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Benzos Why did benzos cause my blepharospasm?

stilllost

Bluelighter
Joined
Jan 23, 2013
Messages
60
I've been a benzo user on and off since 2002.

2002-2005 = Mild usage ranging to idiotic.
2005-2009 = Little to no usage.
Late 2009+ = Mild usage ranging to idiotic.


In the periods of mild usage there were breaks, it wasn't like years straight or anything but here's the brass tacks.


I've been taking Etizolam for around the past year, 2-8mg a night (yeah I know 8mg is high but it's equipotent to 4mg xanax which is "only two bars") because it's so damn cheap.


Around 3 1/2 weeks ago I developed an eye lid twitch (blepharospasm) in my right eye. I had been exercising a lot so I blamed it on that and it never got better. Saw my GP two weeks ago and mentioned Etizolam in passing and he didn't think much of it. Wiki of course links blepharospasm as a direct cause of prolonged usage of Etizolam but here's the real question:


When I switched back to Klonopin from Etizolam the twitches only got "lighter" in intensity, they didn't go away completely until today. It's been around 48 hours since I had any Klonopin (0.25mg, seriously) and the twitches are completely gone.


The thing is I kinda need a daily benzo, at least at night -- I never take benzos in the day, but how the fuck can I go 11 years with no issues and then it all of a sudden comes up on me?


I'm in good health, slightly overwight (15lbs according to the BMI which isn't much, this is why I've been back in the gym) and as far as stress or other causes of blepharospasm I don't have those. Life is about a 7.5/10, could be better, could be A LOT worse.

I'm scared to take the benzos again because the blepharospasm was driving me fucking crazy. It was just a small flutter in my eyelid every few seconds and come to fucking think about it now that I'm typing this out, they seemed to subside towards the evening -- about when the halflife of the benzo was expiring.

I dunno. Thoughts?
 
Damn, they're kinda back today. I seriously only had maybe 10 twitches all yesterday (10 sounds like a lot but it's really not) and today...... well today isn't as bad as Tuesday or Monday, still pretty light twitches not really grabbing my eyelid like it was but shittttttttt

Is this permament?
 
It's well established that benzo use long term can cause blepharospasm, as can benzo withdrawal.

You've been taking large amounts of a powerful benzo on a daily basis for over a year - it's not surprising that you've developed this condition, nor is the delay surprising either - It's listed as a long term sideffect of benzo use.

Since it seems to have gotten somewhat better since you switched off of the rather large doses of etizolam you were taking (since I don't see any mention of you experiencing withdrawal effects, you should count yourself very lucky, I would have expected w/d at that dosage level), it stands to reason that it might go away if you stay off the benzos. The time-scales for someone getting back to normal after habitual benzo use is months, not days, so you're going to need to wait much longer to know.

As for how to get to sleep at night without benzos, that's another issue - taking benzos every night to get to sleep is not a good thing to do (as you may know, they are only supposed to be scripted for insomnia for a few weeks at a time).
 
Nah, no W/D. Benzos have always, oddly enough, been kind to me except at night. I've never been a daytime benzo user, always 9PM+.

At any rate, I took about an hour nap earlier and they've gone back away.

I don't plan on taking anymore benzos but here's a new question:

Can I take my Sonata (Z-drug) or will that cause further damage?
 
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