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  • BDD Moderators: notsmokeymcpot42088

etizolam 0.5mg every night for chronic insomnia

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spaniard

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Hi guys i have been takin 0.5 every night for sleep sometimes i switch to 3.75mg zopiclone to try curb tolerance etc. I have been using this every night for about 4 months at this low dose never anymore. My question is how detrimental to health are these tablets at this dose? Are there likely to be liver issues etc at this dose over an extended period of time?? I currently study law at uni and i am in no position to try quit them now til my studies are over..i must admit i do get the odd drug free sleep at the weekends. Thanks guys.
 
I have struggled with insomnia for years, I spent the last four years studying clinical pharmacology and often relied on some form of sleep aid.
I can tell you that the health risks at the dosage your consuming are minimul. You will not be putting your liver, kidneys, heart or other organs at risk.
The bigger problem with benzodiazapines and z-drugs (zolpiclone being one) is the dependence and in cases of heavy use mild-severe withdrawals.

At your current dosage one shouldn't expect to experience any withdrawals, though dependence could happen. Insomnia may come back worse than before taking a sleep aid. This is typically temporary but can be a problem.

Your tolerence has most likely risen to the point that a small dose of 3.75mg is utterly ineffective. Moving up to 5mg or 7.5 would most likely give u the desired sedative effects. Try and limit usage as much as possible to slow progression of tolerence.

Hopefully when the stress and pressures of school lighten, sleep will once again come naturally.
 
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Just be aware that etizolam is not technically a benzodiazepine. This is why it is a research chemical: research needs to be done on it.

For the above poster to give you such information is benign at best. It is NOT a benzo, it has not received the same study as any approved drug. So to spew "facts" about it that are truly not facts at all is not a good idea. One would think someone who spent 4 years studying clinical pharmacology would be aware of such a distinction.

yes they have similar effects, yes it is a SIMILAR drug as it is an analog. But to say that "these are the effects of this drug, that has not been studied extensively" is foolish in my opinion. It is unscheduled, there have been no large scale studies done in the USA on this drug, so how ANYONE can tell you it will have this/that effect, in particular long term, is in a word: impossible.

Thats like claiming "Well JWH will have not have long term effects because cannabis does not," despite there being overwhelming evidence to the contrary. Just because it is an analog and may function similarly, does not in any way, shape, or form, mean they are identical, or will have identical effects.

If there is VERIFIABLE STUDIES to back up the above posters claims, then you can take it as gospel. There ARE STUDIES done in Russia I believe. BUT, its an RC in the USA for a reason. As with any RC, when you take it you in essence become a guinea pig.

This means that YOU will be the one telling people in the future what detrimental effects it had on you, your liver, etc.
 
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^ dude etizolam is a thienodiazepine, which is a benzodiazepine analog. it behaves similarly the benzos, it has good hypnotic properties with mood lifting effects (suspected inhibition of 5HTP?). it acts a full-agonist at benzodiazepine receptors, so it should be expected to act similarly to a benzo. however,there are some main differences due to the fact that etizolam belongs to a new class of benzos, thienodiazepines. characteristics of thienodiazepines include easy oxidation, rapidly metabolization, and having a lower risk of accumulation.
 
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I don't really consider etizolam to be a research chemical. Several brands have been on the market for years and are currently used in Japan, India, Italy and a few other countries. If there were any strange long term effects they would most likely have been documented. I have been using it at .5 - 1mg most nights far around a year and as long as I take breaks it works well. An important thing to remember is that if it dosen't work as well as it used to, don't increase the dose. Instead, find something else to help you sleep and take a break. I find that eating a bananna on an empty stomach helps. I've not gotten any serious WD issues myself, just a few instances of slightly increased anxiety in certain situations, for which I will take a small dose of etizolam if needed, this has been only a couple of instances though.

As for there being "no large scale studies" in the USA, that means absolutely squat when you see that year after year the FDA approves new drugs only to find out later that the drug was in fact dangerous and the pharm companies only published the papers that made the drug look good and swept the others under the rug. They pay out a few lawsuits (a tiny fraction of their profit) and go on their buisiness as usual. So I would trust the fact that it has been used overseas without any issues over studies funded by profit hungry pharma companies in the US.

My point is, with a little common sense, etizolam is most likely a relatively safe medicine. Dependency is likely the biggest risk that should be taken into consideration. It should be treated and used as a medicine.
 
