Benzos Why aren't I in benzo withdrawal yet? It's been 3 days since my last dose

[evo4ever]

Hello all.

I've been struggling with an Alprazolam addiction for about 6 months. Last week I decided quit and taper with a longer acting benzo so I chose Clonazepam. While I was waiting for my Clonazepam tablets to arrive (They're called Rivotril in Europe) a close family member died of cancer, she was my cousin.

They arrived on Wednesday afternoon (17/04/19) which was 3 days ago. I was in withdrawal prior to my tablets arriving. I received 60 2mg tablets and I immediately took 20mg (10x 2mg). The reason I took so much was because of the despair I was in after losing my cousin and I knew I would be okay taking a large dose as I've got a high tolerance to benzos cos of near daily use of Alprazolam for 6 months. After about 30mins the tablets kicked in and my withdrawals disappeared along with some pleasurable effects.

3 days later and I'm not in withdrawal, I feel good (apart from losing my cousin). I know Clonazepam has got a long half life (30-40hrs) but it's been over 72 hours, surely I should start to feel the early symptoms of withdrawal by now??

Any thoughts?`

 

[CoastTwoCoast]

I don't know. It's funny like that sometimes. Seems like you're out of the woods for now since you took clonazepam. Just make sure you don't go through your stash fast or you'll be back in withdrawal territory. It would be best to stay off of the benzos now since you're not having any symptoms. It's too easy to get sucked back into addiction.

I'm sorry about your cousin.

 

[evo4ever]

Lets say it takes 40 hours for half of the dose to be eliminated that would mean I'd still have 10mg in my system 40 hours later. Another 40 hours would bring it down to 5mg in my system. That's 80 hours in total. So my best estimate is that I've probably got between 2.5-5mg still in my system 80 hours later which is roughly 3 days. That might explain why I'm not in withdrawal.

 

[Mischief&Mayham]

Well, my guess would be that despite both being a benzodiazepines and in turn do similar things, they are in turn actually two different drugs. Alprazolam is a triazolobenzodiazepine, or meaning it has an additional fused triazole ring, that other benzodiazepine like Clonazepam are missing. That is part of the reason they are not always prescribed for the same things (Clonazepam can be used for the treatment of seizures, where as Alprazolam can not).

I believe you are mostly right though that it has to do with the half life of the drugs that are pushing it off, as many sights say they give Clonazepam for Alprazolam withdrawals (though not the other way around). This is because the longer half life means more stability in the body in-between doses. Let alone you taking such a large dose likely has an effect. If you had taken the prescribed 2mg in 36 hours you would have had 1 mg left in your system; not the 10 mg you had after taking 20. This is why they say half-life is "~" 72 hours (aka: about 72 hours). Yet those time frames are for prescribed doses (which very from .25 mg - 4 mg), and you did 5 times more than the highest prescribed amount. This make the half life longer (not 5 times longer, but still likely it would be easy to exceed the ~ 72 hours).

I'm not going to lecture you on giving up one addiction for the other (I have not place to talk), but you do need to be careful with abusing something meant to help you with some of the withdrawal symptoms. Just saying, if you call a few weeks early looking for a refill, it will raise red-flags, and might in turn get them to stop prescribing you any sort of benzo to help you ween yourself off. Which may just lead to you having to go clean cold turkey, and quickly.

 

[evo4ever]

Well, my guess would be that despite both being a benzodiazepines and in turn do similar things, they are in turn actually two different drugs. Alprazolam is a triazolobenzodiazepine, or meaning it has an additional fused triazole ring, that other benzodiazepine like Clonazepam are missing. That is part of the reason they are not always prescribed for the same things (Clonazepam can be used for the treatment of seizures, where as Alprazolam can not).

I believe you are mostly right though that it has to do with the half life of the drugs that are pushing it off, as many sights say they give Clonazepam for Alprazolam withdrawals (though not the other way around). This is because the longer half life means more stability in the body in-between doses. Let alone you taking such a large dose likely has an effect. If you had taken the prescribed 2mg in 36 hours you would have had 1 mg left in your system; not the 10 mg you had after taking 20. This is why they say half-life is "~" 72 hours (aka: about 72 hours). Yet those time frames are for prescribed doses (which very from .25 mg - 4 mg), and you did 5 times more than the highest prescribed amount. This make the half life longer (not 5 times longer, but still likely it would be easy to exceed the ~ 72 hours).

I'm not going to lecture you on giving up one addiction for the other (I have not place to talk), but you do need to be careful with abusing something meant to help you with some of the withdrawal symptoms. Just saying, if you call a few weeks early looking for a refill, it will raise red-flags, and might in turn get them to stop prescribing you any sort of benzo to help you ween yourself off. Which may just lead to you having to go clean cold turkey, and quickly.

