is hell until i take the xanax. My tolerance keeps growing too. I noticed something worrying too, that whenever i eat enough to fill my stomach im having a panic attack and i got to sublingual one asap. I barely eat and lost alot of weight. This im happy bout the weight loss but i think in order to be somewhat healthy one needs to eat well everyday.

So with clonazepam and diazepam out of the question, which benzo could i switch to? The only two other benzos i tried were lorazepam (which sucked for me, barely felt it and i didnt take em everyday then) and flunitrazepam which i dont think i would be able to function on. I keep hearing about temazepam but never tried it. Does it have the same euphoric mind calming anxiety relief as xanax? How long are the effects? Any other benzo suggestions are welcome. Thank you if you read this and reply .

 

[phoeski]

theyre going to start you on kpins, then theyre going to move you to valium. i was on 15-20mg xanax per day and i got on 50mg Diazepam a day after a short run with kpins. but the sweating and wd's talking about you need a long lasting benzo so you dont go into interdose withdrawl. thats what happened with me and xanax i would gobble like 8mg then an hour or so later feel the NNED to do more. it got bad man do this before its prolonged to the point of hospitalization. i had a seizure on july 4th this year, fun holiday up in the ER.
You might want to try some propanolol or beta blockers for the shakes and wd's it helped me a bunch.


People underestimate Valium it really really does its job well. Good luck man ive been where youre at, im sorry.

 

[PurpleKush1]

theyre going to start you on kpins, then theyre going to move you to valium. i was on 15-20mg xanax per day and i got on 50mg Diazepam a day after a short run with kpins. but the sweating and wd's talking about you need a long lasting benzo so you dont go into interdose withdrawl. thats what happened with me and xanax i would gobble like 8mg then an hour or so later feel the NNED to do more. it got bad man do this before its prolonged to the point of hospitalization. i had a seizure on july 4th this year, fun holiday up in the ER.
You might want to try some propanolol or beta blockers for the shakes and wd's it helped me a bunch.


People underestimate Valium it really really does its job well. Good luck man ive been where youre at, im sorry.

thank you for the good wishes. Diazepam doesnt relieve my anxiety at all,barely, i would need to eat 25-30 pills a day to get the same anxiety relief as 6 mg xanax. Clonazepam could be a solution but its dysphoria is what is keeping me from it. Causes dysphoria and agression if not combined with xanax. I can overcome the physical symptoms, its the mental symptoms that freak me the fuck out. What other long lasting benzo could be used other then diazepam and clonazepam?

 

[Morphling]

If your xanex tolly is that high, you're gonna have to take a LOT of temaz. I never got the euphoric effects from it, but I never took more than 60mgs at a time, and I understand that just isn't enough.

If valium and clonaz don't do it for you, I'm not sure what to recommend insofar as another medication.

 

[Captain.Heroin]

It's interesting you lost weight. I hope you have since gotten a more healthy option going for yourself; best of luck.

 

[brayne]

sounds like you've been taking too much for too long,
try tapering down with a long acting benzo.

perhaps combine with betablocker against physical symptoms of panic attacks if doctor thinks its a good idea.
whats the point of taking benzos if you have to take them everyday just to feel normal,
and can hardly get high properly off them?

panic attacks and nervousness can be conquered for the most part by most people using a proper technique (nlp, meditation, mindfullness, psychotherapy, etc)


i love lorazepam (ativan) ... its my favorite benzo because it makes me high and calm and has a reasonably short half life.
alprazolam (xanax) doesnt do anything for me except make my head foggy and make me nervous.

 

[Pill2Chill]

To me, bromazepam is the definite answer to this question. For me it feels like a long lasting version of xanax.

 

[PurpleKush1]

If your xanex tolly is that high, you're gonna have to take a LOT of temaz. I never got the euphoric effects from it, but I never took more than 60mgs at a time, and I understand that just isn't enough.

