• BASIC DRUG
    DISCUSSION
    Welcome to Bluelight!
    Posting Rules Bluelight Rules
    Benzo Chart Opioids Chart
    Drug Terms Need Help??
    Drugs 101 Brain & Addiction
    Tired of your habit? Struggling to cope?
    Want to regain control or get sober?
    Visit our Recovery Support Forums
  • BDD Moderators: Keif’ Richards

Benzo withdrawal delay

d3Xo-fan

d3Xo-fan

Bluelighter
Joined
May 6, 2007
Messages
231
Location
In my head
Hi,

My doctor at the rehab center I go to (we are all assigned a doctor who specializes in substance abuse) once told me that it could take up to a month before benzodiazepine withdrawals began after stopping cold turkey. Do any of you have an explanation for this? And is this the case with all benzos or just a select few with an extra long half life, such as clonazepam and diazepam? Or could this apply to benzos such as alprazolam or triazolam?

Personally I don't take benzos every day and I have no problem abstaining from them for over a week, but that's about the longest I have kept away from them these past few years.


// deXo
 
Have you read thew Ashton Manual ?

Ashton Manual

This gives about the best advice I've ever come across on the whole Benzo use and WD subject, AFAIK this is the de facto document despite its age.
 
I believe I have stumbled across it before, but I wouldn't go as far as to say I've read it. But it seems it is more relevant to people who want to quit benzos and need help to do so. Please note that I am not trying to quit benzos and I don't think I am addicted to them physically; my question is purely hypothetical and I am simply looking for a scientific explanation for why benzo withdrawals can in some instances be delayed even after they have been eliminated from the body, since this is definitely not the case with other types of drugs, for example opiates. But I appreciate you showing me the page still :)
 
Diazepam has a half life of up to 100 hours, so I can see why withdrawals could be delayed there, especially after long term use - but you're talking days really, not a month. I can't think why acute withdrawals would be delayed that long (wouldn't be acute then really anyway haha) - it makes no sense as the withdrawals are caused by changes to your neurotransmitter and receptor levels due to exposure to benzos, then subsequent removal of said benzos - so once they are out of your system the WDs should kick in.

Were they perhaps talking about rebound anxiety, which could persist for longer especially if you were anxious before starting treatment? Or psychological cravings - which could feasibly peak later on, although most people find them worse earlier than that..
 
Well I suppose my doctor could have been talking about psychological w/d's, and since it has been months since our conversation I can't remember exactly what he said, but I'm pretty sure we were talking about the physical withdrawals. I agree, when the drugs are out of your systems you would think the w/d's would kick in, and that's why I asked my doctor how it could be possible that the w/d's would be delayed for up to a month, and he replied that it wasn't known yet by physicians/scientists.
 
Believe it or not, benzo withdrawal doesn't occur in some people AT ALL. Yes there are delayed withdrawals, there are immediate and for a lucky few there are no withdrawals at all. A lot of people don't know that. In fact, up to 50% of patients will experience either very little or no withdrawals at all. So it's a bit of a shock as to how quickly some people get withdrawals from benzos on here (after only a week of use, for example). I have been taking alprazolam (short-acting benzo) for a bit over 5 years now and there are days where I don't take any pills at all. I'll usually take a 1 day break from all benzos here and there and I don't wake up the next morning dying of withdrawals. In fact, I usually feel just fine and refreshed. Before I got this new doctor, I was seeing another psychiatrist who had me on prazepam & triazolam for sleep for 1 year. So I've been on benzo's for over 6 years legitimately. I used to abuse them before I got anything from any doctor, so I've been a benzo user for a long, long time.

Read this study for more info.
 
Last edited:
I use clonazepam daily and can manage up to 2 days without it before any WD symptoms start. Clonazepam has a very long half-life, up to 50 hours, which explains it. When I used alprazolam the WD symptoms would start to kick in a few hours after a missed dose.
 
Ashton mentions and references many other studies in the link I posted regarding protracted withdrawal type symptoms a year or more on from ceasing the drug. But I've not read or heard of any information that suggests that you could stop taking Benzos with no ill effects and them suddenly a month later go into withdrawal.

Even to me, with virtually no medical knowledge I would have to question how that could happen.

I have heard of people that seem not to suffer and WDs from Benzos, the problem with that is how do you find out of you are in that group safely ?, I'll stick to my taper thanks, having a seizure is never a good look ;)
 
This thread scares me. I don't want to have withdrawals from the benzos I did last month.

Cyanoide said:
I use clonazepam daily and can manage up to 2 days without it before any WD symptoms start. Clonazepam has a very long half-life, up to 50 hours, which explains it. When I used alprazolam the WD symptoms would start to kick in a few hours after a missed dose.
Click to expand...

Yeah clonazepam W/Ds have always kicked in 2-3 days and last about 2-3 days for me.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top