Slowly building up a opioid tolerance while being on clonazepam

[Abyssos]

Hello,

I was on oxycodone retard 40mg/d for 1,5 years until May this year. Then I started taking clonazepam for anxiety, visual snow, sensory overload, derealization and stress which started after a stressful event post op.

Here you can read my story if you'd like: http://www.bluelight.org/vb/threads/770466-My-horrible-story-advise-needed?p=13251642#post13251642

So now I am on 2mg clonazepam a day to be able to go outside and get my work done because without it lights and sounds are so overwhelming for me that I feel faint in shopping malls and the visual disturbances (visual snow, after images, weird motions) are too much for me when there are too many people. The clonazepam works wonders and I can finally do stuff outside without feeling dizzy from the information input of my surroundings.

However, clonazepam causes a great dysphoria and I am so emotionally numb that I can't find joy in anything I do. Basically, I am a zombie.

I also take n-acetyl-l-tyrosin in the morning for the past 5 days to improve the dopamine level in my brain and 5-HTP in the late afternoon to make sure my serotonine doesn't hit levels that are too low. In the evening I take l-taurine and magnesium for it's NMDA antagonist effect and its GABA improving ability.

I also take multivitamines, B6, B12, fish oil, valerian root, low dose potassium to keep my levels normal and everything necessary to live a healthy life.

However, nothing lifts my mood. The clonazepam helps me to reduce the visual isturbances a bit, makes me less anxious in public places with a lot of stimulation and also helps me to cope with stress I have due to being self-employed. But it does make me very unhappy because I can't feel anything anymore.

For this reason, I am trying to slowly work up to a dosage of oxycodone that improves my mood while at the same time staying on clonazepam to be able to "live" and do the stuff that needs to be done.

Is it safe if you start very slowly, for example with 1mg oxycodone and slowly work your way up until you reach - let's say - a dose of 20mg a day while being on 2mg clonazepam? I remember that 20mg oxycodone retard was enough to keep me happy the whole day. I am just afraid that the combination of both could lead to respiratory failure or does this only happen when you overdose or don't have a high tolerance to both substances?
I tolerate the 2mg clona very well. I am not even drowsy when I take it. I am on benzos for 5 months now so I guess I have built up a solid tolerance. However, how should I start building a tolerance to opioids again?

If someone who has experience with the combination of opioids and benzos and could give me an advise how to be on both of them without risking respiratory failure, I would highly appreciate it. I can't get off the clonazepam at the moment because there is too much stress in my life but I also can't continue like this because all of my relationships seem to break because clona makes me such an emotionless and cold human.

Sorry for the bad English. It's not my native language.

Regards!

 

[88dood88]

I just wanted to say that if it's causing you to turn into a zombie, eventually the addition of opiates will make things so much worse because both potentiate each others depressant effects. You say you can't get off the clonazolam, I dont know your situation but you sound stressed out so I can understand, but if you think you are emotionally numb now, just wait until the opiates stop having positive effects, then you'll be in a much worse spot than you are now.

For harm reduction don't ever drink alcohol on this mix. I've combined kratom extracts and clonazolam with no bad effects, and this was with no clonazolam tolerance but high kratom tolerance, so although I highly advise you not to add oxy on top of what youre taking, your pre-existing tolerance I would guess lowers the risk of having a respiratory depression episode. Just don't up the benzo dose and if you do up the oxy, make sure its the lowest possible increase.

Again I need to stress that eventually you will not only have the opposite effects youre looking for with the oxy and its not a smart combination. Your English is perfectly fine btw. Stay safe!

 

[Speed King]

Above poster is pretty spot on. My suggestion is to switch to a lighter weight drug. Some great choices are Ativan and Valium. Clonazepam is a heavy hitter. It can do everything you said.
Unless you are in real pain, and not my benzos don't work anymore pain, I highly suggest you switch benzos. A deicent doctor will go along with it, especially if going to a weaker benzo.

 

[badanga]

I could see that you would potentially run the risk of a fatal encounter if you work your way up to that much oxy a day even despite a tolerance. Mixing benzos with pain medicines is often a common choice for curing some symptoms that come from the use of especially opioids. I would stray away from the use of opioids while on benzos for the potential risk of a long term addiction that could have fatal consequences at one point. I would almost gurantee that once your increase of oxy rises so will your doses of klonopins.

 

[Abyssos]

Thanks for your answers. I do understand your concern.

However, the oxycodone I took was in retardation form and I never needed more than 20mg a day to feel a subtle feeling of well-being the whole day- and I took them for 1,5 years.
I never abused them to get an euphoric high, they just eliminated my depression and allowed me to enjoy life. I only needed 40mg because I had so much pain, but for the psychological effect, 20mg of oxycodone with retardation was always enough to keep me happy.

Sure, clonazepam is a strong benzo. However, valium made me sleepy like hell, xanax' half-life is too short and lorazepam was putting me asleep aswell. Clonazepam is the only benzo that takes away the stress and anxiety without making me feel fatigued.
The only downside is that it causes me to feel no emotions anymore. But so did all the other benzos. That's why I would like to risk combining clonazepam with an opioid, but only by slowly adding it.

What my real question is: Is it physically safe if you combine clonazepam and oxycodone in retardation form if you increase the dosage of oxycodone VERY slowly, like 2mg a week. I am on 2mg clonazepam a day at the moment which I split between morning and evening. It's impossible for me to stay off the clona or replace it with another benzo at the moment but it's also impossible to bear this emptyness and dysphoria.

I am only afraid of the respiratory failure.

Thanks again for your replies. I appreciate your input.