Benzos So i have been binging on Benzos and Alcohol for months and feel like i am insane

[rsandoval89]

For the last several months i have been using up to 125 Mg of Librium and Close to 4 to 6 MG of Ativan,

Along with this i have also been a binge drinker for atleast 7 years drinking upwards of a fifth of Vodka a day

I have quit cold Turkey before and have almost died from the DT's Hallucinations horrible seizures.

I have been to Hospitals, Psych Units, urgent cares and i have no PCP

I Have Medi-cal but it will not pay for me to go to a detox center

i am so desperate to get off thos shit forever and move on with my life but i fear i never will

I am homeless and on probation which i have violated i will probably be going to jail on the 27th and im terrified they will C/T me in Jail and i will die

Ive been having suicidal thoughts daily

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Kid Amine]

A lot of this is beyond my ability to help, but I would not worry about jail - you can only help yourself by not worrying and fearing the worst. Also, try not to catch any more charges before now and then, and show up to court. I just spent 3 months in jail, and they put me on medical seg for a week to watch me for signs of alcohol w/d. Here, if you have a seizure or something, they shut the whole damned place down and a CO takes you to the hospital. Some might C/T you, but dying in jail and a possible huge lawsuit is more risk/hassle/expense than taking you to a hospital. Also, the jails, here anyway, have a slew of outside programs that you can go to in lieu of doing jailtime. I dunno much about them as they werent an option for me, as they take considerably longer than the time I was facing. Some even get you real jobs and provide housing, and staying clean will be much easier once those two basic needs are met. Hang in there Sandoval!

Also, dont C/T withdraw, I know you have limited resources at the moment, but you do have 3 weeks before court and can start a tapering plan now. I take it you're in CA; afaik no hospital in the US can refuse treatment based on inability to pay. ASk your insurance company if there is an anything they do cover

 

[rsandoval89]

unfortunately the hospitals here just keep you mayby over night and kick you to the curb its really horrible

Medi-cal wont cover inpatient detox period

as for tapering im completely out of benzos and i was obtaining them illegally to begin with.

the last time i was in jail here, i had to seize for before they took me to the infirmary

 

[PriestTheyCalledHim]

Can you go to a state run detox/rehab center? Or the ER? Or if you go to jail tell them how you are addicted to both drugs and withdrawing from them. A friend of mine that was in jail was addicted to opiates and they didn't give him any opiates but they did have medical professionals watch over him and made sure he was OK while he was in jail. Good luck, and stay safe. Alcohol and benzo withdrawal are not something to be taken lightly.

 

[brighton]

Could you get your probation officer or a doctor to see what prison procedures are in place for this sort of thing? Or could they talk to the prison doctor / warden about your impending jail term and detox?

 

[Lady Codone]

I feel for you, man. Benzos are the worst drugs to be addicted to and alcohol is no walk in the park. Both can produce fatal withdrawals. Can't imagine withdrawing from both at the same time. Definitely seek professional help when you're ready to quit.

Getting off etizolam was the hardest thing I've ever done, but it does get better. Staying on it only prolongs the inevitable. Your brain and body will gradually heal if you give them the chance. It feels like the insanity will never end but it does. Check out Benzobuddies.org for support.

 

[rsandoval89]

yah guys this has been an absolute nightmare

i feel like my spine is being ripped out of my head

 

[speedballs_over]

Please get professional help before you can't do it for yourself, for God's sake you can't do this alone. And the others suggestions about learning the jail procedures ahead of time is a great idea.

We had a female looking at going to LA County with a benzo dependency recently, search for her thread, I commented in it - http://www.bluelight.org/vb/threads...-days!!!-Need-help?highlight=Jail+benzo+Xanax

Pretty sure it was a woman, could be wrong, pretty sure that person is back out of jail - if you're reading this and out tell us your story please.

 

[rsandoval89]

Please guys i need help i feel like dying

 

[DrGreenthumb]

Please see a doctor, take yourself to hospital or call an ambulance while you still can.

 

[pbuilder]

Please guys i need help i feel like dying

Go to the ER. I'm not trying to scare you or cause you worse anxiety, just understand that alcohol and benzo withdrawal is VERY dangerous and you can literally die from it cold turkey. You have a huge habit, you need to be medically supervised while they work on stabalizing you and getting you on a taper. You CAN'T do this alone. You DON'T WANT TO DO THIS ALONE. You will have a sense of comfort from knowing you are at least safe from withdrawal related death while in the ER.

