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  • BDD Moderators: Keif’ Richards

can etizolam impare memory of earlier in the night before dosing

joe456

Bluelighter
Joined
Nov 24, 2010
Messages
127
After taking psychedelics/ stimulants I sometimes have an etizolam and a small amount of alcohol right before going to bed to help me sleep. Could this impair memory of the night before taking it? Also would the same apply to drinking a lot at an afterparty? I don't drink large amounts at once any more any more, just curious about this one lol.
 
This is a very good question and I don't think it has been determined one way or the other. Obviously benzos and alcohol can cause anterograde amnesia - loss of memories from the time while you were under their influence - but can they cause retrograde amnesia, loss of memories from before you took the benzo or drank the alcohol (etizolam is not technically a benzo but close enough). This has been the subject of a number of studies but they tend to have varying or inconclusive results and there are none specific to etizolam. People have reported it as a side effect though.
 
I don't think it's been fully studied but from personal experience yes it can completely wipe memories from even before dropping the tablets. I seem to get patchy memories from around 4-5 hours before taking my benzos if I have a high dose. If I had of been drinking and then taken benzos, everything I could remember while being slightly drunk would be gone.

As your STM takes a while to process to LTM, I think benzos can disrupt and stop this happening even from events before taking the benzos.
 
^ That makes sense. I've never noticed retrograde amnesia myself from benzos, (but I never take "high" doses or mix them with alcohol), so my answer was just based on the studies and reports from other people. Of course it's always hard to know if I had very mild amnesia, I wouldn't know unless there was evidence of something happening and I realized I had no recollection of it.

It might also depend on the benzo (and the dose obviously), as some studies actually found specific benzos to improve memories of events from just before taking the drug.
 
yeah based on my experience big time but depends on the benzo. Some are worse than others. There are periods of months were i dont remember things from phenazepam and clonazepam but valium/lorazepam/etizolam don't give me these issues, regardless of dose. Then again my tolerance is high. I remember things quite well even though i take etizolam daily.
 
i think benzos can cause retrograde amnesia, well i thought, but just read a study saying there was no "proof" that benzos cause retrograde amnesia, however depending on the benzo, it's half life and dosage, you could be constantly having the molecule in your system without actually feeling the effect of the benzo, which could explain retrograde amnesia...

or it could be something else, dunno
 
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yeah based on my experience big time but depends on the benzo. Some are worse than others. There are periods of months were i dont remember things from phenazepam and clonazepam but valium/lorazepam/etizolam don't give me these issues, regardless of dose. Then again my tolerance is high. I remember things quite well even though i take etizolam daily.
I thought tolerance does not build to the Amnestic effects of Benzos..
 
@pally pete: if you have a source showing that then i'd like to see it but IME tolerance to amnesic effects just develop more slowly than the tolerance to other effects. ie. 12 mg of clonazepam wont even make me black out or forget anything anymore. At first i'd lose a day or two from a dose like that.
 
I think you build tolerance to all effects of benzos - including the amnesic effects. I know that I would suffer blackouts and memory gaps using 2-3mg of xanax in a night, sometimes forgetting everything. Recently I took 15mg in a night (stupid, I know) and can remember all of the night.
 
Your brain process, packages, and stores memories from the day when you sleep, mostly during REM sleep. Benzos ans alcohol are known to inhibit REM sleep, which is part of the reason that when you wake up the next day, its hard to remember what you did the day before.

Check out this wiki page
http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sleep_and_memory
 
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