Coming off Benzo's

[questionsguy]

Just curious, when taking a strong benzo, what are the best tapering off methods to avoid serious withdrawal symptoms, is it to just gradually reduce the dosage?

 

[DoomKitty]

Yeah slow taper is strongly recommended if you are currently taking high doses of a strong b3nz0.  It gives your brain the time to repair, and rewire and find a new stasis.  A lot of the times if you're taking a short acting one they'll switch you to an equivalent dosage of a longer acting one, so that you can space dose out much longer while decreasing amount of each dose. I think something like 10% a week.  Lower if you are more prone to seizures. If you are a real heavy user you usually would be temporarily prescribed an anti-seizure med.  Be very prepared for extreme rebound anxiety and depression.  Also be prepared headaches, insomnia, and other neurological problems (possibility of seizures, hallucination, etc.) . I dont mean be prepared just as in know its gonna happen, but also come up with a plan for how you're gonna tackle it, if that makes sense.  I wish you all the luck!  stay strong.....

 

[DoomKitty]

Also heres a pretty thorough guide: Tapering

 

[bdrc36]

What would be considered "heavy use". Surely 1mg a day isn't?

 

[DoomKitty]

Depends on which b3nz you're talking about.  My mum thought she could quit klon$ (taking 2mg) cold turkey after 10 year cuz her doctor never explained to her that withdrawals are horrid and can kill you and she ended up in ER with seizures two days later.  So yeah, depends on which one, how long you've been taking them, body chemistry, etc.  But if you've been on 1mg for a long time i would still taper no matter which b3nzo.  Better to be safe than to be seizing. And the rebound anxiety/panic can be unbelievably extreme so taking it slow really helps it be more bearable.  

 

[bdrc36]

1mg Ifas daily for about a year. 1/2 in the am 1/2 pm.  not recorational but for GED.  I can feel the rebound effects  if I don't take it, but I knew that already. 

 

[rasetreydir]

1mg for a year...

try half for a few weeks and see how you tolerate it. if you do well, try .25 mg then jump off. Seizure risk at low doses for 1 year and under is negligible. Of course,  wont be painless but I would think it should be doable. Personal experience w/ benzo withdrawal but high dose over a 10 year period. Quit while you can...

 

[Conceited]

Just curious, when taking a strong benzo, what are the best tapering off methods to avoid serious withdrawal symptoms, is it to just gradually reduce the dosage?

Diaz is the best to switch to if you're tappering. Read dr Heather Ashton's benzo manual. It tell you everything you need  to know when reducing your benzo use. 

She has tappering schedules for all the benzo's a dr would prescribe, except the RC benzos. Used it many a time and can say it definitely helps. 

Its worth a read even if you're not planning on tappering. I never knew about the seizures you could have before starting benzos. Its potentially saved my life. 

 

[Contressa]

I had to re-write this when I realized how bad I made it sound lol. When I kicked I had seizures, so I would recommend letting someone you trust know what’s about to happen so they can make sure you’re okay. You can probably even get into like a week impatient facility with nurses and such. It will be scary, and the whole process sucks, but it’s bound to eventually happen. Good luck man 

 

[Nitetrain]

From a medical standpoint Xanax is the worst benzo to get off. Clonazepam stays in your system the longest. Valium can be tappered the easiest but as Doomkitty states above a go very slowly over a long period is the best for all benzos. If you’ve been getting a rx from a family doc or internist I’d own up to an addictions specialist and get off safely....or follow the above taper manuals. You can tell your doctor addictions specialist you don’t want a diagnosis for substance abuse treatment to be used ANYWAY because it will follow you around forever!

Good Luck!

 

[condor3316]

For me, Xanax was the hardest med to come off of.  I was up to 6 mg/day.  The first time trying to come off I admitted myself to a detox facility for 1 week.  They loaded me up on phenobarb to reduce the risk of seizures and this worked.  However, upon discharge I started up again.  After many auto accidents and driving while impaired charges and watching the people I cared for slowly withdraw from me because I was acting all fucked up it came to a head and I reached that WTF am I doing point.  At first I used The Ashton Manual to taper down.  But for me, it got to a point where, come hell or high water, I'm finished feeling like this so I buckled down and weathered the storm.  At this point the withdrawls were bad.  It felt like a metal band was around my head getting tighter and tighter and having endless major "shakes".  I came out ok and people started to hang with me again because I wasn't fucked up all the time.  And the door to that chapter of my life is now closed.  But I agree wholeheartedly with Nitetrain that Xanax is the worst benzo to come off of.  But Absolutely get trained medical intervention and advice before abruptly stopping to make sure your discontinuation is SAFE.

 

[rasetreydir]

Anything new w/ anyone trying to kick b€ñžoes? I've got some good advice and willing to hear, and stay in contact with, others struggling...