 

[ThePharmacist4925]

I don't know where you are located but when I lived in Los Angeles I heard all about different rehab programs that will take anyone. A place called Cry Help comes to mind, it's in Los Angeles.

http://www.freerehabcenters.org

This website looks like it might be helpful for you. I check it out a little bit and it seems like they have information about a plethora of free drug & alcohol treatment programs in every state.

I know gabapentin is used in detoxing people off of both benzos and alcohol. Clonidine & Guanfacine are both helpful with GABA drug withdrawals. I hate to say it and I don't even think I'd recommend it, but it is cheap, phenibut acts on GABA B receptors and could potentially keep you from having a seizure. In dealing with the rebound anxiety Seroquel helps some people as a short term solution. Theoretically L-Theanine might help a little but as it pertains to feeling any benefit, that will be negligible.

If you have to detox yourself, buy a 375ml bottle instead of a 750ml one and put yourself in a position where you can't get back to the liquor store easily. Idk about tapering benzos, if you can get Valium or Klonopin instead of Ativan because of longer half-life. You already have librium which has a long ass half-life, but switching the ativan to 20 to 30mgs of Valium a day or 4 to 6mgs of klonopin a day will put you on less of a roller coaster. Once stabilized with that you could ween down 5mgs of Valium or 1mg of Klonopin every 3 days. That would be less painful than using Ativan or xanax which have short half-lives.

I've been in situations where I thought it was over and then carefully behavior and a little luck saved my ass. Find a medication to keep you stable post-withdrawal will be key for you. Seroquel works, other atypical antipsychotics work, Haloperidol works (up to 8mgs, no more), maybe a mood stabilizer like depakote, lithium, or lymictal might work, gabapentin if dosed properly could work (doses of 200mgs every hour your awake would be the most effective), Brand Name Intuniv would help, regularly dosed clonidine would help. Maybe ever something like zoloft might help you. I'm not a doctor but I've noticed different pattern in the way patients are treated during the almost 4 years of my life that I spent in treatment.

If you need anything or want to talk to someone, I'm available for the rest of the day. Good luck! Everyone needs a little luck.

 

[pbuilder]

I don't know where you are located but when I lived in Los Angeles I heard all about different rehab programs that will take anyone. A place called Cry Help comes to mind, it's in Los Angeles.

http://www.freerehabcenters.org

This website looks like it might be helpful for you. I check it out a little bit and it seems like they have information about a plethora of free drug & alcohol treatment programs in every state.

I know gabapentin is used in detoxing people off of both benzos and alcohol. Clonidine & Guanfacine are both helpful with GABA drug withdrawals. I hate to say it and I don't even think I'd recommend it, but it is cheap, phenibut acts on GABA B receptors and could potentially keep you from having a seizure. In dealing with the rebound anxiety Seroquel helps some people as a short term solution. Theoretically L-Theanine might help a little but as it pertains to feeling any benefit, that will be negligible.

If you have to detox yourself, buy a 375ml bottle instead of a 750ml one and put yourself in a position where you can't get back to the liquor store easily. Idk about tapering benzos, if you can get Valium or Klonopin instead of Ativan because of longer half-life. You already have librium which has a long ass half-life, but switching the ativan to 20 to 30mgs of Valium a day or 4 to 6mgs of klonopin a day will put you on less of a roller coaster. Once stabilized with that you could ween down 5mgs of Valium or 1mg of Klonopin every 3 days. That would be less painful than using Ativan or xanax which have short half-lives.

I've been in situations where I thought it was over and then carefully behavior and a little luck saved my ass. Find a medication to keep you stable post-withdrawal will be key for you. Seroquel works, other atypical antipsychotics work, Haloperidol works (up to 8mgs, no more), maybe a mood stabilizer like depakote, lithium, or lymictal might work, gabapentin if dosed properly could work (doses of 200mgs every hour your awake would be the most effective), Brand Name Intuniv would help, regularly dosed clonidine would help. Maybe ever something like zoloft might help you. I'm not a doctor but I've noticed different pattern in the way patients are treated during the almost 4 years of my life that I spent in treatment.

If you need anything or want to talk to someone, I'm available for the rest of the day. Good luck! Everyone needs a little luck.

It's no where near safe for a person that physically addicted to alcohol and benzos, to try and taper themselves, or to follow a taper of lowering your valium dose "5mgs every 3 days". You should do some reading on benzo withdrawal. By doing only a short taper, you are going to end up with horrible and debiliating PAWS that may last for years, and you high HIGHLY increase the risk of seizure. They must be tapered VERY VERY SLOWLY, like 2mg drop in valium every week or two weeks, and should be done for many many months, depending on how big the habit is you are tapering down from.

