Benzo Addiction and Withdrawal from heavy use

[mastab423]

A friend of mine has recently become a benzo user. He got into them rather quickly and for the last 2 or 3 weeks has been taking anywhere from 4-16mg of klonopin a day and he is always really coherent or even amped up. Not to say he's the same person he used to be, he's a completely different creature. Manic, repetitive, single minded, overly focused. It's really odd. Anyway. My question is this: If he stops using cold turkey will he experience potentially fatal withdrawal symptoms? He obviously has a very high tolerance and I'm wondering if he should taper down slowly or just quit. He is prone to anxiety to begin with so I have no doubt his cessation will bring on a whole new world of anxiety problems. What do you guys suggest? I'm pretty worried about him, but he knows he has a problem and seems ready to cut it out. I just don't know how he should go about doing it.

 

[hatrix]

Is this you or truly a friend of yours ?

Either way however, stopping cold turkey is certainly not recommended. Benzo withdrawal is said to be much worse than opiate withdrawal, and yes it has a potential for death. Seizures are very possible if you go cold turkey, especially with such a crazy high dosage like your friend is taking.

That's quite the tolerance. 0.5mg of Clonazepam (Klonopin) is equal to 0.5mg of Alprazolam. Taking 16mg of Alprazolam (Xanax) is pretty ridiculous tolerance wise. This would probably put a non tolerance person in a blackout coma for a few days if not more.

There are methods for tapering off of benzos that have a calculated dosing schedule. I can't recommend one to you, but I definitely think a taper is necessary. And yes, it will have to be slow. Klonopin is one of the longer acting benzos which is a good thing for tapering off of it.

Valium (Diazepam) would probably be the best for tapering, but I would say Klonopin comes second as they are both long acting benzos for anxiety.

Going cold turkey can result in a seizure, possible death, and horrible rebound anxiety. This is on top of the physical withdrawal. While use wasn't for very long, it honestly doesn't take long to develop a physical dependance, and with dosages that high I'm positive there is a physical dependance.

I have to ask, why in the world is this person taking such a high dosage of Klonopin ? If he was new to benzos 2-3 weeks ago, there is NO reason for such a high dosage.

 

[Hammertime78]

No doubt I am amazed the tolerance went up so quickly these doses are dangerous tapering is going to be a must the short usage time might equate into a short taper time but the fact is he is going to run out sooner or later and the more he can taper b4 this happens the better. Wd from such a high daily dose might kill him. In this instance i would suck it up and seek a dr. to help your "friend."

 

[weekend addiction]

My guess is that your friend might be bipolar. High doses of benzos can make me manic. I can function after rediculous doses of xanax but I act like i'm coked up and do lots of impulsive stupid shit. I think only a bipolar person could have such a paradoxical reaction because I'm bipolar and I never met anyone capable of taking as much as me (no dicksizing here I'm not a badass or anything). But if your friend can take that much and function there is probably something wrong psychologically with him.... Anyway he needs to see a psychologist who can see what's wrong with him and prescribe him whats necessary to safely wean him off. If he's getting these drugs on the street then he can't count on his supplier 100 percent and thats a dangerous situation to be in during benzo w\d. Good luck!

 

[mastab423]

It legitimately is a friend of mine. I can't function on 4 mg of xanax let alone 16 mg of Klonopin. He's begun weaning himself off at a very slow rate, but as you guys said, he is most certainly going to run out before too long and he shouldn't count on his vendor to always come through. I gave him the same advice and said he should see a doctor. They're not going to get him in trouble for being an addict, they're just going to help him. He's just afraid that his tolerance is so high that they're not going to give him enough to help him. He's had a number of anxiety attacks and I can tell he's really frightened of the withdrawals. Having gone through Opiate withdrawals, I know how terrible a withdrawal can be. Benzo is said to be far worse, so I can't even imagine what it must be like. He seems to have calmed down a bit and isn't acting as manic. I think he's taking about 8 mg of xanax in the afternoon and some amount of Buspirone in the morning. I will suggest to him that he switches from Xanax to a longer acting benzo, as I imagine Xanax is probably the hardest to get off of. Thanks for the information. I'll report back progress and would appreciate any continued advice you can give. I'm a recovering opiate addict, so naturally I'm concerned for the well being of my addict friends. Hence, the reason why I seek advice. Thanks again.