 

[porkandbeansboy]

 I was warned not to share Links to other Forums. Just Google the "Ashton Taper  Method" of getting off of B3nz0d1@z3p1n3z. That is what I was doing but I'm at a point in my life where I can't fully  come  off them and only lowered my Dose.

Essentially the method of this way of lowering your Dose is by switching to long acting B3nz0z D1@z3p@m (V@l1um) which has a half-life as long as 100 H0urz and for the Met@bolitez can last up to 200 H0urz. Cl0n@z3p@m has a mean half-life of like 38 Hours but can be as long as 50 Hours. It depends on A LOT of factors how long they will last. 

NEVER EVER REDUCE YOUR  DOSE FASTER than 10% reduction per once a week. It depends on whether your on a short acting B3nz0 or a long-acting one. But the Ashton Method of Tapering suggests lowering your Dose by 1MG of D1@z3p@m once you gradually switch over from a different one assuming your not on this one already.

You can get them in low as tw0 M1l1gr@mz T@bl3tz and even get it in a Liquid Solution. Worse case scenario they got a "Liquid Reduction Taper method" which means. For an Example you take a certain amount of Water and then take an 0r@l  Syr1ng3 then just suck up 10% of the Liquid or less everyone needs to taper off at there own speed. Then you drink it which Cl0n@z3p@m actually tastes like a mint and same with Flur@z3p@m which has a half-life of up to 250 Hours and longest acting B3nz0 that exists except the mean and average half-life is closer to like 96ish hours and is way more unpredictable compared to other options. 

Where everyone who has used @lpr@z0l@m or Z -  @ - n@  - x knows that it tastes extremely bitter. If anyone reads this and needs advice, It would really help to know what B3nz0 your trying to get off of to give a better answer yet I hope this helps you out and points you into the right direction. I feel ANYONE who's pain from struggling to get off B3nz0s as I don't even know if I will have the strength to get off them completely 100% before I been on them for like 20+ Years as I been on them 6+ Years roughly now so far. 

I hope this was not to long of a read and without to much typos I am in a hurry right now since my food just got delivered or i'd make it less "wordy" of a Post. 

 

[Handsley]

I cold turkeyed when I was much younger, mid 20s.  but was so angry and freaked out.  I am lucky nothing else happened.  It took months before I could sleep normally again.  I have no desire to stop them as long as I can.  I am at 4 or 6 mg a day and only take at night or if panic attack during day, it’s 1 mg.  I saw a special recently on the liquid method and if I were to stop, I would use that.  I’ve tried so hard to deal with anxiety, panic attacks.  Right now it’s extremely bad.  I can cutdown if I also take melatonin.  If I were to go down one whole pill,  i would be wracked with leg cramps all night.  The whole idea of the taper is very,very slow and very tiny pieces.  I was off for a goid 10 years and then started again after a real bad time in my life.

 

[Mohawk]

Benzo withdrawal?  You will be looking for Leo Sternbach's grave and wanting to dig him up and kill him if that were possible.    If  you were addicted prior and made it through the absolute HELL and EARTH withdrawals that last FOREVER and a DAY, you will think twice about doing it again.   It's tough too because they're basically the easiest substance on Earth to get online -- especially etiz which was a favorite of mine.   The only way I can use any benzo these days is to take them for a MAX of 4 days in a row and then dispose of the remaining.    Even using them at normal dosage for just that small amount of time yields 2 days REBOUND INSOMNIA and some other slight withdrawal.  My receptors are unfortunately sensitized to benzos and I was able to get away with high doses for many, many years until that period over 10 years ago where I went through the aforementioned hell on Earth withdrawals.   

What was that like?   No real sleep for a solid 7 days ... I know it sounds and is impossible, but I don't remember sleeping .. just dread and horror prior to trying to sleep.   My days would literally be spent in abject terror so bad that at one point I was standing in one spot ... turning to the right in seating, terrified, aching, riddled with an anxiety that few would ever know or understand ... then all I could do was turn to the right thinking that was more comfortable, still with all the same feelings.   Just standing and turning trying to get comfortable, but unable to escape the HELL.    Once acutes are over, welcome to the land of ANHEDONIA for MONTHS.   I suggest removing firearms from your home prior to undergoing any withdrawal.  

But, what's it *really* like .. mentally and for MONTHS?   This is to varying degrees ...

Picture you've gone on a 1/2 ounce coke binge for a week and you've finished your last line / tossed your works 12 hours ago and the depression is coming on ... add to that a suicide Tuesday we're you've taken ecstasy that weekend and you're trying to maintain your sanity ... add to that the PAWS and physical withdrawal of coming off a 1g a day BLACK TAR a day heroin habit that you've stopped cold turkey and on top of this you're kicking a meth habit with all the ANXIETY AND MENTAL FUCKERY that  entails.    Put all of this together and you have a good idea of what real benzo withdrawal feels like.   The mental blank / blackness for months with a true inability to experience any JOY -- ANHEDONIA.  

