Short term use of Librium, 4-5 times over 10 years

[penultimate]

Hello, I have been prescribed a tapering dose of Librium (Chlordiazepoxide) several times before in the past 10 years for alcohol withdrawal (25 capsules each 25mg strength 1-2 every 6-8 hours down to 1/day towards the end) and it's always worked well; definitely not euphoric and I'm off of it after a week which is great because dislike the long term foggy brain/muscle relaxant effect it has. But man was I glad to have it given how awful AD is. My question is, given the long term withdrawal horrors I've read about it, am I setting myself up for serious withdrawals from it at some point? It seems like the amounts I'm prescribed are pretty low, no-refills after the 25 are gone and I forget about it after, zero cravings. Am I risking anything here or are the withdrawals really eperienced for people who have taken it for long durations (like years). thank you.

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[negrogesic]

Hello, I have been prescribed a tapering dose of Librium (Chlordiazepoxide) several times before in the past 10 years for alcohol withdrawal (25 capsules each 25mg strength 1-2 every 6-8 hours down to 1/day towards the end) and it's always worked well; definitely not euphoric and I'm off of it after a week which is great because dislike the long term foggy brain/muscle relaxant effect it has. But man was I glad to have it given how awful AD is. My question is, given the long term withdrawal horrors I've read about it, am I setting myself up for serious withdrawals from it at some point? It seems like the amounts I'm prescribed are pretty low, no-refills after the 25 are gone and I forget about it after, zero cravings. Am I risking anything here or are the withdrawals really eperienced for people who have taken it for long durations (like years). thank you.

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You generally have to take benzos for an extended period of time for withdrawal to occur. This amount of time varies by person, but since you have experienced alcoholism you would likely experience it sooner than the average person.

However it sounds like you have a more pressing concern: the multiple periods of alcohol withdrawal severe enough to be prescribed benzodiazepines. But again, because of that, you are at a much higher risk of benzodiazepine dependency than the average person. I was once dependent on benzodiazepines and now a single large dose will produce a miniature withdrawal syndrome that lasts around 5-6 days.