Benzos Long-term diazepam user, looking for advice

[FellowFromLeng]

Hi, I'm a long-term user of diazepam. Right now I get 60 0.5 mg tabs of Clonezepam/Kolonopin a month. I have been on various diazpems over the past 10+ years. Initially I liked the buzz, then the relaxation, then the way they helped me sleep. But after years of use (and misuse), I'm having trouble getting much out of them. I utilize tagamet and white grape fruit juice 30 minutes before taking the pils, and am pretty meticulous when it comes to timing, taking on an empty stomach, etc. But at this point I'm lucky if I get a light buzz and a little sleepy after taking 10 mg of Clonazepam.

Two questions/thoughts:

First, I divide my dosage up. I'll take some tagamet and grapefruit juice 30 minutes before the Clonazepam, then take 10 0.5 mg tablets. I'll then wait 60-90 minutes before taking more tagamet/juice, wait 30 minutes, then take the final 10 Clonazepam. The reason being, I don't want to be knocked out - I want to enjoy the buzz and relaxation without pass out. But at this point, I'm thinking I could take all 10 mg of Clonazepam at once and not risk that.

Second, I also have Carisprodol (350 mg) which I know potentiates diazepam. I tried to take Carisprodol before a few Diazepam years ago, and was just knocked out entirely. I don't recall the dosage, but it wasn't much for my tolerance at the time and I had/have a high tolerance for both Diazepam and Soma. Anyone have any advice on how to chase these together and get good results, without passing out?

Many thanks!

 

[painfulstate]

Smoke crack

 

[goaway12345]

Smoke crack

And meth

 

[SeekingOblivion]

Hi, 10 mg/clon a day is really a lot. I would slowly taper dirt if I were you. You’re not getting anything out of such a high dose, so just dial it back,

 

[SwissArmy]

What you're taking is a crazy amount of benzos you need to taper off bro. Benzos are the worst drug there is in my view, only leads to bad things and you're on the track to something very bad happening. All the best bro.

 

[fairnymph]

Hi, I'm a long-term user of diazepam. Right now I get 60 0.5 mg tabs of Clonezepam/Kolonopin a month. I have been on various diazpems over the past 10+ years. Initially I liked the buzz, then the relaxation, then the way they helped me sleep. But after years of use (and misuse), I'm having trouble getting much out of them. I utilize tagamet and white grape fruit juice 30 minutes before taking the pils, and am pretty meticulous when it comes to timing, taking on an empty stomach, etc. But at this point I'm lucky if I get a light buzz and a little sleepy after taking 10 mg of Clonazepam.

Two questions/thoughts:

First, I divide my dosage up. I'll take some tagamet and grapefruit juice 30 minutes before the Clonazepam, then take 10 0.5 mg tablets. I'll then wait 60-90 minutes before taking more tagamet/juice, wait 30 minutes, then take the final 10 Clonazepam. The reason being, I don't want to be knocked out - I want to enjoy the buzz and relaxation without pass out. But at this point, I'm thinking I could take all 10 mg of Clonazepam at once and not risk that.

Second, I also have Carisprodol (350 mg) which I know potentiates diazepam. I tried to take Carisprodol before a few Diazepam years ago, and was just knocked out entirely. I don't recall the dosage, but it wasn't much for my tolerance at the time and I had/have a high tolerance for both Diazepam and Soma. Anyone have any advice on how to chase these together and get good results, without passing out?

Many thanks!

You have to take a break. I’ve been using diazepam therapeutically for its muscle relaxant effects since 2008. I’ve stayed on my same dose of 10mg but I have to take a few weeks break off it completely several times a year to keep my tolerance down. It’s by far the most important medicine for me because it’s the only thing that treats the cause of my pain so I don’t dare develop a resistance to it like you have. If you want use any drug effectively long-term, you need to take regular breaks. The body is very good at adapting (tolerance) and you also don’t know what damage you might be doing by never taking a break, as obviously we were not intended to be continuously on a drug, especially at high doses. You’re gonna do what you want to do, but there’s no substitute for taking a break.

