Benzos Gabapentin and Valerian for Valium Withdrawal

[ErgicMergic]

Hello all,

I was prescribed Valium since October 2010, and I was taking up to 30mg (prescribed) daily t.i.d., then found out about the dependence potential of Valium and tapered somewhat quickly, from 30mg to 10mg by mid-November. I was also prescribed Xanax and Lyrica, and was taking 0.5-1mg of Xanax about once a week, along with 100mg-200mg Lyrica. I then tapered down to 2.5mg daily by mid-December. I tapered to 1.25mg diazepam, and have been holding the dose for about 1.5 - 2 months. The doctor does not want to prescribe any more benzos, so I am left to my own devices.

Well, I ran out of Diazepam, and my last dose was on Tuesday morning, so it's been 72 hours. I know I'm not in any trouble for seizure at such a low tapered dose, but benzo w/d is pure HELL. I went cold turkey off of a 2.5mg/day tapered dose in January, and by day 3 I was crawling out of my skin, until I got more Valium.

I have a total of 2000mg of Neurontin (Gabapentin), and 300 capsules of 400mg powdered Valerian root (each capsule has 0.56mg of Valerenic Acid). I also have Bystolic for blood pressure if it goes through the roof.

Please help, any suggestions will be welcomed!

 

[BrokedownPalace]

Gabapentin (neurontin) in my experience does help with benzo withdrawal, but since you only have a TOTAL of 2000mg, I would not expect to gain much relief from them. I am prescribed 1600mg per day, and if I double my dose I can compensate for the added rebound anxiety and RLS I experience when I run out of my prescribed benzos early.

Though, you tapered down to an EXTREMELY small dose of diazepam.. You cannot go much lower, and I cannot imagine that stopping at that low of a dose after only about 7 months of use will give you debilitating withdrawals.

I would try taking maybe 200mg of neurontin every 3-4 hours and see if you get any relief. Neurontin is a tricky compound. If you take a large dose all at one time, it will not metabolize very well but if you stack your doses, like 200mg every couple hours by the end of the day you will get much better effects.

valerien in my experience is basically worthless, especially if you have any sort of benzodiazepine or alcohol dependence. It cannot hurt, but don't expect much from them.

In 2009, I stopped a 6mg per day xanax habit ( about 1 year of use) and did not have a seizure. It was pretty hellish, but I made it thru it. The withdrawals from benzos do last a long time; it took me about 7 months before I felt 100 percent.

Now I am back on prescribed benzos though. I was on klonopin for quite some time and recently switched to 3mg of ativan per day, along with my gabapentin. I routinely run out of benzos early and with the help of neurontin and opiates it is completely bearable.

 

[ErgicMergic]

Wow, thanks for the tips! It's great to hear it from someone who's been through it.

Thanks for the dosing regimen; since I am so low on Neurontin (and if tolerance builds as quickly as Lyrica), I'll take 100mg every 4 hours, maybe increase it to 200mg every 4 hours? I'm thinking if I should save most of it for the worst of Valium withdrawal (Diazepam WD peaks at about 10-14 days afaik).

I will have access to 1200mg Lyrica, and 10-20mg Valium, in about a week. I'll take the Valium as needed to control symptoms, but the Lyrica? It's so tempting to look for some Valium off the street, or to order it from an IOP (actually I'm considering this).

I also smoke weed multiple times a day; I'm thinking if heavy indicas or hash oil edibles (indica) will help? I know most ppl here aren't daily tokers, so smoking during opiate/benzo WD makes it worse for them, but I love being stoned.

 

[mrflowers00]

i would go with kava kava