Alcohol Tapering and about to switch to a Benzo.

[emkee_reinvented]

What are your opinion's on this? Keep in mind that my goal is cessation, my last time and never go back. But tapering with alcohol has disadvantage's:
1. Hard to break a drink in quarter's
2. Unreliable and short half live.
3. I am not sleeping! Not before or at. And especially not during the taper.
eight night's of no sleep until last night. When i dosed Midazolam twice. 10 mg and a second 5 halfway in the night. That one night of sleep would be a nice base to jump of entirely.
4. It feels so toxic especially while i am tapering. Not getting drunk.


On my way down on a taper of Alcohol. Today if the mail fairy serves me well i'll do the swap from Booze to benzo. Currently at 4/ 5 unit's alcohol, my taper started 5/ 6 days ago from 16.

Searched for help, even are actively in a program for abuse. But it ain't working, the guy (psychiatric nurse) is ok.
His take on this 'we are working towards controlled usage, 4/ 5 consumption's a few times a week'

I disagreed on this but did follow his advise. 4/ 5 drinks in my case lead's to addiction and toxicity. Tapering Alcohol is harder then any other drug I noticed as well as keepin' it under control.

What i used to do and am going to do is switch to a Benzodiazepine. This time i wanna do it correct and use the info of medical guidelines and taper with the equivalent of 10 mg Diazepam max, 3x a day. Using Diclazepam for that.
And for break through anxiety WD's sweat's. Maybe one or two 0.5/ 1mg doses of Etizolam. I have to gouge when I start what will be necessary to stop the worst and not get high.

Never had a addiction to Benzodiazepinen nor do i find them very recreative.

ps. for the enthiousiast's. Medical help is not an option. Only the ER.

My taper on alcohol.
day 0: stabilized on 16 unit's
day 1: 11
day 2: 9
day 3: 8
day 4: 4 Today.

Time stretch between the last and first unit in a day seemed to increase, but otherwise I am feeling like absolute shit atm.

 

[Coffeeshroom]

If I understand this correctly, you trying to get off alcohol right? Before i give any input i just want to make sure this is your goal. And if so can you give me or us a little more background story on this. Like the amount consumed daily and for how long this has been going on. I was an alcoholic or still is ( as they say you always in recovering) so with that said can you answer those q's maybe. thanks

Regards
CoffeeShroom

 

[emkee_reinvented]

If I understand this correctly, you trying to get off alcohol right? Before i give any input i just want to make sure this is your goal. And if so can you give me or us a little more background story on this. Like the amount consumed daily and for how long this has been going on. I was an alcoholic or still is ( as they say you always in recovering) so with that said can you answer those q's maybe. thanks

Regards
CoffeeShroom

Getting off is the goal, and move on don't look back. Closed chapter. I am quite motivated to this, several reason's actually.

The drinking takes place in binges often related to stressful event's that take place. In a binge it got progressively worse. till the point it seems my body recognizes it as toxic substance.

So 4/ 5 unit's will feel the next day as a whole binge and trigger nasty feeling and WD's.

Today I consumed 4 unit's and switched, jumped so to say. To 1.25 Diclazepam and 0.7 mg Etizolam. Diclazepam is not my favorite benzo, the onset can take very long and lingers on and on. But it seemed appropriate for this situation in relation to Diazepam.

I wonder if I will be totally covered or that I should expect some WD's from the Booze. My taper was a bit over rushed and stretching it any longer would have been torture. As it would add to my already existing sleeping problem's. Caused by PTSD dream's and sleep disorder's.

I expect to sleep great, I dream fine on Benzo's, in contrary to little to none when in Alcohol taper.

 

[Coffeeshroom]

When i got off alcohol i went complete cold turkey, just stop drinking the next day. Yeah i was sick as hell and had wd's but they only lasted 2 days for me and i was a serious drinker. I went to bed with a drink and woke up with one and a lot of people on here know this. Anyhow i suffered for about 2 days off feeling ill, vomiting, no energy, aching pains especially adominal, wanting to vomit the whole time and have that irritating nausea feeling lingering around the whole time. But that all past and in that time frame all i used was pharm benzos like diazepam and bromazepam and alzam. Night time i also used a few benzos but then swapped to more sedative, hypnotic benzos like triazolam and midazolam with diazepam or bromazepam and sometimes nitrazepam but nitrazepam i rate low on the sleeping scale but hell that's just me. I have not taken any RC benzos so can't comment on that but i did find the ones i mentioned to help and also the odd gabapentinoids from time to time during the struggle. After a week i felt fine and just continued on my normal dose of benzos and was fine, not saying it will work the same for you but in my case i got by just with medium to long benzos and the odd quick acting benzos just incase and on the hard days added gabapentinoids just for the mind trick of feeling intoxicated cause for me they the closest to feeling drunk or under the influence. Oh and also for me cannabis helped a lot with taking the nausea away even if it was just for a few hours but better then feeling like that the whole time.

but props for being strong and fighting the fight and i also relapsed but got back on the wagon and continued my journey, a lot of potholes and ditches but if you stay strong and try stay clear of them, the journey will get easier i promise.

