Benzos Responsible benzo use?

[drewbocop]

Benzo withdrawls can happen very quickly. I recently learned this the hard way. I had a couple of stressful weeks and took a long acting benzo every week over three weeks. In total, I took three pills: one 10 mg Diazepam in week one and two, and one 3 mg Bromazepam in the third. Sounds quite harmless, doesn't it? Well, it wasn't. I had some rather unpleaseant withdrawls including mild depression, thoughts of suicide, high blood pressure, irritability, loss of apetite, and more.

So, I'd strongly advise against taking any long lasting benzo more often than once a month. With some short like Xanax or Etizolam, every two weeks might be okay. Taking Xanax two to three times a week is way too often.

That's not normal. Do you have an extensive history of benzo use or something? Because that is... very, very strange.

 

[JackARoe]

That's not normal. Do you have an extensive history of benzo use or something? Because that is... very, very strange.

I thought the same thing. You can take some pills, that is what they are for. When I went through the 150 tevas in 14 months (my heaviest use lol) I took them 3 times in a week sometimes, low amounts, like 10 mgs in a day. But never felt any form of rebound or anything. I felt sleepy the other days maybe. Then of course it would be like two weeks before I took them again. But I know people that scarf hundreds of pills in a binge (which is really dumb) and stop and are fine. I mean I have read all the threads while I was concerned and learned it takes a lot of benzos to get addicted.

I was reading the other day on reddit some people that took 100 mgs of gabapentin for a few weeks. Now claiming they are water dosing down to 50 mgs but the drop is brutal. From 3 weeks of 100 mgs? I guess what I am trying to say is people should dig deeper. There are threads here with people claiming that their gabapentin caused this issue or that issue, swear to it up and down. Then a few would come back and say hey I got checked out and it was a hyperthyroid problem that caused the issues. Gabapentin is a strange one. Most people I know that do not visit this forum that take it neither feel anything when they take it or stop. @drewbocop I think I remember you saying you could scarf gabapentin for days and be fine. But then recently maybe that changed? Then pregabalin, same thing. Some people just don't get withdrawal. Yet somehow someone can take 100 mgs for 3 weeks and claim they are ruined?

I think if a person is going through issues, taking them a few times a week for a few weeks is fine and is responsible. Binges are not. (still astounds me, people reach for that heavy blanket feeling of large doses of benzos as a high, makes no sense to me but I do not have the level of anxiety some people have) There is responsible use. However when I research it seems most users use daily as a med.

 

[drewbocop]

I thought the same thing. You can take some pills, that is what they are for. When I went through the 150 tevas in 14 months (my heaviest use lol) I took them 3 times in a week sometimes, low amounts, like 10 mgs in a day. But never felt any form of rebound or anything. I felt sleepy the other days maybe. Then of course it would be like two weeks before I took them again. But I know people that scarf hundreds of pills in a binge (which is really dumb) and stop and are fine. I mean I have read all the threads while I was concerned and learned it takes a lot of benzos to get addicted.

I was reading the other day on reddit some people that took 100 mgs of gabapentin for a few weeks. Now claiming they are water dosing down to 50 mgs but the drop is brutal. From 3 weeks of 100 mgs? I guess what I am trying to say is people should dig deeper. There are threads here with people claiming that their gabapentin caused this issue or that issue, swear to it up and down. Then a few would come back and say hey I got checked out and it was a hyperthyroid problem that caused the issues. Gabapentin is a strange one. Most people I know that do not visit this forum that take it neither feel anything when they take it or stop. @drewbocop I think I remember you saying you could scarf gabapentin for days and be fine. But then recently maybe that changed? Then pregabalin, same thing. Some people just don't get withdrawal. Yet somehow someone can take 100 mgs for 3 weeks and claim they are ruined?

I think if a person is going through issues, taking them a few times a week for a few weeks is fine and is responsible. Binges are not. (still astounds me, people reach for that heavy blanket feeling of large doses of benzos as a high, makes no sense to me but I do not have the level of anxiety some people have) There is responsible use. However when I research it seems most users use daily as a med.

Yeah, I have to take gabapentin or pregabalin from when I broke my neck and damaged a bunch of nerves. I take 1800mg of gabapentin every day. I recently had to go 5 days without, and did feel some withdrawal, but NOTHING like Reddit would lead you to believe. They're very neurotic over there. Not a great place to go if you're already in the thick of it. Either way, yeah, I used opioids and benzos heavily when I was young and went years before I even knew what withdrawals were. But once it hits, there's no going back lol. Hence why I'm still stuck on this God forsaken MGM15.