Coming off them after high dose or even long-term low dose;  TAPER, TAPER, TAPER or you could  ..., probably will have a SEIZURE.   Detox / withdrawal has to be done GRADUALLY and with a LONG half like benzo like diazepam  (valium) which is the gold standard for tapering.  

Ashton manual is your friend.    https://benzo.org.uk/manual/  Some good support sites like 'benzobuddies'.     The web is littered with benzo casualty stories so nothing I say is new.  Google. 

All in all, benzos are best avoided not to get preachy.  Some people can get away with using for a while, but they WILL eventually turn on you.   I've also read some things on this and heard directly from docs as well as in  Ashtons'  guide that these things ... even in low doses can cause lasting mental and debilitating  depression.   You'll read about this in her guide ... sometimes as long as 2 years.  This is the shit that keeps people looping with substance abuse and looking for a cure or just trying to feel 'right' again because they never really escape the long-term impact of these things.  

All the best and Happy Holidays!

Mohawk.

 

[INFINITeXpRESS]

@Mohawk definitely agree with most everything there. I have seen it destroy some lives of individuals without even having to try. There is a couple though that it didn't have any of these effects and still doesn't. Truly depends on the person as to how elements effect you. Nevertheless, don't g@mble and hope you're the lucky one that doesn't have all the issues with it. Best to stay away and divorce it

 

[Mohawk]

@Mohawk definitely agree with most everything there. I have seen it destroy some lives of individuals without even having to try. There is a couple though that it didn't have any of these effects and still doesn't. Truly depends on the person as to how elements effect you. Nevertheless, don't g@mble and hope you're the lucky one that doesn't have all the issues with it. Best to stay away and divorce it

Right .. it's like playing chicken with a mack truck!   You're right though, some people never have to get this bad, but the damn things are sooo eaasy and subtle to get addicted to that you end up getting pretty deep before you know it.  Usually one experience of addiction is enough for someone never to touch the stove again.

 

[porkandbeansboy]

Yeah everyone seems to agree that B3nz0d1@z3p1n3 W1thdr@w@lz are worse than Op1o1d/Op1@t3 W1thdr@w@lz or easily equally as bad. Essentially main difference is it's more mental torture compared to the equally as the torture from the physical aspect of the process.

The quicker you stop it the worse the Post Acute W1thdr@w@lz become though and longer lasting. It can be easily 1-2 Years before the horrible insomnia etc. etc. etc. after getting past the acute symptoms.

 

[Fenrir]

 I was warned not to share Links to other Forums. Just Google the "Ashton Taper  Method" of getting off of B3nz0d1@z3p1n3z. That is what I was doing but I'm at a point in my life where I can't fully  come  off them and only lowered my Dose.

Essentially the method of this way of lowering your Dose is by switching to long acting B3nz0z D1@z3p@m (V@l1um) which has a half-life as long as 100 H0urz and for the Met@bolitez can last up to 200 H0urz. Cl0n@z3p@m has a mean half-life of like 38 Hours but can be as long as 50 Hours. It depends on A LOT of factors how long they will last. 

NEVER EVER REDUCE YOUR  DOSE FASTER than 10% reduction per once a week. It depends on whether your on a short acting B3nz0 or a long-acting one. But the Ashton Method of Tapering suggests lowering your Dose by 1MG of D1@z3p@m once you gradually switch over from a different one assuming your not on this one already.

You can get them in low as tw0 M1l1gr@mz T@bl3tz and even get it in a Liquid Solution. Worse case scenario they got a "Liquid Reduction Taper method" which means. For an Example you take a certain amount of Water and then take an 0r@l  Syr1ng3 then just suck up 10% of the Liquid or less everyone needs to taper off at there own speed. Then you drink it which Cl0n@z3p@m actually tastes like a mint and same with Flur@z3p@m which has a half-life of up to 250 Hours and longest acting B3nz0 that exists except the mean and average half-life is closer to like 96ish hours and is way more unpredictable compared to other options. 

Where everyone who has used @lpr@z0l@m or Z -  @ - n@  - x knows that it tastes extremely bitter. If anyone reads this and needs advice, It would really help to know what B3nz0 your trying to get off of to give a better answer yet I hope this helps you out and points you into the right direction. I feel ANYONE who's pain from struggling to get off B3nz0s as I don't even know if I will have the strength to get off them completely 100% before I been on them for like 20+ Years as I been on them 6+ Years roughly now so far. 

I hope this was not to long of a read and without to much typos I am in a hurry right now since my food just got delivered or i'd make it less "wordy" of a Post. 

Where can i find the half-life off rc bnz. That flu aspam  looks scary.