Side effects - benzodiazepine tolerance---SUDDEN CHANGE!!!

[blackdb1]

Swim is sitiing awake at 3:00AM and is getting really frustrated because of the past few nights he has been having a really hard time getting to sleep and once asleep he wakes up again an hour or 2 later and has more difficulty falling back asleep!!!

Swim is prescribed Alprazolam .5mgs 3x a day and Klonazepam 1mg 2x a day and 2mgs at bedtime. For the past 2 months swim has been taking nothing during the day and around 1-2mgs of Klonazepam and sometimes 1mg of alprazolam if needed.

However about 3 or 4 nights ago swim started having diffculty falling and staying asleep. He doesn't think his tolerance could grow SO RAPIDLY!!! For instance today he was stressed out upon waking up so took .5mg alprazolam and 4mg klonazepam followed by 2mgs klonopin and .5mg xanax before bed. He fell asleep alright tonight but woke up 2 hours later and could not get back to sleep! GRRRRR!!!

Swim has been eating alot of sweets before bed and thinksthis could be interfering. Another theory he has is that these past few days he has only been awake about 6 hours and then hes back to bed as he has not been feeling well??? Maybe if swim were more active again and stayed up longer hours as before he would get better results from his medication?

Swim appreciates any help in advance!!! Seriously!!! Swim has had to lower his tolerance in the past by taking diphenhydramine and occasional cyclobenzaprine to help him get his tolerance back to where he can get a GOOD nights sleep with .5mgs of xanax or klonopin but he has not increased his dosage he has actually been taking less the past couple weeks so it should be fine??? Thanks in advance!!! -bdb1-

[allyourbase]

tolerance to benzodiazapines is the same as dependence. it denotes a downregulation of GABA receptors. keep that in mind. tolerance will grow rapidly....the only answer is moderation.

[fiveleggedrat]

Yeah, just cut back frequency and amount taken, only way to decrease tolerance. Swim personally uses benzos about once a week, twice at most. Alprazolam, usually, and doses kept around 2mg. Never above 3mg. If swim let tolerance build up, he would be taking at least double that.

[Laudaphun]

I don't think you should experience any sudden change in tolerance to benzos if you take the same dosages of the same benzos each day.

SWIM has noticed that the use of multiple benzos can cause tolerance to each other. For example, if SWIM takes temazepam any longer than a few days, alprazolam loses its effect at its regular dosage. SWIM doesn't think it's good to take therapeutically large doses of 2 different benzos everyday. SWIM has noticed this with other benzos as well, however she rarely takes more than 1mg clonazepam so hasn't observed it causing any obvious effects in tolerance to any other benzos.

SWIM is a firm believer in rotation of benzodiazepines (while keeping the dosages constant) to help prevent development of tolerance, and also of using them sparingly. For SWIM, temazepam for sleep, alprazolam for social anxiety, and clonazepam for physical anxiety when mental clarity is important. For SWIM alprazolam serves its best role by far when extremely fearful of a social situation.

SWIM rarely takes clonazepam in dosages any greater than 1mg... and the dosages SWIY are talking about would certainly be likely to bring about dependance rather quickly... 1.5mg alprazolam+4mg clonazepam per day would probably be a little bit more than SWIM would be willing to risk a dependency too.

Unless SWIY has very severe anxiety, it might be a good idea to try going with a lower dosage "Gradually". Larger dosages should be reserved for occasions that call for them, that way you can count on them to work. SWIM knows people with VERY severe anxiety disorders and take only a small dose of alprazolam each day... but if the event of a panic attack will take several pills. However, the one person in particular SWIM is talking about went through some more difficult times where larger doses were needed for daily functioning... but only for a while.