Benzos New to Klonopin but Alcoholic

[AceInhibitor]

So... I'm an alcoholic, but I've cut down to drinking at least a fifth of vodka a day. I only maintain I mild buzz all day, if that. My doctor thinks I'm sober now, I shouldn't have lied but I've been struggling terribly with anxiety recently due to circumstances out of my control (job change, breakup with long-term boyfriend and trying to get him moved out of my apartment). I've never really had anxiety before, I have zero tolerance to benzos.

So... Can I take my Klonopin script normally since I already have a tolerance to the alcohol? Or am I going to get fucked up? I am most in need of the Klonopin at work cause I'll have random crying fits (pathetic, I know.. I never cry ) but because I'm always at some level of drunk, technically.. I don't want to take a Klonopin at work and... I dunno. Black out and ruin my life and career. I'll test it out at home on my off day but I'm still concerned.

Advice? Experience? Suggestions?

 

[Jabberwocky]

I'll be real with you, you need to tread carefully.

Taking benzos with alcohol will get you into really stupid, deadly, embarrassing situations... every time. Beyond that, it will completely obliterate your GABA receptors. It will give you insane tolerance to both alcohol and the klonopin, within a few days you will NEED to take both to at the same time to feel any buzz. You should not be drinking a fifth per day and taking klonopin, particularly when you have no tolerance. It is going to get you into trouble, it's just a matter of when. It completely obliterates any semblance of inhibition. That combo has nearly killed me, and has led to me being arrested more than once.

Drinking 2 beers with half of a xanax is one thing, drinking an entire fifth of vodka with klonopin (which has a 24hr half life), is a totally different world of fuck that you need to respect and take seriously.

 

[burn out]

It's a terrible idea to add benzos when drinking a fifth of vodka a day. Like Snafu in the void said this will destroy your GABA receptors, which can cause very long term if not permanent problems and greatly increase your anxiety levels. That's not to mention all the other risks of combining alcohol and benzos.

There are lots of natural remedies for anxiety I could suggest you that would be a lot safer but unfortunately, you need to stop drinking so much first for any of it to work. Have you considered that stopping drinking might be what you need to do rather than adding more drugs into the equation?

 

[AceInhibitor]

I know I need to stop drinking. I don't drink nearly as much as I used to, I fairly recently relapsed. I guess I was hoping since, even though a fifth is a whole lot for an average person, it does nearly nothing for me, so the Klonopin would affect me normally. But... Perhaps I should skip it. Thanks for the advice and input.

 

[DeathIndustrial88]

I would definitely not take the klonopin at work.

If you take it at night before you go to bed, you should still get some anxiety relief from it the next day at work, since it's so long acting. Expect to be incredibly groggy & drowsy the next morning though.

I've been taking klonopin for 15 years off & on. At first, mixing it with alcohol really messed up my inhibitions & made me prone to blacking out/amnesia.
But since my body is pretty used to it now, I can get away with taking up 2.5mg of klonopin without blacking out or having any kind of issues like that. But I also no longer drink.

Alcohol & klonopin share a little bit of cross-tolerance, as they're both gabaergic substances. So the more alcohol you drink, the more klonopin you'll need & the more klonopin you take, the more alcohol you'll need to maintain your buzz from it. So this is a cycle to watch out for. And as Snafu pointed out, this puts a lot of strain on your gaba receptors & can lead to worse anxiety problems down the road if not done responsibly. It could also lead to seizures or other serious physical effects.

I think it'd help your anxiety to quit drinking honestly & just stick with the klonopin. Alcohol causes some severe rebound anxiety, panic, hypertension, tachycardia, etc.. I know it won't be easy in your case altogether, but you'd probably feel better just being on klonopin & without the alcohol.

Maybe experiment by drinking less one day & trying a klonopin at night, so that you can really gauge what it's going to feel like & how you'll react. That way you're in a safe environment & can go to bed right away if necessary.

