Benzos Ongoing consumption (indefinite)

[slightly dazed]

Just as an update for anyone who may be interested: I’m now down to 5mg a day. 5mg at 2pm every day. Last month was 7.5mg. It’s a little faster than the Ashton method but so far so good. The best thing is knowing I really don’t want them - if it wasn’t for the Cold turkey horrors I’d cut them off right now. I think that helps too.

My advice would be to half the 5 between 2pm and when you wake the next day then slowly stop the half 2pm dose . Do this for a month or two then repeat by halving again if nessisary you are well on the way , congratulations stick at it .

 

[slightly dazed]

Honestly i dont really see a problem with staying on 10mg's of valium a day forever. Thats not a high dose at all.

Until you can't get it . Then the horror of your situation becomes very clear . If it was a free and uninterrupted supply of course 10mg a day is no worries but the day you run out ?

 

[billyj]

My advice would be to half the 5 between 2pm and when you wake the next day then slowly stop the half 2pm dose . Do this for a month or two then repeat by halving again if nessisary you are well on the way , congratulations stick at it .

Tomorrow I was going down to 2.5, just one at noon.Thank you for the suggestion though. And yes thank you, I do feel fine actually - not to jinx it - but I'm half what I was on and no real side effects or baddies at all yet so I'm hoping there may not be any. I have zero desire to top up and kind of look forward to being free of them. I think it *might* work out this time.

 

[billyj]

Until you can't get it . Then the horror of your situation becomes very clear . If it was a free and uninterrupted supply of course 10mg a day is no worries but the day you run out ?

I live in Southeast Asia so it's all OTC no questions asked here which is partly why is so easily became a problem. But the laws could change - you can't really get them in Thailand like you used to be able to - and that was definitely something I thought about. Better to be off them this way than be cut off. And just better to be off them anyway.

 

[slightly dazed]

Tomorrow I was going down to 2.5, just one at noon.Thank you for the suggestion though. And yes thank you, I do feel fine actually - not to jinx it - but I'm half what I was on and no real side effects or baddies at all yet so I'm hoping there may not be any. I have zero desire to top up and kind of look forward to being free of them. I think it *might* work out this time.

I did have to go down to 2mg per day it was a long hard road but well worth it . Well done again and keep going .

 

[slightly dazed]

I live in Southeast Asia so it's all OTC no questions asked here which is partly why is so easily became a problem. But the laws could change - you can't really get them in Thailand like you used to be able to - and that was definitely something I thought about. Better to be off them this way than be cut off. And just better to be off them anyway.

Wow if they were OTC here the problems would be huge and I myself would very unlikely be clean if I'm being perfectly honest.

 

[billyj]

Wow if they were OTC here the problems would be huge and I myself would very unlikely be clean if I'm being perfectly honest.

Yeah that's core to my decision making. Just keep topping up at any chemist in town for the rest of my life or steer a different path. I'm not blaming anyone or anything for my own behaviour but it's a pretty easy thing to get hooked on here.

 

[billyj]

I did have to go down to 2mg per day it was a long hard road but well worth it . Well done again and keep going .

Yes I'm a bit nervous about halving from 5 to 2.5 but I went from 10 to 5 (via 7.5) in a month so I am going to hope for the best.

 

[billyj]

Hi for anyone who is following, I finished my taper but will take 1 x valium once a week at most and only if I am having bad anxiety (need it). I don't really think about it otherwise. Is that okay or does that count as "kindling"?

 

[slightly dazed]

Good job 10x v is a great result . Abd from there a super super slow taper (2mg every 2 weeks ) and toy will be clear . It's the last 2mg that's the hardest but persevere you are almost there my guy .. good luck

 

[Señor Moreno]

Congrats, mate. Well done

 

[db7132]

brot

Benzo withdrawal is pretty bad but doable. It's much worse than opioid withdraws. But I managed to cold turkey off both. It was a hellish two weeks but by the end of it I felt much better and the second week was much easier than the first.

Have you considered tapering? You could try going down to 5mg a day for a week then down to 2.5mg for a week then try to jump off there. One thing you have going for you is 10mg isn't that high of a dose. When I kicked cold turkey I was coming off about 6mg of xanax a day. I spent a week in a room crawling up the walls but it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be.

