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Benzos Using Xanax to "nullify" Phenibut withdrawals. Cross tolerance?

J

Joey24x18

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Joined
Apr 2, 2014
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I'm at the tail end of a 5 month phenibut addiction. I have tapered down from 3g a day to 2g a day over a week and am suffering a good bit of insomnia and anxiety. Ive read reports of people using benzos to "nullify" the week of withdrawals. Is this a good idea? At this point tapering seems like it's not going to be effective since I'm suffering withdrawal symptoms 5 hours after my dose anyways. If I jump off now, or maybe rapid taper 500mg a day and then switch to .5mg of xanax 4 times a day for a week, is it only going to prolong the withdrawal? Or will it "nullify" it like I keep reading about.
The last thing I want to do is add a xanax addiction on top of all this, but 7 days on xanax won't cause withdrawals, right?
 
Hi again Joey, sorry to hear it's still been difficult for you.
Benzodiazepines are GABA-A agonists, while phenibut is a GABA-B agonist, so they won't completely nullify the withdrawal, but they will certainly help. If you do a rapid taper while using the benzos and that kava to manage the anxiety, then taper down the benzos, it might work better than the slow taper. Baclofen would be even better than benzos, but if you can't get that then benzos it'll have to be.
Best of luck to you! You can do it!
 
I think that's what I'm going to end up doing. I've been through heavy opiate withdrawal before and it wasn't even this bad. I think the worst part of phenibut withdrawal is the fact there's not much known about it. I try to read as much as I can about it, but I think it just makes my anxiety worst lol
I just got fired from my job today. So it gives me the perfect oppurtunity to detox off this shit and not have to be out in public. Lol. I have to be in my sisters wedding tomorrow so I think I'm going to take a nice dose of phenibut and then begin a rapid taper. Should I wait till I m completely off the phenibut to begin the xanax? I took .25mg last night to help me sleep. I hadn't slept in 3 days prior to last night.
Once I get through this withdrawal I'm going to abstain from all GABA drugs including alcohol for atleast 6 months. Maybe a year. I need to let my brain heal.
 
My guess is that xanax is a lot harder to get off of than phenibut. But both can produce a horrible withdrawal syndrome. My unprofessional guess is that you aren't gaining anything by switching from phenibut to xanax unless it's by doctor's orders.
 
If it makes you feel better phenibut withdrawal is pretty short lasting, almost never going past a week despite it's long duration of effects. Like Runyamire said they are not cross-tolerant so benzos will only do so much. When I was in phenibut withdrawal benzos only seemed to mask a few symptoms while leaving a lot of residual withdrawal in the background. Never tried it myself but I hear gabapentin is great for phenibut withdrawal, it certainly does wonders for opioid withdrawal.


Joey24x18 said:
Once I get through withdrawal I'm going to abstain from all GABA drugs including alcohol for atleast 6 months. Maybe a year. I need to let my brain heal.
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Sounds like a good idea, I rarely touch phenibut nowadays for fear of being thrown back into withdrawal. When I do I get some nasty rebound about a day after single doses. Aside from that I still can't take more than a single mg of xanax or an equivalent without getting sent back into minor withdrawal after kicking a small etizolam habit over a year ago... and I certainly can't drink even a beer or two with friends. GABA, why you so finicky? :(
 
Ho-Chi-Minh said:
My guess is that xanax is a lot harder to get off of than phenibut. But both can produce a horrible withdrawal syndrome. My unprofessional guess is that you aren't gaining anything by switching from phenibut to xanax unless it's by doctor's orders.
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Actually, from experiences that I've read, phenibut is harder. And getting off Xanax after 1-2 weeks on will certainly be easier than 5+ months on phenibut. I get what you're saying about trading one drug for another, but that's not quite the situation here.

Joey: That really sucks about getting fired, probably the last thing you need right now. But it is the perfect opportunity to tough this out. I don't think you need to wait to begin the Xanax, take some when withdrawal symptoms manifest, just enough to get by. Nighttime is probably when you will need it most. Having someone to support you who is aware of the situation will help too if that's possible for you.
 