Benzos for me are quite similar in effects to alcohol, just much more clean & controlled. Using your prescribed dose only (which I assume is low) is the best way to take it though. As long as you're not popping them like candy or treating them like alcohol, then you can avoid a lot of aforementioned problems.


Do you have a history of panic or anxiety & mental health issues? Cause if not, I think that's fucking crazy that your doc just threw you a potent benzo just cause your life is shitty at the moment. I've had life-long debilitating anxiety/panic issues & it took me years to convince a doctor to let me have a benzo.

 

[burn out]

I know I need to stop drinking. I don't drink nearly as much as I used to, I fairly recently relapsed. I guess I was hoping since, even though a fifth is a whole lot for an average person, it does nearly nothing for me, so the Klonopin would affect me normally. But... Perhaps I should skip it. Thanks for the advice and input.

You know, taking benzos long term is actually very bad for your brain even if you don't drink alcohol but a short course of benzos can ease alcohol withdrawals. Have you considered just using the klonopin to help you get off alcohol instead of using it for anxiety?

 

[DeathIndustrial88]

Yeah long term benzos can lead to slow cognitive abilities over time & crappy memory. I've seen it first hand in my mom when she was alive & friends who were benzo users. Took a long time for it to really effect me though, like years & years, but that was with only taking it as needed.

But ultimately, alcohol damages the brain too, maybe even more so. Alcohol will eventually kill you too through liver failure & taking a benzo won't.
So if OP drinks to relieve anxiety & needs that crutch, if they could switch to a benzo instead of the vodka, they'd in be making a healthier choice technically.

 

[AceInhibitor]

I would definitely not take the klonopin at work.

If you take it at night before you go to bed, you should still get some anxiety relief from it the next day at work, since it's so long acting. Expect to be incredibly groggy & drowsy the next morning though.

I've been taking klonopin for 15 years off & on. At first, mixing it with alcohol really messed up my inhibitions & made me prone to blacking out/amnesia.
But since my body is pretty used to it now, I can get away with taking up 2.5mg of klonopin without blacking out or having any kind of issues like that. But I also no longer drink.

Alcohol & klonopin share a little bit of cross-tolerance, as they're both gabaergic substances. So the more alcohol you drink, the more klonopin you'll need & the more klonopin you take, the more alcohol you'll need to maintain your buzz from it. So this is a cycle to watch out for. And as Snafu pointed out, this puts a lot of strain on your gaba receptors & can lead to worse anxiety problems down the road if not done responsibly. It could also lead to seizures or other serious physical effects.

I think it'd help your anxiety to quit drinking honestly & just stick with the klonopin. Alcohol causes some severe rebound anxiety, panic, hypertension, tachycardia, etc.. I know it won't be easy in your case altogether, but you'd probably feel better just being on klonopin & without the alcohol.

Maybe experiment by drinking less one day & trying a klonopin at night, so that you can really gauge what it's going to feel like & how you'll react. That way you're in a safe environment & can go to bed right away if necessary.

Benzos for me are quite similar in effects to alcohol, just much more clean & controlled. Using your prescribed dose only (which I assume is low) is the best way to take it though. As long as you're not popping them like candy or treating them like alcohol, then you can avoid a lot of aforementioned problems.


Do you have a history of panic or anxiety & mental health issues? Cause if not, I think that's fucking crazy that your doc just threw you a potent benzo just cause your life is shitty at the moment. I've had life-long debilitating anxiety/panic issues & it took me years to convince a doctor to let me have a benzo.

 

[AceInhibitor]

I don't have a history of panic or anxiety issues nor a history of narcotic abuse, just heavy alcohol. I think she was hesitant to prescribe it, I was hesitant to take it, but with it being a temporary problem that's beginning to affect my job (and the fact that I lied about my sobriety...) I think she decided to prescribe me a short term supply.

I don't think I'll take it though...

 

[AceInhibitor]

You know, taking benzos long term is actually very bad for your brain even if you don't drink alcohol but a short course of benzos can ease alcohol withdrawals. Have you considered just using the klonopin to help you get off alcohol instead of using it for anxiety?