Very good guideline for proper benzo tapering (Ashton Manual): http://www.benzo.org.uk/manual/

Patients heavily addicted to alcohol and benzos are very difficult to get on a taper plan to sobriety, because the withdrawals are literally a complete disconnect from reality, throwing you into a terrifying world of insanity and delirum. So if done too fast and the delirum symptoms become unbearable, it's very easy to just relapse.

 

[CosmicG]

Interesting to have seen this post. I just left a rehab facility yesterday detoxing off of benzos and alcohol. I admitted myself fifteen days ago when I soon realized that tapering myself off of benzos would be impossible for me without professional help. I had been under the impression that they would try tapering me with a longer lasting benzo, but I was wrong.

I was given Librium for about a week a few times a day next to daily and nightly doses of seroquel, clonodine, Neurontin, and vistaril. After that first week I was cut off from the Librium, which I felt was far too soon, and continued the other aforementioned medications three times throughout the day. I left against medical supervision for a variety of reasons, but was given a months worth of scripts for all medications besides the Librium.

Now, one day later, I realize this isn't something that is just going to go away. My anxiety is under control, but has been replaced with a constant feeling of physical exhaustion, irritability, and sadness. I really hope it gets better soon...OP I wish you all the best please seek medical help. I used benzos daily for only a little over one year. After this experience I have no intentions of ever using benzos, at least not daily...again.

 

[pbuilder]

Interesting to have seen this post. I just left a rehab facility yesterday detoxing off of benzos and alcohol. I admitted myself fifteen days ago when I soon realized that tapering myself off of benzos would be impossible for me without professional help. I had been under the impression that they would try tapering me with a longer lasting benzo, but I was wrong.

I was given Librium for about a week a few times a day next to daily and nightly doses of seroquel, clonodine, Neurontin, and vistaril. After that first week I was cut off from the Librium, which I felt was far too soon, and continued the other aforementioned medications three times throughout the day. I left against medical supervision for a variety of reasons, but was given a months worth of scripts for all medications besides the Librium.

Now, one day later, I realize this isn't something that is just going to go away. My anxiety is under control, but has been replaced with a constant feeling of physical exhaustion, irritability, and sadness. I really hope it gets better soon...OP I wish you all the best please seek medical help. I used benzos daily for only a little over one year. After this experience I have no intentions of ever using benzos, at least not daily...again.

Don't let your mind trick you. You already know you don't have much control over your usage of benzos. It's basically impossible to start using benzos again in moderation, if you were already a benzo addict. You'll end up right back where you started. Been there, done that.

 

[ThePharmacist4925]

Ya know, what you said was nice and good and all, But did you read what kind of situation he's in? Apparently not. This situation is not a do everything by the book situation. He doesn't have the time or money for that. That's why I'm offering up emergency procedures that are better than doing what he's doing until he is out of time and ends up dead.

Notice the first thing I did was put a list of place where he could receive free detox the right way? Obviously that's what I want him to do, I guess you thought I was some sort of sadistic wild animal.

No, you probably didn't notice or you wouldn't have been so condescending.

Did you notice I also listed meds like clonidine, guanfacine, and gabapentin. I forgot depakote I guess. Man I gave him every piece of info that could help. He's not in some pretty position, he's gonna be fucked if he doesn't at least lower what he's taking, if he goes to jail without lowering what he's doing then he'll die of a seizure in his cell. If he's on benzos with short half-lives he'll really be fucked. I'm concerned about getting him into a position where the cold turkey withdrawal is something he can survive.

Better yet maybe one of those free rehabs will take him. That's the best scenario and then he can taper the safest way possible.

I know how proper tapering works. There is no fucking time if he goes to jail. If he doesn't do a mini-quick taper to lower the amount he expects to do daily, also benzos with longer half lives, then he's up shits creel when he goes to jail. Jail could kill him if he doesn't start making some progress ASAP.

Do you get it? He's got 13 days, tell me you got a better plan than him trying to get into rehab. If not try to taper down as much as possible before jail. Hope for the best and pray that the people he's in jail with will stick a credit card in his mouth and take care of him while he's seizing and shaking.

Sure let's try your plan. He'll be on 90% of what he's on now when he enters jail, he'll go cold turkey from the top. The seizing will be longer and more violent and he could have permanent neurological damage and if he seizes really violently and no one knows how to hold him properly, he could get permanent physical damage. I don't know how many seizures you've seen, but I've seen enough. There's also the issue of shaking for days.

