Benzos Swapping Benzo Addiction for Opiate Addiction? Seems impossible.

[Cone]

So I've spend the past 3 years off and on (mostly on) the big boy narcotika - oxycodone/morphone until that sweet brown note touched me in all the right places.

Ive burned through 400 out of 500mg of phenazepam in about a year and a half or so. I wont go into details, but lets just say it takes 8-12mg's for me to even FEEL the stuff now. When I was naive, 1mg had me fairly benz'd for about a day, so I know its not bunk substance. Now 12mg's is my "going to bed" dose.

Now here's the catch:

When I splurge and go on a junk binge for a couple weeks, I dont take my phenazepam. At all. I feel no withdrawal effects while I'm on the euphoric plane. Of course, to get through w/d's, I jump on the benzo train.

Once I jump back on, 2-3 mg's gets me good. So I KNOW its being cleared from my body.

Even bupe works. Even though I dont get high, I experimented with taking straight bupe for 3 weeks (since its so cheap), and experienced no "benzo" withdrawal.

Doesn't make sense, right?

At the doses I'm taking (12mg's = 120mg dilaudid approx, or 12mg xanax (though I don't agree with that)), shouldn't I be knee deep in shit within a week or so of abstinence, regardless of opiates?

Am I masking a mountain of hellish benzo withdrawals with my off-and-on opiate use?

Am I walking into something I'm physically and mentally not prepared for?

 

[XThexXTank]

Something ain't addin up an I don't get what ya mean by 12mg = 120mg dilaudid or 12mg xanax. Dude ya can't compare opiates an benzos like that.

120 mg of dialudid is a fuck ton dependin on the ROA an if ya takin that much there ain't no way ya not gettn withdraws. Opiates an benzos do not cover up the withdraws rom the other. Maybe when ya get high it'll help ya a bit but I call bullshit somewhere.

 

[Lady Codone]

There are definite similarities between opiates and benzos, but I'd expect at least SOME withdrawals when switching. Just be careful: benzo withdrawal can be fatal, especially at the doses you're taking.

 

[Phat5o]

your lucky. i wouldn't count on this pattern continuing to work in the future though. if i was you i'd stay the fuck away from those benzos at all costs

i have made it thru very minor benzo withdrawals with oxycodone before but i still felt very strange and clouded mentally. this was only minor benzo withdrawal off like .5 - 1.5 mg klonopin a day for a couple of weeks max. after feeling like i was gonna loose my mind last time i've done that i've decided to never really mess with benzos like that ever again.

 

[Mr.Scagnattie]

It's certainly possible for opiates and benzos to mask each others withdrawal symptoms to a degree... but never just completely making them disappear. Have you ever had a benzo dependency before or would this be your first time?

 

[AlphaMethylPhenyl]

Why would you want to substitute one addiction for another?

My advice is to see a doctor and possibly taper down with diazepam.

 

[Znegative]

There are definite similarities between opiates and benzos, but I'd expect at least SOME withdrawals when switching. Just be careful: benzo withdrawal can be fatal, especially at the doses you're taking.

There are definitely noticeable withdrawals when you drop one yet continue the other. IME (and most that I've talked to)- you can use benzos to help with SOME withdrawal symptoms caused by opiates, but they definitely don't work any miracles. However, if I drop benzos, I almost completely unable to feel opiates no matter how much dope I shoot or methadone I drink-the only reason I continue to bother taking them is because benzo withdrawal doesn't mask opiate withdrawal, or in simpler wording, withdrawing from both would just make the problem worse.

However I am wondering if you just have not given phenazepam enough time to clear out of your system. It has a really long half life after all and I wouldn't be surprised if you just hadn't hit he wall yet. It is still possible to lower your tolerance without going through any noticeable withdrawal yet as well-I've found that with be Zoe (which I've been on for 3 plus years now, I would be able to switch from high dosage Xanax to a lower dosage of clonazepam and then taper myself down further and stabilize on the clonazepam for a few months, and then I'd be able to binge for about two or three weeks with more clonazepam
And/or alprazolam and then I'd inevitably have to go back to my stable dosage of 1-2mg this would work out fine for me for the longest periods of time and I'd more often than not just take 3-4 days off of clonazepam and that would be a sufficient passing amount of time for me to lower my tolerance again (without going through too much pain). However there comes a point where the tolerance with benzos just sticks, it's a nasty fact and one that I didn't really believe for a long period of time. Nowww I metabolize clonazepam more quickly and after 48 hours begin to feel withdrawals and I can't just return to a lower dosage and feel okay- it's a real shit position to be stuck in especially when you are only prescribed about 1/6 of what you take in a day. I will continuously try to cure my benzo withdrawals by shooting huge amounts of heroin but it really doesn't do shit for me-I can even shoot 2x to 3x what I normally would and feel it less because of the benzodiazepine withdrawals.

I advise you to try and stabilize on a dose of phenazepam and only occasionally take more-easier said than done but you'll enjoy it more and you'll have to worry less about running out.

 

[Halif]

Nowww I metabolize clonazepam more quickly and after 48 hours begin to feel withdrawals and I can't just return to a lower dosage and feel okay- it's a real shit position to be stuck in

Yes, I had some shocking experiences on clonazepam with this...

I'm generally an opiate user, and have detoxed or gone into withdrawal many times (both because I wanted to try to get off, and because sometimes I simply had no choice). What I found was that when I've really entered opiate WDs good and proper, a small dose of the same opiate I was taking (like half a regular dose, or even a third) always provided some relief. Maybe not enough to get me up and dancing around the living room, but enough to make feel semi-human again.

HOWEVER...

When I was abusing benzos, and in particular clonazepam, I found that once I was really into the WDs, I could take a half dose, or even a FULL dose and it didn't help!! It was like once you were really neck deep into the withdrawal hell, there was no fast and easy way out. The only thing that would bring me back to something like normality was resuming the same peak dose that I was at before starting to taper - and thus finding myself right back at square one.