I don't really consider myself someone with a problem with anxiety, normally. It's all just situational right now and in a month or two will resolve itself. I started drinking as a teenager for fun and into college to party and it just continued to escalate and now it's a physical need.

I guess my relapses are from a crutch to relieve some sort of emotional distress. Anger, frustration, maybe anxiety. But not the kind of anxiety I'm dealing with now. I know I need to stop drinking. I typically plan for a week vacation at work to go to a detox. Last time I had almost 2 years.. I know I can do it again.

 

[paranoid android]

Drinking on benzos not only jacks your tolerace to both but makes it likely that you will have a accident like faling over the stairs which i did on vodka and z drugs. Damn near broke my fucking leg. I mix benzos, z drugs and alcohol and although i am adicted to neither my tolerance to both is pretty fucked.

 

[burn out]

I don't really consider myself someone with a problem with anxiety, normally. It's all just situational right now and in a month or two will resolve itself. I started drinking as a teenager for fun and into college to party and it just continued to escalate and now it's a physical need.

I guess my relapses are from a crutch to relieve some sort of emotional distress. Anger, frustration, maybe anxiety. But not the kind of anxiety I'm dealing with now. I know I need to stop drinking. I typically plan for a week vacation at work to go to a detox. Last time I had almost 2 years.. I know I can do it again.

So you're planning to go to detox to stop drinking? How long have you been drinking a fifth a day? Either way, good luck hope you do it sooner rather than later.

 

[burn out]

Yeah long term benzos can lead to slow cognitive abilities over time & crappy memory. I've seen it first hand in my mom when she was alive & friends who were benzo users. Took a long time for it to really effect me though, like years & years, but that was with only taking it as needed.

But ultimately, alcohol damages the brain too, maybe even more so. Alcohol will eventually kill you too through liver failure & taking a benzo won't.
So if OP drinks to relieve anxiety & needs that crutch, if they could switch to a benzo instead of the vodka, they'd in be making a healthier choice technically.

Benzos aren't really a healthier choice unfortunately. While it's true that they are much better for the liver and other vital organs, the amount of brain damage they do vastly exceeds that of alcohol. I still have problems with my brain today fifteen years later following only 18 months of xanax usage. If I compare that with 18 months of drinking, that didn't do any noticeable damage to my brain at all.

 

[DeathIndustrial88]

Benzos aren't really a healthier choice unfortunately. While it's true that they are much better for the liver and other vital organs, the amount of brain damage they do vastly exceeds that of alcohol. I still have problems with my brain today fifteen years later following only 18 months of xanax usage. If I compare that with 18 months of drinking, that didn't do any noticeable damage to my brain at all.

Totally disagree.

Alcohol literally causes wet-brain. Along with organ failure. It's literally a toxic substance to everything it touches inside your body. Alcohol also converts to a carcinogen in a body. So wet-brain, liver failure or cancer, take your pick!

I'm very skeptical of your claims of having problems from usage of xanax from 15 years ago. That's almost impossible to quantify too, since if you were poly-drug user, then any number of the drugs you used could be causing you issues or your issues could be completely non-drug related at all & just happen to coincidentally start at the same time. But you know your body better than I do, so I'm not gonna sit here & say you're wrong about your own body either.

Much of the science on benzo-brain damage is still a bit inconclusive. Meaning it could happen, but won't necessarily happen. You could end up with dementia or cognitive decline from taking benadryl long term too, but plenty of people here on BL recommend benadryl for potentiating opiates, while conveniently leaving IT's dangers out of the picture. You used xanax for 18 months & claim you now have problems from it, yet I was prescribed xanax for over a year & have been taking benzos off & on for like 17+ years & I'm fine. I would be in much worse shape if I was still drinking.