If valium and clonaz don't do it for you, I'm not sure what to recommend insofar as another medication.

Yeah id like to give temaz a try though. If not there is always brutizolam but it isnt even prescribed in most countries, and well flunitrazapm is more sedating and anxiety relieving.

It's interesting you lost weight. I hope you have since gotten a more healthy option going for yourself; best of luck.

Lol its not like i found a solution in 48 hours but thank you fore the good wishes

sounds like you've been taking too much for too long,
try tapering down with a long acting benzo.

perhaps combine with betablocker against physical symptoms of panic attacks if doctor thinks its a good idea.
whats the point of taking benzos if you have to take them everyday just to feel normal,
and can hardly get high properly off them?

panic attacks and nervousness can be conquered for the most part by most people using a proper technique (nlp, meditation, mindfullness, psychotherapy, etc)


i love lorazepam (ativan) ... its my favorite benzo because it makes me high and calm and has a reasonably short half life.
alprazolam (xanax) doesnt do anything for me except make my head foggy and make me nervous.

Lol im exactly the opposite of you ativan is jsut dull and doesnt help my anxiety. I dont take xanax for the high anymore, just to be able to function normally and to be more relaxed. Mediation,yoga and all that shit is bullshit and if you get trelief from it its pure placebo. And especially therapy, i dont need an idiot psychologue brainwashing me.

He wouldnt suceed anyways. The betablocker could be a good idea though. I havent been taking it so long either.

 

[bunge]

Sorry to hear your anxietys still bad mate, I know how that feels!.
I dont think temazepam will be a good idea. In the short-term it will kill any anxiety dead but when it wears off the rebound anxiety is horrific and you cant take it all day and night due to the amnesia and build up in your system. Plus you would be switching from a super addictive and dangerous benzo (alprazolam) to the MOST dangerous benzo (IMO) temazepam. People have died WD from temazepam, no joke.
Ive got sympathy for the diazepam troubles, I think their absolute shit for anxiety as well, great muscle relaxant but thats about it.
How about pregabalin? It would ease the rebound symptoms and at an effective dose, you shouldbe able to seriously lower your benzo doses because at these doses your heading for tears in the long run. Are you on any other medication for the anxiety? It sounds like the benzos just arent cutting it.
Hope you get this sorted buddy, new jobs and new countries are stressful events.

 

[brayne]

you're right they are placebo, but stress and panic attacks etc are placebo as well. (i've been there myself)

personally i practice a kind of "mindfulness".. being aware of my attitude and consciously trying to enforce an atttitude where i allow things to be as they are and not resist against whatever happens in life.


it's not like psychologists solve my problems,
but talking to someone out loud about my thoughts help me become more aware of my self,
and that helps me to help myself better.

i find it more therapeutic to talk to a psychologist than my girlfriend for example.
or maybe it's most therapeutic to talk to both.

 

[bunge]

Panic/anxiety attacks arent 'placebo' their psychosomatic symptoms (ie. symptoms that manifest as physical symptoms but originate in the mind). Though I do understand where your coming from and your right about treatment needing to be about more then just medication.
Medication is just a temporary 'bandaid' to give you the breathing room to examine your anxiety and learn to control it.
Unfortunately, those of us who suffer with diagnosable chronic conditions like severe GAD with or without panic attacks (usually with.lol) will likely struggle with itthe rest of our lives.
Their is no magic pill or treatment for mental illness, once you have that first episode its likely you will have more. Its a life-long burden but you have to learn to cope because the alternatives are really shit.

 

[ThaDudeAbides]

you're right they are placebo, but stress and panic attacks etc are placebo as well. (i've been there myself)

personally i practice a kind of "mindfulness".. being aware of my attitude and consciously trying to enforce an atttitude where i allow things to be as they are and not resist against whatever happens in life.


it's not like psychologists solve my problems,
but talking to someone out loud about my thoughts help me become more aware of my self,
and that helps me to help myself better.

i find it more therapeutic to talk to a psychologist than my girlfriend for example.
or maybe it's most therapeutic to talk to both.

