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GBL withdrawal, did I dodge the bullet?

M

mistershot

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Sep 5, 2017
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So about 5 weeks ago, I started using some GBL to help induce sleep. That worked fine for a couple weeks but then almost out of nowhere it slid into 24/7 usage with bigger and bigger doses. This went on for like 18 days. Anyways, my friend came over the other day, saw me in an absolute mess, and kind of staged an intervention. he threw out the GBL, and gave me a wake up call. Part of the reason I didn't want to cease use was worrying that I had a huge monkey of withdrawal coming my way. Anyways, since my last dose its been about 40 hours. I took 2mg klonopin first night, slept a little. Took 1mg last night, slept well. Prob just gonna take one more mg tonight and be done with it. Did I dodge the bullet of withdrawal? I'm back at work, been working out, feel pretty good in general just a little bit anxious.
 
Tolerance builds fast to this kinda thing. You'll probably notice a bit of rebound effect, but if you have clonazepam you should be fine. Five weeks is long enough to become tolerant and perhaps a bit dependent, but if you haven't been dependent on it prior to this it shouldn't be too much of an issue.

GBL/GHB rarely comes up in SL so if you don't get a lot of responses I'll more your thread to a more appropriate forum. Best of luck! Let us know how things progress.
 
Thanks, Im new here, and thought I'd put this here since I'm trying to get clean. Anyways, no real big updates, just feel a little more anxious than usual today, nothing unbearable though.
 
That is definitely the rebound effect. It will take quite a while for it to subside, or at least that is fairly common.
 
Any suggestions on when to best cut the klonopin? First night took 2mg. Last two nights 1mg. Should I taper off a few more days or just rip the bandaid off? (I have a friend dispensing these for me so I have every intent of doing this right.) Ive been sleeping 4-6 hours a night which is plenty for me. Anxiety is a little boosted but its nothing I can't handle. I just don't want a benzo addiction on my back too, but from my experience with other tapers: Under a week on a long half life benzo doesn't seem to cause any dependency issues. Thanks.
 
I'd honestly suggest taking it for a week. Perhaps cut the dose to 0.5mg if you're getting enough sleep with 1mg and see if it's enough. Staying with 1mg for a few more days is perfectly fine, although reducing the dose is probably a good idea (you can either begin the reduction now, or if that isn't comfortable after a few more days). Worst case scenario you'll experience a bit of rebound from the clonazepam, but it won't be nearly as problematic as GBL with clonazepam longer halflife.
 
Ok thanks for the advice, anxiety levels are worse than they were yesterday. I think I'm almost through the worst of it though. I have gabapebtin and clonidine on hand too, as well as metoprolol... perhaps those could help ease me off too?
 
Definitely don't take heart medicine. I think you should cease use and only pop a 0.5mg clonazepam if you must. I wd this way
 
Gabapentin may help as a mold stavalizer, but the other meds you mentioned not so much. Blood pressure and heart medication are not a good idea for you right now, as the above poster pointed out (that is assuming your blood pressure isn't too outside the normal range).

Perhaps try spreading the clonazepam out, 0.5mg twice a day. Or 0.5mg and then 1mg. If you're only taking clonazepam for a week or two, particularly is you taper off, you should be fine. It will take a little playing around on your part to get to a place that works well and feel appropriate to you.

Any chance you can work with a doctor on this OP? It is highly highly recommended for folks coming off gabaergic substances.
 
Wanted to post an update: I'm down to taking a little less than 1mg before bed... almost feel like I don't need it anymore. Tonight I'll do half a mg, tomorrow maybe a quarter then drop it entirely. Anxiety is pretty much good now, sleep has come back. What an absolutely miserable drug (GBL /GHB). Unless this turns into a bigger problem I think I have it under control and wont need a doctor. What is beginning to amaze me is how much of a black out the whole ride was. Its almost like theres a hole in the timeline of my mind. I'm partially writing this before I forget how bad it really was. It got to the point where despite constantly dosing, I couldn't sleep a wink for a day or two, and ended up having some hallucinations. Nothing outrageous (I knew I was kind of losing it, but miserable nonetheless). I also felt trapped, I was convinced I was deep into it and would require hospitalization to come out of this. Thank god. I also very much went down the rabbits hole. Felt completely disconnected from society / the world. I was alone, I was in hell. This is addiction. I cannot thank my friend enough, who came over and put me in my place (3am broke into my apartment, reminded me that PEOPLE CARE ABOUT ME, and that I AM NOT ALONE). He threw out all my drugs, helped me clean up the mess that got made during the bender. Hes my neighbor, saw me outside earlier in the day completely naked making strange noises. I'm glad I'm on the other side of this (well at least past the worst of it). Yesterday was my worst day, but something clicked when I was at work at about 730PM and my anxiety levels went way down. Anyways, I appreciate all the help guys, I'm not sure where the tipping point was, but it went from a couple weeks of controlled use to 24/7 in a flash. Never touching this shit again. There was puke in my bathtub, sink, etc... Fucking gross. I'm not sure if what partially saved me from withdrawals is that I'm a larger guy (260lb bodybuilder), and this is honestly how I first heard about GHB / GBL. The induced REM sleep spikes HGH output. It is my understanding that dosing is relative to bodyweight for most drugs. (Looking at concentration in mg/kg or whatever versus straight mg ingested offers a better idea of how "strong" a dose is) Oh well, you live you learn. Very thankful, been to rehab, jail, almost dead before. This could have been so much worse. Someone or something is looking out for me.
 
