Hey guys, I though i'd share my phenibut story. I'm mainly writing this because when I quit phenibut, I quit cold turkey and in reading every withdrawal post on multiple forums I didn't find one where some type of benzo or sleep medication wasn't used. I had no access to benzos or anything like that, I have no health insurance and didn't want to spend the money to get a script for anything to be honest, and I didn't want to admit to anybody I got myself addicted to this crap.
A little background about myself, never done any drugs other than weed and alcohol. I heard about phenibut on another forum I frequent back in January and placed an order for the hcl crystals. I've never had a history of anxiety or anything, just mainly an introvert and this seemed like some sort of miracle drug on days I went out with friends etc. I knew full well all about the possibilities of tolerance and withdrawal and was set on using this stuff once a week at the most. I kept it to that for about 3-4 weeks. That then turned into twice a week, then 3 times and eventually 4 times a week where I would go 4 on take 3 days off and repeat. I noticed on my 3 days off by the 2nd day I was feeling down and depressed and just felt shitty in general. I didn't realize this was me withdrawing from phenibut at the time. I eventually worked my way up to 5 days on 2 days off and then every other day followed by every day. I quit cold turkey in may for about 3 weeks, at that point I decided I'd take phenibut once a week max and promised myself that was it. Ha. Ha. That led me to where I'm at now, which is a month and a half strait of around 3g a day.....again. I've quit cold turkey twice now, and surprisingly both withdrawals were almost identical in length and effects.
I started out dosing about a gram give or take, I always just eyeballed the dose with the scoop that comes with the crystals. obviously my dosing didn't stay at 1g, I ended up taking 3g a day which is where I topped out at. The last 2 weeks prior to quitting I was taking 3 grams a day just to keep the withdrawals at bay. I wasn't getting any positive effects at this point, I just felt like a braindead zombie most of the day but no anxiety and I had no problems sleeping with this dose.
Last wednesday I decided I was going to just quit cold turkey. I took my last dose of phenibut at about 9pm last wednesday. I work nights so thats the equivalent of an afternoon dose for most people. Thursday night I was already feeling the withdrawals and got maybe 2 hours of sleep every time I closed my eyes I would have this rush of almost terror to the point I had to get up and take 2 showers throughout the night to calm my mind.
Friday, the 2nd day of no phenibut I was fine for the most part during the day, just a little on edge at work. it seems the bad panic attacks and anxiety happen at night. I felt like I was on stimulants all day which is interesting after only getting 2 hours of sleep the night prior. Friday night was a tough one, I didn't sleep. at all. I'd lay in bed and start panicking and my heart would start racing when I closed my eyes. This honestly scared the living hell out of me I felt like I wanted to die and actually thought about what it would be like to just end my life not that I ever would but the contemplation was there, I've never experienced anything like that. I ended up taking a shower a few times again that night and just gave up on trying to sleep and occupied my night with some video games and moves.
Saturday night, day 3. After 2 hours of sleep in total thursday/friday night. I could feel that I was exhausted mentally and physically. The anxiety of withdrawing wouldn't even be that bad but the complete lack of sleep by this point makes you feel like you are about to have a psychotic breakdown or something. It's all in your mind though, you just need to have something to keep you grounded really. I went out with a buddy and had 6 beers, came home smoked a bowl and it still took me around an hour and a half to fall asleep. I did get probly 3 hours of sleep though. I felt a little better when I woke up sunday, but I was still just out of it due the crippling insomnia coming off phenibut causes. That is by far the worst thing about it.
Sunday day 4; I didn't have to go to work today so I basically just laid around my apartment and played video games with my roommate. Thats how I spent most of my spare time throughout the whole process, I didn't even enjoy it, it was just something to do instead of sitting around obsessing about withdrawing and psyching myself out further. Sunday night I laid down, and I wasnt freaking out like I was the last 3 days. I ate a few cannabis edibles, and proceeded to pass out for about 7 hours. I woke up monday morning and knew that the worst was over. You can really just feel the withdrawal symptoms float away, its a really really great feeling.
Monday/tuesday days 5 and 6; I feel as if once you manage to get a full nights rest thats the end of the really bad part of phenibut withdrawals. These 2 days I just felt sort of run down and fatigued, most likely from sleeping 5 hours in 3 nights. my body just needed to catch up on sleep. I only got around 6 hours of broken sleep monday night, tuesday night I slept 7 hours un-interrupted. no bad panic attacks or anything like that when trying to fall asleep.
Today is day 7. No anxiety to speak of today, I'm actually in a much better mood than I have been in a long time. Slept a full 8 hours last night and it felt amazing. I don't foresee anymore withdrawal issues at this point
All in all, phenibut is a great supplement for certain people. If you can keep it in check and actually stick to using it once a week you will have no problems with it. I never had an issue with phenibut until I got to the 4 days a week 3 days off cycle. Long term use is horrible however every positive effect that is enjoyable about phenibut no longer exists, you are simply taking a drug masked as a supplement to stave off some nasty withdrawals at that point. I do not see a need to taper off phenibut like many recommend though, from the posts and logs I've read it seems as if tapering just draws out the withdrawal process. Quitting cold turkey is a few days of misery, but it can be done. It's not gonna be comfortable by any means, and you may feel like you are gonna lose your shit but you wont, it's just all a mind game that you must power through for a few days and the worst will be over. Phenibut is not a benzo, there is no risk of having seizures by quitting cold turkey. I just flushed the rest of my stash down the toilet, never again am I jumpin back on this train the rewards are not worth the 3-4 days of living hell when you quit taking it. Please use caution if you are thinking about trying phenibut.
