Benzos Loperamide and alcohol for benzo WD - questions

[bwanajzj]

A few benzo wd questions (I have used the search engine and found too many threads covering the same topic, so moderators please place this in the most reliable benzo thread in which my questions are found to be suitable):

I am on day 9 of clonazepam withdrawal, went cold turkey from a habit of about 2-6mg/day (irresponsible with regard to seizures and zaps and so on, but since I stopped once before from a much larger habit same time as 60 mg/day of methadone with no life threatening effects other than pure agony and hell on earth for a good month, I gave it a go).

Last night I finally got to experience deep sleep for about half an hour, had a cool dream and drooled :D Symptoms are starting to dissipitate, however one of the most distracting symptoms I am experiencing is completely unbalanced intestinal activity and a lot of diarrhea. Does anyone else get the shits? I have to go to the toilet about three times per meal I eat, and my appetite is like a pregnant polar bears before winter hibernation, so as you can imagine I spend a lot of my too many waking hours on the ceramic throne.

Today I finally got myself to get some Loperamide HCl, trying out if it will help ease the symptoms. Anyone have experience using it to battle mask any of the benzo WD symptoms, if so, how much do you take and how do you time it in terms of your 'sleep' schedule, so that shitting only takes place say in the early morning hours?

It may also be noted that I drink about a bottle of wine a day to get through, as it seems to be the only thing that can distract me and give me incentive to get stuff done. Drinking this much of course plays a role in terms of the diarrhea, as it is causing dehydration and loss of water through the intestines as well as a lot of urination. If I want to avoid this, is there a better source of alcohol other than beer? Beer is too hard to drink enough of at the moment.

 

[bwanajzj]

I wish a follow up wouldn't necessary bump the thread, but here is some valid self-discovered info...

Loperamide was very effective, too much so. I used as indicated (4 mg immediately, and 2 mg following each loose stool), and in my case a pack of 10 tabs went in about 5 hours. Fair and square the stool was stopped, and for a day I could relax without running to and fro from the toilet. I am still stooped that such a bout of diarrhea would come about as a result of benzo withdrawal but I am sure that it has something to do with irregular muscle activity in the digestive system and a vast inbalance of fluids in the body brought about by immense amounts of booze as well as the body seeking balance after termination of benzo dosing. So for those who might suffer through the same, I would say take only 4 mg of loperamide, perhaps a single dose more, but do not take as much as I did... It took 5 days of high pressure lower back pain to get rid of the plug I produced. On the other hand, I did get more sleep than the otherwise persistent 2 hours of a vague dream state, and the somewhat decent sleep lasted for two nights as the bowels did not wake me every now and then (after that the loperamide had the opposite effect and the constipation became an uncomfortable factor that led to another kind of bad rest). Bowel movements can be really uncomfortable in general, so if you are suffering through benzo wd's it can be a mild relief in that regard, but remember, it is not like opiate/opioid withdrawal where one has a tolerance to a substance like loperamide (people, myself included, can eat immense amounts of loperamide and still have the shits). With regard to the alcohol, wine is still the easiest source of relief for me, but I have found beer to be a good alternative as my stomach has begun to stabilize. A few beers, a glass of wine or two, and the depression brain dead zapping world of benzo withdrawal takes on a few nice colours and becomes bearable, especially where there is a will to get out of the substance use/abuse this will becomes a source of euphoria that can help motivate one to get through another day and restless night.

I realize nobody had any input on this during the past week, so this thread it may be closed and moved to some megathread if possible. I am sorry I didn't find the right spot to begin with, it may even have resulted in more responses or more lurkers if it had been placed correctly, but I was a benzo mess and couldn't sort through the search clutter or megathread list postit thread.

All the best to everyone.
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