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  • BDD Moderators: Keif’ Richards

Detox from Benzodiazepines

R

RedAlert17

Greenlighter
Joined
Apr 26, 2009
Messages
4
I have heard that benzodiazepines are the toughest of all the drugs to detox from after longterm use. I took benzos for 20 years for a severe panic disorder. I took xanax for 8 years and then had to switch to klonopin due to tolerance w/d. After 9 years on klonopin, I had to switch to valium for the same reasons. I almost died trying to come off just .5 mgs of klonopin that I took daily for 9 solid years. I reached tolerance on valium too and now I am trying to cope w/o benzos but I am getting pretty desperate after almost 2 years of no benzos except for maybe valium 20 times or so during the past two years. If anyone else here has taken benzos longterm like I have, I would love to hear of your experiences with this class of drugs. I have heard ppl say that you never develop a tolerance to valium. Is this true? Please tell me what benzo you are taking or have taken and is it possible to ever feel normal again after you have taken these drugs for over 20 years but forced to d/c b/c of problems with tolerance? TIA for any replies. :)

RA
 
You definitely build a tolerance to Valium but it's the best Benzo to be on addiction wise if it's possible. All Benzos are cross-tolerant so Valium is Klonopin is Xanax effectively, although obviously they are different in other ways such as potency, half-life etc.

I wish you luck, you've come most of the way, better than I'd do. :)
 
I am currently on valium and klonopin. Just went off of Xanax recently. Your post scares the shit out of me because I don't want this to happen to me if I am ever taken off for some reason... I started on Xanax with serious panic disorder, and here I am 3 years later. I wish you the best of luck and if you're "not feeling right" you should talk to your dr. Maybe being off of Benzos is not for you...
 
will help..!!

RedAlert17 said:
I have heard that benzodiazepines are the toughest of all the drugs to detox from after longterm use. I took benzos for 20 years for a severe panic disorder. I took xanax for 8 years and then had to switch to klonopin due to tolerance w/d. After 9 years on klonopin, I had to switch to valium for the same reasons. I almost died trying to come off just .5 mgs of klonopin that I took daily for 9 solid years. I reached tolerance on valium too and now I am trying to cope w/o benzos but I am getting pretty desperate after almost 2 years of no benzos except for maybe valium 20 times or so during the past two years. If anyone else here has taken benzos longterm like I have, I would love to hear of your experiences with this class of drugs. I have heard ppl say that you never develop a tolerance to valium. Is this true? Please tell me what benzo you are taking or have taken and is it possible to ever feel normal again after you have taken these drugs for over 20 years but forced to d/c b/c of problems with tolerance? TIA for any replies. :)

RA
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You sound like you need something to help with nerves and or pain ..or you will self medicate with whatever you can get your hands on.Yes you can and will develop a tolerance to valium, but it is manageable. I did the xanax dance too for many,many years.I tried to come off cold turkey and almost died from no sleep and major stress.! ..all that caused me was lots of pain and "TMJ" ..bad TMJ.!! You can get back to feeling normal agian, but not without a small amount of valium. You need to get to a happy medium and deal with the rest on your own terms. Get back on Valium, just a small amount in order to get along. Try 5mg two - four times a day ..also a low dose opiate like hydrocodone 5/10 mg two-three times a day for mood enhancement and or pain relief.I would NOT recommend any stimulants or antidepressants for you.! These things i just told you have helped me LOTS.
Let me know if you are having trouble finding a Doc to see and get these meds prescribed. I had to see a Pain specialist doctor for my meds ..you may have to do the same.
 
I must say that Benzo withdrawal is absolutely fucking hell, worst experience of my life. Makes opiate withdrawal look like a cake walk. Benzo withdrawal just drags on and on way too fucking long.. still getting some physical w/ds at 5 months off benzo's, and I hear it can take up to 2 years or so to fully recover from benzo withdrawal.

I was using benzo's for about 5.5 years, every benzo you name it. For the last year though, it was about 12mg Ativan per day plus 30-60mg Flurazepam per day. :\
 
Supeudol said:
I must say that Benzo withdrawal is absolutely fucking hell, worst experience of my life. Makes opiate withdrawal look like a cake walk. Benzo withdrawal just drags on and on way too fucking long.. still getting some physical w/ds at 5 months off benzo's, and I hear it can take up to 2 years or so to fully recover from benzo withdrawal.