 

[goaway12345]

Yep you need to take a break

 

[LucidSDreamr]

You have to take a break. I’ve been using diazepam therapeutically for its muscle relaxant effects since 2008. I’ve stayed on my same dose of 10mg but I have to take a few weeks break off it completely several times a year to keep my tolerance down. It’s by far the most important medicine for me because it’s the only thing that treats the cause of my pain so I don’t dare develop a resistance to it like you have. If you want use any drug effectively long-term, you need to take regular breaks. The body is very good at adapting (tolerance) and you also don’t know what damage you might be doing by never taking a break, as obviously we were not intended to be continuously on a drug, especially at high doses. You’re gonna do what you want to do, but there’s no substitute for taking a break.

How hard are those breaks?

I assume you’re taking 10 mg per day for an extended periods (weeks or months) then you stop for a couple weeks?

Can you not sleep when you stop? Is that dose high enough for you to have other withdrawals symptoms during your breaks?

 

[fairnymph]

How hard are those breaks?

I assume you’re taking 10 mg per day for an extended periods (weeks or months) then you stop for a couple weeks?

Can you not sleep when you stop? Is that dose high enough for you to have other withdrawals symptoms during your breaks?

Only issue is that my pain is a lot worse bc it’s no longer being treated. I get zero withdrawal symptoms at all. No trouble sleeping. I’ve gone as long as nine months without a break and no problems when I go cold turkey.

But yep, that’s exactly how I do it. I do also occasionally take 5 mg or nothing and this means I can go longer before taking a full break.

 

[LucidSDreamr]

Only issue is that my pain is a lot worse bc it’s no longer being treated. I get zero withdrawal symptoms at all. No trouble sleeping. I’ve gone as long as nine months without a break and no problems when I go cold turkey.

But yep, that’s exactly how I do it. I do also occasionally take 5 mg or nothing and this means I can go longer before taking a full break.

I’ve had similar success using benzos and having no withdrawal at all. I’ve never gone 9 months straight but one month straight daily I’ve done. Or many months of 2 to 3X per week.

I did take pregabalin very heavily for 4 years including abuse level dosages and didn’t have a shred of withdrawal from that either.

I seem to be resistant to dependency on gabaergic drugs.

Opioids; I shit you not I could be clean for one year and a single dose with cause a withdrawl.

So this is where much of the fear comes from; especially combined with knowing that benzo withdrawl is worse and that the damage they can do to your cognitive function is far worse and longer lasting than opioids.

But I’m glad to hear you have used them that much and don’t get withdrawl. Do you think opioids mask any withdrawal you might otherwise experience? But hearing that you don’t have withdrawl makes me feel a little better that what I’m experiencing right now is just methadone PAWS and benzo withdrawl isn’t a part of it

 

[fairnymph]

I’ve had similar success using benzos and having no withdrawal at all. I’ve never gone 9 months straight but one month straight daily I’ve done. Or many months of 2 to 3X per week.

I did take pregabalin very heavily for 4 years including abuse level dosages and didn’t have a shred of withdrawal from that either.

I seem to be resistant to dependency on gabaergic drugs.

Opioids; I shit you not I could be clean for one year and a single dose with cause a withdrawl.

So this is where much of the fear comes from; especially combined with knowing that benzo withdrawl is worse and that the damage they can do to your cognitive function is far worse and longer lasting than opioids.

But I’m glad to hear you have used them that much and don’t get withdrawl. Do you think opioids mask any withdrawal you might otherwise experience? But hearing that you don’t have withdrawl makes me feel a little better that what I’m experiencing right now is just methadone PAWS and benzo withdrawl isn’t a part of it

No, I’m sure the opiates aren’t masking anything because I’ve been on diazepam alone. Like you, I seem to not get any dependency on GABAergics, or at least not diazepam, which does stay in the body for a long time so maybe that’s why. I’ve never taken any other GABAergic regularly enough to get even close to dependence.

I don’t think my cognitive function is impaired either. I’m also somewhat resistant to opiate dependency but it will eventually happen. I avoided all withdrawal using heroin once a day (at that time, my pain was mostly only intolerable the later in the day) for 6mo. It was only once I started using it multiple times daily for a few months that I became dependent.