This may sound strange, but I've done the shrink thing and it ended up bad. He just put me on a ton of SSRI's Big Pharma was getting him to push. They turned me into a zombie. I decided to stop taking them and life got better. He wasn't pleased. I ended up walking out on him and demanding all my paperwork back (which I got).

I found a better solution. A stripper who is a good listener. Yes I know it sounds bizarre. I don't go the clubs to "get off" honestly. I could never cum in that kind of setting. However a good 30-45min lap dance where we just cuddle and talk has been very helpful for me. I can be honest with her. I'm wise enough to know the stippers who are simply just working you and the ones who are actually nice women who will listen to. Sure it helps I'm paying them, but TBH for half what I paid for a shrink visit $275 per session; $120 once a month provides the therapy I need. It's a win win for me. I get a beautiful woman laying on me and we have a good conversation. I've met a lot of other men like me who are the same. They don't want the true lap dance; just sometime to talk to a stranger who will listen. After all shrinks are strangers too.

I feel like a huge weight has been lifted off my chest after I go to the club. The hardest part is finding the right stripper. Again bizarre but it works for me. Just throwing it out there.

Bring on the jokes

Oh and I'm single and have no desire for a GFriend as I attract ones that are into drugs like me which in the past has ended up bad and forced me into rehab. I enjoy being single and not having anyone to answer to or try to change me.

 

[MagickalKat777]

@PurpleKush1 - Have you tried taking a consistent dose of Valium? It is pretty much the gold standard for long-acting benzos. The first few days while your diazepam levels are building up and your alprazolam levels are decreasing, you feel like crap, but after you get the levels balanced it really is a far superior benzo.

I think you're being too impatient. You can't go from an immediate-acting benzo like Xanax and expect to have the same results with something like Klonopin or Valium. In both cases, I found that they had to build up in my system for 3-5 days before they started working but once they started working, I was golden... until my next tolerance withdrawal incident anyway.

Benzos really offer very quick diminishing returns. I am down to 8.75mg of Valium a day right now while 60mg was my peak dose and I'm actually getting better as I come down in dose.

With your Xanax dosage, you would need 100-120mg of diazepam a day for the initial crossover then taper down 10mg a week until you find your dose. Its much less potent than Xanax but that comes in handy later on.

I peaked at 8mg a day of Xanax (mixed between IR and XR formulations) then crossed to 4mg of Klonopin then went to 60mg of Valium, quickly was able to taper down from 60mg to 20mg and stayed there for a few years. I was constantly adjusting my Xanax dose and Klonopin hit a ceiling and stopped working completely beyond 4mg.

This is meant for tapering but it has a transitionary schedule to get you off of the Xanax and onto the Valium with little discomfort - I wish my doctor would have done something like this because life would have been so much easier: http://www.benzo.org.uk/manual/bzsched.htm#s1

 

[PurpleKush1]

Sorry to hear your anxietys still bad mate, I know how that feels!.
I dont think temazepam will be a good idea. In the short-term it will kill any anxiety dead but when it wears off the rebound anxiety is horrific and you cant take it all day and night due to the amnesia and build up in your system. Plus you would be switching from a super addictive and dangerous benzo (alprazolam) to the MOST dangerous benzo (IMO) temazepam. People have died WD from temazepam, no joke.
Ive got sympathy for the diazepam troubles, I think their absolute shit for anxiety as well, great muscle relaxant but thats about it.
How about pregabalin? It would ease the rebound symptoms and at an effective dose, you shouldbe able to seriously lower your benzo doses because at these doses your heading for tears in the long run. Are you on any other medication for the anxiety? It sounds like the benzos just arent cutting it.
Hope you get this sorted buddy, new jobs and new countries are stressful events.

