Benzos How often can etizolam be used without risk of addiction/habituation?

[GumbyClaymation]

I know the most conservative answer is never, and I don't want to push my luck in any way, but I find etizolam to be really useful for sleep on an occasional basis. I've been limiting myself to just once a week until I figure out if any more often could be safer. Could I take this every other day for short periods? Extended periods?
I have never been addicted to anything, and have the self control to keep to whatever guidelines I set for myself. Getting a good night's sleep is really a luxury that I enjoy. I don't have an inability to sleep all the time, but some weeks my mind gets wound up and I end up laying in bed awake for most of the night, affecting my mood and productivity. I wouldn't take etiz daily, even if I considered it safe, but seems really handy to have around.

Thanks

 

[shreddedlettuce]

once a week would probably be ok in the beginning, but even that would lead to tolerance at some point.
but if you are thinking along the lines of "Could I take this every other day for short periods?" then I would try and only take it when necessary.
by being disciplined in this respect the medication will work when you need it to.
once you build up a tolerance to it (which can happen extremely quickly - in a matter of a few days actually) then the time you really need it to work ......... it won't.

So if you can get away with using it a few times a month (like twice or three times maximum) then it should be ok,
but the answer to the question, "How often can etizolam be used without risk of addiction/habituation? " - would be never.

It's in a class of drugs that are extremely habit forming and there is always a risk of addiction so Never would be the answer to that specific question, sorry.

 

[dopemegently]

Well, for a "research chemical" there's not a great deal of hard info on this drug. I've spoken to a lot of etizolam users, and the general consensus seems to be that tolerance and physical dependence to etizolam occurs more gradually than with traditional benzos.

As for myself, I use etizolam 3 days in a row, taking 4 days off; I'm not running into any difficulties at all using it this way, but you may want to take it less often, just to be safe. I'm sure you can get away with using it more than once a week btw. I recently took it 6 days in a row without tapering; I was expecting some nasty rebound symptoms as I'd experienced in the past with Librium, Diazepam and Temazepam binges, but I was surprised to feel fine and perfectly normal. Of course, using any type of benzo for a week is pretty risky-it may not be enough to cause a physical dependence, but it could be long enough to form a psychological one.

 

[Lady Codone]

Once a week is probably safe, maybe even twice a week. But plan out which days you'll be using at the beginning of the week and do NOT exceed them. Etizolam withdrawal is a complete bitch that will make you wish you never lived.

 

[belfort]

i think this question is impossible to answer..ive talked to guys that say they had withdrawals after taking etiz for 3-4 days...then others that claim the rebound anxiety after taking a single dose of 2.5 mgs was unbearable that they would never touch it again..my own experience is the exact opposite, i have used it twice daily for a few weeks at a time and then went days without it with zero withdrawals or cravings..i dont have much experience with real benzos but etiz seems pretty mild on the withdrawals/addiction hierarchy imo..

 

[VerbalTruist]

No, it will eventually produce physical and potentially psychological addiction if taken long enough.

 

[Thanatos9]

Etizolam is addictive as hell for me (though I have anxiety disorder), I've been through at least 3000 etilaam tablets in 2 years. Beware, this is not some magical alternative to benzos.

 

[llama112]

Etizolam is the ONLY drug that has ever gotten me addicted. It didn't become a full blown addiction because I noticed I was becoming addicted and was able to just quit once I figured it out. *** I only used it once a week... every weekend.

If I were to go back to using etizolam, I would limit my use to once a month.

Now... I'm sure some people can use it no problem. I haven't found myself addicted to xanax or valium which I have been using over a year longer that etizolam. Yet etizolam is what got me. I just know that my life got pretty messed up and it was all around the time I started using etizolam. Yeah, it's fine for getting to sleep, but there are other ways.

If you really do need etizolam to sleep, I wouldn't say weekly... use it less than that.... every other week at the most. Have you tried other benzos? I use melatonin almost every night to get to sleep. I use diphenydromine (you can get that at local pharmacies like Shoppers Drug Mart, etc.) as a stronger sleeping medication. I've heard that Valerian Root works as well but I haven't tried it. Try to go between those things ... don't use any of them regularly but switch between them.

I have insomnia and anxiety (and other stuff but no point in naming every issue lol) so etizolam really got to me. I can use amphetamines regularly and then take a break and I'm fine. With etizolam, although I don't get physical withdrawals, I get mental withdrawals. And I can see how easy it is to become addicted to something without being aware of it. How easy it is to go from recreational use to addiction.

 

[dopemegently]

I actually had a bad problem with dph abuse years ago, so it dosen't work as a sleep aid for me anymore. I was very surprised to learn that taking valerian root powder with kava and reagent grade GABA administered sublingually made for a seriously effective sedative, and I mean really good.

Back to the topic, yeah it's good to be cautious with benzos; the fact is they're quite insidious-they can really creep up on you if you're not careful. You could technically take them for 5 days and not be addicted...but by this point you know how calm they can make you feel-it becomes all too easy to reach for them when you're having a shit day, and we all know where that leads.
IMO once a month is super-conservative and super-low-risk, but I believe you could get away with slightly more than that. As for myself my goal is to use at just the weekends.

 

[Akerman]

I had a physical and mental withdrawal from Etizolam after munching them like candy for about 4 or 5 days. But, like I say, I was munching them like candy. It was nasty, however, and from that little taste it was clear that a full-blown withdrawal would be horrific.

So, if someone were to use not just at night, but during the day too, I would say that by day 3 I would be worried about what would happen when they stopped. As it is, once a week, I personally would feel fine taking it up to twice or, on rare occasions (and not every week), three times a week from the point of view of actual addiction. However, that would be enough to see your tolerance rise, and it seems to happen very quickly with Etizolam. Also, if you use it to get to sleep, but not enough to become addicted, keep an eye on how well you're sleeping without it. Sometimes, how often you use a 'functional' drug (sleeping pills, diet pills, energy pills etc) isn't a problem in terms of tolerance, but you can cultivate, if not quite a dependence on the effects, certainly a dangerous level of love for them, to the point where natural sleep, satiation, energy or whatever just never seems to equal its chemically-induced counterpart.