 

[LucidSDreamr]

No, I’m sure the opiates aren’t masking anything because I’ve been on diazepam alone. Like you, I seem to not get any dependency on GABAergics, or at least not diazepam, which does stay in the body for a long time so maybe that’s why. I’ve never taken any other GABAergic regularly enough to get even close to dependence.

I don’t think my cognitive function is impaired either. I’m also somewhat resistant to opiate dependency but it will eventually happen. I avoided all withdrawal using heroin once a day (at that time, my pain was mostly only intolerable the later in the day) for 6mo. It was only once I started using it multiple times daily for a few months that I became dependent.

This is all comforting to hear but at the same time it makes me think I can keep dabbling safely. I don’t want to get stuck on the shit; I’ll never get off.

If it comes down to pain no question I will use it. But sometimes it’s just about not sleeping or treating very minor pain that a narcotic is probably overkill for rather than just dealing with it.

I’m sick as a dog rn with a fever and flu and I had been just taking diazepam to try and sleep my way through as much of it as I could; but I relinquished my bottle to my wife the other day because I didn’t want to get stuck and then unable to sleep when I stop

 

[fairnymph]

This is all comforting to hear but at the same time it makes me think I can keep dabbling safely. I don’t want to get stuck on the shit; I’ll never get off.

If it comes down to pain no question I will use it. But sometimes it’s just about not sleeping or treating very minor pain that a narcotic is probably overkill for rather than just dealing with it.

I’m sick as a dog rn with a fever and flu and I had been just taking diazepam to try and sleep my way through as much of it as I could; but I relinquished my bottle to my wife the other day because I didn’t want to get stuck and then unable to sleep when I stop

I don’t think benzos are good to use for sleep long term, unless you’ve tried literally else and you can’t get sleep without them. I think they’re very useful for short term situations though. I hate how I don’t dream on them.

Hope you feel better soon! I really recommend black seed oil for any type of infection.

 

[Coffeeshroom]

How hard are those breaks?

I assume you’re taking 10 mg per day for an extended periods (weeks or months) then you stop for a couple weeks?

Can you not sleep when you stop? Is that dose high enough for you to have other withdrawals symptoms during your breaks?

I was gonna ask the exact same question when I started reading this thread and pow you said it first but we both know why and sus part lol

 

[Pickledlemons]

Not sure what you're looking for, but if you want them to hit harder try mixing with gabapentin. Its not something you can do every day but I'm currently tapering off xanax using diazepam and sometimes I take 600mg of gabapentin plus like 40-50mg of diazepam (I'm rx'd 115mg a day but I'm trying to move faster and TRYING to take only 100mg a day) and also take my suboxone for the day (16mg) and it feels pretty good. Not for long.... but its a brief reprieve from the anxiety hellscape I live in. I can really feel the difference of with and without the gabapentin. But again. This is something you could maybe do twice a week or something. Otherwise the tolerance to gaba just builds too fast and it becomes nothing.

 

[fairnymph]

Not sure what you're looking for, but if you want them to hit harder try mixing with gabapentin. Its not something you can do every day but I'm currently tapering off xanax using diazepam and sometimes I take 600mg of gabapentin plus like 40-50mg of diazepam (I'm rx'd 115mg a day but I'm trying to move faster and TRYING to take only 100mg a day) and also take my suboxone for the day (16mg) and it feels pretty good. Not for long.... but its a brief reprieve from the anxiety hellscape I live in. I can really feel the difference of with and without the gabapentin. But again. This is something you could maybe do twice a week or something. Otherwise the tolerance to gaba just builds too fast and it becomes nothing.

Whoa, you’re prescribed that much? Why? Just because you have a crazy tolerance?

 

[Jnowhere]

Hi, I'm a long-term user of diazepam. Right now I get 60 0.5 mg tabs of Clonezepam/Kolonopin a month. I have been on various diazpems over the past 10+ years. Initially I liked the buzz, then the relaxation, then the way they helped me sleep. But after years of use (and misuse), I'm having trouble getting much out of them. I utilize tagamet and white grape fruit juice 30 minutes before taking the pils, and am pretty meticulous when it comes to timing, taking on an empty stomach, etc. But at this point I'm lucky if I get a light buzz and a little sleepy after taking 10 mg of Clonazepam.

