Valium/Diazepam dependency...when does it start?

[Droogs]

At the moment I like to take 10mg of Valium ever now and then, either to help with a comedown or just to kick back and relax after a long day.

What I want to know is, how frequently would you have to use it before it becomes a problem? I know it varies from person to person, but I'm after a general 'safe' figure really. All the addictions I've read about on here are from people taking heroic doses daily.

But what about 10mg once a week, is that ok? How about once a fortnight? Is there cross tolerance between different benzos such as Xanax?


Cheers. I realise the questions a bit naive but I want to stay relatively cautious as a i know withdrawals can be nasty.

 

[BabyGurl3171]

Like you said, it's different from person to person. I got hooked after about a week or two on them. I liked the feelings of not caring about crap anymore and not having anxiety and before I knew it, it snuck up on me and I was taking more and more. I've really been abusing them lately (75 mgs in one week). Thankfully I've caught that and been paying more attention to how much I take and when.

You're taking 10 mg every now and then really isn't a problem but you gotta watch b/c it will sneak up on you and you'll begin to like the feeling more and more. Before you know it, you'll be hooked.

As for a cross tolerance, pretty much. If you get a tolerance to benzos you have a tolerance to all benzos IME. Someone might have a different story but it's been that way in my case.

 

[TheAzo]

There is almost complete crosstolerance between all benzos.

 

[Droogs]

Like you said, it's different from person to person. I got hooked after about a week or two on them. I liked the feelings of not caring about crap anymore and not having anxiety and before I knew it, it snuck up on me and I was taking more and more. I've really been abusing them lately (75 mgs in one week). Thankfully I've caught that and been paying more attention to how much I take and when.

You're taking 10 mg every now and then really isn't a problem but you gotta watch b/c it will sneak up on you and you'll begin to like the feeling more and more. Before you know it, you'll be hooked.

As for a cross tolerance, pretty much. If you get a tolerance to benzos you have a tolerance to all benzos IME. Someone might have a different story but it's been that way in my case.

Ah I see, well I can totally relate to absolutely loving the careless contented feeling of being on them, but I'm far too conservative to really abuse them I think...I've been taking them irregularly for about a year now and have never binged on them once. The most was 3 consecutive days to cope with a horrific comedown, and after that I took a long break.

So you think it's perfectly ok to take 10mg once a week if I keep my discipline, or is even that too much?


Thanks for the reply

 

[BabyGurl3171]

Ah I see, well I can totally relate to absolutely loving the careless contented feeling of being on them, but I'm far too conservative to really abuse them I think...I've been taking them irregularly for about a year now and have never binged on them once. The most was 3 consecutive days to cope with a horrific comedown, and after that I took a long break.

So you think it's perfectly ok to take 10mg once a week if I keep my discipline, or is even that too much?


Thanks for the reply

I think 10mg once a week is fine, imo. Sounds like you're pretty disciplined on them. I, on the other hand, had no discipline and loss control. That's when you get in trouble. But if you've been doing this for a year now and haven't had an issue, I think you'll be ok

You're welcome! Anytime

 

[woamotive]

Once a week is just fine - I just wonder how long it'll really BE once a week. I used to take my benzos once a week, too . Maybe you will though, and that'll be awesome.

+ (positive) on the cross tolerance.

 

[pally pete]

At the moment I like to take 10mg of Valium ever now and then, either to help with a comedown or just to kick back and relax after a long day.

What I want to know is, how frequently would you have to use it before it becomes a problem? I know it varies from person to person, but I'm after a general 'safe' figure really. All the addictions I've read about on here are from people taking heroic doses daily.

But what about 10mg once a week, is that ok? How about once a fortnight? Is there cross tolerance between different benzos such as Xanax?


Cheers. I realise the questions a bit naive but I want to stay relatively cautious as a i know withdrawals can be nasty.

please be careful,just over 15 months ago, i tried benzos for the first time for fear of flying,they worked great,so when i got home i purcashed tub of 100 x 10mg valium which lasated over 6 months,i was a one a weekj (sunday night) user just so iu could have good nights slkeep before my week at work,everything was fine and stayed the same for around 6 months apart from the experiment with xanax due to shorter half life reducing my drowsiness at wok on the monday but even then i didnt abuse still only 1-2mg xanax once per week ((the temptation to get messy was'nt even there even though i had draw full of potential messmakers! this usage was going on for around5-6months april-september 2009) and no problems

and then.....around september 2009 i had some issues in life that i did know how to deal with so i turned to abuse (or stupidity as i prefer to call it)

i began to abuse benzos,usually alprazolam,diazepam and ocassionally,lorazepam,clonazepam,temazepam.