Regards
CoffeeShroom

Edit: Sorry, I just want to make it clear that before i went cold turkey i was already on benzos. I'm prescribed 10mg diazepam x2 ED or 6mg bromazepam x2 ED and 0.5mg alzam ED as needed. SO before i went cold turkey i was already on benzos that made my risk of severe alcohol wd's already less and my chances of getting very Deadly WD"S like a seizures and such. I also had DT"S heavy when i went cold turkey but one thing the benzos didn't help for was the severe tremors. I can't talk about others that have stopped alcohol but the side effect or wd that lasted the longest was tremors. First week i could even drink or eat without using both hands and having my plate on the table and leaning forward. But that's the type of shit i didn't want to share. So i don't advise going cold turkey, meant to say that i was already covered in the benzo aspect to keep the worst of the WD's away. So if you can seek professional help and get a game plan that way. Best of luck

 

[emkee_reinvented]

When i got off alcohol i went complete cold turkey, just stop drinking the next day. ...... But that all past and in that time frame all i used was pharm benzos like diazepam and bromazepam and alzam. Night time i also used a few benzos but then swapped to more sedative, hypnotic benzos like triazolam and midazolam with diazepam or bromazepam and sometimes nitrazepam but nitrazepam i rate low on the sleeping scale but hell that's just me. I have not taken any RC benzos so can't comment on that but i did find the ones i mentioned to help and also the odd gabapentinoids from time to time during the struggle. After a week i felt fine and just continued on my normal dose of benzos and was fine, not saying it will work the same for you but in my case i got by just with medium to long benzos and the odd quick acting benzos just incase and on the hard days added gabapentinoids just for the mind trick of feeling intoxicated cause for me they the closest to feeling drunk or under the influence. Oh and also for me cannabis helped a lot with taking the nausea away even if it was just for a few hours but better then feeling like that the whole time.

but props for being strong and fighting the fight and i also relapsed but got back on the wagon and continued my journey, a lot of potholes and ditches but if you stay strong and try stay clear of them, the journey will get easier i promise.

Regards
CoffeeShroom

My experience the taper alcohol only was hell. Partly caused by the poor sleep that had been going on for eight days. And the fast pace i did it. second the seizure risk bothered me, had my first two this recent year, this feels a lot safer. Be it un monitored.

Now after the Diclazepam of 2.5 hours ago and Etizolam. Very small doses if i may add. I read about some place using 20 mg diazepam every hour till it works, inpatient setting. That are unnecessary high dosage's for me. Even 3 x 10 mg a day would suffice in my case.

But this is so much better, not having to drink that poison just to get off. Bizar that no dr. would suggest this, o I tried didn't go on my knees. But dr. 's said 'well good job, keep up tapering'. Over payed fuck faces, all three of em and also that dimwit from substance abuse treatment. Who suggested aiming for 4/ 5 drink no more then twice a week, mad
That is, like i thought not even an option. The only thing that will work for me is total abstinence.

Stress problems and sleeping disorder's I can treat myself by taking a RC-benzo once in a while. To bad they don't prescribe them over here, i think they went to far in limiting the use of these drug's.
Only for an occurring seizure i have an emergency spray of Midazolam. Luckily, otherwise I would have had no night-rest last night either.

 

[BK38]

When i got off alcohol i went complete cold turkey, just stop drinking the next day.

You definitely should not go cold turkey from alcohol without having benzos to take to stabilize, preferably in a medical setting where you can be monitored and medication/help administered as necessary. Otherwise you are at risk of seizures, DTs and other serious and potentially deadly complications from alcohol withdrawal. Just stopping is a bad idea.

 

[Blankenstein]

Good luck man. Alcohols fucked.

At various points in my life I’ve been a daily drinker, for several (6+) months at a time without skipping a day. Of course every body is different, but whenever I have stopped I have gotten one or 2 prescriptions for Valium from a doctor explaining to them what i was doing and done it by myself. except for once in a hospital, but that particular binge was even though it was short lived, was quite severe and the cessation was forced on me. And once when the doctor wanted me to pick up the pills daily.

Don’t try doing it cold turkey, which it sounds like you aren’t. You obviously are aware of the risks.

I applaud you and anybody who tries to stop their drinking or any other damaging habit. Good luck man, I’m thinking of you. Do it safely.