No i take ambien a few times a week to get some sleep because in average 3-4 hours a night. Whitout benzos i cant sleep at all unless i get shitfaced and wee all know that alcohol sleep is shit. I never tried pregabalin and all that. I could maybe supplement the xanax wih it to need to get less often. Because the problem is growing everyday. I am at 6.5 mgs now and i feel id need another .5 to be alright. I try to wait as much as i can but i cant at work.

I didnt hear anything THAT bad about temazepam but it doesnt that attractive anymore i should see. Im self medicating, im not seeing a shrink to follow up on me. If i even hear the word antidepressant from one again ill snap. And yeah lol diazepam is good as mucle relaxants but for strong anxiety its complete bullshit.

you're right they are placebo, but stress and panic attacks etc are placebo as well. (i've been there myself)

personally i practice a kind of "mindfulness".. being aware of my attitude and consciously trying to enforce an atttitude where i allow things to be as they are and not resist against whatever happens in life.


it's not like psychologists solve my problems,
but talking to someone out loud about my thoughts help me become more aware of my self,
and that helps me to help myself better.

i find it more therapeutic to talk to a psychologist than my girlfriend for example.
or maybe it's most therapeutic to talk to both.

Panic attacks? Placebo? you never experienced a real panic attack if you say that man i guarantee you that. When you have a panic attack, a real one, practising mindfullness and talking yourself out of it is almost impossible until its over.

Fuck psychologists. They cant understand me, therapy is complete bullshit. I agree that talking to somebody abouthelps, but not a psy. As i said they dont understand me and just go with the he did too much drugs and is fucked up mentality.

Panic/anxiety attacks arent 'placebo' their psychosomatic symptoms (ie. symptoms that manifest as physical symptoms but originate in the mind). Though I do understand where your coming from and your right about treatment needing to be about more then just medication.
Medication is just a temporary 'bandaid' to give you the breathing room to examine your anxiety and learn to control it.
Unfortunately, those of us who suffer with diagnosable chronic conditions like severe GAD with or without panic attacks (usually with.lol) will likely struggle with itthe rest of our lives.
Their is no magic pill or treatment for mental illness, once you have that first episode its likely you will have more. Its a life-long burden but you have to learn to cope because the alternatives are really shit.

I agree about the fact that benzos are a bandaid, but i dont think i could function whitout them. Honestly they dont only help me with GAD and the panic attacks, but with being able to get out of my house. I cant go out, cant talk to strangers, cant do shit if im not on benzos. I susbisted it with alcohol before but i cant drink from morning to night at work. And i recently stopped my consumption of alcohol because it leads to idiotic decsions and fuckes me up up even more because of all the xanax in my system.

This may sound strange, but I've done the shrink thing and it ended up bad. He just put me on a ton of SSRI's Big Pharma was getting him to push. They turned me into a zombie. I decided to stop taking them and life got better. He wasn't pleased. I ended up walking out on him and demanding all my paperwork back (which I got).

I found a better solution. A stripper who is a good listener. Yes I know it sounds bizarre. I don't go the clubs to "get off" honestly. I could never cum in that kind of setting. However a good 30-45min lap dance where we just cuddle and talk has been very helpful for me. I can be honest with her. I'm wise enough to know the stippers who are simply just working you and the ones who are actually nice women who will listen to. Sure it helps I'm paying them, but TBH for half what I paid for a shrink visit $275 per session; $120 once a month provides the therapy I need. It's a win win for me. I get a beautiful woman laying on me and we have a good conversation. I've met a lot of other men like me who are the same. They don't want the true lap dance; just sometime to talk to a stranger who will listen. After all shrinks are strangers too.

I feel like a huge weight has been lifted off my chest after I go to the club. The hardest part is finding the right stripper. Again bizarre but it works for me. Just throwing it out there.

Bring on the jokes

Oh and I'm single and have no desire for a GFriend as I attract ones that are into drugs like me which in the past has ended up bad and forced me into rehab. I enjoy being single and not having anyone to answer to or try to change me.