and when i say abuse i mean ridiculously stupidly foolish amounts,anywhere in between 100-300 pills over the course of a weekend (i only ever use on fri/sat and never in the week so at least i give myself about 7 days break but with some of the long half lives im guessing my body doesnt really think its having a break of any kind.

ive been taking this amount for the past 4-5 months and prior to that i was using around 20-50 pills every fri/sat for the previous 4 months....so all in all ive had a progressively worsening weekend benzo habit form.

anyway time has come where my tolerance is that high its time for a break as the benzos are doing nothing for me at all!

..im thinking of trying a 7 week break,i want to stop completely (as in no benzos at all for the next 7 weeks) i was wondering if my tolerance will lower any at all during this break? and also will i be putting myself in any danger of serious withdrawal symptoms?

as most of the questions,answers and info and guides ive read all relate to benzo withdrawal and tapering for people who are daily users rather than just weekend abusers.

ive had a lot of contradicting opinions and advice,some saying taper or eklse your in for big trouble and others saying no real need to taper as ytour only a once a week user (albeit heavy)

and to the OP sorry to hijack your thread.just thought some people would know the score on this particular thread.

anyway sorrry to repeat myself but please be careful and remember 'less is more'

 

[Droogs]

Ah I see, I'll definitely take note of this. At one time I never have a huge amount on me though in fairness, if I ever did binge I wouldn't have enough on me to cause much of a problem, and I'd hope common sense would kick in before I purchased any more.

Thanks for the response, I might try to keep a log or something just so I can see how much I've actually taken.

 

[pally pete]

Ah I see, I'll definitely take note of this. At one time I never have a huge amount on me though in fairness, if I ever did binge I wouldn't have enough on me to cause much of a problem, and I'd hope common sense would kick in before I purchased any more.

Thanks for the response, I might try to keep a log or something just so I can see how much I've actually taken.

well thats a good start by not having loads on you at any one time,but with there ease of purchase and crelative cheapness if you fell the need be im sure that could easily change.

but tbf you sound a lot more sensible than me so you probably when youve had enough.

and keeping a log is a good idea,its what i used to do when i first started to abuse at weekends back in september.

i used to write down the date and what time,what substance,what doseage i would take etc but then after about 6-8 weeks i began to forget keep the blog some weeks so i just diudnt bother anymore,but by that stage i was taking 40+ benzos a friday/saturday.

anyway it escallated and i swworecid try my best to bring myb use down but it didnt work,i tried other drugs,opiates barbiturates but they didnt give me what i was looking for (that initial benzo magic carefree/worry free relaxation.

anyway the past couple of months ive began to keep a blog again....and its scary reading!

please let us know how you get on anyway,keep us informed even by private message if you wish

take care

phohp gan mai (speak soon)

 

[justsayknow]

I think I have asked this question before but cant seem to find the answer.
At what point could one expect to get withdrawals from benzos?
I'm sure it would be different for different benzo's depending on the half life. I have used diazepam in the past and tried to keep my use less than daily and have also had temazepam and alprazolam and tried to keep it less than daily also but never had withdrawls. I did get a tolerance but a break seemed to fix that, I think keeping my doses low probably helped.

PallyPete do you experience withdrawals with weekend use?
Are you in SE Asia?

I plan to use every weekend for the next 4 or 5 this weekend it was diazepam but it will be oxazepam probably 30-45mgs per day max fri, sat, sunday. I'm doing it to have a break from alcohol.

What are the chances of me experiencing withdrawals? It will be fairly hard for me to get any more so I am not too worried about a long term escalation.

 

[WorldWarMe]

I think I have asked this question before but cant seem to find the answer.
At what point could one expect to get withdrawals from benzos?
I'm sure it would be different for different benzo's depending on the half life. I have used diazepam in the past and tried to keep my use less than daily and have also had temazepam and alprazolam and tried to keep it less than daily also but never had withdrawls. I did get a tolerance but a break seemed to fix that, I think keeping my doses low probably helped.

PallyPete do you experience withdrawals with weekend use?
Are you in SE Asia?

I plan to use every weekend for the next 4 or 5 this weekend it was diazepam but it will be oxazepam probably 30-45mgs per day max fri, sat, sunday. I'm doing it to have a break from alcohol.

What are the chances of me experiencing withdrawals? It will be fairly hard for me to get any more so I am not too worried about a long term escalation.

