Will I withdraw from this amount of benzo use?

[frontbluntt]

I'm prescribed 1mg clonazepam but rarely take it.
However, I have been taking around 2 mgs of etizolam every night for something like a year for insomnia.
Are these doses small enough to not be too much of a worry if I just stop taking them?

 

[Nicholai]

In my experience? Well.

I've not taken etizolam, as the availability of it concerns me...unrestricted access to benzos seems dire. However, having scripts for alprazolam and temazepam for years, albeit at lower doses than what you describe, used only therapeutically for panic and sleep(temazepam nightly, for sleep, 45mg, .5mg xanex for panic attacks whenever), I never suffered any withdrawals with cessation. I think though, at your dosage level, there is certainly a concern.

I think the clonazepam you are scripted may be a tool you could take advantage of, if you suffer withdrawals.

Can you handle this? After giving up heroin? Don't take on too much at one time and compromise your efforts....

Just 2c.

 

[frontbluntt]

In my experience? Well.

I've not taken etizolam, as the availability of it concerns me...unrestricted access to benzos seems dire. However, having scripts for alprazolam and temazepam for years, albeit at lower doses than what you describe, used only therapeutically for panic and sleep(temazepam nightly, for sleep, 45mg, .5mg xanex for panic attacks whenever), I never suffered any withdrawals with cessation. I think though, at your dosage level, there is certainly a concern.

I think the clonazepam you are scripted may be a tool you could take advantage of, if you suffer withdrawals.

Can you handle this? After giving up heroin? Don't take on too much at one time and compromise your efforts....

Just 2c.

Probably not right now, it's just a thought that never crossed my mind at all until I was reading some threads on benzo wd. I have stockpiles of clonazepam from never taking them so I could taper easily I'd imagine I just didn't think that the doses I had been taking were enough to cause dependency/withdrawal. I felt as though a couple mgs of eti a night wasn't in dependency territory and like I said I almost never take the clonazepam.

Perhaps it's due to my admittedly limited knowledge of benzos as compared to other drugs but weren't the dosages you took for years bigger than mine? Or at the very least somewhat equal?

 

[Nicholai]

To my knowledge, etiz is more or less equivalent in strength to alpraz. I've not had a benzo addiction, although I've had a phenibut addiction, and that was hell on earth. I just advise caution. Just having given up heroin, you must be somewhat....shaky. I know how it is. Seriously. My habit was bigger than yours.

I hope this advice helps. Just be careful, and tread lightly!

 

[frontbluntt]

To my knowledge, etiz is more or less equivalent in strength to alpraz. I've not had a benzo addiction, although I've had a phenibut addiction, and that was hell on earth. I just advise caution. Just having given up heroin, you must be somewhat....shaky. I know how it is. Seriously. My habit was bigger than yours.

I hope this advice helps. Just be careful, and tread lightly!

yeah I'm not going to try to stop any time soon, just was reading some things and all of a sudden realized it's possible I have a benzo tolerance. However, I thought etizolam was only half the strength of alprazolam?

 

[Nicholai]

No, it's the alprazolam produced in the USA is closely regulated, they'd be more or less equivalent if the etiz you buy off the net was reliable, but it's not. Often the pills sold do not contain what they say they do. At least according to my (extensive) research. Much of the etiz sold, it seems, is dosed much lower than what is advertised.

Considering that, it actually may be less of a problem than it could be! I hope so. You may gave less of a benzo tolerance than anticipated. That can only be a good thing.

 

[St3ve]

I don't think you'll get away with not noticing anything. After taking about 1-2mg of etizolam every day for a few weeks I could something was off for a few days afterwards. Irritability and difficulty getting to sleep being pretty much it. Nothing too bad, I'm guessing a year is gonna build a bit more dependence though.

 

[frontbluntt]

No, it's the alprazolam produced in the USA is closely regulated, they'd be more or less equivalent if the etiz you buy off the net was reliable, but it's not. Often the pills sold do not contain what they say they do. At least according to my (extensive) research. Much of the etiz sold, it seems, is dosed much lower than what is advertised.

Considering that, it actually may be less of a problem than it could be! I hope so. You may gave less of a benzo tolerance than anticipated. That can only be a good thing.

I don't get pills just HCL powder that I make into solutions for liquid dosing.

I don't think you'll get away with not noticing anything. After taking about 1-2mg of etizolam every day for a few weeks I could something was off for a few days afterwards. Irritability and difficulty getting to sleep being pretty much it. Nothing too bad, I'm guessing a year is gonna build a bit more dependence though.

Exactly what I did not want to hear lol!
Doe it make any differenece that etizolam is not technically a benzodiazepene?
Also at these doses, when I am ready to quit, I'm guessing I won't need medical supervision, correct? I''l just have some withrawlas but nothing life threatening and no seizures right?

Sorry to come across as so daft but I have never looked into the world of benzo addiction and withdrawal, mostly bc I don't even like benzos at all. I just have severe insomnia which often times only etiz will cure (especially while leaving me not foggy-headed, lethargic and groggy the next morning).

 

[onceanaddict]

etiz is a "Z drug" it mimics a benzo and works in similar ways. i detoxed off 8mg daily of xanax. was on it three years. the problem with benzos is they mess some pretty important receptors unlike others. my guess is your going to notice something but i dont know much about these z drugs. talk to your doc and always remember weaning is much easier than just doing a full detox.

 

[frontbluntt]

etiz is a "Z drug" it mimics a benzo and works in similar ways. i detoxed off 8mg daily of xanax. was on it three years. the problem with benzos is they mess some pretty important receptors unlike others. my guess is your going to notice something but i dont know much about these z drugs. talk to your doc and always remember weaning is much easier than just doing a full detox.

It's not a z-drug like zolpidem or zopiclone its a thienodiazepine it mimcs benzos in every way as far as effects I just don't know about withdrawal

 

[frontbluntt]

Just looked up wiki and it appears to not have quite the WD dangers as regular benzos:

"In a study that compared the effectiveness of etizolam, alprazolam, and bromazepam for the treatment of generalized anxiety disorder, all three drugs retained their effectiveness over 2 weeks, but etizolam became more effective from 2 weeks to 4 weeks, a type of reverse tolerance.[11] Administering .5 mg etizolam twice daily did not induce cognitive deficits over 3 weeks when compared to placebo.[12]
When multiple doses of etizolam, or lorazepam, were administered to rat neurons, lorazepam caused downregulation of alpha-1 benzodiazepine binding sites (tolerance/dependence), while etizolam caused an increase in alpha-2 benzodiazepine binding sites (reverse tolerance to anti-anxiety effects).[13] Tolerance to the anticonvulsant effects of lorazepam were observed, but no significant tolerance to the anticonvulsant effects of etizolam were observed.[13] Etizolam therefore has a reduced liability to induce tolerance, and dependence, compared with classical benzodiazepines.[13]"

 

[RDP89]

Yeah from what I've read etizolam doesn't have near as bad tolerance/withdrawal issues as benzos. Still I would suggest a taper if/when you are ready to quit. The only benzo I ever took long enough to withdrawal from was lorazepam. Even after a week(two at the most) of 6-12 mgs. a day I got anxious as hell but no shaking or anything like that just depressed/anxious feeling worse than any alcohol withdrawal I've ever had(and I have drank for a lot longer straight).Yeah apparently being a thieno causes less tolerance issues. Although I would be slightly worried about some of the side effects that have recently been reported with long term use.