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  • BDD Moderators: Keif’ Richards

Benzo Tolerance

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d3Xo-fan

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May 6, 2007
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Before you say it, let me just tell you. I know! There are thousands of this particular kind of thread on this forum, and as a matter of fact I just read in one that I might as well just have participated in instead of creating a whole new thread altogether, but I'd like my question and answers isolated for an easy overview.

Here is my situation: I am prescribed 1mg of Alprazolam everyday. I don't take them daily; I tend to build up a stack over, say, 2-4 days and then take however many I have. Obviously I do this to get high. And I do get 'high', although barely noticeably. I feel the anxiety-diminishing effects and the sedating effects from 2mgs and more. On certain days, I can even get an effect (oddly enough, a stimulating one) off of 1mg Alprazolam.

Hence, I have a tolerance, but it is not a gigantic one. As I said, I can go days without the benzo without having withdrawals. But I have a tolerance, there's no doubt about that. Two days ago I took 3mg Alprazolam and 10mg Flunitrazepam (yes, 10 x 1mg 'rohypnols', although they are called Flunipam where I live, not that that matters) and it did not knock me out all that hard. I clearly felt the effects, but the first time I took 2mg of Flunitrazepam I fainted while walking, so I do not have a 'natural tolerance' to benzos.

Now that I have explained all of these factors, I can get on to my real issue: I want to zero out my tolerance to benzos. I don't need you to tell me to stay away from them, that's a given, but if I quit cold turkey (IF -- please don't lecture me on the risks), how long would you estimate it would take until my tolerance was back to normal?

On a last note, yesterday I took 2mg of Triazolam without feeling much, except a grave feeling of tiredness which is the drug's primary effect, so nothing strange about that, but 2mg of Triazolam should knock a horse out, just to give you a picture of what dosages I can handle.

I can take 3mg Alprazolam + 10mg Flunitrazepam and still function stay awake, although THAT dose/combiation makes me very impaired, and I can take 2mg of Triazolam and just feel like I have taken some medium-strength sleeping pill.
 
Benzo tolerance likes to stick around. Benzos don't really get you "high", but obviously have recreational value. Try to enjoy them for what they do, relax you, calm you down, get to sleep. Even if you don't feel it so much, doesn't mean it isn't working.
 
Now that I have explained all of these factors, I can get on to my real issue: I want to zero out my tolerance to benzos. I don't need you to tell me to stay away from them, that's a given, but if I quit cold turkey (IF -- please don't lecture me on the risks), how long would you estimate it would take until my tolerance was back to normal?

I'm not going to lecture about the risks, but because this is a harm reduction forum, I feel that I should mention them anyway. Quitting benzos cold turkey could result in seizures. It is advised that you do a taper, that will greatly increase your chances of being successful with quitting benzos. Either way, your tolerance will stick around for a while, but if you do a taper then it will be at least be easier.

As far as an exact time for how long it will take your tolerance to "zero out", it's quite hard to tell, could be months, or maybe even a year. Your best bet is to speak to a doctor who is experienced with benzo addiction and tapering. I'm going to leave this open, there are a lot of BLers with benzo experience, and hopefully they can chime in and share their experiences with you as far as how long it took them to get their benzo tolerance down.

Hope this helps!

-NT
 
Hi Alex and NeighborhoodThread,

Thank you for your replies! But if someone can go an indefinite number of days without benzos, would that not mean that no dependence and thus no tolerance is present?

And thank you for keeping this thread open. The reason why I asked not to be told about the risks was not to sound ignorant or naive, but I simply already know about the risks involved. Particularly the seizures (which as we both know can in extreme cases be fatal) scare me a bunch.

Also, does the half life of the particular benzo not play an important role in the tolerance/dependence development? My doc said there was one good thing about switching from clonazepam to alprazolam: the much shorter half life. According to him that should make it less addictive, probably because no/less accumulation of the drug occurs.
 
If you stopped taking benzos for a long long time, then yes, your tolerance would eventually go back down, but the amount of time is nearly impossible to tell with certainty.

The half-life thing is a double-edged sword. On one hand, your doctor is entirely right, having a short-acting benzo means there isn't any accumulation of the benzo if used over the long term. However, the downside of this is that the benzo wears off quickly, and if you take alprazolam for a long time, you'll actually go into "mini-withdrawals" between each dosage. This is why most doctors prescribe a long-acting benzo for benzo tapering (such as diazepam).
 
I see. Thank you so much. But I'll be honest with ya, I think I'm a lot more dependant on benzos that I realize. And that my tolerance is way higher than previously estimated. This is because I can easily take 2mg of Triazolam (which as far as my knowledge goes is either the strongest benzo or second to Brotizolam) and still stay awake, although when I did that the day before yesterday I got pretty giddy, funny since the time before that I felt nothing.

Again, thank you all for your answers. I know there's only one way to go: tell my doc to stop writing me benzos. Or to taper me off. That's two ways, now that I think of it... Problem is, as long as I have benzos near me, I'll stash 'em so I can take several at once. It's really quite strange. It's the same with the opiates. Only reason why I'm tapering off Subutex (went from 8 to 4mgs) is so I can achieve a high from putting an 8mg under my toungue again. And of course I haven't told my doctor this. I have no problem reducing tolerance or dependance; I'm actually quite good at it, if only I could use that ability more creationally.

Edit: Fixed a typo
 
Benzo tolerance discussions are ALL OVER bluelight. There are literally over 200 threads that talk about benzo tolerance.

Please use the search function before you start a topic.

For that reason, I am closing this thread.
 
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