I'm not trying to switch my phenibut habit for a xanax habit though. I'm trying to use xanax to mask the withdrawals for a week. I'm under the impression a week of xanax use won't cause withdeawals. Maybe I'm wrong? I just want off this shit without losing my mind in the process.
 
Runyamire said:
Actually, from experiences that I've read, phenibut is harder. And getting off Xanax after 1-2 weeks on will certainly be easier than 5+ months on phenibut. I get what you're saying about trading one drug for another, but that's not quite the situation here.

Joey: That really sucks about getting fired, probably the last thing you need right now. But it is the perfect opportunity to tough this out. I don't think you need to wait to begin the Xanax, take some when withdrawal symptoms manifest, just enough to get by. Nighttime is probably when you will need it most. Having someone to support you who is aware of the situation will help too if that's possible for you.
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Yeah I just want to use the xanax to mask the symptoms. I know it probably won't eliminate them completely, but I'm sure it should help. My main worry is cross tolerance. I don't want to stop the xanax to realize all it did was prolong the withdrawal. I've never been addicted to benzos, so my gaba-a receptors should be untouched. Unless phenibut effects those too. Then I guess I'm just screwed..
And I'm not worried about the job, I'm a powerseller on eBay and make $5000-$10,000 a month online. I like to keep a part time job to take up my free time and keep me out of trouble. As crazy as that sounds. Lol. But now that I have time off work I have no excuse not to quit thus habit.
Is it possible to only have a week of withdrawal after 5 months if abuse? I m worried it may take longer since I've been on it so long..
 
Joey24x18 said:
I'm not trying to switch my phenibut habit for a xanax habit though. I'm trying to use xanax to mask the withdrawals for a week. I'm under the impression a week of xanax use won't cause withdeawals. Maybe I'm wrong? I just want off this shit without losing my mind in the process.
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You may get a bit of rebound, if that. I wouldn't really worry about using some xanax to take the edge off of your withdrawal. Unless you have some sort of mental pull towards benzos using xanax for a few days as a withdrawal aid won't cause problems.

@Runyamire - Benzo withdrawal imo is much worse than phenibut withdrawal, it's almost not even debatable. Benzo withdrawal lingers for so long at times you begin to question your sanity, with phenibut the worst is over in a few days to a week tops.

Benzo withdrawal left me a sweaty anxious mess unable to function and scared to leave the house for months. The two have a similar feel but when it boils down to it benzo withdrawal is overall a more terrible experience, that's not to detract from the pain of phenibut withdrawal either though. Both are very unpleasant.
 
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That's what I was thinking. I only have 7 2mg xanax that I plan to cut down to .5mg dosages and spread out through the week. I only have one xanax connect and it's a good friend. He's under specific instructions not to give me more..I've never had a benzos addiction. After the xanax I have kava, l-theanine, and chamomile to use.
I plan to kinda taper the xanax. Use 2mg for three days, then 1.5mg for three days, then use the rest only as needed if any panic attacks present themselves. After that if i still have symptoms ill see if mega dosing theanine helps during the day and use kava at night. I can't wait for this to be over with.
 
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I just finished a week long binge in which I ingested 60g over the course of 8 days. Everything seemed fine until the eighth day, when, BOOM, it hit me like a ton of bricks. I can honestly say that this was THE WORST feeling I had ever felt in my life. Paranoia, panic, fear, rapid heart beat, etc. Almost like an act of God, I came across a handful of 2mg clonazepam. I took 1/2 first thing the next morning, and I literally felt NOTHING from the Phenibut W/D. I waited until 5:00 that evening, took another one, and I am now typing this post feeling WONDERFUL. Maybe I'm just lucky, but I can truly say that clonazepam is the way to go. Hope this helps.
 
I finally got off phenibut with a very slow taper after 8 months of daily use. I will not be taking it again, ever. Lol.
 
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