Sometimes things can't be done according to the book due to time restrictions or money restrictions. We're dealing with both time and money restrictions, knowing this we should minimize the damage as much as possible by speeding up the process.

I'm not trying to see another person die. I've seen a lot of things done by the book in situations where the book doesn't apply or is outdated. If seen the book ignored by clinicians as a form of punishing a patient for their actions.

Let's not beat the book if the process suggested within is more likely to kill someone who has 13 days until they gotta go cold turkey off GABA drugs, I can't imagine anything worse from my personal experience. I'd rather him get down to half or less of what he's on than 80%.Maybe if he goes 25% down to zero cold turkey, it'll be hard but maybe he won't even seizure. I feel like that makes sense. I felt like the method of repetition repetition repetition was the most likely make myself understood.

 

[pbuilder]

Ya know, what you said was nice and good and all, But did you read what kind of situation he's in? Apparently not. This situation is not a do everything by the book situation. He doesn't have the time or money for that. That's why I'm offering up emergency procedures that are better than doing what he's doing until he is out of time and ends up dead.

Notice the first thing I did was put a list of place where he could receive free detox the right way? Obviously that's what I want him to do, I guess you thought I was some sort of sadistic wild animal.

No, you probably didn't notice or you wouldn't have been so condescending.

Did you notice I also listed meds like clonidine, guanfacine, and gabapentin. I forgot depakote I guess. Man I gave him every piece of info that could help. He's not in some pretty position, he's gonna be fucked if he doesn't at least lower what he's taking, if he goes to jail without lowering what he's doing then he'll die of a seizure in his cell. If he's on benzos with short half-lives he'll really be fucked. I'm concerned about getting him into a position where the cold turkey withdrawal is something he can survive.

Better yet maybe one of those free rehabs will take him. That's the best scenario and then he can taper the safest way possible.

I know how proper tapering works. There is no fucking time if he goes to jail. If he doesn't do a mini-quick taper to lower the amount he expects to do daily, also benzos with longer half lives, then he's up shits creel when he goes to jail. Jail could kill him if he doesn't start making some progress ASAP.

Do you get it? He's got 13 days, tell me you got a better plan than him trying to get into rehab. If not try to taper down as much as possible before jail. Hope for the best and pray that the people he's in jail with will stick a credit card in his mouth and take care of him while he's seizing and shaking.

Sure let's try your plan. He'll be on 90% of what he's on now when he enters jail, he'll go cold turkey from the top. The seizing will be longer and more violent and he could have permanent neurological damage and if he seizes really violently and no one knows how to hold him properly, he could get permanent physical damage. I don't know how many seizures you've seen, but I've seen enough. There's also the issue of shaking for days.

Sometimes things can't be done according to the book due to time restrictions or money restrictions. We're dealing with both time and money restrictions, knowing this we should minimize the damage as much as possible by speeding up the process.

I'm not trying to see another person die. I've seen a lot of things done by the book in situations where the book doesn't apply or is outdated. If seen the book ignored by clinicians as a form of punishing a patient for their actions.

Let's not beat the book if the process suggested within is more likely to kill someone who has 13 days until they gotta go cold turkey off GABA drugs, I can't imagine anything worse from my personal experience. I'd rather him get down to half or less of what he's on than 80%.Maybe if he goes 25% down to zero cold turkey, it'll be hard but maybe he won't even seizure. I feel like that makes sense. I felt like the method of repetition repetition repetition was the most likely make myself understood.

I'm sorry, but your not a doctor. How can you give out advice like that an be sure he won't have a seizure? I never said to go cold turkey. But a fucking proper taper is the only non-permanently damaging way to go through benzo and alcohol withdrawal at the same time. Then again, your not the one that will have to deal with debiliating permanent paws, so why should you give a fuck, right?

They have to continue a medically directed taper in jail, they can't just ignore you seizing on the ground lol, benzodiazepine withdrawal is deadly, they will treat you for it, if you think otherwise, find a laywer.

In his situation, his only priority should be to get off the drugs in a safe manor. Clearly they have had very descructive consequences in his life. Do you think leaving a benzo and alcohol addict with self taper advice is going to end well?

People have seizures from abruptly stopping long term use of doses as low as 1mg per day of xanax. 13 days is not enough time period to do anything. Jails have infirmiries with doctors. If someone wasn't plea bargained down to just getting probation and needing to enter a clinic then I think they handle any medical issues at the prison.

 

[mike.vick]

Simple as Neurotoxicity from glutaminergic excitability BOTTOM LINE FINAL ANSWER.