I dont find it bizzare. If it works for you why not? But i dont see who you find the <<right stripper>> for that. I have a desire for a GF. Even though i dont believe in love, im sure that would give a motivation to try to reduce my usage. A guy eating 10 + pills a day isnt a very good impression. And the bad side effects of benzos that makes the rage come out wouldnt help in a relatiobship.

Consider yourself lucky at least you attract some girls, i dont attract anything but negative shit lol.

@PurpleKush1 - Have you tried taking a consistent dose of Valium? It is pretty much the gold standard for long-acting benzos. The first few days while your diazepam levels are building up and your alprazolam levels are decreasing, you feel like crap, but after you get the levels balanced it really is a far superior benzo.

I think you're being too impatient. You can't go from an immediate-acting benzo like Xanax and expect to have the same results with something like Klonopin or Valium. In both cases, I found that they had to build up in my system for 3-5 days before they started working but once they started working, I was golden... until my next tolerance withdrawal incident anyway.

Benzos really offer very quick diminishing returns. I am down to 8.75mg of Valium a day right now while 60mg was my peak dose and I'm actually getting better as I come down in dose.

With your Xanax dosage, you would need 100-120mg of diazepam a day for the initial crossover then taper down 10mg a week until you find your dose. Its much less potent than Xanax but that comes in handy later on.

I peaked at 8mg a day of Xanax (mixed between IR and XR formulations) then crossed to 4mg of Klonopin then went to 60mg of Valium, quickly was able to taper down from 60mg to 20mg and stayed there for a few years. I was constantly adjusting my Xanax dose and Klonopin hit a ceiling and stopped working completely beyond 4mg.

This is meant for tapering but it has a transitionary schedule to get you off of the Xanax and onto the Valium with little discomfort - I wish my doctor would have done something like this because life would have been so much easier: http://www.benzo.org.uk/manual/bzsched.htm#s1

Makes sense, to let it build up. But diazepam wont cut it, it abrely reduces the anxiety and CANT stop a panic attack in my case. I know because last spring when it all started and got really bad they IMed with 100mgs of diazepam and i was still freaking out as bad, needed some xanax to calm down.

Clonazepam would be an idea but it makes me too dysphoric. Tehre must be another benzo out there that has long life and still works good other then clon and diaz no?

 

[MagickalKat777]

Makes sense, to let it build up. But diazepam wont cut it, it abrely reduces the anxiety and CANT stop a panic attack in my case. I know because last spring when it all started and got really bad they IMed with 100mgs of diazepam and i was still freaking out as bad, needed some xanax to calm down.

Clonazepam would be an idea but it makes me too dysphoric. Tehre must be another benzo out there that has long life and still works good other then clon and diaz no?

Diazepam isn't meant to be used for stopping panic attacks. Both diazepam and clonazepam function best when a steady plasma level is achieved. I can tell you that I had the same reservations as you did about diazepam but it was a godsend for me. Before I started on diazepam I was caught up in the rebound of Xanax and Klonopin, having panic attacks daily (it made for quite an interesting work life since I worked at a call center)... Finally when the Klonopin stopped working, I went on Valium and that's when things improved. I became able to sleep at night (sometimes TOO much - 10+ hours if I let myself stay in bed), I haven't had a panic attack in over 2 years (except for the two times they did a rapid detox on me to get me off of it - then the panic came back with a vengeance and I had to be reinstated both times), and my overall quality of life has improved to the point that I feel comfortable doing a very slow taper off of meds completely.

Klonopin and Valium aren't rescues, they're meant to be at a steady level in your system. Valium is definitely the most effective benzo I've used... And it and Klonopin and the two cheapest when you are getting them without a prescription.