I'm not prescribed them, neither was I prescribed Alprazolam. I got sick of Alprazolam's short half life and I got sick of taking benzos in general. So I decided to switch to Clonazepam as my dark net vendor sells genuine Rivotrils and I'll do a taper plan. I didn't want to take my benzo addiction to my doctor, I want it kept off the record. I don't want my name flagging up on his computer as a potential addict when it comes to prescribing.

 

[RDP89]

Yeah, with the long half-life it is still in your system.

 

[wizardknight17]

To start: I don't have any tolerance for benzos built up, nor did I at the time.

One time I took 10-2mg xanax along with my normal oxy (90-120mg a day at that time) and I blacked out for 3 days. I got in the first car wreck of my life that was my fault (previously only had 1 wreck ever 10+years ago which was not possible had the other driver been driving anywhere close to legally but that's another story. Haha) on day 2 i got stopped and written a ticket for 82mph in a 60mph zone and the cop let me go. I remember literally about 20-30 seconds of those 3 days (less than 10 seconds of the wreck, less than10 of the ticket, and a few random couple seconds of being in my bed) and my wife said she has no clue how I wasn't arrested because I was not coherent at all.
All that being said, afterwards I did not notice any withdrawal symptoms. But I also kept taking the oxy at the time.

I know it gets worse as you build tolerance but only being about 6 months in and if you have had breaks in between uses you might not do horrible with withdrawal just yet but you're pushing the line. Pretty soon it'll flip over and it'll be a bitch to stop. Good luck and please quit while you're ahead.

 

[Mischief&Mayham]

I'm not prescribed them, neither was I prescribed Alprazolam. I get them off a dark net market. I got sick of Alprazolam's short half life and I got sick of taking benzos in general. So I decided to switch to Clonazepam as my dark net vendor sells genuine Rivotrils and I'll do a taper plan. I didn't want to take my benzo addiction to my doctor, I want it kept off the record. I don't want my name flagging up on his computer as a potential addict when it comes to prescribing.

Ok, well yeah they can help you get off of it, as that is what doctors would give you to help you wean you off Alprazolam. It's longer half life is a huge help to prevent the Alprazolam crash for sure. Though, just be careful, because you can easily end up a new type of withdrawal eventually. Plus, I would recommend staying a little closer to no more than 1-2 mg a day. The upper dosages for Clonazepam is 4 mg a day, and if you are doing that (or more), you are using it to get high. Which sort of defeats the purpose of getting clean.

But I can't judge lol. I abused Alprazolam a lot in college, and I would never ask that crash/withdrawal on anyone.

 

[Mischief&Mayham]

To start: I don't have any tolerance for benzos built up, nor did I at the time.

One time I took 10-2mg xanax along with my normal oxy (90-120mg a day at that time) and I blacked out for 3 days. I got in the first car wreck of my life that was my fault...

Holy crap, yeah that is crazy! I def had to work my way up to those kinda levels over a year, and that was not with daily oxy too! WOW!

 

[evo4ever]

I've found my self only dosing every 3-4 days cos of the long half life of Clonazepam. But when I do dose its big and I mean 20mg. So I'm taking 20mg every 4 days max. I'm also prescribed Oxycodone for pain legitly. I take 120mg daily (30mg 4x a day). Mixing Oxycodone with Clonazepam is pure bliss ive got to say!

I've ran out of my Oxy script and I don't get my new one till the 25th! *gets Loperamide out*

 

[Mischief&Mayham]

Oh that isn't too bad then. I was imagining you taking that daily LOL. Which Clonazepam, with its long half-life, is one that they give you low doses a few times a day so it can build up in your system over time. So I was just nervous you were going to end up with 30-60 mg actually on any given day and then taking another 20 mg.

I do know that I love by benzo/opioid combos though! I would often call it my "happy place" LOL! At the time I was prescribed Desoxyn (methamphetamine hydrochloride) 10 mg twice daily for my ADHD, and .5 mg of Xanax (Alprazolam) twice a day for my anxiety, but I was never prescribed Oxycodone. Which made it more of a "treat" (that I would try to do as often as I could) HAHAHA.

My friends used to laugh though, because I was essentially told to take a "speed ball" twice a day (stimulant/depressant together as prescribed). Yet I took different ADHD drugs for so long (like starting at 7-8 with Ritalin), and it doesn't effect me like non-ADHD people, so I would rarely even take it. Usually I just tried to sell it or trade it for Oxy or another drug.... which was actually pretty easy, because my doctor wasn't very bright to switch me to literally legal meth right before college, because unlike my Adderall or Vyvance I took in high school, it could actually be smoked and injected because it was a hydrochloride salt compound. Which made it way easier to sell because it was essentially pure clean meth. (Even more so than most amphetamine prescriptions).