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Glad to hear you seem to be stabilizing. And I meant mood stabilize in my earlier post, not mold sanitizer (autocorrect is pretty funny sometimes :)).
 
Update: Decided to hop off the klonopin last night (last dose was a little under 1mg two nights ago). Took a benadryl before bed and that seemed to help some. Sleep was more difficult, had vivid nightmares when I did sleep, but still got some rest. Experiencing a little anhedonia and just feeling a little rattled. Anxiety is manageable though. I figured its better to come off too early, and worst case take another small dose, than to stay on too long, and develop a new dependency. I don't think I'm going to need another dose though, so I'm glad I came off. Also experiencing some mild symptoms which resemble opiate withdrawal. (Felt need to wiggle my feet / legs when lying in bed -- also I'm sweating some in my sleep). Also some slight discomfort with sweating / body temperature, but slightly different and not nearly as severe as the opiate withdrawal. I have been on naltrexone for nearly a year though, so it can't be that -- also I've taken no opiates / opiods, drugs were limited to GHB / GBL / weed / two beers lol. Either way, every day things are improving, which is good. I'm staying positive, things could be so much worse, I have much to be grateful for. Didn't burn bridges with any family / friends, still have my job, still have money in the bank, and I have my health. There are many addicts suffering so much worse right now. I also have a little bit of this "insecure" feeling where I don't feel as comfortable being alone, which usually doesn't bug me one bit -- so I've been doing my best to stay around people as much as possible. This seems to be a common characteristic of coming off drugs for me though, so I know this will soon pass -- as long as I keep on the right path. Well I feel like I'm starting to ramble but once again, appreciate the help guys, I'm gonna be ok.
 
Update: Just a note, I'm sort of using this as a journal to remind myself that I do not want to go through this again, writing it down helps me remember how difficult this is, because I too quickly forget once its over. Sort of like a first step for those who are familiar with the AA / NA. Anyways. Yesterday was difficult in different ways. Emotionally. Felt good for much of the day then suddenly around 7PM I became very depressed, on the verge of tears. I reached out to friends to talk and that helped tremendously. Took 4.5mg melatonin last night and slept like a baby, also took a scoop of pure beta alanine powder from the vitamin shoppe before bed. No real nightmares. Feeling a lot better this morning. I seem to have zero rebound anxiety from the klonopin taper. The idea of buying weed came across my mind more than once when I was depressed last night, this kind of reaffirms that I need to get back around my support system, in AA / NA. Although I often crave the temporary relief of drugs, the price I pay for taking them is never worth the small benefit -- and I am far happier overall when completely sober / clean. My insurance will cover an intensive outpatient program that we have locally in town -- I participated in this last fall after I went to rehab and found it greatly helped, so come monday, I will make a call to see about signing up for that again. So in essence I did dodge the bullet (I'm alive, well, and out of the woods of this relapse) -- but the act of dodging it has caused me to fall to a degree, I've managed to stand back up though. (I'm not sure how much further I can take the analogy lol). Beginning to reflect some on why I relapsed. I had over 9 months clean / sober when I took my first dose of GBL. It was manageable for some time but quickly spiraled out of control. The mistake didn't happen when I lost control of the use, the mistake happened when I picked up. Sleep has always been a big trigger for me, I have sleep apnea, and insomnia as it is -- and the desire for a more restful sleep has often been the trigger for relapse. Due to some life circumstances / family / job issues last spring, it just became inconvenient to continue going to AA / NA, and I put out some bigger fires, and ignored the smoldering ashes that are my mental health / addiction issues. Those smoldering ashes soon became the big fire and thankfully I've only just recently been able to get the fire under control. Anyways, that's about all that's on my mind this morning. I'm going to go do some cardio right now then head off to work. Overall I'm thankful, like I've said, this could have been so much worse. To any addict out there struggling, know that there is help out there for you, and that your greatest enemy is your own negative thinking. It's funny, I've had big IV meth / oxy / heroin, and benzo addictions that I've overcome, so in many ways this has been easier, but it is NEVER easy. Always worth it though. Not today satan! "JUST FOR TODAY I will be unafraid. My thoughts will be onmy new associations, people who are not using andwho have found a new way of life. So long as I followthat way, I have nothing to fear."
 
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Last update (probably): I tend to find that in early recovery, I get these moments of clarity, and that it is important that I act upon them when they come to me. One such moment happened yesterday, I thought that it would be a good idea to sign up for an intensive outpatient program. So I am now scheduled for my intake interview for a local outpatient program. Today, I felt alone, and randomly ran into three people from AA. I decided that I should go to a meeting tonight. Tonight, after about 7 days clean, I went back to my first AA meeting since relapsing and picked up a white chip. Man, did it feel good to see some familiar faces and be welcomed back into the rooms. It's not like this is some kind of success story, but as far as relapse and moving on in a positive direction, this is about as good as it has gone for me. I want others who may be in the same position to realize that there is help out there available, and that there is a better way to live your life. One day at a time, things keep getting better, as long as I step out of my own way.
 
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