Two questions/thoughts:

First, I divide my dosage up. I'll take some tagamet and grapefruit juice 30 minutes before the Clonazepam, then take 10 0.5 mg tablets. I'll then wait 60-90 minutes before taking more tagamet/juice, wait 30 minutes, then take the final 10 Clonazepam. The reason being, I don't want to be knocked out - I want to enjoy the buzz and relaxation without pass out. But at this point, I'm thinking I could take all 10 mg of Clonazepam at once and not risk that.

Second, I also have Carisprodol (350 mg) which I know potentiates diazepam. I tried to take Carisprodol before a few Diazepam years ago, and was just knocked out entirely. I don't recall the dosage, but it wasn't much for my tolerance at the time and I had/have a high tolerance for both Diazepam and Soma. Anyone have any advice on how to chase these together and get good results, without passing out?

Many thanks!

SOMA RULES!! (Carisprodol) listen are you physically addicted because if not save them and take a tolerance break and then try using very little and increasing the dose.
You mean Benzo's:
Diazepam is Valium. Got some here, but too weak. To do anything thing. ( the Valium not me)

 

[Pickledlemons]

Whoa, you’re prescribed that much? Why? Just because you have a crazy tolerance?

Yeah I was surprised as well. My old doc just retired and my new one, well she is a bit more strict and less relaxed about things. I figured I'd walk out of there with at most 100mg but probably less.

But when I told her how much xanax I take and she punched it into an online calculator it said like 400 - 600mg. And she gave me 120, which was actually more effective than expected.

But she reduces it so slow, which makes me conflicted because the addict in me wants to have as much as possible BUT the logical person in me wants to get off as fast as possible. I started daily use ~4 years ago, but its not constant, I've had several periods of trying to cold turkey, stayed off for 2 months that way once. Lots of on and offs. Another time I did a successful rapid taper (earlier on) and was clean for 6 months after.

So I dunno if my dependence is bad enough to warrant such a slow reduction cadence. But I'm not the doctor so what do I know. I've been stockpiling all the extras I don't take, 3 big bottles of 10mg pills, I also have lots of stockpiled suboxone.... Which I've been worried may give me opportunities to binge.

....Which... I have been doing the last couple days I've been stressed out due to external pressures.... I'll try to get back down to normal dose soon.

 

[WellTram]

Smoke crack

Don't do this :D

 

[fairnymph]

Yeah I was surprised as well. My old doc just retired and my new one, well she is a bit more strict and less relaxed about things. I figured I'd walk out of there with at most 100mg but probably less.

But when I told her how much xanax I take and she punched it into an online calculator it said like 400 - 600mg. And she gave me 120, which was actually more effective than expected.

But she reduces it so slow, which makes me conflicted because the addict in me wants to have as much as possible BUT the logical person in me wants to get off as fast as possible. I started daily use ~4 years ago, but its not constant, I've had several periods of trying to cold turkey, stayed off for 2 months that way once. Lots of on and offs. Another time I did a successful rapid taper (earlier on) and was clean for 6 months after.

So I dunno if my dependence is bad enough to warrant such a slow reduction cadence. But I'm not the doctor so what do I know. I've been stockpiling all the extras I don't take, 3 big bottles of 10mg pills, I also have lots of stockpiled suboxone.... Which I've been worried may give me opportunities to binge.

....Which... I have been doing the last couple days I've been stressed out due to external pressures.... I'll try to get back down to normal dose soon.

Have you ever found a reasonable dose of any benzo effective? Surely didn’t start on such a high dose of Xanax. Doses above 60mg do nothing but sedate me, and I’ve only taken that much a couple of times as usually 20mg is more than adequate. Unless you have very unusual brain chemistry and/or metabolism, it’s unlikely that you couldn’t get the same benefits on a much lower dose. And the higher dose you take for longer than more you’re just downgrading your receptors and making the drug less effective. I’d try to avoid binging as much as possible and cut back on your dose whenever you can. I understand you’ll have rough days but make sure you cut your dose on your good days.