 

[PurpleKush1]

Diazepam isn't meant to be used for stopping panic attacks. Both diazepam and clonazepam function best when a steady plasma level is achieved. I can tell you that I had the same reservations as you did about diazepam but it was a godsend for me. Before I started on diazepam I was caught up in the rebound of Xanax and Klonopin, having panic attacks daily (it made for quite an interesting work life since I worked at a call center)... Finally when the Klonopin stopped working, I went on Valium and that's when things improved. I became able to sleep at night (sometimes TOO much - 10+ hours if I let myself stay in bed), I haven't had a panic attack in over 2 years (except for the two times they did a rapid detox on me to get me off of it - then the panic came back with a vengeance and I had to be reinstated both times), and my overall quality of life has improved to the point that I feel comfortable doing a very slow taper off of meds completely.

Klonopin and Valium aren't rescues, they're meant to be at a steady level in your system. Valium is definitely the most effective benzo I've used... And it and Klonopin and the two cheapest when you are getting them without a prescription.

Mney for the benzos aint a problem they cheap here. Lol i work in a call center too? Concidence? haha. Its interesting yeah when im explining shit to a customer and im starting to feel that panic creeping up and i have to talk strange while the xanax dissolves under my tongue. My insomnia is not due to xanax though, im insomniac whit or whitout it. How did you swich from xanax to diazepam?

 

[MagickalKat777]

Mney for the benzos aint a problem they cheap here. Lol i work in a call center too? Concidence? haha. Its interesting yeah when im explining shit to a customer and im starting to feel that panic creeping up and i have to talk strange while the xanax dissolves under my tongue. My insomnia is not due to xanax though, im insomniac whit or whitout it. How did you swich from xanax to diazepam?

Call centers are stressful as fuck. I'd say that most people who work in call centers are either sadomasochists, heavily medicated (benzos, anti-depressants, mood stabilizers, and anti-psychotics have all been used with me since I started working at call centers - hell I thought fast food was bad...), or use/abuse alcohol or other drugs. I worked for the cable company. That was a joy!

Yeah I've had insomnia since I was a teenager. Valium was pretty effective for it for a long time. Eventually I had to add trazodone.

My doctor switched me from 8mg of Xanax to 4mg of Klonopin (HELL for the first week or so) and then when I hit 6mg Klonopin, we agreed on a 60mg Valium dose but there was no gradual exchange with either of them which would have made life much easier for both transitions. Doctors don't ever really think about that stuff.

 

[PurpleKush1]

Call centers are stressful as fuck. I'd say that most people who work in call centers are either sadomasochists, heavily medicated (benzos, anti-depressants, mood stabilizers, and anti-psychotics have all been used with me since I started working at call centers - hell I thought fast food was bad...), or use/abuse alcohol or other drugs. I worked for the cable company. That was a joy!

Yeah I've had insomnia since I was a teenager. Valium was pretty effective for it for a long time. Eventually I had to add trazodone.

My doctor switched me from 8mg of Xanax to 4mg of Klonopin (HELL for the first week or so) and then when I hit 6mg Klonopin, we agreed on a 60mg Valium dose but there was no gradual exchange with either of them which would have made life much easier for both transitions. Doctors don't ever really think about that stuff.

Yeah alot of the people in encoutered in call centers, smoke greeen,drink and pop pills lol. Xanax definitly helps, i just dont give a fuck when the customers starts getting mad im like yeah yeah ok and it pisses them off even more lol.8mg to 4 mg in one week? ayyyyy. I think illtry to start the morning with kpins, then pop xanax during the day then redose kpin in the evening and then once more xanax. Ill end up eating 3 mg of both not sucha bad idea imo.

 

[PurpleKush1]

i came across some bromazepam, is it any good idea? still havent tested it. i mean i read that it kills anxiety whitout inducing sleep but it seems safer and better then temazepam. The colnaz suplly where im at is going to be cut off soon so clonazepam isnt an option. And apparently bronaz is stronger then diaz.

 

[MagickalKat777]

I don't have any experience with bromazepam unfortunately so I can't answer that one. Hopefully someone else can help you there.