 

[F1n1shed]

Wow, even taking .5mg of xanax for a few weeks then coming off was still a rough ride. Jolting when i was laying in bed, horrible head aches etc. Your friend is gonna be in for a horrible ride, but he brought it on him self. That was totally careless, anyways everything has been covered. He will need to talk to a doc and taper off with valium.

 

[RobotRipping]

yeah high doses of clonazepam in particular when i dont have a tolerance make me manic every single time for months, it's great but it wears off and then you're stuck with a big habit. However, if you or your friend have only been doing this for 2-3 weeks, it won't be too bad, i bet your friend can stabilize at 4mg no problem/day and just taper quickly from there. The longer the use the longer the taper. Many people don't experience withdrawals or noticeable ones from 2-3 weeks of use, that's usually the cut off time, though in this case the high doses warrant at least a short taper down, straight to 4mg/day per week and then drop a mg every few days, get stable and drop again and things should be fine, the longer u taper the more dependency you are creating at this point. Unless you have a previous history with benzo abuse, in which case you should do a real taper.

 

[toobent]

Your friend is in exactly the same place I was in 4 weeks ago. And four weeks later I am completely off benzos. Well, Every other day I am taking either 20mg of Zolpidem at night, or 1mg Etizolam at night. Both are equivalent to 10mg Diazepam. So I'm virtually off benzos I just have ridiculous insomnia, which I've had forever.

Read this thread: http://www.bluelight.ru/vb/threads/671630-HELP-Benzo-Withdrawals-HELL

I can post you my 4 week taper schedule too, complete with the exact doses I took, and at what time(s). I didn't go by the taper posted in that thread as I soon realized that an excessive taper after only 5 weeks of (ab)use was counter-intuitive. I didn't suffer any withdrawals whatsoever after the initial cold turkey nightmare I experienced that compelled me to post that thread. The best thing your friend has going for him is the fact that he has not been using long, despite his high dosage. I was consuming 10mg of Xanax in one dose for the last couple weeks of my binge, the final weekend I think I ate 30 (2mg) bars from Thursday night through Sunday, which is why I suffered horribly when I went cold turkey on Monday and Tuesday.

Reassure him if he does it correctly, he won't suffer any withdrawals at all. And if he's like me and genuinely suffers from GAD and panic attacks, then he would be well advised to bring his tolerance right back down to therapeutic levels and use them appropriately.

 

[toobent]

Here's what I did:

Week 1

Day 1: Sun 07/04
3mg Xanax
3mg Xanax
3mg Xanax
180 mg equivalency

Day 2: Mon 08/04
3mg Xanax
3mg Xanax
3mg Xanax
180 mg equivalency

Day 3: Tue 09/04
3mg Xanax
3mg Xanax
2mg Xanax + 10 mg Valium
170 mg equivalency

Day 4: Wed 10/04
3mg Xanax
3mg Xanax
2mg Xanax + 10mg Valium
170mg / 10 val

Day 5: Thur 11/04
3mg Xanax @9:15
3mg Xanax @18:45
2mg Xanax @00:30 + 10mg Valium
170mg / 10 val

Day 6: Fri 12/04
2.5mg Xanax @11:00
2mg Xanax @17:10
3mg Xanax + 10mg Valium @02:30
160mg / 10 val

Day 7: Sat 13/04
2.5mg Xanax @13:15
2mg Xanax @17:55
3mg Xanax + 10mg Valium @02:10
160mg / 10 val


Week 2

Day 1: Sun 15/04
2.5mg Xanax @10:10
2.5mg Xanax @17:10
2mg Xanax + 10mg Valium @10:10
150mg / 10 val

