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Misc Benzo Alternatives

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brycewise

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Joined
Jun 4, 2016
Messages
18
I have been taking Alprazolam .5mg for insomnia caused by anxiety, Its kind of a self perpetuating situation where my insomnia causes me to have anxiety about having insomnia... wash rinse repeat. Anyways I havent been on benzos long (about 1.5 months) they work great, but I can see my tolerance building and from there it is a slippery slope.

So I been searching for an alternative to benzos to use as a "Plan A" on a daily/frequent basis to help with a problem that occurs nearly every evening when I don't use Xanax. I could then reduce my usage of Xanax to as needed, when the Plan A doesn't seem to be enough on its own. So far the best I can find is KAVA KAVA. Does anyone have any experience with KAVA and how does it compare to Xanax? What potency should I look for?

Also any other recommendations would be most helpful as well.

Thanks in advance...cheers..
 
I would buy a good quality root powder of kava kava, and you can make tea out of that. Most of the prepared extracts contain around 75mg - 100mg of kavalactones, so that's what you should look for if you just want to buy capsules of it. Here's some information on it: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12383029

You can get baicalin. It's the active ingredient in a plant called scullkap, and it works on the GABAa receptor BZD sites. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18723037
<snip> sells it in bulk powder, which would be cheaper than buying it in pill form, considering the amount you get.

There are high potentcy, standardized extracts of valerian available. <snip>

It has high valerenic acid content compared to other extracts, and that's the ingredient you want to look for when buying valerian.

Magnesium (specifically the chelated forms, such as glycinate) are very effective. I would look into them. Magnesium is a very useful, versatile mineral.

A lot of people are proponents for l theanine as well. I've never gotten effects from it - though I really haven't used it much - but people take it for anxiety and sleep. You should look into it and read about it.

I wouldn't expect any of these to compare to xanax in terms of potency, though. That's quite a different beast altogether. So don't expect any mind blowing effects. They are effective, though.
 
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You could look into trying passionflower, personally ive never experienced it but it works for a numerous amount of things. It works for anxiety and insomnia, it has a sedative effect and im almost positive its legal
 
I got off benzo's using gabapentin. With the gaba or lyrica I get less rebound anxiety and less cognitive problems. Unfortunately I am now addicted to the gabapentin and experience withdrawals if I do not use the medication for a day. I just think the long term cognitive and physiological side effects from using benzo's especially xanax is far more devastating then using gabapentin long term. If you do continue to use a benzo picking a long acting one would be much safer. Chamomile tea is always a great alternative. It contains calcium magnesium as far as I know and effects similar parts of the brain which modulates the production of GABA.
 
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^I'd recommend Gabapentin as well. It is a very nice sleep aid even in lower doses and has pretty good anxiolytic effects. But be aware, it is addictive as well and the withdrawal can be very harsh.
The same goes for Lyrica/Pregabalin but that is more potent and intoxicating.

Melatonin is also worth a try as well as L-Tryptophan or 5-htp.

But the best would be physical exercise and sports. Natural groggyness due to exhaustion is the best sleep aid.
 
I am prescribed Klonopin for anxiety and take it daily. Only 0.5mg twice daily and as you can probably guess sometimes that it is not enough during acute panic attacks and therefore I run out at least a few days before refill time. I can usually find substitute benzos to get me by till then but at times when I can't sleep and have nothing else, a couple OTC benadryl usual help me calm down enough to get to sleep and even during the day it helps chill my nerves to some degree without making me feel too drowsy. I know people who do the same thing and it may not be the best solution but it's relatively safe and cheap as hell. Hope that helps. Cheers!
 
You know, I've been wondering a lot about Kava Kava root too, kind of for the same reason. At some point within the next few months, I'm going to have to come off clonazepam completely, which I'm not too happy about, and I've thought of using Kava as an alternative, kind of like how I've used Kratom as an alternative to Subs/'Done. One thing I've been worried about it is how toxic it can be for the liver, I've heard some conflicting reports about that and I have Hep C unfortunately. I've also looked into Baclofen, because I read quite a few little studies about how it can be used for the treatment of anxiety after someone has been taken off benzodiazepines. I'm pretty sure there is also some evidence that Baclofen can some how reduce alcohol and cocaine cravings.

Overall though a lot of people seem to respond well to Gabapentin and Lyrica. IMO I find both drugs better for opiate withdrawal, but a lot of people find it helpful for BZD withdrawal as well, and after all they do effect GABA. The good thing about Gabapentin is that it's pretty hard to become physically addicted to it-it's possible but I've been able to take it for months at pretty high dosages and then stop without any problems. Of course, not everyone will be that lucky I suppose, but you can get away with taking it for a lot longer then you can with benzodiazepines.
 
