Benzos Need Advice on Insomnia After Short-term Benzo Use

[Lovecraft]

I had a small opiate binge that lasted a few days. I mixed it with some Xanax in order to potentiate the opiate effects. Then used the Xanax for another few nights after that to help with opiate withdrawal-induced insomnia.

I'm well past any opiate withdrawal symptoms but last night I tried not taking any Xanax but couldn't sleep a wink. I caved and took a few Xanax then tossed the rest. So I'm basically looking at probably, I'd say, 2-3 night with no to very little sleep that I'm just going to need to slog through. I hate not sleeping but oh well, time to pay the piper.

I have some gabapentin and THC/melatonin gummies. I don't really know much about gabapentin for these kinds of situations and cannabis, even the strains that are supposedly for sleep can be stimulating for me.

Any suggestions on whether to use one or both of these agents to help with, if not sleep, making the sleepless couple of nights I'm expecting to endure a little less painful. I get pretty bad anxiety when I'm up all night, by myself, while the world around me is in sleep mode.

Thanks.

 

[Lovecraft]

How much Gabapentin do you have? It reduces excitatory activity in the brain and has successfully been used to treat benzo withdrawals. So, depending on dose, you should get some sleep. Don't expect 8 hours though. Regarding melatonin, it probably won't make much of a difference as benzo insomnia can be absolutely brutal and merciless. I'd take it anyways though. Try getting some without THC. You can also try 5-HTP and St John's Wart.

Thanks. I have a script for about 30 300mg capsules. I have regular melatonin but my friend, who went through a long-term Benzo withdrawal swore by these THC/melatonin gummies.

I am just having insomnia but no other Benzo withdrawal symptoms, such as anxiety during the day or anything else.

 

[Lovecraft]

Well the combo of gabapentin and THC-melatonin gummies (they have something called CBN in them which is supposed to really be calming) helped tremendously. I had a great night's sleep. I'll try the same formula tonight again.

 

[Frazzled1990]

The problem with Benzodiazepines is that they can very quickly downregulate the BZ1 and BZ2 sites on the GABA-A receptors. When this happens, these receptor sites no longer respond to the brains own natural GABA neurotransmitter. This can be very problematic (and in some cases dangerous). Because this leads to an imbalance between GABA and Glutamate receptor activation. Higher Glutamate receptor activation and lower GABA receptor activation leads to increased stimulation in the amine containing neurons. This can lead to large spikes in Dopamine, Norepinephrine, Epinephrine, Serotonin and Histamine activity.

You should never throw your Benzodiazepines away. You should gradually taper down from them. The sudden absence of Benzodiazepines agonistic effects on these GABA-A receptor sites can lead to even more severe withdrawal symptoms including hallucinations, psychosis and tonic clonic seizures as a result of the over stimulation.

If you can, try to get a hold of some more Xanax. Begin your taper at half the dosage you were originally taking and spend several weeks gradually tapering down to the lowest dosage possible. It may involve a lot of bar/pill splitting, but it's the safest route off them.

 

[pally pete]

The problem with Benzodiazepines is that they can very quickly downregulate the BZ1 and BZ2 sites on the GABA-A receptors. When this happens, these receptor sites no longer respond to the brains own natural GABA neurotransmitter. This can be very problematic (and in some cases dangerous). Because this leads to an imbalance between GABA and Glutamate receptor activation. Higher Glutamate receptor activation and lower GABA receptor activation leads to increased stimulation in the amine containing neurons. This can lead to large spikes in Dopamine, Norepinephrine, Epinephrine, Serotonin and Histamine activity.

You should never throw your Benzodiazepines away. You should gradually taper down from them. The sudden absence of Benzodiazepines agonistic effects on these GABA-A receptor sites can lead to even more severe withdrawal symptoms including hallucinations, psychosis and tonic clonic seizures as a result of the over stimulation.

If you can, try to get a hold of some more Xanax. Begin your taper at half the dosage you were originally taking and spend several weeks gradually tapering down to the lowest dosage possible. It may involve a lot of bar/pill splitting, but it's the safest route off them.

What he said ^^^

But try and use Diazepam (Valium) to taper if you can.

 

[Lovecraft]

The problem with Benzodiazepines is that they can very quickly downregulate the BZ1 and BZ2 sites on the GABA-A receptors. When this happens, these receptor sites no longer respond to the brains own natural GABA neurotransmitter. This can be very problematic (and in some cases dangerous). Because this leads to an imbalance between GABA and Glutamate receptor activation. Higher Glutamate receptor activation and lower GABA receptor activation leads to increased stimulation in the amine containing neurons. This can lead to large spikes in Dopamine, Norepinephrine, Epinephrine, Serotonin and Histamine activity.

You should never throw your Benzodiazepines away. You should gradually taper down from them. The sudden absence of Benzodiazepines agonistic effects on these GABA-A receptor sites can lead to even more severe withdrawal symptoms including hallucinations, psychosis and tonic clonic seizures as a result of the over stimulation.

If you can, try to get a hold of some more Xanax. Begin your taper at half the dosage you were originally taking and spend several weeks gradually tapering down to the lowest dosage possible. It may involve a lot of bar/pill splitting, but it's the safest route off them.

What he said ^^^

But try and use Diazepam (Valium) to taper if you can.

Okay great information. However, I was only taking them for a few days and just started building a tolerance. My only withdrawal symptom at this point is insomnia.

There's no need to conduct a taper regimen at this point. A couple of nights dealing with the insomnia is a better solution at this point. I haven't taken any Xanax for the last two nights and have been using gabapentin and THC-melatonin gummies, which have helped me sleep surprisingly well.

 

[pally pete]

Okay great information. However, I was only taking them for a few days and just started building a tolerance. My only withdrawal symptom at this point is insomnia.

There's no need to conduct a taper regimen at this point. A couple of nights dealing with the insomnia is a better solution at this point. I haven't taken any Xanax for the last two nights and have been using gabapentin and THC-melatonin gummies, which have helped me sleep surprisingly well.

Yeah, if you've only been using Xanax for a few days no need for any taper.

 

[Frazzled1990]

This is a great post. Interestingly, I was in cold turkey benzo withdrawals and started stimulating GABA-A receptors with large amounts of hard alcohol but still had a tonic clonic seizure.

The strength of Benzodiazepines effects on these receptors is often grossly understated. The withdrawal can vary greatly from person to person though. Some people are on and off them for years at a time without any major issues. Other's will take a relatively low dose for 2-4 weeks and suddenly find themselves in acute withdrawal lasting months and in some cases years.

Attempting to cold turkey on Benzo's by replacing it with another GABA-A receptor agonist generally isn't a good idea depending on what Benzo you were taking and how much of it. I've seen people popping 2mg Xanax bars in the double figures on a daily basis. No amount of alcohol has any chance of saving them from a potentially life threatening cold turkey withdrawal.

Another thing with GABA-A agonists like Alcohol, Magnesium and certain Anti-Biotics is that they can trigger a fresh new wave of withdrawal symptoms, even after being symptom free from Benzo withdrawal for months. Even once the noticeable symptoms have subsided, these receptor sites are still prone to rapid downregulation even from really weak agonists like Magnesium.