Benzos Phenibut Withdrawal

[muskolo]

I went on about a week binge taking about 30g total over 7 days. I'm at about 30 hours since my last dose wore off, 46 since I last took it and I'm experiencing head fog, depression, insomnia and some very strange mental images when I close my eyes in an attempt to sleep. This seems to be actual withdrawal and not a comedown so I am wondering how long should this go on given my very short habit?

I will say this, I'll never touch the shit again. Phenibut made me feel good but the punishment is not worth the pretty minor reward that you get from it, IMO.

Any responses would be really appreciated.

 

[DementiaSavantPlus]

It will probably last for 5 to 7 days. In my experience, it seems to last about that long regardless of the duration of use. I recently took a single 3 gram dose after a yearlong abstinence and got a withdrawal syndrome for a few days. It will seem as if it is never going to subside, then it fades away on about the sixth/seventh day.

 

[muskolo]

I am about 2.5 days in and do feel significantly better than yesterday. Although I was concerned this morning after a couple hours sleep that I had some major anxiety, it went away in an hour. The depression has lifted for the most part, no anxiety, and the head fog has mostly cleared up. Obviously, I am exhausted as I've only gotten a few hours sleep in 3 days. Basically I am just left with lethargy and short term memory loss somewhat and am experiencing some tremors. The random thoughts still come every so often but it has decreased 75% from yesterday.

Hopefully I am able to get some actual sleep tonight but judging by the improvement from the past 2 days, the withdrawal seems to be lifting.

I'll post the rest of my experience as it goes because it was rather hard to find anything like a journal or anything for someone who has barely taken it. Mostly what is out there are much longer term users and higher doses. There actually seems to be very little out there about phenibut at all, considering.

EDIT: I do realize a lot of my posts use the same phrases and words but chalk it up to my current situation. Cognition has been a serious issue through all of this, obviously.

 

[muskolo]

Well, my dog barked at me which caused a full blown panic attack for about 5 hours with incredibly bad heart palpitations. So, I guess I overstated my previous post. I'm getting really worried now and that's not like me but I fucked up here and am wondering if I need to worry about seizures? Can ANYBODY please tell me?

 

[belfort]

if you only took phenibut for 7 days then i wouldnt imagine withdrawals would last longer than 2-3 days..i dont think you need worry about seizures either..if you have any buddies with gabapentin or lyrica, borror a few and they will kill most of the withdrawals..

 

[BlueHues]

^I pretty much agree with this.

If you were having a bunch of twitches, muscle spasms and feeling like you were about to explode, that might be a little more cause for concern, but focusing on every little thing and worrying can trigger panic attacks as well...

Seizures generally don't just pop up out of the blue in situations like this....If it persists and gets much worse with tremors, muscle spasms, etc, you may need something to taper with...but I'm leaning towards it going away in another day or two without any issues of major concern...

 

[pinpoint]

OP your post about your dog barking causing a full blown panic attack made me laugh and only because I, too, have been down the Phenibut road quite extensively on many occasion. Remember that there is NOTHING physically wrong with you, it is all just anxiety that will pass soon. For me, I had persistent anxiety for the first 2-3 days that would eventually manifest into one full blown panic attack. Once that panic attack ended that was the end of all my anxiety. It sounds like you just had your full blown panic attack and once it's over (I found L-Theanine will effectively stop a GABA-B panic attack) you'll just be left with the sleep issues. I believe the strange borderline schizophrenic psychosis when trying to sleep is due to a flood of dopamine and excess glutamate. I base this theory on the fact that anti-psychotics, that antagonize dopamine receptors, would completely stop the night-time hallucinations.

Once you have your fun with Phenibut the magic never returns. I've tried countless times as I responded extremely well to its effects. Back in my honeymoon phase I was ranking it right up there with MDMA, Dexedrine, opiates - it was like Klonopin and MDMA got together and made a baby named 'Phenibut'.