Benzos are the only drug that I know of besides alcohol where you can get seizures and die from going cold turkey. But given your small dose I don't think that's too big of a concern. We a proper taper you would probably avoid coming close to the type of withdrawal I had to go through.

dude holy crap good for you. completely agree about the difference between opiate/opioid withdrawal. Benzos, especially Xans, have the WORST withdrawal in existence. I tried once to go cold turkey and on day 3-4 i had a couple seizures and woke up in the hospital flooded with ativan. I was so f’in mad as I was at the peak and needed like 5 more days and I wouldve been fine. Now here I am, 4 years later, still taking around 2.25mg Alpraz a day trying to taper down. Its 100% the most dangerous as well as most uncomfortable.

My question for you is how did you come off 6mg/day of alpraz and opiates and not die if you werent in a medical setting? That’s so crazy for me to comprehend. I have cold-turkeyed opioids multiple times, yah it sucks but you wont die (usually). Benzos is a whole diff story, especially with how strong xans are compared to valium and kpins.

 

[HeadphonesandLSD]

My question for you is how did you come off 6mg/day of alpraz and opiates and not die if you werent in a medical setting? That’s so crazy for me to comprehend. I have cold-turkeyed opioids multiple times, yah it sucks but you wont die (usually). Benzos is a whole diff story, especially with how strong xans are compared to valium and kpins.

I don't know. I didn't have money for drugs or medical care. I've had this death wish for decades and nothing seems to be able to kill me. I wouldn't recommend that anyone attempt it. I didn't really have a choice. I've had what I suspect are seizures in my sleep multiple times from abusing or coming off different substances. But I never go to the doctor unless I absolutely have to (and have been treated like shit the few times I was forced to) so I don't really know anything about my health status beyond how I feel on a daily basis and I haven't felt that great in a long time unless I use opioids or other drugs to mask the constant pain.

While I don't take benzos very often anymore (maybe twice a month tops) I have been on kratom daily going on about 8 years now. Before that bupe. Before that methadone. Before that oxycodone (and various other pharma opioids). I have gone cold turkey off them many times and only managed to stay away at most 6-8 months. At some point the pain gets bad again or life gives me a reason and I start back up. Then once I'm back on the withdrawal I wake up in every morning keeps me taking them. Right now I wake up every morning feeling like shit in bad withdrawal and consume kratom within minutes of waking up. Another dose about an hour later. Then from there it varies depending on how I feel.

I average 250 grams of the stuff every 6-7 days. Or 35-40 grams per day taken as 4-6 doses every 24 hours. Sometimes I stay up multiple days in a row and the longer I'm up the more I take. Sometimes I can keep it to 10-20 grams in a day. It depends on supply and if I'm feeling well enough to go buy more. If I take my two morning doses I can go without for about 6 hours. But by the 8th hour I'd be in full blown withdrawal again. Hence why I typically only sleep for no more than 6-8 hours at a time when I can sleep. If I'm out doing hard labor (which is most everyday) I'll consume more of course. I don't really know how much a take because I stopped weighing it years ago. I just dump a pile on a piece of paper and toss+wash it. I only know it's about 250 grams a week because I purchase a 250 gram bag every week. Sometimes there is some left over in the bag and sometimes I use it all and go into a bag I have laying around with extra still in it.

It would be cheaper if I purchased in bulk but I learned not to do that years ago because I'll end up using more. If I purchase it as 250 gram bags it limits my use because when I see I'm getting low I'll slow down for a day or two before I purchase more. I usually buy it every 6 days. Unless I have something important coming up. In that case I'll purchase an extra bag so I don't have to risk going into withdrawal during a time when I can't be going into it.

No idea how I've managed to maintain it so long without anyone finding out that I don't want knowing. At least it's much much cheaper than my old oxycodone habit. I spend in a week now what I used to spend in a half a day (back when oxy was very cheap) to maintain my habit and stay out of withdrawal. My old oxycodone habit now would probably cost $200+ daily with today's madness. The only downside of the kratom is it wears off much faster than the other options and I suspect it causes kidney stones with chronic use. Well that and the usual downsides that come with kratom use related to things like hair getting brittle.

 

[db7132]

I don't know. I didn't have money for drugs or medical care. I've had this death wish for decades and nothing seems to be able to kill me. I wouldn't recommend that anyone attempt it. I didn't really have a choice. I've had what I suspect are seizures in my sleep multiple times from abusing or coming off different substances. But I never go to the doctor unless I absolutely have to (and have been treated like shit the few times I was forced to) so I don't really know anything about my health status beyond how I feel on a daily basis and I haven't felt that great in a long time unless I use opioids or other drugs to mask the constant pain.