AND DAMN, I am sorry to hear that about your RX! I always had the opposite problem when taking Oxy for days in a row, but I didn't even think about what would happen if you ran out once your body got USED to it every day!

** Note: It is not advised to take both a benzodiazepine and a opioid together as they both are a central nervous system depressant, and if it is done; caution should be advised. **

 

[evo4ever]

Oh that isn't too bad then. I was imagining you taking that daily LOL. Which Clonazepam, with its long half-life, is one that they give you low doses a few times a day so it can build up in your system over time. So I was just nervous you were going to end up with 30-60 mg actually on any given day and then taking another 20 mg.

I do know that I love by benzo/opioid combos though! I would often call it my "happy place" LOL! At the time I was prescribed Desoxyn (methamphetamine hydrochloride) 10 mg twice daily for my ADHD, and .5 mg of Xanax (Alprazolam) twice a day for my anxiety, but I was never prescribed Oxycodone. Which made it more of a "treat" (that I would try to do as often as I could) HAHAHA.

My friends used to laugh though, because I was essentially told to take a "speed ball" twice a day (stimulant/depressant together as prescribed). Yet I took different ADHD drugs for so long (like starting at 7-8 with Ritalin), and it doesn't effect me like non-ADHD people, so I would rarely even take it. Usually I just tried to sell it or trade it for Oxy or another drug.... which was actually pretty easy, because my doctor wasn't very bright to switch me to literally legal meth right before college, because unlike my Adderall or Vyvance I took in high school, it could actually be smoked and injected because it was a hydrochloride salt compound. Which made it way easier to sell because it was essentially pure clean meth. (Even more so than most amphetamine prescriptions).

AND DAMN, I am sorry to hear that about your RX! I always had the opposite problem when taking Oxy for days in a row, but I didn't even think about what would happen if you ran out once your body got USED to it every day!

** Note: It is not advised to take both a benzodiazepine and a opioid together as they both are a central nervous system depressant, and if it is done; caution should be advised. **

Yeah I'm prescribed 120mg of Oxy daily, 30mg 4x a day. I pick up my prescription every 2 weeks but I've ran out 4 days early! I really need to get a grip of this Oxy its so damn addictive! Well more addictive than benzos however the withdrawal from benzos is by far worse! I take the Oxy for Neuropathy in my left arm. It's like a double edge sword, I need it cos it takes my pain away but I take too much cos its so fuckin addictive! It's Instant Release as well which makes it even more addictive cos it wears off quicker.

When I was on the Alprazolam I used to take 60mg Oxy and 10mg Alp and it would put me on the floor sedated to fuck. I'm lucky I never vomited and choked! Weirdly when I combine the Oxy with Clonazepam it wouldn't knock me out cold, yeah it made me feel invincible but thats it. Thats probably a good thing. U'd think combining oxy and a benzo like Alprazolam or Clonazepam would give the same effect but it doesn't.

 

[Papadoc]

I also have a physical dependency to Alprazolam acquired from maybe 7+ years almost daily use.. although strangely my tolerance hasn't skyrocketed over the time and most days I don't need to take more than 1-2mg and some days even less, but I definitely experience the start of severe withdrawals by day 2 or 3 of not taking Xanax if I have no other benzo's in my system. Normally I keep Diazepam on standby with its very long half like Clonazepam it takes a while before withdrawals start to be felt, can be more than 2-3 days. I have found from experience now that it's better to take Diazepam daily and Xanax only in lower doses (i.e. 0.5mg) less frequently.. this does seem to reset the tendency for withdrawals the severity is greatly reduced over time.

Be careful about running out of Xanax, it's serious. I've had 2 seizures from it and one put me in hospital after I was unconscious for 4-5 hours, when I came to I had lost my short term memory and this lasted for months. I still have cognitive difficulties today from that seizure which was 2-3 years ago. I think I may be lucky to be alive.

Hello all.

I've been struggling with an Alprazolam addiction for about 6 months. Last week I decided quit and taper with a longer acting benzo so I chose Clonazepam. While I was waiting for my Clonazepam tablets to arrive (They're called Rivotril in Europe) a close family member died of cancer, she was my cousin.

They arrived on Wednesday afternoon (17/04/19) which was 3 days ago. I was in withdrawal prior to my tablets arriving. I received 60 2mg tablets and I immediately took 20mg (10x 2mg). The reason I took so much was because of the despair I was in after losing my cousin and I knew I would be okay taking a large dose as I've got a high tolerance to benzos cos of near daily use of Alprazolam for 6 months. After about 30mins the tablets kicked in and my withdrawals disappeared along with some pleasurable effects.