You'll be okay, trust me, there will be no seizures or anything to worry about in a serious sense. Expect some early morning waking, difficulty sleeping, waking up feeling like you never entered deep sleep (unrefreshed), lethargic depression and some random muscle twitches from overly excited neurons with no endogenous GABA. This lasts a maximum of one week. The good news is you are left with a dopamine-like buzz for up to two weeks after the whole withdrawal ends - something to do with PEA or dopamine rebound IIRC.

Oh and DO NOT have caffeine, energy drinks, nicotine, or anything even slightly stimulating because your dopamine receptors are EXTREMELY sensitive during this transition.

Good luck.

 

[muskolo]

Thank you all for your responses, especially you pinpoint! I really appreciate it! I was able to make myself sleep 5+ hours broken up over the night. I've played with benzos for years but never long term and never really experienced benzo withdrawal so this was all very new to me. But, fuck, lesson learned. For as little as I got out of it, this bullshit borderline psychosis shit is not a price I'm willing to pay!

As shitty as this has been, I've decided once this is over I am going to start tapering my kratom use and finally jump from that. I haven't been sober for 5 years and if anything, this helped make me stare that fact head on. Thanks again!

As you said, I haven't had any panic since my dog barked at me just some lingering lethargy and depression.

EDIT: Last thing I wanted to add is, the kratom REALLY helped a lot during this process. I think without I wouldn't be able to sleep at all and the other symptoms would have been worse. I know they act on different receptors but there are 40 some alkaloids in kratom. As I already said, I've been taking kratom for a few years so I don't know if I'd recommend that for someone who isn't. Anyway, just in case someone going through it reads this one day...

 

[drewbocop]

Thank you all for your responses, especially you pinpoint! I really appreciate it! I was able to make myself sleep 5+ hours broken up over the night. I've played with benzos for years but never long term and never really experienced benzo withdrawal so this was all very new to me. But, fuck, lesson learned. For as little as I got out of it, this bullshit borderline psychosis shit is not a price I'm willing to pay!

As shitty as this has been, I've decided once this is over I am going to start tapering my kratom use and finally jump from that. I haven't been sober for 5 years and if anything, this helped make me stare that fact head on. Thanks again!

As you said, I haven't had any panic since my dog barked at me just some lingering lethargy and depression.

EDIT: Last thing I wanted to add is, the kratom REALLY helped a lot during this process. I think without I wouldn't be able to sleep at all and the other symptoms would have been worse. I know they act on different receptors but there are 40 some alkaloids in kratom. As I already said, I've been taking kratom for a few years so I don't know if I'd recommend that for someone who isn't. Anyway, just in case someone going through it reads this one day...

I just had a little stint with Phenibut about like yours, but twice as long. 50 or 60 grams in two weeks. I had some noticeable twitching and RLS and sleep issues. Mine resolved fairly quickly but I too take Kratom and have taken it for years and dosing the K helped extremely well. Especially my first dose of the morning. I would basically feel normal. It'll be over soon.

Too bad now I just hopped on Etizolam to beat probation.

 

[muskolo]

I just had a little stint with Phenibut about like yours, but twice as long. 50 or 60 grams in two weeks. I had some noticeable twitching and RLS and sleep issues. Mine resolved fairly quickly but I too take Kratom and have taken it for years and dosing the K helped extremely well. Especially my first dose of the morning. I would basically feel normal. It'll be over soon.

Too bad now I just hopped on Etizolam to beat probation.

It seems to be a universal thing where you will wake up and have some anxiety for the first hour. You're right though, kratom takes that away immediately.

I did have some palpitations and anxiety yesterday afternoon but I just took a beta blocker and kratom which did the trick. I took another dose of kratom that evening and I slept pretty well once I was actually able to sleep. So counting from dosing day, I'm on day 5...using a different method of giving 36 hours from last dose, I'm on day 3.5.

Either way, feeling pretty good. I'll update if anything comes from here!

 

[muskolo]

The withdrawals are gone except for depression as expected. My sleep as pretty much returned to normal. I do seem to have some anxiety here and there. Basically everything you guys said is what happened.

My question: Would it possibly set me back or cause complications if I were to take a low dose of etizolam in a day or two? I am getting ready to jump of kratom and wanted to have it in case of panic attack or whatever.