While I don't take benzos very often anymore (maybe twice a month tops) I have been on kratom daily going on about 8 years now. Before that bupe. Before that methadone. Before that oxycodone (and various other pharma opioids). I have gone cold turkey off them many times and only managed to stay away at most 6-8 months. At some point the pain gets bad again or life gives me a reason and I start back up. Then once I'm back on the withdrawal I wake up in every morning keeps me taking them. Right now I wake up every morning feeling like shit in bad withdrawal and consume kratom within minutes of waking up. Another dose about an hour later. Then from there it varies depending on how I feel.

I average 250 grams of the stuff every 6-7 days. Or 35-40 grams per day taken as 4-6 doses every 24 hours. Sometimes I stay up multiple days in a row and the longer I'm up the more I take. Sometimes I can keep it to 10-20 grams in a day. It depends on supply and if I'm feeling well enough to go buy more. If I take my two morning doses I can go without for about 6 hours. But by the 8th hour I'd be in full blown withdrawal again. Hence why I typically only sleep for no more than 6-8 hours at a time when I can sleep. If I'm out doing hard labor (which is most everyday) I'll consume more of course. I don't really know how much a take because I stopped weighing it years ago. I just dump a pile on a piece of paper and toss+wash it. I only know it's about 250 grams a week because I purchase a 250 gram bag every week. Sometimes there is some left over in the bag and sometimes I use it all and go into a bag I have laying around with extra still in it.

It would be cheaper if I purchased in bulk but I learned not to do that years ago because I'll end up using more. If I purchase it as 250 gram bags it limits my use because when I see I'm getting low I'll slow down for a day or two before I purchase more. I usually buy it every 6 days. Unless I have something important coming up. In that case I'll purchase an extra bag so I don't have to risk going into withdrawal during a time when I can't be going into it.

No idea how I've managed to maintain it so long without anyone finding out that I don't want knowing. At least it's much much cheaper than my old oxycodone habit. I spend in a week now what I used to spend in a half a day (back when oxy was very cheap) to maintain my habit and stay out of withdrawal. My old oxycodone habit now would probably cost $200+ daily with today's madness. The only downside of the kratom is it wears off much faster than the other options and I suspect it causes kidney stones with chronic use. Well that and the usual downsides that come with kratom use related to things like hair getting brittle.

Dang dude thats crazy. I hope your kratom use goes down eventually. My buddy has been on it for a few years since stopping oxys and it seems like he has almost no personality anymore. I personally have never taken it except once but im like 90% sure they were just placebos from the smoke shop where i got them (they didnt do anything to me). I am similar to you tho in that i have cold turkeyed oxys so many times but benzos are just a way diff story for me. I try and then get so sick its life threatening and end up in hospital. Hopefully will get off them at some point and not have to take them forever.

 

[emkee_reinvented]

I don't know. I didn't have money for drugs or medical care. I've had this death wish for decades and nothing seems to be able to kill me. I wouldn't recommend that anyone attempt it. I didn't really have a choice. I've had what I suspect are seizures in my sleep multiple times from abusing or coming off different substances. But I never go to the doctor unless I absolutely have to (and have been treated like shit the few times I was forced to) so I don't really know anything about my health status beyond how I feel on a daily basis and I haven't felt that great in a long time unless I use opioids or other drugs to mask the constant pain.

Kinda sums up me HeadphonesandLSD. Living in spare time gives a certain ammount of mental liberation. Do give a fuck but can t be bothered as i should be dead 3 times for all i know.

Difference it were the seizures that were not brought on by WDs but by stress and insomnia. Something benzos would work against in a good way. But i will forget these being prescribed for that. The current medical establishment made it clear that dying or being miserable and bordering disabled. Is better the reducing suffering and enabling a mor functional live by prescribing a addictive drug to some. But a tool for me. I ll just rest in that faith. Should be death anyway.

If the seizure didn t take me i would have in that state of mind. Got all the essential to end it. Bad frame of mind pre during and post seizure. Which along the side effects of the meds Levetiracetam being the best/ worst. They didnt prevent seizures but amplified the death-wish. Why no dr. bothered talking about that to me or my family ?

Malpractice or lazyass MFs who knows. But i told someone i am gonna end me. Had the means o-DSMT, a load of potent benzos and bottle liquor. They talked it out of me. maybe for the best i am indestructible. Wouldnt have surprised me that i would have awoken i a pool of vomit. Bit more damaged then before but still alive.

Still on the earth same shit different day. But even more further then were i was. Wherever that is living is extra time any way. So i get it don t even care for WD s. Hate them but like Kratom is that a withdrawing probably to me its inconvenient but necessary once a while.