• Select Your Topic Then Scroll Down
    Alcohol Bupe Benzos
    Cocaine Heroin Opioids
    RCs Stimulants Misc
    Harm Reduction All Topics Gabapentinoids
    Tired of your habit? Struggling to cope?
    Want to regain control or get sober?
    Visit our Recovery Support Forums

Benzos Best way to avoid physical dependence

Quinine121

Bluelighter
Joined
Mar 1, 2019
Messages
91
Hi,

So I like to use benzos on bad days when I’m suffering from pretty severe anxiety ... I’m pretty careful though as don’t want a benzo monkey . I already have an oppie one .

I got to thinking it’s probably best to use short acting benzos like Xanax and k-pins? (or is this faulty logic) So if you have a few days off in between. The drug has cleared unlike say Valium with its 200 hour half life

So the question is for the drugs below how often can I use a week without getting a physical dependency? I stick to only one benzo for the day when I take them .

Xanax (usual dose 1-4 mg )
K-pins usually 1-3mg
Temazapam 20-60mg

Valium 20-30mg ... but although I like val I don’t like the fact the half life is so long .
 
You're correct that using a short-acting benzo every few days or whatever is better than using a long-acting one. One thing I'll say is that clonazepam (klonopin) is not considered a short-acting benzo, though it's shorter than valium. Xanax is, though.

I think probably twice a week average would be best, at most. Even every other day with a short-acting benzo would certainly produce dependence eventually... possibly even every 3 days.
 
You're correct that using a short-acting benzo every few days or whatever is better than using a long-acting one. One thing I'll say is that clonazepam (klonopin) is not considered a short-acting benzo, though it's shorter than valium. Xanax is, though.

I think probably twice a week average would be best, at most. Even every other day with a short-acting benzo would certainly produce dependence eventually... possibly even every 3 days.

Agree pretty much.

I take 30 mg Temazepam twice weekly for insomnia and have done so for over a decade. I can however easily go two weeks without any and have never suffered any withdrawal symptoms.

I wouldn't take it more than twice weekly though and have stuck to that rigidly the whole time.

My experience doesn't mean that mean that anyone else's will be the same however
 
Can't agree more with the short acting benzos. I regularly use benzos to manage come downs off stims, and when I used to use valium once a week in the 30mg range I'd be getting withdrawals by thursday after just a few months (just metallic taste in the mouth and twitchyness .. but withdrawals none the less). Switched to xanax and never had a problem since.

As a rule of thumb I avoid using xanax more than 3 or 4 days in a row .. which is great with xanax as it loses it's sedative properties after about 3 days use anyway. Also you'll know if your developing physical depenendence after only a few days off unlike with valium where you need a good week to be sure (or even more if you've been doing a lot).

The short acting ones can be slightly more habit forming though so do watch how often you are taking them and make sure you're taking 3-4 day breaks every couple of weeks so you get some warning. In my experience it takes a good month of daily use to get unpleasant WDs .. but you're mileage may vary and I avoid that like the plague anyway.
 
Thanks guys so it seems like the consensus is max 1-2 a week

And also to keep away from the valiums and really long half life benzos

I like xans the only problem I find with them is the damm memory loss and utter fearlessness and lowered inhibitions much more than even high dose Valium at 100mg and I’m not talking stupid doses yes I’ve done 8mg + in an evening once and blacked out for 21 hours but that was once .

But if I go past 2mg it shoots my memory to shit .

What about the kpins ? 1-2 a week ok with these or is it risky maybe keep the kpins to 1 a week and the really short acting benzos like temazapam and xans to 2 max

I’m pretty strong willed with benzos unlike oppies ... I did a four day xan / kpin binge and it’s been over 14 days since I decided to touch a benzo (unless you count 500mg phenibut)

I doubt i would even use them more than 1 a week as the risk of physical dependence on Benz’s is terrifying and this is coming from a guy who does ox and h.
 