 

[goober12]

Thank you guys for sharing your experiences. I'm in day two of withdraws and having a VERY hard time. I've hardly been able to eat anything over the past two days, and I've even considered going to the ER. Did you guys have bad stomach cramps/vomiting. I'm afraid I can't keep anything down.

 

[muskolo]

Thank you guys for sharing your experiences. I'm in day two of withdraws and having a VERY hard time. I've hardly been able to eat anything over the past two days, and I've even considered going to the ER. Did you guys have bad stomach cramps/vomiting. I'm afraid I can't keep anything down.

I'm sure you're done with it by now but yeah I had stomach pains too. Actually, I got stomach pains if I took phenibut anyway. Unfortunately, it seems etizolam is not at all accessible anymore. I used it for a few days and it completely stopped the phenibut withdrawals and I had no problems after I stopped the etizolam. Again, it was only for a couple days. This was another time I had phenibut withdrawals, after this original thread I made.

 

[AClockworkPic]

So here's my concern. I've been using phenibut daily for 6 months-8 grams a day. I'm on my third day off of it, and had moderate sleep problems. I've heard that they really kick in by day two. My worry and question to you all-am I in for it, or could I be one of the lucky ones?

 

[AClockworkPic]

So here's my concern. I've been using phenibut daily for 6 months-8 grams a day. I'm on my third day off of it, and had moderate sleep problems. I've heard that they really kick in by day two. My worry and question to you all-am I in for it, or could I be one of the lucky ones?

I really want to kick the habit and get back to running again. I was given a prescription to 10 0.5 klonopins, I'm hoping if I can live through the bad sleep for three days, and then use them as prescribed, I might be able to whether this thing. Thoughts?

 

[formerglory]

I really want to kick the habit and get back to running again. I was given a prescription to 10 0.5 klonopins, I'm hoping if I can live through the bad sleep for three days, and then use them as prescribed, I might be able to whether this thing. Thoughts?

I'm unsure that switching from one GABA inhibitor to another one just as potent will help, as you will need to withdraw from that. I was addiction to diazepam (which is a nightmare to withdraw from.) I then discovered Phenibut and switched to that for a month, then switched to Baclofen for about six months. It did the job and seemed to avoid the post withdrawal depression syndrome to a great extent. If you are still struggling with Phenibut or Klonopin I would suggest a tapered withdrawal, the length depending on what you are taking and then, when you are not at risk of a seizure, switch to Baclofen. Both Phenibut and Benzo sudden withdrawal is very dangerous - WITHDRAW UNDER THE ADVICE OF YOUR GP/PHYSICIAN.

Good luck, if you haven't got there yet, you will get there in the end.

 

[logarithm]

If i take venlafaxine 75 mg then i almost have no phenibut withdrawal. I can sleep ok. Not good but not too shitty. If i dont take it i stay awake for 5 days. If you drink alcohol it will prolong the withdrawal!

 

[insidemyhouse]

Im not sure exactly how much I was taking but it was a blend of 1400mg. I was taking the blend 3 to 4 times a day for six months. I took the first dose within 10 minutes of waking up. After that I cut down to 2 doses a day. Which was rough at first but it quickly seemed normal. I took this dosage for about another 2 months. I finally decided to quit cold turkey. The first 3 days were terrible. The biggest problem aside from anxiety, is I felt cold all the time. Its 80 degrees outside and I wore a coat and had the heat on in my house. Its day 6 now. Most of all the symptoms are gone. I get random spikes in anxiety but those last a few a minutes at best and my hands get clammy quite often.

 

[Nootropics_user]

I'm nearing the end of day 3 of phenibut withdrawals. I had no idea there was a dependence/tolerance potential with it but boy did I learn! I'll tell you the BEST thing that has nearly taken away all withdrawal symptoms..... L-THEANINE. I'm taking 400mg every 6-8 hours. I went too long between theanine doses this afternoon and it was a BITCH, so I took more theanine and within 30 minutes, I'm better. I still feel a little "off", but nothing like the symptoms of a standard phenibut withdrawal. I love the effect of phenibut, but I'm not sure I'll ever take it again. If I do, it will be NO MORE than once/week.