Exhaustion doesn't have much of an effect. I am up for several (2 or 3) days at a time on occasion. I go to the gym for at least an hour and a half a day 7 days a week, sometimes twice a day when I cant sleep. Oddly enough, the only time I can remember not having insomnia was during my tours as a Marine in the middle east. That's pretty counter intuitive... go figure.

Really is what helps is something that makes me "not care" if I fall asleep or not. Its hard to describe how miserable being deprived of sleep for more then 24 hrs is and it happens more often then not to me. Its dreading that misery that keeps me awake. Its aggravating because I know that's the problem, but I don't know how, to not know there is a problem that is a miserable one. Xanax makes me not worry about the misery, sort of like how a few drinks makes me not worry about how big of an idiot I look like if I dance at a night club.
 
Znegative said:
You know, I've been wondering a lot about Kava Kava root too, kind of for the same reason.

I have read that the "Paste" is the most potent, but its not cheap. almost 60 bucks for about a 4 to 6 weeks supply. I figure I may as well just buy that one, if it doesn't work I doubt the lesser options would. I will probably just have to give it a go. I will let you know how it works.
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kava is not toxic to the liver and a great bzd alt. i also recommend skullcap, valerian, mulungu bark and california poppy.. you can even mix em together in different amounts to find what works best for you. blows benzo out of the water. wish i had known more about nature before i get myself hooked on ebnzo years ago. oh well, live and learn i guess.
 
Using a tincture of Kava-Kava by HerbPharm that I found at a local health store worked well for me trying to replace the low dosage of alprazolam that you're on.

I know brand talk's not allowed, but I include it in the name of HR since it is not made with any kava leaf, which is hepatoxic. Rather, it is extracted solely from the root and stem of the plant.
 
^If you are not already physically dependent on benzodiazepines. All the niceties of one of the best antihistamines for anxiety still can't prevent physical benzo withdrawal.
 
MassesForTheOpiate said:
I am prescribed Klonopin for anxiety and take it daily. Only 0.5mg twice daily and as you can probably guess sometimes that it is not enough during acute panic attacks and therefore I run out at least a few days before refill time. I can usually find substitute benzos to get me by till then but at times when I can't sleep and have nothing else, a couple OTC benadryl usual help me calm down enough to get to sleep and even during the day it helps chill my nerves to some degree without making me feel too drowsy. I know people who do the same thing and it may not be the best solution but it's relatively safe and cheap as hell. Hope that helps. Cheers!
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Thanks, I have tried diphenhydramine (Benadryl) it doesn't hurt, but it does nothing once the thought of "I hope I can sleep" enters my mind. Once that happens its pretty much guaranteed that I wont sleep because I feel pressured to sleep and that pressure builds with each minute that passes. Xanax makes me not care about the pressure associated with my dreading insomnia. that seems to be the only surefire solution except Its one that I cant use daily for the foreseeable future.
 
I'm not dependent on them yet... but I will be at some point if I cant find a more permanent solution that can be used daily. That's pretty much where I'm at. I'm trying to avoid having one problem (insomnia) become two problems (insomnia + addiction/dependence) mind tricks, like counting sheep, are useless, just being tired doesn't make much difference and anything that I know that works is either Benzos, which carry risk, or something that has just as much or more risk then Benzos do.

I hate to be a pain in the ass about it, but I know that eventually I will do whatever I need to do to sleep, regardless of the risk or potential harm it may cause. I don't want to reach the point where bad ideas start to sound like good ones. Unless you have experienced going with out sleep more frequently then you are able to sleep, its difficult to understand how much it can effect you
 
ErgicMergic said:
Using a tincture of Kava-Kava by HerbPharm that I found at a local health store worked well for me trying to replace the low dosage of alprazolam that you're on.

I know brand talk's not allowed, but I include it in the name of HR since it is not made with any kava leaf, which is hepatoxic. Rather, it is extracted solely from the root and stem of the plant.
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I think I know what youre referring to. Is the potency 6%?
 
The only permanent solution is therapy, like CBT, drugs are just temporary band aids.
 
I know that Neurontin and Lyrica get all the attention, but - while not exactly "comfort" meds like the other two - topiramate and valproic acid both increase GABA levels quite dramatically and can be very useful when coming off or tapering benzodiazepines.
 
High doses of L-Theanin perhaps ? It certainly calms one down. Cannot comment on euphoric dose ranges, yet.
 
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