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  • BDD Moderators: Keif’ Richards | negrogesic

Benzos Alcohol withdrawal and Ativan

Hey Cloudman, I just remembered something that might help you out a little. At least it did help me...
When you get those severe cravings (like I did) eat something sweet: candy, ice cream, soda... chocolate is especially good. It seems to help them pass more quickly.
Also, remember what an AA old-timer once told me: "Whether you drink or don't drink, the craving will pass. So just don't. It's easier to stay sober than to get sober."
Sage advice.
 
@cloudman, Good luck with your journey to sobriety! Its well worth it , I have been on this path for 35 years, and the best thing that I have ever done.

I have done it with and without AA, for me AA was so much easier, and the path to very long-term sobriety .
Its Not a Cult
Take what you want, leave the rest
Everything is just suggestions, No rules in AA
No one can be kicked out, or punished
The only thing that members of AA or any recovery program want is for people to be sober and happy not drinking
AA Not the ONLY way to get sober, I tried most all before it, and spent 10s of thousands of dollars, in the 80s when that was alot of $$$$ Lol
GOOD LUCK!!
Stay busy, idle hands are the devils workshop

so True it Hurts "It's easier to stay sober than to get sober."
 
jasperkent said:
Also, remember what an AA old-timer once told me: "Whether you drink or don't drink, the craving will pass. So just don't. It's easier to stay sober than to get sober."
Sage advice.
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Its true what they say, that the average craving only lasts about an hour. I can attest to that. The trick is to distract yourself for an hour and the craving fades.

Whatever people think about AA, their advice is legit. 100 years of knowledge.

Also, after about 10 days off the booze the cravings become much less intense in my experience. You got this OP.
 
Cloudman115 said:
who Cares

I think if you read any of my posts you would know that I have been taking Ativan and alcohol on and off for two months Straight. So yeah I was withdrawing from alcohol the last couple days but also had the unknown benzo issues on top of it. I say unknown because I never used benzos before.

side note: day 5, no alcohol, also first day of trying no Ativan. Didn’t take any Ativan last night and I was okay sleep wise.
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I was taking a piss at your expense I'm sorry. I did read your posts before I posted and I think I saw mention of alcohol and benzos over the past few weeks, and health problems too, kidney and liver, BP, and some other things? That's pretty serious, you're right to be doing something about it. The thing that confused me about your posts was that it seemed like you were going back and forth about your situation, but I guess that must have been the unknown benzo issue you mentioned causing some uncertainty. It's good to know you figured that part out. I did in fact WD from alcohol with benzos in 3-4 days but unlike you I had doctors involved, which made a difficult situation much easier. Like you, I had never taken benzos before. What I omitted from my post is that after I got through an easy alcohol WD I abused benzos for a year or so until I ended up crashing my car on the freeway going about 80 miles an hour. Luckily I walked away and no one else was involved or injured, and I wasn't ticketed. I then quickly got off the benzos without doctors, which again was pretty easy because I never got to the point of having much WD from them. I'm pretty sure though from posts I've read on here over the years that some people have had or are having pretty horrendous problems tapering off benzos.

I can actually drink small amounts of alcohol today but I very rarely do because drinking excaceberates a host of issues for me. I've noticed some pretty strong cravings even if I just have a half a glass of champange for a wedding toast. I get acid reflux too. It's pretty unreal how alcohol effects my nuerotransmitters, and not in a good way. That's something I never appreciated until recently. But I have other substances to deal with, daily nicotine and caffeine, and for the time being MJ. I don't have any big plans to make any changes but it would be nice to smoke less MJ. That's about it, I take medication for major depression and bipolar so its real easy for me to get mixed up whether I'm having an episode or going on some kind of binge or relapse. I think in the past I assumed it was just a drug and alcohol thing but I'm beginning to think that the one leads to the other for me so I need to take better care of my psychiatric health.

I'm probably dual diagnosis if that term is still used.