Instead of days off, in order to avoid withdrawal, you can use a therapeutic dose (like 0.25 mg Xanax or something similar), it will not give you any effects, however, it will give to your brain the chemicals that it needs to don't fall apart
 
Firstly, why do you need such high doses? 4 mg of Xanax (or 3 of k-pin) is probably overkill (of course, it may be the required therapeutic dose, but is this really the case?).

I would suggest you lower the dose, why not 3 mg for a while? And then 2 mg? I would use 1-2 mg at most to get the therapeutic benefits of the drug.

If you take it three times per week, based on my own experience, on the second day without it, withdrawal will arise. Perhaps it will not be significant (very perceptible) but it will be there.

To avoid this, on this second day, you can take .25 just to calm down your brain (the best thing to do is to take it early in the morning).
 
I like xans the only problem I find with them is the damm memory loss and utter fearlessness and lowered inhibitions
thats benzos for ya. klonopin fucked my memory up short and long term and thats without ever being dependent.
i used to use em to get fucked up, now i only take benzos for stim/psych comedowns or during opiate wd.
skipping several days and never using more than 2-3 days in a row has kept me free of physical dependence for years.
 
thats benzos for ya. klonopin fucked my memory up short and long term and thats without ever being dependent.
i used to use em to get fucked up, now i only take benzos for stim/psych comedowns or during opiate wd.
skipping several days and never using more than 2-3 days in a row has kept me free of physical dependence for years.

This seems to be the consensus use 1-2 a week and have tolerance breaks

Jose, I’m an addict , you give me 1 xan I’m going to take 4 lol. Xans remove all Inhibitions as well ... ive done some mad stuff on xans and blacked out and had to be told what I did how I acted etc
 
not like theres an easy answer in addiction, but what worked for me was being scared of physical dependence so i was forced to be semi responsible with benzos.
opiates are one thing but gaba dependencies are fucking scary. no thank you
 
not like theres an easy answer in addiction, but what worked for me was being scared of physical dependence so i was forced to be semi responsible with benzos.
opiates are one thing but gaba dependencies are fucking scary. no thank you
Hahah that’s where I’m at bro

Having a oppie monkey is one thing but I draw the line at benzos
 
once i stopped using them to "party" and saved a stash for when i actually needed them my use slowed way down.
instead of having a sloppy relaxed day i know il have some for whenever im in opiate wd, or coming off stims or frying too hard on acid.
that peace of mind is worth more than all the anxiety i killed abusing benzos
 
Keep dosages under control is a significant step towards avoiding physical dependence

Try to use it only when necessary.

Try to avoid unnecessary days like, if you have drunk, this is an opportune day to avoid benzos. Same if you have done other drugs. If you have already had one, be conscious and avoid the other (easy to write difficult to perform, I know, I am also a junkie).

These are examples of small actions that work and they do not require much effort to be made

Last but not least, I avoid benzos in the days that I am happy. On these days, I believe that they can even destroy happiness.
 
Last edited:
Keep the dose as low as possible and use only when you absolutely need it is as straightforward as it gets. And don't use it recreationally, you're really going to pay a hefty price for all those doses that you didn't need but felt bored or got some other excuse to take them anyway. Unless your weight is high enough to justify 4 mg of alprazolam, it's way too high of a dose to use it every other or third day and feel all right, after weeks or months it will inevitably lead to problems.