I was using benzo's for about 5.5 years, every benzo you name it. For the last year though, it was about 12mg Ativan per day plus 30-60mg Flurazepam per day. :\
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What do you take now ?? You must be taking some kind of meds ? I still have to take a small amount of Valium. I try not to take it every day but do take it 20days out of 30. I prob need more ..but i just deal.! I find that opiates help me in almost the same way benzos do. Opiates relax me and improve my overall mood just as good or more than benzos. ..anyone else feel this way ??
 
I've been on benzodiazepines for 10 years and I'm currently tapering. Right now I'm on Klonopin but have switched around from Xanax and Valium for the same reasons as you.

I've successfully tapered off benzos twice. My first attempt I went no longer than a few months because I couldn't function at all, I'd come in and out of reality. My second attempt tapering off Xanax I was abstinent for 1.5 years. The withdrawals never really went away. I'd still get mild muscle spasms, twitching, restless legs and of course still experienced the anxiety I originally felt. I was still able to function but never to my full potential. Once going back to school my lingering withdrawals became just too bothersome and I went back onto the benzos, this time Klonopin.

My amount of Klonopin, like all other of the benzodiazepines, slowly increased into excessively high doses. My maximum dose was 10mg/daily and its taken a year or so of tapering just to get down to the 1mg dose that I am on now. Its been rough, I experience withdrawals as I speak. I want to get off it to get my memory, cognitive functioning and coordination back. Addiction to benzodiazepines is basically like being drunk everyday. Its like taking dry alcohol only you don't notice it with exception to the side effects that it is causing.

Benzodiazepines have become the biggest bitch of my life.
 
I have heard ppl say that you never develop a tolerance to valium. Is this true?
RA
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Definitely not. After I abused Valium for roughly two weeks and had a few very high doses a month or two before, 100mg of valium felt light, almost subtle.
I had also abused Zopiclone for a few months before I began abusing Valium, and I strongly suspect that it increased my tolerance to valium as well.
Almost every drug produces tolerance. Some of them (such as Salvia) can produce reverse-tolerance, probably because the users learn to explore the drugs without as much confusion, the drug has caused psychological trauma which is triggered when it's re-used, or the user has damaged himself so much that his body can't process the drug properly.

In my opinion, be healthy in every way you can and stop using all drugs, and you will slowly recover from psychological problems. Continuing to medicate yourself will probably cause more problems than simply living a healthy life and learning to deal with your problems.
Good luck!
 
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Once I was professionally tapered by my psychiatrist off a 1 year daily 4-6mg Klonopion intake. it took like 7 months or so, the very end looked like this:

.25mg daily for 2 weeks
.125mg daily for 2 weeks
.062mg daily for 3 weeks
.062mg every other day for 2 weeks
then I stepped off and I was scared outta my mind I wouldn't make it but I did, there were no withdrawals.

Klonpin is the best to use to taper with because it has the longest half life and gives you the smoothest transition.

The next time I got hooked I wasn't so lucky. I had gotten into the international pharmacy ordering scene and I was gobbling stupid amounts of pills, all kinds of benzo's until the point when I almost could not feel them anymore. And all the while I'm having a hardcore heroin habit on top of that. Well the house of cards crashed in and I had 3 days in a detox then I was out at a shitty homeless halfway house going C/T off all that at the same time and I tell you I am not kidding that I was not able to eat food and was wide awake for 3 and half weeks straight and the auditory and visual hallucinations and tremors were really something to behold. I thought for sure I would die. It was like a permanent supply of electricity was charging through my veins. All I knew was that I did want to survive through it.

That one took a year before I was back to normal but I did get back to "normal" eventually. You'll get there.

to the OP the main thing is for sure you just gotta get a psychiatrist, don't go through that hell. And if you can't get of the stuff because you used for so many years, then just stay on indefinitely, what's the problem with that? There's at least 2 psych meds rxd to me that I know I will be dependent on for the rest of my life, one is an anti-depressant, Lexapro. All other SSRI's failed miserably for me except for that one and it's a life saver to me. Nothin to be ashamed of.
 
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