I will say that I am extremely manipulative when it comes to drugs and alcohol, and my primary victim is myself - the the only thing I love more than telling myself a good story is believing it too. That's led to a lot of unforced life errors and life blunders on my part. In a moral world nobody can be right 100% of the time, I understand that. We all make our choices and try to live with them the best we can. I think in 12 step lingo that's called "acceptance".
 
jasperkent said:
Hey Cloudman, I just remembered something that might help you out a little. At least it did help me...
When you get those severe cravings (like I did) eat something sweet: candy, ice cream, soda... chocolate is especially good. It seems to help them pass more quickly.
Also, remember what an AA old-timer once told me: "Whether you drink or don't drink, the craving will pass. So just don't. It's easier to stay sober than to get sober."
Sage advice.
Click to expand...
Thanks For the advice.
nowadays the cravings are the toughest Part. I get the urge to drink right when work is letting out because that’s been my routin.
I do enjoy kombucha And green tea. I look forward to making/drinking that When I get home. I gotta break old habits and do other enjoy full stuff!

Do you think there is a specific time when the cravings subside or do they never.
 
Negentropic said:
Also, after about 10 days off the booze the cravings become much less intense in my experience. You got this OP.
Click to expand...
This is true.

But PAWS is a real thing, in my experience.
In moments of cravings that come later, forget your commitment to healthy eating for a sec. Eat some chocolate. In the long run it's the healthy option.
 
The Axe said:
I was taking a piss at your expense I'm sorry. I did read your posts before I posted and I think I saw mention of alcohol and benzos over the past few weeks, and health problems too, kidney and liver, BP, and some other things? That's pretty serious, you're right to be doing something about it. The thing that confused me about your posts was that it seemed like you were going back and forth about your situation, but I guess that must have been the unknown benzo issue you mentioned causing some uncertainty. It's good to know you figured that part out. I did in fact WD from alcohol with benzos in 3-4 days but unlike you I had doctors involved, which made a difficult situation much easier. Like you, I had never taken benzos before. What I omitted from my post is that after I got through an easy alcohol WD I abused benzos for a year or so until I ended up crashing my car on the freeway going about 80 miles an hour. Luckily I walked away and no one else was involved or injured, and I wasn't ticketed. I then quickly got off the benzos without doctors, which again was pretty easy because I never got to the point of having much WD from them. I'm pretty sure though from posts I've read on here over the years that some people have had or are having pretty horrendous problems tapering off benzos.

I can actually drink small amounts of alcohol today but I very rarely do because drinking excaceberates a host of issues for me. I've noticed some pretty strong cravings even if I just have a half a glass of champange for a wedding toast. I get acid reflux too. It's pretty unreal how alcohol effects my nuerotransmitters, and not in a good way. That's something I never appreciated until recently. But I have other substances to deal with, daily nicotine and caffeine, and for the time being MJ. I don't have any big plans to make any changes but it would be nice to smoke less MJ. That's about it, I take medication for major depression and bipolar so its real easy for me to get mixed up whether I'm having an episode or going on some kind of binge or relapse. I think in the past I assumed it was just a drug and alcohol thing but I'm beginning to think that the one leads to the other for me so I need to take better care of my psychiatric health.

I'm probably dual diagnosis if that term is still used.

I will say that I am extremely manipulative when it comes to drugs and alcohol, and my primary victim is myself - the the only thing I love more than telling myself a good story is believing it too. That's led to a lot of unforced life errors and life blunders on my part. In a moral world nobody can be right 100% of the time, I understand that. We all make our choices and try to live with them the best we can. I think in 12 step lingo that's called "acceptance".
Click to expand...
Thanks for the apology & your back story. obviously, Your correct in saying you can withdrawal from Alcohol in 3-4 days. I’ve done the 3-5 days sober hundreds of times without benzos. What I learned Over The last two months is how much easier withdrawal is with Ativan! The key is to stay sober 😀 which I am working on.
 
axe battler said:
You're doing great @Cloudman115 keep it up!.as said by others, the benzo withdrawal should be very mild, but they are nowhere near as toxic as alcohol so don't feel too bad about taking .25mg if you're feeling very anxious.
Click to expand...
its been 30+ hours since last .25 mg of Ativan... I am Feeling good.
Iceman1216 said:
Stay busy, idle hands are the devils workshop
Click to expand...
the good thing is the More I distance myself from the poison the more stuff I want to do!
Keif' Richards said:
There are people here whose lives have been fucked in gruesome ways by drugs and alcohol. There are people here who use drugs recreationally and don't and will never experience the kind of behaviors that we sit here discussing now. The people who find, after time, that they cannot in any way use drugs or suffer a life of misery and woe, then have to complete the herculean task of changing that behavior.
Click to expand...
Couldn’t have described my life and situation much better myself.



