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

[subdetox]

So my doc called me in 30 ativan (lorazepam) 1mg pills to help with the remainder of my suboxone detox (today is day 14 since my last dose of sub) I'm hoping a few more days is all I have to go before I am FREE! Anyways, how easy is it to become physically addicted to benzos? I only plan on taking 1-2 a day (one to get me through the day and one before bed) and only for as long as I need them through the withdrawals. But I'm just curious how quickly/easily you can become dependent on them. I have only used a handful of benzos throughout my whole life so I really have limited history/use with them. But the last thing I want is a fuckin benzo addiction to w/d from after this shitty sub detox & w/d.

I'm sure it depends on the amount taken + time taken but is it realy easy? I couldn't get addicted after the use of a single script could I?

 

[OpiYum]

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 was just prescribed kpins - .5mg 3x a day that I am planning to take for a month to prevent panic attacks as I have just transitioned to suboxone again. i talked to my doctor about my concern for potential benzo addiction and he told me what I wrote above.

It is awesome that you are detoxing from suboxone. Focus on that. And as long as u are not using benzos to get fucked up and using more than prescribed and aren't using 24/7 for months and keep talking to your doctor, i think u should be ok. Thats just my 2p.

 

[Dr. Extract]

Lorazepam does have a relatively high affinity for GABA/A receptor sites, so at that dosage some mild dependency could form. The degree of which varies greatly from person to person.

Using them under the care of a physician is an absolutely safe and any doc that's worth his salt will make sure any withdrawal is minimized.

 

[macbrown21]

You can get addicted after a month of use. But unless your using like 5mg a day your not gonna get physical WDs after a month. Sure you might want more, but we all want more drugs don't we...

1-2mgs a day for well, 2 weeks if you only have 30, shouldn't be to bad. Only way I see you really craving more after that is if you have some underlying anxiety issues, serious ones at that. Sounds like you'll be fine. I think lorazepam is crap IMO, that always seems what the docs turn to first for benzos though.

 

[subdetox]

I'm seriously thinking I'll take them for like 4 days or so (however long this stupid detox keeps going) and then that's it. I don't plan on using for an entire month. They just GREATLY help with w/d's, its like night and day between w/d with and without ativan.

I just am really interested in benzo withdrawal/addiction etc. I'm a pro at opiate abuse/withdrawal etc. But know jack about benzos so I'm trying to educate myself on the subject. I'm not going to let myself get addicted to yet *another* stupid pill.

1-2mgs a day for well, 2 weeks if you only have 30, shouldn't be to bad. Only way I see you really craving more after that is if you have some underlying anxiety issues, serious ones at that. Sounds like you'll be fine. I think lorazepam is crap IMO, that always seems what the docs turn to first for benzos though.

I like it! I've had xanex before and it straight knocks me the fuck out. I've never ever saw the appeal with xanax, except if I wanted to sleep. K-pins were nice, but I only took them a few times many years ago. I like the lorazepam cause like I said, it greatly helps my w/d symptoms and I can take it during the day without being knocked out like I would be with xanax.

 

[Opie8]

I am at the end of W/D from 4mg of Xanax. It took me two years to taper down to .375mg/day (where I am now).

Never again, man. Never again.

I'm not anti-drug, and I am still on daily hydrocodone for chronic pain, but I will tell everyone who will listen not to mess with benzos unless it is an emergency.

They lose their effectiveness quickly (one week?), and pretty soon you have to take them just to sleep and not panic.

If you do take them, take them as needed and not on a schedule. One every few days at most.

Trust me on this one.

Tolerance develops fast, and once that happens, the withdrawal hell is like nothing else.

Take it only when you need it. Don't dose 3x a day or whatever.

 

[NeighborhoodThreat]

I'm scripted lorazepam, but its great for anxiety either way...not really good for getting fucked up off of but that's not what you should be using benzos for in the first place. I'm going to echo what's been said before, use them when you need them and you'll be fine. Lorazepam is addictive but if used responsibly is extremely helpful for dealing with opiate withdrawals.

 

[Istanbeko]

As shorter as you may believe, but later at you really think. xDDD 2 Weeks should never be a prob, BUT if you are frightening that IT COULD BE a Prob, so it will be one. That's what I meant...

 

[Znegative]

it really depends, but I think you'll be ok.

I've been taking xanax for a little over four months now, and am physically addicted, but it probably took me a good month and a half of taking over 3 mg a day to get to that point.

lorazapam is weaker then xanax, so if you stay to it as described you'll probably be good. If you do run into dependency issues, your doctor should be able to help you to taper, probably with klonopin or valium.

 

[subdetox]

Thanks for the input. I'm going to take them for the next few days and then see where I'm at with the withdrawals. Today is 15 days since my last sub dose, but I had a Miscarriage on Sunday and they gave me a shot of morphine and a script or lortab 5mg that I took until Thursday so I know that probably set me back but I was in pain not to mention the pregnancy hormones/emotions and then the lack of said hormones after I misscarried REALLY fucked up my emotions/mind on top of being fucked up from the detox. I needed to regroup with a few days of opiates and now I feel in a much more stable place mentally to tackle the rest of this detox.

I absolutely do not want to get addicted to the ativan. I refuse to let that happen so short term low dose use is all I want to do. It just helps with w/d's sooooo fucking much. Its AMAZING how much better I feel on them, I have an almost 3 year old son that I can actually take care of when I take the ativan and that's important to me. I've felt bad just having my boyfriend take care of him while I'm unable to move on the couch.

 

[SubDude]

I am at the end of W/D from 4mg of Xanax. It took me two years to taper down to .375mg/day (where I am now).

