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Benzos benzodiazepine half live and dependency

A

Aphex747

Bluelighter
Joined
Mar 13, 2010
Messages
491
Location
US
hey there guys . i recently got prescribed, colnazepam, 1 mg 3xa day. i fond 2mg suits me best so i just dont take anymore for a few days. i try to keep 3 days between uses, and sometimes even 5. im just wondering since the half live is up to 50 hours, how often it can be taken without risking dependance. should i always let the halflife of a benzo dissipate before putting more back in, or does there need to be a week or two off completely every other month or so?? im just trying to get the best effects from my medications and not worry about wd's. i hear 2 mg lasts almost a week in halflife so im nervous to take anymore until i think thr previous half life is gone. im not quite sure i understand how half lives work, in regards to withdrawals, other than shorter HL means a more sever withdrawals so im slightly confused on this subject. if anyone can help me out would be great. im trying to reduce harm to myself and still be able to use my meds as prescribed(or needed if thats a safer way to go) thanks guys, -aphex
 
Shorter half life does not equal more severe withdrawals. Think methadone, buprenorphine, etc.

As far as not getting dependent, I think that's actually more difficult with long-acting medication since you constantly have benzodiazepines on your GABA receptors. If anything's less dependent, even by a tiny amount, I would think that something shorter acting, like say triazolam or alprazolam, where you actually have time with nothing on your receptors, is less likely to cause dependence, but that's just my $0.02
 
tricomb said:
Shorter half life does not equal more severe withdrawals. Think methadone, buprenorphine, etc.

As far as not getting dependent, I think that's actually more difficult with long-acting medication since you constantly have benzodiazepines on your GABA receptors. If anything's less dependent, even by a tiny amount, I would think that something shorter acting, like say triazolam or alprazolam, where you actually have time with nothing on your receptors, is less likely to cause dependence, but that's just my $0.02
Click to expand...

I agree with what your saying about short acting benzos. For some I can see this as being a bit more problematic however. A long acting benzodiazapine will have more constant effects thus leading to potentially more dependence and tolerance than with a short acting benzos. This wont be the case if the User begins to use the shorter acting one more often. If one reduces the time between doses of say aprazolam, then its most likely in their best interest to switch to a moderate or long acting benzodiazapine.
 
Long, medium or short half lifes, all benzos are notorious for taking control of one's life.
At best, taking them only when absolutely needed would be the closest to avoiding dependency and/or withdrawals.
And even this is no guarantee.
 
^Yeah, like I said, if the half life is in any way indicative of dependency risks, I really doubt it's really significant, they ALL induce dependence when taken enough.
 
^yea you guys both have valid points. so if im using to treat anxiety, not popping bars and going to the club to blackout and all that other nonsense. i may want to alternate between. use clonazepam once a week and then after 7 days it will be gone, and im safe to to do it again 1x a week i figure roughly. if i were to take a xanax in the middle of the week, to help me get through till next weeks klonopin, im wondering if that would avoid dependance. i can handle the benzo blues, im just trying to avoid the serious consequences of benzo wd's. id also like to be able to keep enough space between benzo doses, that i dont get that rebound anxiety and the menal CRAVE for that relaxation. it doesnt have its claws in me yet, and im trying to keep it that way, yet use it (almost as) prescribed. for my own benefit. because they do REALLY help me with anxiety and not be all wound up. i have such severe anxiety i get massive muscle spasms in my neck and lower back. im 27 years old and have to do stretches and shit already, Lol. just looking for some good tips. ill pass them on, my brother gets 30mg diazepam a day and hasnt taken a day off in 2 months no matter how much i nag him. so.....i just gotta make sure im keeping myself out of harms way, and im sure alot of prescribed benzo patients who are leery of developing a dependency and would like to know how safely they should wait until the half life is gone.

since i dont need them daily, i think ou have a good recommendation on using a shorter acting on like xanax or etizolam(i like ALOT better, even tho you need to take a little bit more 1mg per 1mg. thanks guys, this will help me understand and maybe i can get through to my older brother before he digs himself into a deeper hole ive put myself in (benzo seizure wd's)
 
Don't nag your brother for diazepam... that's bullshit, don't put your family in that position.

Just sayin bro, I think you're a good guy but that's BS.
 
so tricomb, you mean halflife doesnt necessarily mean if i start overlapping them ill gain dependance? i was under the understanding you had to let the halflife of your most recent benzo leave your sytem before doing another one, or else those gaba receptors are constantly being fed, even if the dose is decreased. would prolly do the body some good to let those gaba receptors work on there own more often than not. im going really reconsider how i use these medications

u must have read me wrong....im trying to tell my brother not to take 30 mg a day. he thinks since its prescribed its okay. he sees a pilldcotor. the better i understand how half lifes and tolerances work in regards to minor wd's the more i can explain and try to make sense to the people i know who abuse them. i would never ask myborther for any of his medication, for the record.

i tried telling my bro he should take a week off, after consuming 210 mg of diazepam in 7 days x3. hes got to have such a high buildiup but hes more hard headed than me by a longshot. he thinks there just going to work forever. ive at least told hima dozen times to go even 3 or 5 days between. im looking out for my brother/friends/family. i dont need people i care about making the same problems i used to make x5. and he drinks beer EVERY time he pops his valium. and hes always told me id wake up not breathing, id hate to see that happen to him. i warned him till i was blue n the face and just realized he wont learn till he gets burned like i did. when your in that state, other people just dont know what theyre talking about.
 