And anxiety absolutely plays into all of this a GREAT deal. I have lifelong anxiety struggles, and it's really bad now. I have negative thought patterns that morph into anxiety that morph into full-blown physical anxiety like RLS, restless arms, sweating, and horrible thoughts (think the S word), and when I am like that I literally want to die. Once it's gone, I'm fine. I don't even have to be in w/d at all. But once it happens, I feel like I am, and it starts that horrific feedback loop again. For me, 80% of my battles are mental which manifests the physical.

 

[whiteHot]

That's not normal. Do you have an extensive history of benzo use or something? Because that is... very, very strange.

Not really extensive. Sadly, I haven't kept any records of my benzo use, so I can't really tell you when I started. I started having trouble sleeping back in 2013 thanks to some work related psychological issues. At some point after 2016, I started taking benzos, first only Etizolam about once a week for sleep. Over the years, I experimented with different benzos (mainly Diazepam, Alprazolam, Bromazepam, Lorazepam, Temazepam, and Etizolam). My usage was always low dose, the highest dose I ever took were 20 mg of Diazepam) but frequent (mainly once per week, sometimes every two weeks). During that period, the longest time I was completely sober were 4 weeks.

Over the years, I noticed that the side effects starting to increase. Etizolam was more or less unchanged but long lasting stuff made me feel a lot worse than before. Sometimes I was even slightly depressed while on Diazepam. I have no idea what's happening. My best guess is that my brain chemistry takes a long time to get rid of Diazepam and other long lasting benzos and hence something accumulated over time. Fortunately, I'm currently off the meds and plan to remain off for as long as possible.

 

[Ptahtek.2.0.1 beta]

off topic a bit but mines out da door atm. im into mgs range *spaced apart a couple hours) atm still aint kicked all in yet and when it does lol
hope i dont sleep too long tomorrow and tonight but i need it. gotta keep up with kits, though; so they keep me grounded in a sense, my loves.
peace
*reaches for bottle

 

[drewbocop]

Not really extensive. Sadly, I haven't kept any records of my benzo use, so I can't really tell you when I started. I started having trouble sleeping back in 2013 thanks to some work related psychological issues. At some point after 2016, I started taking benzos, first only Etizolam about once a week for sleep. Over the years, I experimented with different benzos (mainly Diazepam, Alprazolam, Bromazepam, Lorazepam, Temazepam, and Etizolam). My usage was always low dose, the highest dose I ever took were 20 mg of Diazepam) but frequent (mainly once per week, sometimes every two weeks). During that period, the longest time I was completely sober were 4 weeks.

Over the years, I noticed that the side effects starting to increase. Etizolam was more or less unchanged but long lasting stuff made me feel a lot worse than before. Sometimes I was even slightly depressed while on Diazepam. I have no idea what's happening. My best guess is that my brain chemistry takes a long time to get rid of Diazepam and other long lasting benzos and hence something accumulated over time. Fortunately, I'm currently off the meds and plan to remain off for as long as possible.

Idk man, that's weird it's having such an effect on you. Those are very low doses and very responsible use. Medicinal. I'm impressed, honestly. Couldn't be me.

 

[whiteHot]

Idk man, that's weird it's having such an effect on you. Those are very low doses and very responsible use. Medicinal. I'm impressed, honestly. Couldn't be me.

Thanks! I think it helped that for me benzos were always just a tool. They made me feel better because they reduced my anxiety not because they are euphoric on their own. That makes it easier to use them semi-responsibly.

Regarding my current state: my best explanation is that over the years my GABA receptors have been downregulated. Benzos work by making these more sensitive. Over time, the body decreases receptor sensitivity which leads to tolerance. At my usage, I shouldn't get significant downregulation as the doses were too low and usage too infrequent. However, every brain is different. Maybe my receptors are very eager to down regulate or they are naturally very insensitive.

These days, I also can't handle alcohol very well. That might be related as both benzos and alcohol influence GABA. But its hard to say as I drink very rarely and only in very low amounts. I guess I just need to wait and see what happens. In any case, it's wise to tread carefully with benzos and all other substances messing with GABA.