DooMMooD, I agree I cant say for certain that the op's current dose isn't putting his liver,kidney ect, at risk. I should have said, it poses little threat to those organs at the current dosage.

You are completely over scrutinizing my response for what appears the sake of argument or display of your superior knowledge. Stating that a concern with benzodiazapines and z-drugs is the possibility of dependence, tolerance, and withdrawals/rebound symptoms, while discussing the drug Etizolam, is by no means inaccurate or misleading.

Yes, Etizolam is in the class of thienobenzodiazapines not benzodiazapines. However, Etizolam, just like it close relatives "traditional benzodiazapines" is shown to produce dependence, tolerance, and withdrawal symptoms with extended use. The "fact" remains that its unknown if drugs like Etizolam have benefits over their counterparts (benzodiazapines) when it comes to abuse potential and dependence. So you accusing me that the information I gave about the possibility of dependence, tolerence, and withdrawals, as being benign at best, was false and misleading information.
 
I did point out an error, which you agree with. Lets not get into a back and fourth here. Feel free to correct any of my own mistakes.

You should be open to correction, just as I am. My own knowledge is woefully lacking; yours should be much stronger, and I would seriously, not a single scrap of sarcasm intended, love to learn from someone who has the knowledge.

I profess I don't know dick past what I know, and that no one knows dick about certain things. I simply wanted to point out an error as I saw it. I myself have been corrected on many occasions, because I do not know pharmacology past what I have taught myself. I'm sure theres much of my own shit you could correct to, and any time please feel free. I want to be able to give the best possible information; in particular this is needed here as it is in regards to long term effects on his health.

We should be giving the best information possible, regardless of the source. This is impossible to disagree with as I see it. Feel free to correct any of my own errors any time. I love learning the truths, the facts, and I feel its important to be aware of them at all times. That way in the future I do not make the same mistakes I was once guilty of.

No bullshit.
 
DoomMood, etizolam is used in medicine in a number of countries. It is referred to as a benzodiazepine in many contexts because its action is that of a benzodiazepine. In effect, it is a novel benzodiazepine.
 
Indeed. Etizolam isn't exactly an RC because it is an approved drug in some countries. Just because its not approved in the U.S. doesn't mean its not approved in other places.

OP, just so you know, zopiclone (and another "nonbenzodiazepine" hypnotics like zolpidem) are at least partially cross-tolerant with benzodiazepines (it can be assumed this applies to etizolam as well.
 
^ Etizolam is the one categorized as a hypnotic, so I'd go with that. Alprazolam's half-life is not too shabby for a sleeping med, but it causes more rebound effects than other benzodiazepines, making it ill-equipped for any regularity of use. Also, I seem to recall reading that etizolam interferes with deep sleep to a lesser degree than most benzodiazepines, which means that the quality of sleep you get with etizolam will be far superior. Keep in mind though that etizolam is not a long-term solution for insomnia, and it still has negative effects on quality of sleep.
 
DooMMooD said:
I did point out an error, which you agree with. Lets not get into a back and fourth here. Feel free to correct any of my own mistakes.

You should be open to correction, just as I am. My own knowledge is woefully lacking; yours should be much stronger, and I would seriously, not a single scrap of sarcasm intended, love to learn from someone who has the knowledge.

I profess I don't know dick past what I know, and that no one knows dick about certain things. I simply wanted to point out an error as I saw it. I myself have been corrected on many occasions, because I do not know pharmacology past what I have taught myself. I'm sure theres much of my own shit you could correct to, and any time please feel free. I want to be able to give the best possible information; in particular this is needed here as it is in regards to long term effects on his health.

We should be giving the best information possible, regardless of the source. This is impossible to disagree with as I see it. Feel free to correct any of my own errors any time. I love learning the truths, the facts, and I feel its important to be aware of them at all times. That way in the future I do not make the same mistakes I was once guilty of.

No bullshit.
Click to expand...

I do understand what your saying, i admit i could have said things a bit better. I still dont think it was necessary on your part.
 
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As long as you're fully versed in the risks of benzo dependence, tolerence, addiction and withdrawal and that at some point you WILL have to stop taking it and you WILL go through possibly years of agony and possible protracted withdrawals, then go right ahead.

If you you're not I'd suggest you get on it.

Also, seeing as how you don't have a legitimate prescription, what do you plan on doing should your supply be cut off?