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^I interpreted that to mean you were trying to get him to give you part of his daily dose, my bad for the misunderstanding :)

I just think that having benzodiazepines on your receptors all the time is probably going to cause more problems than ones that are in and out of your system in less than a day.
 
cool thats pretty much whats i was looking for. and i forgive ya bro , i do that shit all the time : ) im just going to take 2mg kpin 1x a week and maybe xanax 1mg or eizolam 2mg 1x a week inbetween kpin days, if i REALLY feel weird. if im in a good mood i look at it as a day i put between my uses. im really trying to not use them alot. but i feel kind of like i need them. i do have anxiety issues. GAD and SAD for a long time. plus it even help my bi polar when i smoke with them, alot. ; )
 
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I'm just being honest and mean no harm.
But reading this thread and specifically the way you are describing your query, it looks like it's going to be a self fulfilling prophecy to dependency.
Again, no offense.
The best answer I can think of is taking your clonazepam when needed (you might not need it 3tid, and then you will have some in reserve so if you DO need to take an extra 1mg ontop of your normal dose it wouldn't be a problem, it might even aleve your anxiety immediately instead of taking 1mg tid and therefore taking more time and doses to get relief.

AND most importantly,,,,forget about the xanax, valium, etizolam - you'll have no chance, it'll drive you crazy and make you dependent.
 
Taking shorter-acting benzodiazepines has been known to contribute to panic disorder itself

I think whatever benzo you take, it will have negative side-effects
 
so if there is still half lived metabolites in the body, for instance, i did 2 mg of clonazepam 2 days ago, its now halflived to 1mg. i take it having the constant metabolites is what forms dependency? im trying to let the clonazepam HL run out of my body before i use it again, but im wondering how long i should let the receptors sit without the benzo metabolites before i use it again. maybe take no more than 2mg 1x a week and take a week off every few months. so i figure roughly i can use 2mg in a day once a week without developing a dependency.
 
I think its usually a five times (5x) half-life when you can consider there isn't much of anything active drugs circulating in your blood. So with clonazepam that would be half-life of 18-50h, median 32h x 5 = 160 hours that is about 6-7 days.

Anyway thats the way I calculate it myself when I'm doing dose reductions with my withdrawals and seems to be working.

Edit: So with clonazepam you would maybe have one or two day a week without any drug in your circulation. I'm not sure though how accurate that theory would be in practise. Personally I would think that you could maybe dose more often without dependency or withdrawals (depending of dose of course).

Maybe you could try doing two weeks or one month 1x clonazepam a week and then be two weeks completely off and watch if you get some minor withdrawals. If not, then you could try next two weeks or one month with 2x clonazepam a week and be two week off and watch again. And seek a frequence of use when you start to get some minor withdrawals and limit your frequency of use under that in future.
 
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once your regular amount is working less, will 7 days off make them work like they used to? a month?
 
^It's going to take much more than 7 days.... or even 30. It will make a significant difference waiting these amounts, but to make them as effective as they first were? Not even close. Try thinking in years.
 
decades even. the longest break i ever took from benzos was something like 18 months, and even after all that time without a single pill, i still had a noticable baseline tolerance.
 
Aphex747 said:
^yea you guys both have valid points. so if im using to treat anxiety, not popping bars and going to the club to blackout and all that other nonsense. i may want to alternate between. use clonazepam once a week and then after 7 days it will be gone, and im safe to to do it again 1x a week i figure roughly. if i were to take a xanax in the middle of the week, to help me get through till next weeks klonopin, im wondering if that would avoid dependance. i can handle the benzo blues, im just trying to avoid the serious consequences of benzo wd's. id also like to be able to keep enough space between benzo doses, that i dont get that rebound anxiety and the menal CRAVE for that relaxation. it doesnt have its claws in me yet, and im trying to keep it that way, yet use it (almost as) prescribed. for my own benefit. because they do REALLY help me with anxiety and not be all wound up. i have such severe anxiety i get massive muscle spasms in my neck and lower back. im 27 years old and have to do stretches and shit already, Lol. just looking for some good tips. ill pass them on, my brother gets 30mg diazepam a day and hasnt taken a day off in 2 months no matter how much i nag him. so.....i just gotta make sure im keeping myself out of harms way, and im sure alot of prescribed benzo patients who are leery of developing a dependency and would like to know how safely they should wait until the half life is gone.

since i dont need them daily, i think ou have a good recommendation on using a shorter acting on like xanax or etizolam(i like ALOT better, even tho you need to take a little bit more 1mg per 1mg. thanks guys, this will help me understand and maybe i can get through to my older brother before he digs himself into a deeper hole ive put myself in (benzo seizure wd's)
Click to expand...

Its a slippery slope man. Im a slave to benzos, mostly clonazepam. I tooked 4mgs a day for 2 years and went cold turkey. That was a very stupid move i basically went psychotic. Im lucky i didnt seizure. The second time i took about 2mgs for a year and did a taper over several months dropping 0.25 every week. This sucked ass but was no where near as bad as going cold turkey.

My point is the craving to "relax" aspect never goes away, ive been taking lorazepam and clonazepam for the last month at about 3 mgs per day due to some multiple bad things happening in my life and im getting dependant again. not to badly physically but mentally im hooked again. For the third time. fml to be precise...I need to stop right now.

My point is, take them ONLY as needed like when you have a panic attack. Or when you need to complete some sort of responsibility that you just cant do without serious serious anxiety .Or for less then 2-3 weeks to get through something completly unbearable like a death in the family etc.

You do not want to end up like me popping 5 mgs of clonazepam and basically feeling like you took 2mgs. Also there are people out there way worse then me and if my experience sucked this bad and is still sucking i can only imagine how awful their shit is going.

Good luck
 
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