Addiction - Sodium Bromide

[malsat]

A guy I know is on a benzo taper and having a very hard time of it. Anyway long story short he's just phoned me and told me he's taken half a gram of sodium bromide in some mad attempt to deal with things. I wouldn't mess with it myself but he seems to be struggling with the WD's.

Anyway, I'll keep everyone posted as to whether or not he benefits from his actions or ends up with bromidism. :/

malsat added 1330 Minutes and 31 Seconds later...

Found an interesting reference on the use of Bromide from when it was in common usage, quoting dosages of up to ~3 grams (50 grains).

http://www.archive.org/stream/physio...rgoog_djvu.txt

My friend reported taking 2.5 grams over the course a day and not experiencing any significant psychoactive/sedative effects or any side effects either. He'll be giving me more info when he drops his diazepam dosage to see if the bromide is of any use attenuating the WD's.

[Stimulants]

Bromides, due to their toxicity, were replaced by barbiturates in the early 20th century, which were then replaced by benzodiazepines. SWIM thinks SWIY's friend is backpedaling.

[malsat]

While I appreciate your input it's a little redundant. Anyone who even knows about bromide would know it's history.

This thread was started to leave a reference for anyone who is looking for information from this century on the topic of bromides and particularly to provide information on the potential for attenuating benzo WD symptoms through the use of bromide, which I do not believe has ever been looked into before.

Should it prove useful for my friend then the information could be used by others.

One thing we've learned so far is that a moderate single dosage of bromide does not produce any toxic effects (in this individual at least) which is backed up by the reference I posted; it appears that the toxic effects only manifest after chronic dosing of the substance.

Another thing is that this individual has reported that the WD symptom of irritability has dissapeared since he took his dose yesterday.

[malsat]

Well it's time to update this. The guy took 2-3 doses of 1-2 grams of sodium bromide daily for several weeks while continuing to taper from diazepam. The bromide completely removed the irritability and insomnia that he had been suffering from due to the taper. He was able to taper more rapidly thanks to the bromide and is now off diazepam completely. The only WD symptom he experienced during this time was an occasional parasthesia in his hands.

He experienced NO side effects from the bromide - no sedation, cognitive dysfunction, not even dermatitis/acne. Bromide was remarkably effective in treating the WD symptoms.

There you have it!