Never again, man. Never again.

I'm not anti-drug, and I am still on daily hydrocodone for chronic pain, but I will tell everyone who will listen not to mess with benzos unless it is an emergency.

They lose their effectiveness quickly (one week?), and pretty soon you have to take them just to sleep and not panic.

If you do take them, take them as needed and not on a schedule. One every few days at most.

Trust me on this one.

Tolerance develops fast, and once that happens, the withdrawal hell is like nothing else.

Take it only when you need it. Don't dose 3x a day or whatever.

I've been taking .5mg of k-pins a day for about a yr and don't feel they've lost their effectiveness. Before that I was prescribed 10-10mg valium [as needed] a month on top of methadone and they worked fine everytime.

 

[Opie8]

Really? Because now, if I take a full .5mg Xanax tablet, it puts me to sleep. Just knocks me out. I could not even fathom taking a full mg at this point unless I wanted to sleep for a day.

Yet, I used to take 4mg per day (1MG QID) and function perfectly normally.

If I were going to, let's say for the sake of argument ... use it for opiate withdrawal, it would be way more effective for me now than it was then.

It will certainly lose it's effectiveness for some things after a month. Unless you keep upping the dose, but even then, benzos have a ceiling.

It's my personal opinion, but I wouldn't recommend getting any kind of benzo habit. After awhile, you just have to take them not to w/d, much less get any perceptible effect.

Everyone is different, tho.

If .5mg has the exact same effect on you now as it did one year ago after daily use, that's great.

I don't think this will be the norm, though.

When I was titrating up, I was able to equilibrate to a new dose after about a week. Once I did, lowering the dose from that new level was very difficult.

 

[Slapdragonx]

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

 

[Opie8]

How can something be "technically" true when things such as anxiety are completely subjective?

For something to be technically true, it must be able to be objectively quantified.

Some people need to increase their benzo doses over the years. I did.

Some don't.

YMMV.

There is not technical answer to the issue.

 

[homeydontplaythat]

you know, its funny that ive never seen any medical data confirming how long it takes to become physically addicted to something. all i can tell you is what i learned from reading burroughs:

it takes 1 month of using heroin everyday to become addicted. i apply this to benzos as well. i think 1 month of daily use is a fair figure.

 

[subdetox]

What about 2 a day for 15 days? (That'd be my worst case maximum senario)

 

[chaseconroe]

my benzo tolerance is sooo high i have like 6 in my room i dont want to take cuz they wont do shit thats a real problem

 

[Trigeminal]

Using them under the care of a physician is an absolutely safe and any doc that's worth his salt will make sure any withdrawal is minimized.

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.

mild dependency could form

So could major. People are different, what might be nothing for one person could be hell for another person.

But unless your using like 5mg a day your not gonna get physical WDs after a month

You don't know this! You absolutely don't know this. Pegasus was taking miniscule amounts of Xanax for about a month and got addicted. Lorazepam and alprazolam are either equipotent or very close to it. I believe he was only taking 0.25 mg a day. That's all it took.

it takes 1 month of using heroin everyday to become addicted. i apply this to benzos as well. i think 1 month of daily use is a fair figure.

Where the fuck do you people get all these random statistics? People. Are. Different. I got addicted to heroin WAY before 1 month, NOT using it everyday. I got addicted to benzos in a week, also not using everyday. And I got addicted to Suboxone in a few weeks, also not using every day.

What about 2 a day for 15 days? (That'd be my worst case maximum senario)

Here's the deal, dude: no one can tell you how fast you'll get addicted. Seriously, no one knows. Everyone's metabolism is different, and some people are just more susceptible to getting addicted, whether it be due to environmental effects or genes or whatever. OP: I wouldn't even mess with them if I was you. I'd quit them now. If you go through benzo withdrawal, you'll be begging to go back to Suboxone withdrawal, as you'll find out how pleasant Suboxone withdrawal is in comparison.

 

[suessmayr]

You could absolutely develop a dependence from a month of benzo use. This would be true even if you were not still in the acute withdrawal phase from bupe. As things are, you will be especially susceptible to addiction to lorazepam.

I am about 5 months clean from bupe myself. I was prescribed a small amount of diazepam to help with that. I didn't use it for more than 2 weeks and still found stopping it pretty tough. And I only used a MINISCULE dose at night time to help with sleep.

Seriously you gotta watch that shit.

 

[Ayrios]

I just weighed in on the question in the thread title in another thread in response to Trigeminal, but I'll do the same here as there's apparently a lot of personal variance regarding this topic.

I took 10-20 mg diazepam and 2-4 mg alprazolam daily (occasionally combinations of up to 40 mg diazepam and 8-12 mg alprazolam upon stimulant/psychedelic comedown or to combat insomnia resulting from GHB's extreme dopamine rebound--this third use is very dangerous if enough GHB remains in your system, so I do not recommend it) for 18 months and quit cold turkey without any withdrawal symptoms. I've never been an all-day user, only dosing late in the afternoon or an hour prior to bed, but it shouldn't make much difference over that period of time or with a medium- to long-acting benzo like diazepam. I've never been able to form a benzodiazepine dependency or build any significant level of tolerance despite long periods of daily use of diazepam, alprazolam, clonazepam, or a combination thereof. I've experienced tolerance, dependency and withdrawal from opioids several times, and tricyclic anti-depressants a handful of times. Developing a dependency on GABA drugs like benzos or alcohol always seemed like a lot of work to me. I realize it can happen before you know it when taking something your doc prescribes you thrice daily, but it's a long-term feat compared to an opioid dependency in my book.