Benzos Would like advice on cutting down on a phenazepam addiction

[r100proof]

First of I was a pharmacy student who is currently a nursing student. I understand half-lives and basic pharmacology. I was just hoping someone had some personal experience that made this easier.

To start off I was taking a high dose of baclofen....300mg a day for it's supposed effect on alcohol addiction. I just didin't want to be a zombie anymore so I ramped down to zero very fast. And as I did that the amount of phenazepam I take at night has increased. I'm taking around 11mg and my 300mg seroquel just to sleep. Waking...is HARD. Less benzo..is no sleep.

I am actually prescribed Klonopin at 2mg a day which i have been avoiding not seeing a point in mixing.

I would just like some opinions on the most comfortable way to get this down. Any experiences?

 

[rickolasnice]

See your doctor and be honest about everything.

Together you should be able to come up with a safe and effective taper.

 

[psychomimetic]

I'm not experienced with phenazepam, but here's what I'd do (if you aren't going to just figure it out with a doctor)- 1 less mg of phenazepam every night until you're off it. Don't take the klonapin if you want to end your GABAergic addiction. If you only want to end your phenazepam addiction but you don't mind being addicted to klonapin (which would be stupid), then you can decrease your phenazepam dose by 1 mg nightly and then once you get to 5 or so mg (whatever a low dose for you is) you could add .5 mg of klonapin to help you sleep. I don't advise that though, because you'll just end up having to go through the same bullshit in order to quit klonapin in a few months or years.

I'd keep doing the seroquel until you're off the GABAergic drugs and not WDing anymore, although it'll take a while to feel totally normal again. Quit one drug at a time, if you even want to get off seroquel. Not taking seroquel at night would certainly make it easier to get up in the mornings, but seroquel helps some people so it's your call (I hate seroquel, but there's different strokes for different folks).

What I would do is not worry about getting off any drugs except the phenazepam, take a few days off if you need to for the worst part of the WDs (if you feel sick, take a sick day), and taper your dose by 1 mg nightly. I'd get rid of all my klonapin and then once I wasn't on phenazepam I'd get rid of what was left of it too. If it gets to being really hard, you can taper by .5 mg a night, but that would make your withdrawals much more prolonged. No benzo= no sleep, I know how that is, but there's going to have to be some sleepless nights if you are serious about wanting to quit. I'm not going to lie, if you quit you'll feel like absolute shit while the WDs are happening and then you'll feel different for a while. If you keep using though, a lot more problems could occur. But I doubt you'll be able to get off the GABAergics without some sleepless nights and some unhappiness. Good luck.

Going to the doctor is probably the best choice, but I find that doctors sometimes are full of shit, especially when it comes to GABAergic drugs. You should consult your doctor if possible, but you should consider the advice he gives before blindly taking it.

 

[woamotive]

In my opinion you're going to HAVE to do a taper (obviously) of phenaz. Yes, it's going to be difficult to sleep for a while (until you also sort out other areas such as adequate physical activity, good diet, mental/emotional issues or instabilities etc) - but if you are actually trying to rid yourself of phenazepam it's inevitable.

As mentioned by rickolasnice, discuss a taper plan with your doctor if you are comfortable. If not, figure out a plan that you think is best for you (cut down 3mg in 3 day intervals, for example: adjust to fit comfort level and 'complete date' goal/s). Are you planning on eventually USING your clonazepam? Or, not using any benzos at all?

(Benzo withdrawal is the devil - so tapering is essential. Doctor supervision is also encouraged)

 

[amanitadine]

A taper is most certainly in order...but a few questions first. How long have you been taking it? This is of the upmost importance in regards to how fast you taper. 1mg reduction a night as suggested above is WAY too fast. I dont know if you have experience with withdrawing from high dose benzos but it can truly *nightmarish*. Depending on how long you have been taking it and the severity of your withdrawals many people taper at a rate of 5-10% reduction a week. Phenazepam, as you know, has a ridiculously long half life so it will be easy (ish) to taper.

Im curious about your experiences with baclofen. Are you off it completely now? And what was your taper and withdrawals like? And, how did it effect you at 300mg a day? I've experiemented with it alot, but at lower doses (80-120mg a day) and as far a s GABAergics go I found the tapering off of it comparatively painless, if slow and steady titration was adhered to.

Hang in there, I hope you feel better!