I take klonopin daily but I've had a script for a year so I don't have to worry.

You may be labled a drug user, be thrown into a detox center given a harsh 3 day phenobarbital treatment and then left to deal with it for another year of protracted withdrawal. Quite inhumane, but that's your worst case scenario.

You're better off finding a psychiatrist you trust.
 
Sounds like addiction and reliance would be the only issues at that dosage. Does zopiclone do the trick? If so why not switch to that if you really can not sleep properly sober at the moment.

What is the reason you can not sleep sober?
 
DooMMooD said:
Just be aware that etizolam is not technically a benzodiazepine. This is why it is a research chemical: research needs to be done on it.

For the above poster to give you such information is benign at best. It is NOT a benzo, it has not received the same study as any approved drug. So to spew "facts" about it that are truly not facts at all is not a good idea. One would think someone who spent 4 years studying clinical pharmacology would be aware of such a distinction.

yes they have similar effects, yes it is a SIMILAR drug as it is an analog. But to say that "these are the effects of this drug, that has not been studied extensively" is foolish in my opinion. It is unscheduled, there have been no large scale studies done in the USA on this drug, so how ANYONE can tell you it will have this/that effect, in particular long term, is in a word: impossible.

Thats like claiming "Well JWH will have not have long term effects because cannabis does not," despite there being overwhelming evidence to the contrary. Just because it is an analog and may function similarly, does not in any way, shape, or form, mean they are identical, or will have identical effects.

If there is VERIFIABLE STUDIES to back up the above posters claims, then you can take it as gospel. There ARE STUDIES done in Russia I believe. BUT, its an RC in the USA for a reason. As with any RC, when you take it you in essence become a guinea pig.

This means that YOU will be the one telling people in the future what detrimental effects it had on you, your liver, etc.
Click to expand...

Etizolam is a precribed drug in the UK. If you are getting brand name etizolam tablets that are in the 10 packs that you pop them out from, you are taking a perfectly safe drug.

You sound like a cooc with the totally unnecessary rant you just went on, as you are apparently unaware that etizolam is approved and prescribed in certain parts of the world...
 
pbuilder said:
Etizolam is a precribed drug in the UK. If you are getting brand name etizolam tablets that are in the 10 packs that you pop them out from, you are taking a perfectly safe drug.

You sound like a cooc with the totally unnecessary rant you just went on, as you are apparently unaware that etizolam is approved and prescribed in certain parts of the world...
Click to expand...

That rant was against me :(
 
Have you tried other things? Honestly, benzos aren't the way to go for insomnia. Get out whilst you're still on a low dosage. I found 5-HTP and melatolin to be helpful after a few days.

At one point I was eating 10-15mg of etizolam just to nod off, then waking up as soon as it wore off in 5h. I'm ok now but if I take any etizolam, it makes me incredibly anxious the next day so I presume it has had some sort of effect on me. Other benzos don't, but I'm trying to avoid them as much as possible and hopefully never take them again soon enough.
 
pbuilder said:
Etizolam is a precribed drug in the UK. If you are getting brand name etizolam tablets that are in the 10 packs that you pop them out from, you are taking a perfectly safe drug.

You sound like a cooc with the totally unnecessary rant you just went on, as you are apparently unaware that etizolam is approved and prescribed in certain parts of the world...
Click to expand...

Etizolam isn't prescribed in the UK I was talking to my doctor since I self-medicate with etilaam and it seems to mostly be used in Asia under prescription.

But yes Etizolam isn't an RC check http://pubmed.gov and type in etizolam there are studies and journals dating back to the late 80s.
 
Just a quick update i have been off etizolam and zopiclone for around two weeks now i think..been using otc sleep aids (nytol etc at low doses) i have had no withdrawals or anything so far and i had been using these pretty constantly for about 6 months and intermitendly for over a year. I do not know if i will experience withdrawals in the following weeks but i doubt it and i am far too busy to notice them of i did ;) I miss the relaxing effect but that is it. I will probably still use this medication around exam time etc again. So my own personal experience of these has concluded that they are, at low dose 0.5mg a day very mildly addictive and certainly cannot be compared in any way to diazepam which i have used and craved before at small doses over a week or so. No comparison at all. I will always need somethin to calm me in the evenings and to help me sleep i have come to terms with this and i honestly am happier for it instead of constantly fretting over it. Thanks for all your responses :)
 
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