Looking back after coming off this drug, this stuff will change who you are if you use it long term. You will make decisions you wouldn't normally make and do things you wouldn't normally do. I've found phenibut made me very impulsive with sex, food, and just a lot of things in general. It's like I was living my life based on impulses, while being on phenibut its so easy to just not care about possible consequences.
A little background about myself, never done any drugs other than weed and alcohol. I heard about phenibut on another forum I frequent back in January and placed an order for the hcl crystals. I've never had a history of anxiety or anything, just mainly an introvert and this seemed like some sort of miracle drug on days I went out with friends etc. I knew full well all about the possibilities of tolerance and withdrawal and was set on using this stuff once a week at the most. I kept it to that for about 3-4 weeks. That then turned into twice a week, then 3 times and eventually 4 times a week where I would go 4 on take 3 days off and repeat. I noticed on my 3 days off by the 2nd day I was feeling down and depressed and just felt shitty in general. I didn't realize this was me withdrawing from phenibut at the time. I eventually worked my way up to 5 days on 2 days off and then every other day followed by every day. I quit cold turkey in may for about 3 weeks, at that point I decided I'd take phenibut once a week max and promised myself that was it. Ha. Ha. That led me to where I'm at now, which is a month and a half strait of around 3g a day.....again. I've quit cold turkey twice now, and surprisingly both withdrawals were almost identical in length and effects.
I started out dosing about a gram give or take, I always just eyeballed the dose with the scoop that comes with the crystals. obviously my dosing didn't stay at 1g, I ended up taking 3g a day which is where I topped out at. The last 2 weeks prior to quitting I was taking 3 grams a day just to keep the withdrawals at bay. I wasn't getting any positive effects at this point, I just felt like a braindead zombie most of the day but no anxiety and I had no problems sleeping with this dose.
Last wednesday I decided I was going to just quit cold turkey. I took my last dose of phenibut at about 9pm last wednesday. I work nights so thats the equivalent of an afternoon dose for most people. Thursday night I was already feeling the withdrawals and got maybe 2 hours of sleep every time I closed my eyes I would have this rush of almost terror to the point I had to get up and take 2 showers throughout the night to calm my mind.
Friday, the 2nd day of no phenibut I was fine for the most part during the day, just a little on edge at work. it seems the bad panic attacks and anxiety happen at night. I felt like I was on stimulants all day which is interesting after only getting 2 hours of sleep the night prior. Friday night was a tough one, I didn't sleep. at all. I'd lay in bed and start panicking and my heart would start racing when I closed my eyes. This honestly scared the living hell out of me I felt like I wanted to die and actually thought about what it would be like to just end my life not that I ever would but the contemplation was there, I've never experienced anything like that. I ended up taking a shower a few times again that night and just gave up on trying to sleep and occupied my night with some video games and moves.
Saturday night, day 3. After 2 hours of sleep in total thursday/friday night. I could feel that I was exhausted mentally and physically. The anxiety of withdrawing wouldn't even be that bad but the complete lack of sleep by this point makes you feel like you are about to have a psychotic breakdown or something. It's all in your mind though, you just need to have something to keep you grounded really. I went out with a buddy and had 6 beers, came home smoked a bowl and it still took me around an hour and a half to fall asleep. I did get probly 3 hours of sleep though. I felt a little better when I woke up sunday, but I was still just out of it due the crippling insomnia coming off phenibut causes. That is by far the worst thing about it.
Sunday day 4; I didn't have to go to work today so I basically just laid around my apartment and played video games with my roommate. Thats how I spent most of my spare time throughout the whole process, I didn't even enjoy it, it was just something to do instead of sitting around obsessing about withdrawing and psyching myself out further. Sunday night I laid down, and I wasnt freaking out like I was the last 3 days. I ate a few cannabis edibles, and proceeded to pass out for about 7 hours. I woke up monday morning and knew that the worst was over. You can really just feel the withdrawal symptoms float away, its a really really great feeling.
Monday/tuesday days 5 and 6; I feel as if once you manage to get a full nights rest thats the end of the really bad part of phenibut withdrawals. These 2 days I just felt sort of run down and fatigued, most likely from sleeping 5 hours in 3 nights. my body just needed to catch up on sleep. I only got around 6 hours of broken sleep monday night, tuesday night I slept 7 hours un-interrupted. no bad panic attacks or anything like that when trying to fall asleep.
Today is day 7. No anxiety to speak of today, I'm actually in a much better mood than I have been in a long time. Slept a full 8 hours last night and it felt amazing. I don't foresee anymore withdrawal issues at this point
All in all, phenibut is a great supplement for certain people. If you can keep it in check and actually stick to using it once a week you will have no problems with it. I never had an issue with phenibut until I got to the 4 days a week 3 days off cycle. Long term use is horrible however every positive effect that is enjoyable about phenibut no longer exists, you are simply taking a drug masked as a supplement to stave off some nasty withdrawals at that point. I do not see a need to taper off phenibut like many recommend though, from the posts and logs I've read it seems as if tapering just draws out the withdrawal process. Quitting cold turkey is a few days of misery, but it can be done. It's not gonna be comfortable by any means, and you may feel like you are gonna lose your shit but you wont, it's just all a mind game that you must power through for a few days and the worst will be over. Phenibut is not a benzo, there is no risk of having seizures by quitting cold turkey. I just flushed the rest of my stash down the toilet, never again am I jumpin back on this train the rewards are not worth the 3-4 days of living hell when you quit taking it. Please use caution if you are thinking about trying phenibut.
Looking back after coming off this drug, this stuff will change who you are if you use it long term. You will make decisions you wouldn't normally make and do things you wouldn't normally do. I've found phenibut made me very impulsive with sex, food, and just a lot of things in general. It's like I was living my life based on impulses, while being on phenibut its so easy to just not care about possible consequences.