 

[Coffeeshroom]

You definitely should not go cold turkey from alcohol without having benzos to take to stabilize, preferably in a medical setting where you can be monitored and medication/help administered as necessary. Otherwise you are at risk of seizures, DTs and other serious and potentially deadly complications from alcohol withdrawal. Just stopping is a bad idea.

Just take in account in my case i was already on benzos when i stopped cold turkey and only raised my benzo dose slightly, i had someone looking after me for the 1st few days and didn't suffer any seizures but like i said i was already on benzos. We all don't respond the same, reason i added in my post that, that is how it worked for me. Just giving my input on how i did it. If it was not a HR advice/input then im sorry and will delete my post.

 

[BK38]

Just take in account in my case i was already on benzos when i stopped cold turkey and only raised my benzo dose slightly, i had someone looking after me for the 1st few days and didn't suffer any seizures but like i said i was already on benzos. We all don't respond the same, reason i added in my post that, that is how it worked for me. Just giving my input on how i did it. If it was not a HR advice/input then im sorry and will delete my post.

Hey, I understand your experience man and your contribution is valued, but you may not be a typical case and you were already on benzos. I just worried about someone seeing your comment and thinking they can just cold-turkey it from alcohol. It is not really clear to me that you were already on benzos in your initial post, so I just worry about someone thinking they can just drop the booze without benzos. Maybe just amend your post so that it is clear that just completely stopping an alcohol problem without the aid of benzos (preferably in a medically supervised situation) is a bad idea?

No need to delete the post mate, just a little tweak might be good.

 

[emkee_reinvented]

Just take in account in my case i was already on benzos when i stopped cold turkey and only raised my benzo dose slightly, i had someone looking after me for the 1st few days and didn't suffer any seizures but like i said i was already on benzos. We all don't respond the same, reason i added in my post that, that is how it worked for me. Just giving my input on how i did it. If it was not a HR advice/input then im sorry and will delete my post.

The impression your post gave was also 'did go cold turkey on booze'. Probably the mind focuses on the 1st alinea and then eases up. because then came the part you wrote taking an legio of Benzo's.

We all agree
With alcohol CT is not advisable.
To bad the Dr's i spoke to thought tapering with it is an reasonable approach. Its a last resort imo.

I feel some residual WD effect's through the pretty straight mild Benzo effect's. But it work's, feel way better then after that 4 unit's at 14:00. My last ones, I feel so good. This drug was so addicting to me. You know what i gonna do a nice meandering walk through the village. Good prep for tonight's rest!

Thanks for the support all.

btw the practice with the benzo taper is that it is carried on for 3 to 5 day's. An slowly weaned down. During or after, who cares. I am self medicating and can go on my own feel. And the contribute for stopping also is mine.

 

[emkee_reinvented]

Free to do what i want. No more bad tasting liquid's so good, so good. I feel great could change my username to emkee_reborn.

The last drop of Alcohol I ever tasted, may i slip up I will not prosecute myself like all the program's say. But literally i had gaven up on a easier way out, phoned 3 different discipline dr's of mine: GP/ home dr , Neurologist and the psychiater coordinating my case. All advised the taper despite my 8 restless night's that preceded my slip up. Except my normal doc, who didn't return call. May I conclude I live in a 3rd world country of some sort with no OTC but RC as alternative.

This was painless, the lingering WD's that penetrated the Benzo effect's were pale in comparison to the reward of not having to ingest a toxic chemical. Slept well on Midazolam the night before, discounting the interruption. But tonight was heaven one big sleep. On a total of 3 1.25 x Diclazepam and 2mg Etizolam yesterday.

Some PTSD dreams, that seemed less irritating as when sober or drunk. But no: spasm's, lucid dreaming or to many awakenings.

emkee_awakened. I will have to adjust to this new sleeping routine of 7/ 8 hours. it seems to have replaced my disturbed former laying in bed procedure of 9/11 hours.

Slow but steady I am tapering on benzo's. To anyone in the same situation "Believe in yourself, have strong confidence" [Freddy McGregor]

First day on only the benzodiazepinen some slight wd's krept in the background. The mild Benzo haze, which is a bit annoying imo, covers most of it. A higher dose would probably cover all but I would be to sedated for my liking.

Did some stressful mail's and call. Which went OK. So two thumbs up till now. on day 2 the creeping feeling has dissipated after my. 24 km bike ride.

Day 3:
Still going strong 0.0%. No residual WD's to speak off anymore and skipped a dose of Diclazepam yesterday and lowered the rest. Some more Etizolam. But after cessation in general what I noticed is why I started drinking in the first place. Feeling's and dreams. Alcohol surpresses both. So since its just the occasional Benzo my feeling's and dream's returned hard, woke up crying.

Dealing with my sorrow and trauma's is a side effect of quittin' Booze that Benzo's don't touch, but hey that's live had to go trough that eventually. Missed out a lot without going into detail's and it pick's up where i left.