Thanks for everyones replies. Just getting home and checking my account and seeing all the positivity in people’s posts, and the likes means a lot. It helps me mentally.
 
The Axe said:
If you're just drinking alcohol it is extremely easy to stop drinking alcohol using benzos. If it takes more than 3-4 days you are doing something wrong.

Whatever drug abuse issues or relapse issues or addiction issues you have nothing to do with using benzos to get off alcohol because using benzos to get off alcohol is about as simple as it gets.

If you have any of those other issues you're fucked FME.
Click to expand...

hah you obviously were never hooked on alcohol and tried to quit cold turkey. benzos help, sure they do, but arent really magic. the biggest issue when i stop drinking is an amazingly SUICIDAL DEPRESSION which benzos do not even begin to touch. they just calm my MANIACAL ass down for a bit. but the horrifying psychotic suicidal depression lingers in you, crawling like a demon trying to take your heart out. its so painful, that even when i did take benzos, i still almost threw myself in front of a train. i couldnt take it. they had to send me to the psychiatric unit, not once but three times because of quitting alcohol. the depression wasnt gone there but because i was pumped up on antipsychotics, i was sleeping most the time. anyway, benzos are barely top of the iceberg when it comes to treating alcoholism.
 
Cloudman115 said:
Do you think there is a specific time when the cravings subside or do they never.
Click to expand...
It varies from person to person, but generally the cravings become fewer are farther between as time goes by. Also, they usually become less intense over time.
My longest period of absolute sobriety was 3 years. After 6 months or so, the cravings became mild urges and only popped up very briefly (like one minute) once every 2 or 3 weeks.
 
allone said:
hah you obviously were never hooked on alcohol and tried to quit cold turkey. benzos help, sure they do, but arent really magic. the biggest issue when i stop drinking is an amazingly SUICIDAL DEPRESSION which benzos do not even begin to touch. they just calm my MANIACAL ass down for a bit. but the horrifying psychotic suicidal depression lingers in you, crawling like a demon trying to take your heart out. its so painful, that even when i did take benzos, i still almost threw myself in front of a train. i couldnt take it. they had to send me to the psychiatric unit, not once but three times because of quitting alcohol. the depression wasnt gone there but because i was pumped up on antipsychotics, i was sleeping most the time. anyway, benzos are barely top of the iceberg when it comes to treating alcoholism.
Click to expand...
I already apologized for that post more than once, but I'll do it again, no problem. I was directing my comments to garden variety drunks not poly drug abusers or dual diagnosers, who, as you so vividly point out, are a whole other ballgame.
 
The Axe said:
I already apologized for that post more than once, but I'll do it again, no problem. I was directing my comments to garden variety drunks not poly drug abusers or dual diagnosers, who, as you so vividly point out, are a whole other ballgame.
Click to expand...

For the record, I would hate to have someone throw in my face some of the things I've said here on Bluelight. I understand what you meant by that and I think there's no need to give you a hard time. Don't worry about it dude
 
Well, I obviously can’t stop drinking. I do 5-7 days off than i fall hard. Fuck I am a fucking loser!!!
at least I am almost out of Ativan.
 
Cloudman115 said:
Well, I obviously can’t stop drinking. I do 5-7 days off than i fall hard. Fuck I am a fucking loser!!!
at least I am almost out of Ativan.
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Dude 7 days off alcohol you should be non dependent (physically) but I totally get ya. Home detoxes myself generally last 4 to 5 days. I need to keep busy and re engage in my hobbies I believe to help me stay sober. I'm attempting another detox next week so I'm gonna try and keep as busy as I can. Biking. Fishing and working on my allotment/plot that I have.

Edit - your not a loser. A LOT of us struggle with addiction daily and lapse/relapse.
 
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