Benzos Diazepam 'safe window'

[cozmicbullet]

Hi, my friend got 150 activis diazepam (legit) and has taken 72- 10mg tablets over the space of 23 days. How will affect his body? He doesn't plan to take them all in a continuous peroid. He justs likes to relax as he has anxiety and it helps a great deal.He is averaging around 3-10mg tablets a day but sometimes 5- 10mgs at the weekend. He just wants to know what the 'safe window' is with such a drug. It has definitely been 72 tablets over the space of 23 days. Do you think when he stops he will suffer heavy withdrawl systoms i.e panic, depression, seizures? How long can he take such a drug without becoming PHYSICALLY dependent? Thanks in advance CB

 

[sekio]

Benzos are generally meant to be taken in limited doses over a period of not more than 2 weeks to avoid dependence. Taking 30-50mg a day for three weeks is a pretty solid habit. So yeah, he should expect to feel pretty wierd when he stops. Probably not seizure and death territory, but he's not going to feel like sunshine.

Using benzodiazepines to deal with anxiety without any sort of therapy or lifestyle changes associated with them is no better than binge drinking to relieve your problems. It burns people more than it helps them in the long term.

If he has some left you can just taper off to avoid most of the pain, by reducing your dose slowly every 1-2 days. Take 30mg a day for a few days, 20mg the next few days, 10mg the last few, 5mg if you have to a few days after that, then stop. Diazepam hangs around in the body for a fairly long time so it should be easier than dealing with Xanax withdrawal because blood concentrations will change slowly.

 

[cozmicbullet]

Thanks for your advice. Ive heard 4 weeks, 2 weeks, 1 week from all different people. He has enough to taper off, 56 left. but wants to keep some for a rainy day incase of any anxiety attacks. He feels that his use throughout this period has been beneficial as he has been able to open up more and be forthcoming about certain issues which has helped a lot cause its been a tough time for him. He is an intelligent person and does not want to remain dependent on any medication. He was just curious as to the dangers of cold turkey/tapering off at this particular stage.

 

[sekio]

Everyone is different when it comes to benzo usage, and it also depends on the intensity of usage. Hypothetically, taking 10mg a day is sustainable for longer than taking 100mg a day.

If you've got enough to taper than it's probably a good idea to at least try. Most people will find BZD withdrawal pretty unpleasant if they are using it to combat anxiety in the first place.

 

[Lightning-Nl]

In addition to what sekio said - I HIGHLY recommend that you obtain a prescription for 'Hydroxyzine'. It's not addictive, it's not a controlled substance, and side-effects are minimal. It's basically a REALLY watered down antipsychotic. It only has high affinities for H1 (histamine) receptors. It's adrenergic, dopaminergic, and serotonergic half-maximal inhibitory affinities are all 270+.

 

[phatass]

I think there will be some rebound anxiety more or less severe... tell your friend to take a break for a week now to see how he feels, and then can decide if he wants to continue using at that rate.

 

[Lorne???]

Benzos are generally meant to be taken in limited doses over a period of not more than 2 weeks to avoid dependence. Taking 30-50mg a day for three weeks is a pretty solid habit. So yeah, he should expect to feel pretty wierd when he stops. Probably not seizure and death territory, but he's not going to feel like sunshine.

Using benzodiazepines to deal with anxiety without any sort of therapy or lifestyle changes associated with them is no better than binge drinking to relieve your problems. It burns people more than it helps them in the long term.

If he has some left you can just taper off to avoid most of the pain, by reducing your dose slowly every 1-2 days. Take 30mg a day for a few days, 20mg the next few days, 10mg the last few, 5mg if you have to a few days after that, then stop. Diazepam hangs around in the body for a fairly long time so it should be easier than dealing with Xanax withdrawal because blood concentrations will change slowly.

Diazepam may have a long half-life, but it has a *very* short duration of action, due to it's high lipid solubility. Remember that with benzodiazepines, the half-life is almost irrelevant to the duration of effects.

With that said, diazepam is mild, but at 30-50mg per day, they're will most certainly be dt symptoms. You should really taper down. I would suggest switching to something with a longer duration, like lorazepam if you want to quit completely, but as I said, diazepam is pretty mild, so lowering your dose would be the simplest course of action.

 

[Lorne???]

But I just have to disagree with xanax(alprazolam) withdrawal being "worse" than diazepam. Again, diazepam is very mild. 1mg alprazolam(or acute clonazepam) is (roughly) equal to 20mg diazepam. So you have people taking 3-6mg of alprazolam(or even more) per day, and it's no suprise that the dt's are terrible. I mean, 4mg Xanax=80 Valium, you do the math. But coming off of an equal diazepam dose(100mgs or more per day) is simply terrible. Alprazolam holds longer than diazepam does.
IME, Lorazepam is the easiest benzo to come off. Clonazepam can also be tapered down, though you have to be more careful. Those are both drugs with a slow onset, and a (relatively) long duration of action.

On the other hand, diazepam has a very fast onset, and a short duration of action, which are two key factors in determining a drug's abuse potential.