Take Baclofen, Piracetem, and go see a doctor. He will write you 90 days of baclofen for $10!

According to Dr Drew, you will need a year of rehab.

 

[ThePharmacist4925]

Obviously I'm not a doctor, but that doesn't take away my right to care. I've known people who go into the hospital and aren't taken care of and left to seize, to be taken care of by their fellow inmates. I've seen people seize 6 days after going cold turkey and I've seen people seize after their .5mg Klonopin dosage was taken away by a rehab center.

Also if you hadn't realized I'm not promising to get him seizure free, I hope so, but seizures are a fact of many non-doctor lead withdrawals. I'm not betting on the jail having the where-with-all to detox him properly. I'm trying to give him some advice in the event that he can't get into rehab and can't confirm the jail has an infirmary that will properly detox him. At the end of the day everyone always wants to go by the book, unfortunately the book doesn't apply to every situation and we need a real back up plan. If I was sure the jail would take care of him I would digress, but he can't afford a lawyer if they decide not to treat him... you do the math.

Obviously, I'm aware of the likelihood of an addict to multiple GABAergic substances being able to taper himself without any help. Odds are close to zero, I'm not dumb; I've just provided an alternative idea given that he's probably going to jail where there is a definitive possibility that he won't receive the medical help he needs. I care because ultimately I like people and I can relate to people who struggle.

I pray he finds a rehab, soon. If not he better figure out what's going on with the jail, I've heard plenty of horror stories about detoxing off benzos and/or alcohol in jail. If it looks bad he will need a back up plan. Mine is the last one he should use, but if he finds himself at the end of the road then he's gonna have to try and save himself as much as humanly possible.

Look, I've been there, a situation in which I can't get a proper detox from a serious drug. I've detoxed myself as much as humanly possible before going cold turkey. When it was time I would relax until the slight comfort was gone, and crawl under a blanket on my couch. If possible I'd take prescription meds that could help. If not night would turn to day and day to night, eventually I'd catch some shut eye. It would eventually get better but first there would be hours of wanting to die on my couch.So I get that much of it. Best of luck out there and do what you can for yourself if your circumstances start looking more grim.

I guess I need to say that I'm not intentionally trying to harm you with my advice, quite the contrary, I want to see you experience as little suffering as possible during this difficult time in your life.

 

[pbuilder]

Obviously I'm not a doctor, but that doesn't take away my right to care. I've known people who go into the hospital and aren't taken care of and left to seize, to be taken care of by their fellow inmates. I've seen people seize 6 days after going cold turkey and I've seen people seize after their .5mg Klonopin dosage was taken away by a rehab center.

Also if you hadn't realized I'm not promising to get him seizure free, I hope so, but seizures are a fact of many non-doctor lead withdrawals. I'm not betting on the jail having the where-with-all to detox him properly. I'm trying to give him some advice in the event that he can't get into rehab and can't confirm the jail has an infirmary that will properly detox him. At the end of the day everyone always wants to go by the book, unfortunately the book doesn't apply to every situation and we need a real back up plan. If I was sure the jail would take care of him I would digress, but he can't afford a lawyer if they decide not to treat him... you do the math.

Obviously, I'm aware of the likelihood of an addict to multiple GABAergic substances being able to taper himself without any help. Odds are close to zero, I'm not dumb; I've just provided an alternative idea given that he's probably going to jail where there is a definitive possibility that he won't receive the medical help he needs. I care because ultimately I like people and I can relate to people who struggle.

I pray he finds a rehab, soon. If not he better figure out what's going on with the jail, I've heard plenty of horror stories about detoxing off benzos and/or alcohol in jail. If it looks bad he will need a back up plan. Mine is the last one he should use, but if he finds himself at the end of the road then he's gonna have to try and save himself as much as humanly possible.

Look, I've been there, a situation in which I can't get a proper detox from a serious drug. I've detoxed myself as much as humanly possible before going cold turkey. When it was time I would relax until the slight comfort was gone, and crawl under a blanket on my couch. If possible I'd take prescription meds that could help. If not night would turn to day and day to night, eventually I'd catch some shut eye. It would eventually get better but first there would be hours of wanting to die on my couch.So I get that much of it. Best of luck out there and do what you can for yourself if your circumstances start looking more grim.

I guess I need to say that I'm not intentionally trying to harm you with my advice, quite the contrary, I want to see you experience as little suffering as possible during this difficult time in your life.

I want to apologize for being a bit of a dick yesterday, I wasn't in the best mood and I do get very condescending at times when it certain moods. You are giving great advice for the situation he is in, and yea, I was just being a dick lol.