My mom was on klonopin for 30+ years. Sure she had a shitty memory at times but she also made it to the age of 70 and most 70 year olds have shitty memory. My sister died in her 50's from a lifetime of drinking. Actually she died a year before my mom died. So my mom was on benzos just as long as my sister drank, yet my sister died first of liver failure, while at least my mom was still alive & mostly there cognitively. My mom passed away from complications with constipation & cancer treatment, so nothing to do with the fact that she was on benzos. Although the cancer she had was myeloid leukemia & since benzos are made with a benezene ring, it makes me wonder if there's any correlation there.

So yes, in my opinion & I think objective reality, benzos are definitely "healthier" than a life time of drinking alcohol.

Also, xanax is incredibly short acting compared to klonopin. If you were abusing the hell out of it or didn't taper off it correctly after 18 months, sure you could end up with some issues, but that can happen when coming off of any drug. And it's not the same as physical damage from long term use.

 

[DeathIndustrial88]

I think it's important to point out too that the amnesiac and black-out like side effects of benzos is variable & tends to only be an issue if you're abusing the fuck out of them & in the beginning stages of use. These effects lessen once your body becomes accustomed to benzos. I never get any sort of black outs or crazy shit like that from benzos anymore. Even if I take extended breaks from them & then go back to them.


So many times I've seen on BL now where some one comes in asking about benzos & all the users pile into the post, basically terrifying the fuck out of the user to the point of them not taking it. While in this case, since OP doesn't generally deal with anxiety/panic, I think they should just leave benzos alone. But I can't help but wonder how many users with legit benzo scripts have been scared off of taking their meds from reading people's comments on here, when in reality, taking that benzo might have helped their anxiety/panic greatly.


There was even one guy several months ago who tried claiming klonopin causes liver damage (it doesn't) and was basically trying to scare another user into not taking benzos EVER, which is just ridiculous.


Most people here who end up with issues from benzos are addicts who were abusing the hell out of them, not people who were taking it as prescribed or as needed.

 

[burn out]

Totally disagree.

Alcohol literally causes wet-brain. Along with organ failure. It's literally a toxic substance to everything it touches inside your body. Alcohol also converts to a carcinogen in a body. So wet-brain, liver failure or cancer, take your pick!

I never denied alcohol can cause serious health problems with prolonged abuse but wet brain is actually a rare disorder caused by a thiamin deficiency in some chronic alcoholics. The vast, vast majority of alcohol users do not get this condition so this is an unfair comparison based on the point I am attempting to make.

My point is that for someone who is suffering from alcohol to switch over to benzos because they are "healthier choice" is not necessarily doing themselves any favors. This is because benzos can damage the brain far more rapidly than alcohol, such that even were the person to cease using benzos they could still suffer from years of devastating withdrawals. You need to do more research on protracted benzo withdrawal syndrome, it can occur from relatively short term use at relatively low doses. This is not the case with alcohol.

If you visit websites like benzobuddies or the benzo withdrawal sudbreddit you will find hoards of people suffering immense problems from using benzos. Stories like this basically do not even exist for alcohol, despite it being far more commonly used. If you visit alcohol support sites nearly all the posts will be about "how do I stop drinking?" or "how do I feel with cravings for drinking?" Very few people are complaining about brain damage from alcohol, and the ones who do feel they damaged their brains were very heavy long term users. This tells us that benzos are far more dangerous to the brain than alcohol.

I'm very skeptical of your claims of having problems from usage of xanax from 15 years ago. That's almost impossible to quantify too, since if you were poly-drug user, then any number of the drugs you used could be causing you issues or your issues could be completely non-drug related at all & just happen to coincidentally start at the same time. But you know your body better than I do, so I'm not gonna sit here & say you're wrong about your own body either.

I contracted severe protracted benzo withdrawal syndrome following 18 months of benzo usage and never fully recovered. The first 3-4 years were pure hell on earth. Even if we assume none of my current health problems are due to benzos, that alone is far worse than any brain damage 18 months of drinking would have caused.