3 days later and I'm not in withdrawal, I feel good (apart from losing my cousin). I know Clonazepam has got a long half life (30-40hrs) but it's been over 72 hours, surely I should start to feel the early symptoms of withdrawal by now??

Any thoughts?`

o hav

 

[evo4ever]

I also have a physical dependency to Alprazolam acquired from maybe 7+ years almost daily use.. although strangely my tolerance hasn't skyrocketed over the time and most days I don't need to take more than 1-2mg and some days even less, but I definitely experience the start of severe withdrawals by day 2 or 3 of not taking Xanax if I have no other benzo's in my system. Normally I keep Diazepam on standby with its very long half like Clonazepam it takes a while before withdrawals start to be felt, can be more than 2-3 days. I have found from experience now that it's better to take Diazepam daily and Xanax only in lower doses (i.e. 0.5mg) less frequently.. this does seem to reset the tendency for withdrawals the severity is greatly reduced over time.

Be careful about running out of Xanax, it's serious. I've had 2 seizures from it and one put me in hospital after I was unconscious for 4-5 hours, when I came to I had lost my short term memory and this lasted for months. I still have cognitive difficulties today from that seizure which was 2-3 years ago. I think I may be lucky to be alive.


o hav

I don't take Alprazolam anymore, I've switched to Clonazepam. I just prefer the longer half life tbh and Clonazepam is about as potent as Alprazolam so it can still get u wacked! Sorry about ur ordeal! Ur a lucky man!

 

[Mischief&Mayham]

Yeah my withdrawal from Alprazolam was really harsh. I even had a prescription for it, and did my withdrawal with a doctors help, and that was still hard. You are really lucky! I am thankful I wasn't kept on it for too long, and never got seizures. Glad to hear you are doing better now though!

 

[Xorkoth]

Absolutely 100%. Never stop benzos cold-turkey, it's really dangerous. And it produces psychosis and paranoia generally too, so you might not be in any shape to realize when it's gotten bad enough that you need a hospital. The appropriate way to get off benzos is a slow taper, dropping roughly 10% of your current dose every 1-2 weeks. Benzos produce a very long-lasting and dangerous withdrawal syndrome. It blows my mind that when they were first being prescribed, doctors were being told they didn't produce dependence. Occasionally there are still doctors who believe that and will try to give someone like 10 Ativans or something if they're in danger of withdrawing, and act like people are drug seeking when in reality they're in very real danger of seizing and possibly even death.

 

[evo4ever]

I'm not prescribed Clonazepam I get them off a friend who sells genuine blister strip Rivotrils diverted and imported from an eastern European pharmaceutical company. As hes a close friend he sells me 60 tabs for $30, anyone else its $60. I use them to enhance my Oxycodone and I suffer with anxiety as well which I can't be bothered seeing my doctor about, its easier to see my friend lol. It would be ideal to come off of Clonazepam but im not ready yet. My friend also sells Diazepam which ill probably switch to if and when I do stop the Clonazepam.

 

[evo4ever]

I started with benzos just "for fun", because I'm stupid, not because I needed them for anxiety or panic attacks. My first benzo was probably some Alprazolam I stole from my parents but the really first benzo I bought, was Clonazepam, on the street, for very cheap. 1 Blister (10 tabs 2 mg) was just a few Eur.
This was many years ago, now I have a legit prescription and I don't need to buy benzos or meds from the street anymore. Clonazepam (Rivotril in Europe) is about a couple Eur/20 tabs if you buy it from pharmacy. That means a single pill of 2mg worths a fraction of a Eur. It's extremely cheap, compared to any other benzo that costs several Euros if you buy off-brands. If you buy official brands like Roche/Bayer and stuff, the price goes way up.
You understand how easy is to get hooked by Clonazepam, when a 2mg dose is a fraction of a Eur? This is what fucks you. At least for me.
I tried to stop Clonazepam and start with Diazepam but it doesn't matter at all. Same with Alprazolam, Lorazepam, Lormetazepam, Triazolam, and I can continue forever.
For me, I just need some benzo once ever X to prevent withdrawals, and as already said sometimes for sleeping, but I keep jumping from one to another, there is no exit for me.
But really you should stay away from Clonazepam, in my opinion it's like the meth version of benzos.

Man its its too late for me. I've been using Benzos for over 6 months now. I started with Nitrazepam, then Lorazepam, then Alprazolam, now Clonazepam.

 

[Xorkoth]

It's true, 6 months isn't so long. Yeah it'll suck to get out but it'll be way easier than it will be in 6 more months, or a year, or 5 years... etc.

 

[CoastTwoCoast]

It's never too late. I had a dangerous RC benzo addiction for years and I'm completely done with that shit. I had enough of it ruling my life. You just need to taper off and be done with it if you can't control how much you take.