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Alcohol How dangerous really is the mix benzos and alcohol?

sogno

Greenlighter
Joined
Jul 15, 2014
Messages
45
Location
Italy
I remember in the past a lot of time I took my daily 2mg of Ativan while heavily drunk and didn't notice any strange effect other than being a little more sedate than normal. It's been a year since I'm taking the Ativan so I'm quite tollerant to it. I understand my behaviour was very irresponsible but to be honest I didn't know the combo benzos alcohol was that dangerous. I knew it wasn't very safe, but I didn't know I could very easily end up not breathing. So my question is: should I give up drinking at all? I don't drink heavily anymore but I still enjoy drinking with moderation.
For example is drinking a cocktail at 7pm and then taking the Ativan at 11pm dangerous? How long should I wait between drinking and taking the benzos? My doc said that when I drink I should not take the ativan but to be honest not taking it is impossible because I'm dependent on it.
Thank you
 
If you drink in moderation and don't use benzodiazepines recreationally, you should be fine if you're cautious.

when I drink I should not take the ativan but to be honest not taking it is impossible because I'm dependent on it.

Doesnt mean you can't skip a dose when you're drunk. Alcohol will substitute temporarily for the anxiolytic effects. You won't die.
 
I'd have to kind of disagree with Sekio. If you're not use to taking benzos, you should be that much more cautious. If you were taking benzos everyday, then your body would be more tolerant to it. If I were you, I wouldn't drink alcohol on your benzo dose. Chances are that you will be completely fine just more sedated than usual but it's not worth it. If you are going to do it either way, just start small and wait to see how your body handles the two together. I've drank alcohol a few times on my Xanax dose (1mg 3 times daily) but ended up blacking out most of the time.
 
It really sounds like you already know what benzos and alcohol do to your particular biochemistry. Rule of thumb listen to your Medical doctor, but listen to the doctor within your brain and body even more. The memory loss is shitty, many people including myself have made fools of themselves on benzo alcohol mix and remember nothing. Even more dangerous is dosing again and again not remembering you already took your nightly benzo. If you are a drinker do yourself and your loved ones a favor and stop the benzos or the alcohol. But one should go.
 
Drinking a reasonably sized cocktail at 7pm then Ativan at 11 shouldnt be a problem, but the other way around would. One shot of liquor takes about an hour to process, Ativan takes... a lot longer. IF you are like me and want to get FUCKED UP, you mix them, and dont remember a goddamned thing. Dont be like me, and dont follow bezos with alcohol. Give it an hour per drink to eliminate an equivalent shot of alcohol from your system before doing benzos.
 
Thanks for the replies. As I said, I don't take the ativan recreationally, I take it for sleeping. I also take zoloft and zyprexa and without the ativan, sleeping is quite difficult.
 
I think the risk is obvious but often overstated.

I regularly and purposely mix Benzo's with Alcohol. Never had a problem and quite enjoy it.

Please don't mistake this post for me condoning it.
 
....mixing the two(benzo + alcohol)... NOT GOOD. AVOID IF POSSIBLE.

...my 2 cents ..as they say.
 
It is only a problem in HIGH doses of the benzo and large amounts of liquor (usually), the main problem I have when mixing the two and from observing others who mix the two on a regular basis is that it causes black outs and more emotional/social damage than anything else. Becoming belligerent and basically the part of your brain that tells you to think before you speak or that what you are about to say may be offensive/TMI/down right disturbing is turned off. So you run your mouth and scorch bridges, puke on your friends bed, yell at him about it, yell at girl for not thinking your attractive all whilst being a jerk to everyone around you and you are unawares and think you are just being funny, next morning everyone is mad at you and don't want you round no mo....

OR it could cause respiratory depression (I think), it's really easy to OD on high levels of benzos and alcohol... but we're talking HIGH doses... especially with ativan (I think the LD50 is 3000mg)
 
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