Much of the science on benzo-brain damage is still a bit inconclusive. Meaning it could happen, but won't necessarily happen. You could end up with dementia or cognitive decline from taking benadryl long term too, but plenty of people here on BL recommend benadryl for potentiating opiates, while conveniently leaving IT's dangers out of the picture. You used xanax for 18 months & claim you now have problems from it, yet I was prescribed xanax for over a year & have been taking benzos off & on for like 17+ years & I'm fine. I would be in much worse shape if I was still drinking.

My mom was on klonopin for 30+ years. Sure she had a shitty memory at times but she also made it to the age of 70 and most 70 year olds have shitty memory. My sister died in her 50's from a lifetime of drinking. Actually she died a year before my mom died. So my mom was on benzos just as long as my sister drank, yet my sister died first of liver failure, while at least my mom was still alive & mostly there cognitively. My mom passed away from complications with constipation & cancer treatment, so nothing to do with the fact that she was on benzos. Although the cancer she had was myeloid leukemia & since benzos are made with a benezene ring, it makes me wonder if there's any correlation there.

Sorry to hear about your mom and sister. Again, no doubt alcohol can be quite deadly and for some people they would live longer if they switched to benzos. My point is that I don't think benzos should be thought of a healthier alternative to alcohol given the serious brain problems they can cause. If someone was looking to switch to a healthier alternative, I would recommend kava. In fact I think a whole host of anti-anxiety herbs/drugs would be safer than benzos. This is the point I'm trying to make, not that alcohol isn't deadly.

So yes, in my opinion & I think objective reality, benzos are definitely "healthier" than a life time of drinking alcohol.

Also, xanax is incredibly short acting compared to klonopin. If you were abusing the hell out of it or didn't taper off it correctly after 18 months, sure you could end up with some issues, but that can happen when coming off of any drug. And it's not the same as physical damage from long term use.

No, it can't happen coming off any drug. I've quit serious heroin habits and while it's absolutely hell for a short while, it's nothing like benzos in terms of still being in fairly acute withdrawal a year after quitting. My withdrawal symptoms didn't even peak until 6 months off, with heroin I was completely over the withdrawal already after six months.

As for whether benzos are "healthier than a lifetime of drinking alcohol" that's not objective reality. Many people drink alcohol their whole adult lives and suffer little ill effects assuming they aren't raging alcoholics. Of course being a raging alcoholic is terrible for you but you can't just take the worst case scenario and use that as your sole point of comparison. The danger with benzos is that even people who are taking relatively low doses can still get the dreaded protracted withdrawal syndrome and all that comes with it and we don't see this with alcohol.

 

[jasperkent]

I'm an alcoholic....

Advice? Experience? Suggestions?

Generally, it's not a good idea for an alcoholic to take benzodiazepines of any kind-- especially if you're still drinking. If you have tremendous self-control you might be able to handle it, but it's risky.

Several times I've tried using various benzos to cut back on my drinking, but ended up abusing my scripts and drinking more than ever.
One time I got on Klonopin while sober. I ended up relapsing on the booze and became addicted to both. That double addiction was pure hell to kick. And dangerous.
Benzos are no longer recommended for long-term use anyway. Why start at all?

Benzos are a class of drugs that I will never take again. Just not worth it.

YMMV

 

[burn out]

Generally, it's not a good idea for an alcoholic to take benzodiazepines of any kind-- especially if you're still drinking. If you have tremendous self-control you might be able to handle it, but it's risky.

Most alcoholics don't have tremendous self control lol, especially when it comes to drugs that mimic the effects of alcohol. I

Several times I've tried using various benzos to cut back on my drinking, but ended up abusing my scripts and drinking more than ever.
One time I got on Klonopin while sober. I ended up relapsing on the booze and became addicted to both. That double addiction was pure hell to kick. And dangerous.
Benzos are no longer recommended for long-term use anyway. Why start at all?

Benzos are a class of drugs that I will never take again. Just not w

YMMV

I agree. I wish I had known about kava back then. I am confident kava would have saved me from both alcohol and benzo addiction. At that time in my life I was so anxious and depressed I felt as though I needed some kind of substance only I didn't realize that there are natural substances that can relieve anxiety without causing major damage to your health.