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Benzos Now afraid to stop

Not Again

Bluelighter
Joined
Jul 19, 2013
Messages
311
It's silly but after hearing all the horror stories , I'm afraid to stop. Just been doing .5 xanax and toggling between that and 10 mg valium for a few weeks now. like 18 days .
 
stop now i dont think you would have withdrawals..if u did they would be minor..
 
If you seriously want to stop using them, I'd completely cut out the xanax now. Then tomorrow (or today if you haven't taken any benzos yet) just do 5 mg of valium and then wait and see if you have any issues without taking more. If it gets to 4 days without any problems you probably have no physical dependence. Valium has a long half life so it takes a while before you really can tell if not having it effects you. If you get to day 2 or 3 off the benzos and feel the need for more, take another 5 mg of valium and wait it out again. Then if you feel the need for more cut it down to 2.5 mg.

I honestly don't think you should have an issue completely stopping them right now. But if you do, the valium are the best benzo to taper with, so thats a benefit to your situation.
 
good to hear others affirm that valium is the best choice for quitting benzos, i guess in the way methadone is long acting as is valium, it brings you down slowly. i was siked when my pcp gave me 90 bars a month, now im down to 60 but still, i abuse them when i get them and run out early and have to buy them. i know no price talk but they are NOT cheap off the street. it sucks bc they work so well for so many things...ugh. and theyve been giving them to me for waaay too long but im not going to say anything bc im not looking forward to coming off them. i do feel wd right now as a matter of fact. ive not been able to get bars, i mean i could but i cant bring myself to buy any considering my entire rx of 60 costs half of what i would pay for 1 pill on the street. so ive been drinking a little bit of alcohol in my coffee just to bridge the gap. it works but im not sleeping at night. so yeah, op, quit while youre ahead bc this shit sucks.
 
I've been on and off this train too many times. There has been a couple instances (dealer arrested, supply out) that I was doing 2-3 bars a day and coming off that was no fun. Never had a seizure, but thought I was close at one point.

The times I've managed to quit taking them weren't that bad. I hate to say it, but I would always get off the Xanax by just doing my opiates, even though I preferred the combo (Don't try this at home). I never could tell I was without, thanks oxymorphone whipping my ass.

If you're just at .5, that's not a hard jump off. There has been cases where I would use for quite some time in small amounts due to being in between jobs. And coming off wasn't that bad.

Don't worry, if you've got a little V to help you through, I do believe you'll do fine. I love them little xannies myself too!
 
Well, instead of wasting time on the more horrific side of the stories, how about spending it on tapering methods
Besides, you've called them "horror stories", and that's all they are
Users/past users like to exaggerate about having had the worst of the worst when it comes to WD's, and I can verify that it does help you come to better terms with yourself while quitting.
 
Unless you have a truly weak constitution your will not experience withdrawals in any fashion. If you're really worried stop for a day and take 10mg of Valium the following day. It's long half - life after a short break should see you through any uncomfortable situations due to the fact that your dose isn't that high.

Benzo tolerance and withdrawal happens to people who have been using for many months or years. You're still at a very, very low dose. I'll say it again, quit now and you'll be fine.
 
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Yeah, just stop. Seriously. I've been in that situation so many times; I'd use a drug for a period of time, convinced it had become an addiction (when in reality I could have quit with no problems), and carried on, becoming completely hooked, sometimes for years. It's happened with opiates, booze, among others.

You've been using benzos for 18 days; it's very unlikely you'll suffer benzo withdrawals, but I can't lie to you: there's a decent chance you could experience
some rebound symptoms ie anxiety, reduced quality of sleep. You may want to consider having a supply of medications to help with this. I've heard high-strength kava extract is very relaxing, and I believe it has gaba activity. Valerian
and Melatonin could help with sleep, possibly also dph. Two other useful drugs could be phenibut and picamilon; these should both be used with caution, as they are habit-forming. Of course, you should only use medication if you do get rebound symptoms, it's quite possible you won't.
 
A benzodiazepine drug will often work well in the short-term, but is not normally advised for more than 2-4 weeks. If you take it for longer, the medicine may lose its effect (you may become tolerant to the effect) and you may also become dependent (addicted) to it. Sometimes the symptoms you are left with after long-term use of these medicines are worse than the symptoms for which they were originally given.

However, it is now known that if you take a benzodiazepine drug for more than 2-4 weeks, you may develop problems (see below). Therefore, most doctors will now only prescribe benzodiazepines drugs for a short period.