Day 2:
2.5mg Xanax @10:20
2mg Xanax @17:20
2mg Xanax + 10mg Valium @01:00
150mg / 10 val

Day 3:
1.5mg Xanax + 20mg Temazepam @11:10
2mg Xanax @17:25
2mg Xanax + 10mg Valium + 20mg Temazepam @00:40
140mg / 10 val / 40 T

Day 4:
2mg Xanax @20:30
2mg Xanax + 5mg Valium + 10mg Zolpidem @00:50
10mg Zolpidem @06:10
95mg Valium Equivalence

Day 5: Woke up feeling terrible. Headache. Aching joints and muscles. Not good sign. Too little Benzo yesterday?
2mg Xanax + 5mg Valium @16:00
1mg Xanax @21:40
2mg Xanax + 10mg Zolpidem @02:45
10mg Zolpidem @06:50
115mg / 5mg val

Day 6:
1mg Xanax @14:50
20mg Valium @22:00
40mg / 20 val

Day 7:
20mg Valium @08:35
1mg Xanax @14:15
20mg Valium @21:45
60mg / 40 val


Week 3:

Day 1:
20mg Valium @14:10
20mg Valium @00:35
40mg / 40 val

Day 2:
20mg Valium @17:45
20mg Valium @21:15
20mg Zolpidem @00:45
50mg / 40 val

Day 3:
20mg Valium @09:45
10mg Valium @18:50
2mg Etizolam @02:30
50mg / 30 val

Day 4:
20mg Valium @17:00
20mg Valium @21:20
40mg / 40 val

Day 5:
20mg Valium @20:30
20mg / 20 val

Day 6:
10mg Valium @17:00
20mg Zolpidem
20mg / 10 val

Day 7:
10mg Valium @19:50
2mg Etizolam @06:05
30mg / 10 val


Week 4:

Day 1:
10mg Valium @18:45
10mg / 10 val

Day 2:
0mg / 0 val

Day 3:
20mg Zolpidem @02:00
10mg / 0 val

Day 4:
20mg Zolpidem @02:15
10mg / 0 val

Day 5:
1mg Etizolam @02:20
10mg / 0 val

Etizolam not as effective as Zolpidem for sleep at equivalent doses
Etizolam longer onset (~1.5 hours), but MAYBE as sedating just less hypnotic

Day 6:
0mg / 0 val

Day 7:
20mg Zolpidem @23:00
10mg / 0 val


Week 5:

Day 1:
1mg Etizolam @23:15
10mg / 0 val

 

[Freek12]

If i may recommend an extremely helpful medication type against benzo withdrawals then this would be lyrica brandname for pregabalin. Titrating the dose up to about 600 mg in about a week can be done if this can be tolerated this fast that depends on the individual, but i think titrating up to 600 mg lyrica a day ina week is possible and the benzo WD becomes a hell of a lot more easy i dont want to say a walk in the park though, but just easier that's fir sure.
Good luck.

 

[euphoricc]

i quit 2 mg klonopin cold duck! wow i totaled a great car man a [93 accord coupeH22AswapC00baatuned] sorry i love cars xd but hey welll i had a seizure wrecked my car and got a dui! like wdf they said i overdosed on heroin i woke up in ambulamce narcan shootin in iv i said u stupid fuck im on suboxone i dont use drugs than i said about stopping clonazepam he said im sorry man i think u had a seizure but man holy fuck............ sorry was a crazy day

 

[pally pete]

Some of us can quit cold turkey from ridiculously high doses (Hundreds of mg's Alprazolam/thousands of mg's Diazepam/Temazepam) and not suffer seizures, although that is a rarity and certainly not recommended.

So to be on the safe side I would suggest a taper.

 

[mastab423]

BTW. He did it! He's been clean for about 3 weeks. When I saw him yesterday, he told me that he's just now starting to feel normal again. Thanks for all the help!

 

[RobotRipping]

that's great news; after you hit a few months of daily benzo use you end up in a world of hell in withdrawal. His effort in staying clean for 3 weeks will greatly change his life for the positive as compared to being a benzo addict.