Benzos have been known to cause addiction with 14 days consecutive use. Sometimes less, sometimes more. I've been using benzos for about 2-3 months now, and the first 2 months I abused the shit out of them. The past month I've actually gained enough will power to lower the amount I take. Before I was taking about 100mg-120mg of Temazepam per day on average, and now I take about 30mg every second, third or fourth day. So I basically went from an everyday addiction to an every third day addiction. I can go five days no problem without withdrawals though, so I don't think I'm actually chemically addicted to the benzos, I think it's more psychological.

 

[Psychonauticunt]

At the moment I like to take 10mg of Valium ever now and then, either to help with a comedown or just to kick back and relax after a long day.

What I want to know is, how frequently would you have to use it before it becomes a problem? I know it varies from person to person, but I'm after a general 'safe' figure really. All the addictions I've read about on here are from people taking heroic doses daily.

But what about 10mg once a week, is that ok? How about once a fortnight? Is there cross tolerance between different benzos such as Xanax?


Cheers. I realise the questions a bit naive but I want to stay relatively cautious as a i know withdrawals can be nasty.

10mg once a week will not get you seriously addicted, although the "routine" of having it every week may be something you'll be mildly psychologically addicted to. So no, 10mg a week shouldn't give you any nasty withdrawal symptoms.

As for cross-tolerance, the dependance and tolerance forms to the effects the benzodiazepines exert, not the individual drugs themselves, so all benzos have cross-tolerance, and any benzo will help in benzo withdrawal.

 

[justsayknow]

Benzos have been known to cause addiction with 14 days consecutive use. Sometimes less, sometimes more.

So if you were using something with a long half life like valium or clonazepam you could possibly get a physical addiction with only a handful of doses over 2 weeks? Or do you think it would take dosing every day for 2 weeks before you have the withdrawal symptoms?

My question is probably not that useful as I suppose the psychological dependancy gets you first and foremost. For me thats the hardest thing.

 

[Psychonauticunt]

So if you were using something with a long half life like valium or clonazepam you could possibly get a physical addiction with only a handful of doses over 2 weeks? Or do you think it would take dosing every day for 2 weeks before you have the withdrawal symptoms?

My question is probably not that useful as I suppose the psychological dependancy gets you first and foremost. For me thats the hardest thing.

I think you'd have to dose more or less every day for 2 weeks before you have withdrawal symptoms. Benzos with shorter half-lives are more addictive and bring about withdrawal symptoms faster. 14 days is definitely enough to cause withdrawal with relatively high-dose alprazolam, triazolam or midazolam for example.

I got withdrawals from less than 2 weeks - about 12 days - of combined tramadol (300), Valium (50), Klonopin (6) and Xanax (7) use (average mg/day), but those are ridiculous amounts.

 

[pally pete]

PallyPete do you experience withdrawals with weekend use?
Are you in SE Asia?

no im in the UK.

and one week breaks was not enough for me to experience withdrawals although it was enough for me to develop a once a week (weekend) habit that is now out of control.

 

[WorldWarMe]

So if you were using something with a long half life like valium or clonazepam you could possibly get a physical addiction with only a handful of doses over 2 weeks? Or do you think it would take dosing every day for 2 weeks before you have the withdrawal symptoms?

My question is probably not that useful as I suppose the psychological dependancy gets you first and foremost. For me thats the hardest thing.

From what I know if you use a benzo with a short half-life (Example: Xanax), you can build an addiction within 14 days of daily use. You should do what I do and only take benzos once or twice a week and you'll be almost 100% in the clear from addiction (don't quote me on this).

 

[pally pete]

You should do what I do and only take benzos once or twice a week and you'll be almost 100% in the clear from addiction (don't quote me on this).

Dont quote him on this :D

i was a once a week user - 1x10mg valium tab.

within 1 year i could take 200-300 tabs in a night/weekend.

 

[WayneRooney]

Dont quote him on this :D

i was a once a week user - 1x10mg valium tab.

within 1 year i could take 200-300 tabs in a night/weekend.

Well that takes nothing away from his quote. You didn't stick to once or twice a week.

I'm not saying the quotes correct, just that your experience doesn't really contradict it. I personally would like to know the validness of that quote though......?

 

[maybiwill]

I take 10mg of Valium 4 times a day and I am not dependant.. I do not feel sick or withdrawl without it. If medicateion is taken because it is "needed" you will have less if not NO dependancy for it!

 

[NeighborhoodThreat]

^This is debatable.

This is an older thread anyway, I'm not really sure why it was bumped.