I had been addicted to benzodiazepines for 9 years, mostly clonazepam at 6mg a day, but also during the first 3 years 7.5mg of lorazepam a day and 2-4mg estazolam here and there, I quit 5 years ago and it was a life-changing decision for me, hard as well on par with quitting methadone but well worth it. but during the last 1.5 years I had two bouts of disabling anxiety/panic attacks lasting several months and I started using alprazolam at 0.5mg pretty regularly, in 2-3 weeks I found myself taking it every day and eventually ended up taking up to 1.5-2.0mg a day after 2 or 3 months. I took many different benzos, ones that I took regularly were clonazepam, lorazepam, estazolam, and now alprazolam and short-acting ones have always been much worse in terms of withdrawal set-off and tapering. For anxiety that comes out of nowhere and panic attacks alprazolam is the best IME, but it's also very easy to get used to taking it every day because when you need it regularly, even short-term, you will feel off between doses, so you will feel urge to take it even on better days when you don't really have full-on anxiety. I managed to take a single dose of 0.5mg a day for many weeks, but the very first day without it is increased anxiety, slowed down thinking and complete lack of focus. Recommended treatment period is max. up to a month and in my experience I was indeed crossing a line somewhere around that point, but I believe you can still quit it fairly painlessly even after a few months of every day use provided that you did not take more than therapeutic doses.

I managed to stop two several-month alprazolam "binges" by switching to clorazepate two times in those past 1.5 years. The rebound anxiety and the lack of focus were unbearable and the great difference in effects between 0.25mg and 0.5mg makes it impossible to taper, even if you cut 0.25mg into 4 pieces, tapering will never be as smooth with a short-acting one as with a long-acting one. By switching from 0.5mg of alprazolam first to 0.25mg alprazolam+10mg of clorazepate for day 1, then 10mg of clorazepate alone for 2-3 days to build it up and then 5mg for a week or so, I was able to stop taking it painlessly when I didn't need it any more but couldn't simply stop alprazolam without feeling terrible. And taking 5mg of clorazepate 2-3 times a week when I can't bear anxiety is nowhere near as bad as starting alprazolam which in my case always inevitably leads to every day use.

For anxiety that stays with you all day long but isn't as pronounced weak and long-acting benzodiazepines are much more reasonable, even if you take them every day but don't go over the therapeutic dose, when you stop, stacked doses due to long half-life will make the transition off a drug much easier. I don't know why clorazepate, chlordiazepoxide or nordazepam aren't more popular to wean people off drugs like alprazolam even in situations when they've been taking them short-term at low dose but every day, it still makes sense to make a transition. Nordazepam is noticeably weaker than diazepam and seems to have the dose-response curve flattening, doubling the dose doesn't feel the same as doubling the dose of stronger benzodiazepines. I'm posting this because nordazepam and its pro-drugs are for some reason very rarely used and clorazepate saved my ass many times.
 
Adder and Jose thanks for sharing

so I’m good with a short acting benzo 1-2 a week ? At reasonable dosages 1-2mg

What about say kpins of Valium how often could I take them and not enter dependence ...

I took 20mg of temazapam today and that’s the first benzo in 16 days
 
Based on my personal experience, etizolam is less addictive than any US pharma benzos. The FDA will never approve another Diazepine again, so for prescriptions we're stuck with 50+ year old drugs in the US. Just don't take it every day or take it to get to sleep, it is the best anxiolytic I've tried.

Xanax is short acting but can be crazy addictive, don't take Xanax every day.
 
Last but not least, I avoid benzos in the days that I am happy. On these days, I believe that they can even destroy happiness.
This is so very true. I've found that there is a trade off; a gain in depression for a reduction in anxiety. Sometimes it's worth it; sometimes it isn't.
 
so I’m good with a short acting benzo 1-2 a week ? At reasonable dosages 1-2mg

this will depend considerably on your actual treatment needs. How are your anxiety levels? Benzos can be bad but they can also save lives. What dose your doctor prescribed to you?

I mean, if you are really bad, i would take it everyday, however, alternating the dosages: 1 mg one day and in the subsequent day 0.5 mg and then 1 mg again

But 4 mg of alprazolam or 20-30 of valium is way too much for sure. This will be the worst parameter for the creation of dependence.

Each person is a person, I do not like K-pin and I do not like valium as well. They make me pessimistic. I would rather Xanax. It also kills my feelings but it does not turn them into pessimism. but take care, when things come down to addiction, it is the worse. It is better to choose do not play with it recreationally.
 
Top