Benzos Do you think my usage of drugs over the years has fucked up my brain permanently?

[Ringo88]

I abused Adderall for about 5-6 years. I would always run out of my script early, and basically stayed up all night playing video games and doing other random crap.

I smoked pot almost daily for 7 years, Cigarettes for about 6 on and off. Been off the smokes for about 2 years.

Now, I've been on Benzos for about 3 years. I abused Xanax originally, that's what got me on them. I've come all the way down to 8mg of Valium a day, which makes me proud, but I've got to keep going. I was once on the equivalent of 60mg Diazepam a day.

I've also taken SSRIs for about 8 years. Almost every one of them, though I'm on 10mg Lexapro right now.

I have really bad anxiety. I don't drink, because I'm trying to get off benzos, so being social is hard.

Sometimes I feel like my brain is permanently fucked up. I keep going down the path of smoking weed, but they almost always cause me anxiety/panic attacks now.

As I type this, I'm on 20mg of Hydro, which has me feeling nice. This is the most I take, and I take around every 5-6 days or so, sometimes longer.

I think both Adderall and Benzos have had a profound effect on my brain. I feel like life isn't real sometimes, or that I'm just trapped inside my head. It sucks, I feel like no one else can relate, but I know that's not true.

Any advice any of you guys could give me? Sorry for the long post, I'm feeling great from this Hydro, and felt like talking about this.

 

[burn out]

benzos will seriously fuck up your brain, like for years man, i am six year clean off benzo and still have some brain damage. however its gotten a lot better. you are not permamenlty damaged, if you stop using drugs your brain will recover but it will take time. you might not ever get to 100% how you were before drugs but you can definitely get to where you are feeling good and healthy again. it takes more than simply not using drugs though to heal though in some cases. for instance i needed to learn more positive ways of thinking and different coping mechanisms, i needed to eat healthier and sleep more, and i needed to find other interests.

i still use herbs these days, like cannabis, skullcap, kava, valerian, etc but i no longer use benzo or heroin or crack.

 

[poloblue]

Ya ur deff not alone bro.

 

[Tinker55]

There's a lot of information out there, some conflicting, about the consequences of long-term benzo use. Google it and be prepared for dozens of results. Smoking weed everyday also has consequences. Time. maybe some brain retraining like in cognitive therapy can help. Social anxiety is a variant of normal, so don't let that panic you.

Eat healthy, exercise and keep tapering. Maybe put away the weed and opies for a while. Give the brain time to heal.

 

[Mracid]

I think your dopaminergic neurons are a little fuzzy. Benzo can fuck up memory and sometimes other things. SSRI can damage Serotonin neurons at overuse. Weed is harmless damage wise.

Solutions to some of the side effects and to some of the damage (not all): nootropics such as Racetams, noopept, Semax etc.

Nootropics seem to be efficient at increasing brain power but it has been found to be even better at building it back.

 

[TAVOR]

^I don't really get why people consider weed totally harmless. It may be physically (not if you smoke) but it isn't psychologically.

It can trigger depression, anxiety and other psychological disorders such as schizofrenia and bipolarism. It has already been proven by several studies.

But I totally agree on the racetams, they're pretty good and can improve your focus and memory.

 

[Crashing]

Weed, candy, meth, anything can be abused. It's not the weed, it's the weed-head. If you take it for any predictable reason, it's an addictive behavior. I've noticed that a combination of SSRI + Benzos is very likely to erase ones personality and memory completely. It can be reversed if you stop early, but people who are on this combination for the better half of their lives seem to be imprisoned.

 

[BasX]

Yes.

 

[BasX]

Whether that translates to noticeable effects in another story. But ask yourself, would you be the exact same right now had you never done drugs?

 

[Mracid]

^I don't really get why people consider weed totally harmless. It may be physically (not if you smoke) but it isn't psychologically.

It can trigger depression, anxiety and other psychological disorders such as schizofrenia and bipolarism. It has already been proven by several studies.

But I totally agree on the racetams, they're pretty good and can improve your focus and memory.

Thats why I added the Damage-wise comment. Because I don't think psychological disorders are damage since they don't need physical regeneration to be cured. Also it is pretty rare that cannabis ALONE will cause anything. It is usually something that either enhance or decrease the intensity of things.