Short Term Effects

Low to Moderate Doses
Benzodiazepines are prescribed for relaxation, calmness, and relief from anxiety and tension. In some cases side effects will occur; these vary widely depending on the type of benzodiazepine, the dose, and the person. They can include:
Impaired motor coordination
Drowsiness, lethargy, fatigue
Impaired thinking and memory
Confusion
Depression
Altered vision
Slurred speech, stuttering
Vertigo
Tremors
Respiratory depression
Nausea, constipation, dry mouth, abdominal discomfort, loss of appetite, vomiting, diarrhea

I think you be OK, if you stop now. Just like others have posted on this thread, they are right and I'm sure they have more info on this subject, since I'm kind of new to BL. But it helped me get thru major addition to opiates by reading the post and everyone's opinion, because everyone reacts differently to any drug.
Hope info helps
 
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Last night I took 5 mg valium as I was having a hard time sleeping. Tonight I won't take anything except this OTC sleeping aid I got. I need to get some time away from these. I'm going to really need them when I finally stop the opies. I've been saying that for a month now and the dr just gave me more pain med's. I'm afraid to tell him I want to stop because, what if I want them again? Or I should say, What if I need them again? Last DR I told I wanted to stop wouldn't give them back when I was really hurting. Once you get into oxy nothing else seems to work for pain.
How long would you say I need as a break before I can take them again(benzo's)? For the opie wd's? I hope 1.5 weeks is enough.
 
To the OP

Stop now cold turkey. I was taking around 3-5 mg of xanax daily for 10-11 months and when i quit cold turkey i had a mild seizure. Scariest thing thats ever happened to me I was drooling couldn't talk convulsing like crazy.
 
I used etiz almost daily for almost a month and had no withdrawals. I'd take a week or so off now to reduce any tolerance you might have


Yeah? Shit, that's pretty reassuring actually; I've been hitting them quite hard of late, using them for up to 7 days at a time. Dependence seems to be quite gradual with etizolam. I did Librium for six days in a row and felt horrible for approx 2weeks.
 
Everyone is different.

My personal experience; I've been on 3mg of Kpins and 2mg of Xans a day prescribed. I also order tons overseas. Currently added Nitrazepam to my daily routine until I run out of those. Oh and for over a year I was eating 2 boxes (200mg) of Etizolam weekly, not always daily. Anyhoo, I've taken weeks off and never had any WD symptoms. I felt fine. Like I said we're all different and drugs effect people different ways.

I have had this thought that since going through a Heroin detox, followed by a Suboxone detox. THOSE FUCKING SUCKED!!! But I've never had WD from quitting benzos. As suggested Valium would be the best benzo for a taper plan.

Good luck. Happy to hear you want to end your current routine. Someday I may grow some wisdom and quit myself.

AGAIN, this purely my experience.
 
I personally would kick Opies 1st, Benz will help the WDs from opies. And Paws is where Benz plays a huge part, at least did for me. Keep in mind low doses are important and if it's not enough you can always take what you believe is right dose. Always remember uppers and downers not a good combo if it's not supervised.
I recently went thru the same transition and was successful "so far" 47 days off Opies and when cravings, anxiety, depression kicked in I only took .5 Xanex
That said WDs from Benz are mild to none comparing to Opies WDs, physical, psychological, and every other symptoms
Keep it up
Don't give In
You doing this for no one but your self and the outcome is priceless.
 
Tolerance and withdrawal symptoms go hand in hand. If you aren't abusing them and taking a large dosage then withdrawals should be mild. You shouldn't be really concerned unless you are taking more then the highest available dose like taking multiple 2mg Xanax bars or 10mg Valiums. The other factor is time. If you took a one time large dose, you will not have withdrawals but if you take a lower dose continuously for a long period of time like weeks, then you are going to have some serious symptoms.

If you are not experiencing some of the milder symptoms like lack of sleep or rebound anxiety then it is unlikely you will experience anything worse.
 
Youll be fine if you quit while youre ahead. I kicked a light dose (1-1.5 mg/day) of xanax cold turkey and besides some initial nightmares and agitated sleep, was fine in about 1-2 weeks. With the aid of cannabis, it was very manageable.

.5 is a very light dose and 18 days is a relatively short period to be using something. You can just walk away from it now and be fine. Real benzo withdrawals sound like some horror stories, some even say its worse than heroin. Dont let it happen to you.
 
^you get the nightmares too? My dreams have been sooo weird. I mean, deep feeling like hours long, almost movie like. And i always remember them, i guess that is from the lack of good sleep. Its like insane dreams for 2hrs then turn over, repeat for about 3 more times and by the time im up im mentally tired.
 
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