Benzos Planning to come off benzos - share your experiences and tips

[chetmanley]

Hey

I've been taking fair amount different benzos since August 2012, on daily basis. First I was on Diazepam and Bromazepam (was taking them simultaneously, it was quite good mix. I stopped taking these drugs around December 2012. Then I was on Alprazolam, some z-drugs and Midazolam for about 4 months. Alprazolam was one cruel mistress, the drug started to contol me. So, I stopped again and then I started to take Clonazepam and my 3-4 round with SSRI's. I've been taking them since May 2013 till today. I'm on 100mg of Sertraline and Clonazepam (2mg once a day usually, but when I have anxiety or panic attacks, I have to take upto 14 mg). I have maintained the original dosage of both drugs almost half a year now. I feel that I'm getting better. And for that reason, I don't really want to be hooked on any benzos, at least I don't want to take Clonazepam everyday.
I have had periods, when I have taken for 4-5 months benzos constantly, getting off them was quite easy, because my body did not need them so badly. Over the time my condition has been going worse, so I finally slipped, I guess.
I also know how awful benzo withdrawal can be, it's unbearable. It happened a couple of times when I ran out of pills.

For sure I can say at the moment I'm not ready to quit Clonazepam, but my thoughts are already moving to this direction. I have no idea what will wait me, but definitley I won't get away this easy as last times. If you have taken for so long time benzos, how have you managed to get off them? For how long side-effects have lasted? Have you had any thoughts on getting back on benzos?
Before I have just decreased my dosage slowly, I have had only minor headaches. But I didn't Clonazepam those times. It's definitley longer acting and stronger than other benzos I've taken. The advantage is that I don't get any feeling from popping benzos, they just help me to live my life. Even if I have popped large quantities, I have felt nothing.

So, my plan is to prepare myself to this after I feel that I can do this. At the moment I just want to gather some information. Any advice, your experiences are welcome!

 

[RTrain]

I don't think not feeling anything from popping them is an advantage. That just means you are heavily dependent on them. I think you should probably taper down the clonazepam until you get to 1 mg a day. Then switch to valium at a decent dose, probably 20-30 mg a day and taper off that, like 5 mg every 2 weeks, or slower if possible. Good luck, I am trying to stop using alprazolam daily and my length and weight of use isn't on your level.

 

[chetmanley]

I'm looking this the other way. Why should I take something everyday, why I want to pop benzos when they don't actually give me any good feeling. Eventhough I'm not addicted to any other drugs, I try to think like I would be. For example I try to put myself in an old heroin addict role. Why she or he should continue to take them if it even does not give you any high? Those pills I take are like a 'fix' everday, just to make me feel normal. So, it's quite pointless to continue, but if I say honestly, at the moment I need to keep taking my fixes, but as I said at least in my mind I'm having thoughts on quitting, in real life it takes time. But I'm hopeful, I feel I can beat this thing. These mind games help me a lot actually, although I have no experience with heroin or other opiates, besides painkillers I've been prescribed to.
I have read stories how people have beaten heavier drugs than me, guess I'm trying to think like them.

Diazepam just does not work for me, at least alone. And as I mentioned, I will decrease the dosage slowly. Well, that's the idea at least.

Good luck with Xanax, it's a cruel cruel mistress, don't even want to remember the time when I was on them

 

[RTrain]

Uhhuh, I've found the xannys are the most mentally tough benzo for me to keep away from. When I had my hands on large amounts of pins and vals I was fine just using it a few times a week. When I got a bunch of xanax I justify taking one everyday. But I've been doing better, didn't take any for 2 of the past 8 days, and I haven't taken more than 1 mg in a day.

Also, I understand what you mean by having the desire to stop because they don't seem to be doing anything much except make you normal. Being an opioid addict myself I've been there with those. Thing is when you have a chemically mindstate all the time, for a prolonged period of time, you forget what normal is. Real normalcy isn't an option because you are either high or sick or in the junkie limbo. None of that is truly feeling normal.

 

[chetmanley]

Wow, I feel now that I'm really addicted to benzos, didn't think than and opioid addict would find something good from Xanax.
I've have been prescribed many and many times Tramadol, Codeine, DHC. So far, I have been feeling something for a couple of times. As I take rarely those pills, when I have somekind of pain, it's quite interesting that they don't work on me, if we are talking to get any good feeling out of these pills. I know these are not the strongest painkillers in the market, but they have been working on my mates. Is it a gift maybe that my body just is unable to process the pills?

I think having this mindset, thinking of myself as an old opioid addict really helps. What's the point of taking benzos? They don't give me any high, they don't cure me. They only help to live another day by, but in the end you just take them, because your brain chemistry is used to get its dosage. I believe it's something that opioid addicts might feel and of course craving. Luckily I don't have any craving, just need to pull myself together and start decreasing the dosage till I'm clean. It's easy to write and think that, but I'm sure I can beat it. Hopefully the antidepressant I take, will be enough eventually, need to keep down the anxiety and panic attacks somehow.

 

[dopemegently]

It's not good to be dependent on a drug that doesn't make you feel good, but it does happen a lot with benzos.

Kava, valerian, phenibut, and picamilon could help aleviate your benzo wd, although the latter two are both addictive and should be used very cautiously. I've known people to use booze, but this is a very bad idea; benzo detox can last months, and if you were to drink through it, you'd almost certainly end up alcoholic.


When detoxing from benzos, its a good idea to avoid stimulants such as nicotine, caffeine, or "harder" drugs.

Btw I've done the whole dhc, tramadol thing, among others. In fact I've used opiate for 2 years shy of half my life; very fucking depressing.

 

[weekend addiction]

I hear a lot of people talking about how terrible benzo addiction is and I totally agree. But benzodiazepane dependence among responsible medicinal users can be a whole different animal. I know I've been on both sides.

Tapering benzos sucks ass and I hope I never have to taper again. But it's just like any other withdrawal. Take care of your body, live your life, and shit will pass. It's better if you have some time off of work. I would smoke a ton of weed if I were you but I don't know how you handle weed. Seems to make the PAWS symptoms go away for me.

 

[Lady Codone]

Just quit etizolam about 2 weeks ago and am still not 100%. I'd used daily it for a year, so the withdrawals were pretty bad.

My advice would be to taper as slowly as possible. (I quit cold turkey and it was a bad choice). Reading the Ashton Manual when I was in the throes of withdrawal helped remind me that my symptoms were caused by withdrawals and would pass. Anyone planning on quitting benzo's should check it out.

Benadryl or doxylamine can be used to aid in sleep without "resetting" withdrawals. Valerian usually puts me right to sleep, but I tried it during withdrawals and had a terrible anxiety reaction. YMMV. I think it acts on the same receptors as benzos, although much less strongly. Tricyclic antidepressants like Elavil or anafranil are also great for sleep if you really need some Zzz's. Alcohol is a bad idea during withdrawals since it has a similar effect to benzos.

The goal of tapering is to decrease or maintain your dose without ever increasing it. You have to learn to manage anxiety and related symptoms without benzos (or other addictive drugs), which seems impossible at times but is not. Just looking at myself in the mirror was calming and helped with depersonalization during w/d's. You're not likely to die unless your habit was huge and you quit cold turkey.