Am I danger of serious Benzo w/d?

[Therealsnafu]

Hello BLers and thanks for any advice given

So for the past 4 and a half weeks I have gone on quite the little etizolam binge. 134mg has been taken in the last 34 days, not on a daily routine however.

My usage each week was this:

*first week*
Day 1 - 3mg
Day 2 - 4mg
Day 3 - 8mg
Day 4 - 5mg
Day 5 - none
Day 6 - none
Day 7 - none

*second week*
Day 1 - 16mg (I know)
Day 2 - 4mg
Day 3 - none
Day 4 - none
Day 5 - none
Day 6 - none
Day 7 - none

*third week*
Day 1 - 6mg
Day 2 - 10mg
Day 3 - 12mg
Day 4 - 8mg
Day 5 - 4mg
Day 6 - none
Day 7 - none

*fourth week*
Day 1 - 8mg
Day 2 - 12mg
Day 3 - 10mg
Day 4 - 4mg
Day 5 - none *** TODAY ***
Day 6 - none
Day 7 - none

Doses noted are just a total for the day, most of the listed doses were taken in 2-3 dosages morning/afternoon/night
I recognize the dosing was reckless and not very smart, I built up a huge tolerance very quickly.


I didn't experience any significant w/d symptoms during the breaks I was taking, but I am more concerned about it now as the last 2 weeks the dosages were doubled.

My question is am I in any remote danger of having a seizure or any other serious w/d related complications?
I have not taken benzos for years before this month (had a xanax script several years ago)

I have fairly serious anxiety problems (which is why those damn pills are so incredibly euphoric to me) and I'm expecting some pretty bad rebound anxiety.

My last dose was 2mg exactly 12 hours ago, when do w/d symptoms generally peak? 36h?

I actually still have 6mg somewhere around here that I lost... or "misplaced" -_- and can't remember (I know for a fact I didn't eat them). I stopped trying to look because I've already spent a good hour looking for them and it was giving me really bad anxiety and really just pissing me off.

Any wisdom shed on the matter from people who know about benzo w/d specifically etizolam. Any tips/advice for benzo w/d would be welcome too (besides the obvious)


**UPDATE**
Speak of the devil.... I just found the 6mg... so now I have a taper plan :D
I'm thinking 1.5mg today, 1 tomorrow, .75mg , etc etc
I'm not going to take my taper dose today until I start noticing real w/d

 

[Lightning-Nl]

I say yes.

I had never taken a benzodiazepine until around 5 weeks ago. I was prescribed Ativan at the Emergency Room for panic attacks and mania. The bottle told me to take 1 pill in the morning and 1 at night - so I did for the 30 days it was prescribed and while the reduction in anxiety was amazing, the withdrawal was unlike anything I've ever experienced.

When I ran out of the 30 day supply, I had the worst withdrawal I can ever remember having. I have withdrawn from opiates 3 times before (Hydrocodone and Codeine) and those were nothing compared to the insomnia, panic attacks, bowel issues, shortness of breath and mania that benzo withdrawal caused.

So to answer your question, yes, I think you will have bad withdrawal symptoms if you don't taper off.

 

[Ozekat]

I don't know about OP and etizolam, but from my experiences with xanax only a few days of continual abuse can lead to some really unpleasant WD's. Yeah benzo WD is like reality itself is being shredded to pieces before your eyes and everything is so harsh....it is downright dark and nasty.

Has OP ever considered Kava? It is not nearly as dangerous from my experience and research, and also natural.

 

[Therealsnafu]

studies suggest etizolam has a less affinity to tolerance and dependance than traditional benzos (etizolam is isn't technically a benzo but it sure acts like one)

etizolam also has a shorter half life (~6hrs) compared to xanax and valium

anyways I guess I have an update,

the first day of the "taper" (the night I wrote the OP) I ended up taking 2mg, then drank 2 beers followed by 4-5 shots of cheap vodka and then another 1mg because I'm an idiot. I fell asleep at ~3am and woke up at 8am for work. No hangover, just tired. (I drink a shit ton of water and take a multivitamin and carbs before sleep when I drink, I HATE hangovers)

today I felt decent at work, tired but completely tolerable, I only took 1mg around 2 hours ago (16hrs since last dose) when I started to feel WD (8pm), all it did was make some of the anxiety settle and gave me the ability the think a little more clearly. I was still feeling very tense, stressed, pissed(obviously), but was started to concern me was I was having minor hallucinations (breathing walls, everything seems to be vibrating incredibly slowly, hard to describe).

I'm going out of town in 10 days and I NEED to be functional and need sleep. I ordered more etizolam (50) this afternoon (I thought about it for a good 5 hours... it wasn't an impulsive buy) that will get here in ~60 hours so I can do a proper taper. I have 1mg to last me 60hrs.... its going to suck.

I am very familiar with kava and pretty much every anxiolytic drug known to man (I have genuine anxiety problems and was on script xanax XR for several months about 6 years ago, post several years of unsuccessful anti-depressant drugs)
I would much rather substitute the kava for the alcohol but sourcing kava other than an overpriced tea (decent effects at 3-5 bags (78mg "extract" each bag... but thats like $$$ for a dose of kava which is stupid) within the next 3 days is impossible.

I have a shipment of Bali Kratom coming in tomorrow morning which will help me sleep, I will stop the alcohol and use kratom to sleep, bali is pretty sedating in high doses. I can't use antihistamines to sleep, I react weirdly to them and they make me feel wired.

I guess my main concern at this point is seizure risk for the next few days until I get my next shipment. I've had several seizures and know how they feel and how suddenly they come on (from things unrelated to benzo wd). Is it the same with benzo withdrawal? Are there signs leading up to the seizure? I know I'm going to feel like utter shit, but at what point do I reach out for emergency medical help? I don't have medical insurance so I want to avoid going to the hospital as much as safely possible.

thanks

 

[ABCDFG I Ate The E]

my front stole about 70-80 2mg etiz pellets from me (fucked up i know). he said he was taking 1-2 a day and he said he went through hell when they were gone.. lasted like a week i think he said. i'm terrified of benzo w/d i've been a daily user of them for 3-4 years.. been prescribed xanax for 1.5 years now.. i cant even get off h/opiates dont know how i will EVER get off benzos. wish i would of never got prescribed in the first place

 

[Therealsnafu]

yeah, I've got off a H habit several years ago before. H W/D is harsh but benzos take the cake if you ask me. I would personally rather be sick as hell than feel like im going to die from anxiety (and could actually)

I have .5mg to last me the next 48 hours until my mail gets here. My bali kratom came in this morning, dosed 6.5g 45 min ago and its really taking the edge off, I'll probably go get some edible cannabis treats from my dispensary this afternoon (I have my medical card) as smoking cannabis helps but eating it will definitely help more especially for sleep. It's been 14 hours since my last dose which was .5mg after 4 beers last night and physical symptoms are present but minimal, Bali & a bowl of weed is helping my anxiety. I'm not going to drink anymore it's definitely not helping in the long run.

 

[Vaya]

Going to move this over to Basic Drug Discussion or ya, now.

A quick search of BDD and/or OD using keywords like BZD, benzodiazepine, benzo, withdrawal and taper should yield quite a bit of material to help guide you, though. FWIW.

Homeless >>> BDD

~ Vaya

 

[mrflowers00]

i'm glad you found some to taper with but if you do benzos in the future please think ahead and leave yourself enough to taper safely with