Comedown - Alprazolam comedown?

[blackpen]

what should swim expect?

Reputation Comments on this post:

please explain yourself. others will misunderstand you if you do not take the effort to write a bit more.

[newlevel]

SWIM is not an expert, but SWIM feels that alprazolam brings one 'down' as It's an anti-anxiety medication. there isn't a come down, per se, because swiy was never really 'up'. what dose did swiy use? the most common thing swim has experienced as alprazolam is metabolized and wares off is sleepiness.

[pinksox]

SWIM never notices any sort of "come-down" with benzos. Come-downs are usually associated more with upper-type drugs...which benzos are not.

[Alfa]

Originally Posted by pinksox

SWIM never notices any sort of "come-down" with benzos. Come-downs are usually associated more with upper-type drugs...which benzos are not.

The OP is very unclear with his question, because he fails to explain it. This results in misunderstanding.
It seems to me that blackpen is asking for negative side and after effects of Alpazolam.
Are you stating that there are no negative side and after effects associated with Alpazolam?

[Jatelka]

If one is anxious, or if used habitually, then there will be rebound anxiety

[Ilsa]

Come-down is probably the wrong terminology in this situation. After-effects would be more appropriate. Most scientific research focuses on the withdrawal effects after long-term treatment:

Fifteen of the 17 patients had a recurrence or increase in panic attacks during discontinuation compared to their prediscontinuation status. reference


During withdrawal, all patients had severe reactions including anxiety, sleep disturbance, rage reactions, hyperalertness, increased nightmares, and intrusive thoughts; and 6 of the 8 patients had homicidal ideation. As a result of this report, the authors suggest that the potential for severe withdrawal reactions, even with gradual tapering, should be considered before prescribing alprazolam therapy for this group of patients. reference


although the latter case is among the more extreme and is focused on combat-relted ptsd and withdrawals of long-term, therapeutic use, it is only one among many such reports. one could argue that since the majority of research is based on patients with ptsd or other anxiety disorders, the subjects are all predisposed to such issues. however, this case study documents a female subject's increasing occurrence of panic attacks after increased dosages of alprazolam were implemented, and she was not diagnosed with ptsd or a specific anxiety disorder.

how could a drug designed, on a molecular level, to stop anxiety actually cause a panic attack?

alprazolam acts on GABA receptors, which are among the most ubiquitous inhibitory (for the purpose of this post we will focus on the calming activity of these receptors) receptors in the brain. specifically, it acts on the GABA A receptor by binding a specific site on the receptor (one not bound by gamma-amino-hydroxybutyric acid), the net result of which is hyperpolarization of the neuronal membrane. when the membrane is hyperpolarized, the time between neuronal firing (signalling to the next neuron or set of neurons) increases, so the neruon is firing less often, literally decreasing the electrical activity in the brain and manifesting in the body as sedation and decreased muscle tone (relaxation). reference

when alprazolam is not present (or suddenly stopped after use of high doses) in a brain conditioned to its inhibitory effects, over-excitation can occur: neurons that were inhibited become excited (the membrane is no longer hyperpolarized and is now capable of depolarizing and firing) and begin firing more rapidly, sometimes even more so than before administration of the drug. this is net overactivity leads to increased muscle tone (tension), increased electrical activity in the brain and, when the activity exceeds a critical level, anxiety attacks and, in severe cases, grand mal seizures. reference

this relationship is more evident as duration and dosage increase, but swim has experienced rebound anxiety and depressed mood after having taken as little as 4 mgs the previous night. as swiJatelka said, if one is anxious this is more likely to happen. unfortunately, unlike binge drinking, the effects of bingeing (indulging in large amounts of a substance one does not need/use on a daily basis, in the case of pharmaceuticals) on most other drugs for a night or two have not been documented. it stands to reason, however, that altering one's drastically altering one's neurochemistry could easily lead to rebound effects, particularly with a drug so specifically designed to act.

for the purposes of the OP, the most one could expect from one night of over-indulgence is feeling tired, irritable and/or anxious, or feeling mildly depressed mood the following day.

a not of caution: alprazolam has a high addiction potential. its effects are felt in as little as 25 minutes and, depending on dose, are very noticeable: relaxation, a sense of well-being, loss of inhibition (especially when combined with alcohol) and memory impairment. swim has many friends who have gotten into trouble using this drug recreationally--some ppl just seem to really enjoy it and have trouble exercising self-control regarding its use. she and many others have not had such issues, but she'd like to bring it to the OP's attention.

hope this helps.

Reputation Comments on this post:

Very informative post. Agreed about the terminology being a little "off." :)

[pinksox]

Are you stating that there are no negative side and after effects associated with Alpazolam?

No(emphatically), of course not.

But to me, it seemed the OP was asking more about "coming-down" after a single use, not coming off after sustained use. SWIM agrees the question wasn't really clear. And, as Ilsa said, perhaps "after-effects" would have been more appropriate...or even withdrawal symptoms if the OP was looking for info about coming off after sustained benzo use.

SWIM tends to associate "coming down" more with upper, stimulant-type drugs, like cocaine and amphetamines...and, often, those users employ benzos, like alprazolam, to help them through that process...to "come down."

SWIM wouldn't associate the term "come down" with what a person experiences as levels of "downer-type" drugs decline in their bodies. In fact, the biological process is exactly the opposite in that the formerly artificially-depressed sympathetic nervous system goes into high drive...resulting in things like rebound anxiety, increased heart rate, blood pressure, generalized dis-ease and so on. Even seizures or life-threatening status-epilepticus in dependent individuals who suddenly stop benzos. None of it pleasant in the least.

In SWIMs experience, things like rebound anxiety tend to occur after sustained use--not necessarily to the addictive degree--but even after as little as a few weeks of daily use. That particular symptom may happen in anyone but seems to occur more frequently in persons predisposed or with underlying anxiety disorders and can be greatly curtailed by gradual weaning.

Now, benzo addiction and withdrawal is an entirely different beast. While opiate(another downer) withdrawal is pure hell...it generally isn't life-threatening. Benzo withdrawal in an addicted or dependent individual...just as alcohol withdrawal in an long-term alcoholic...can be downright life-threatening. Both of which are best managed in-patient initially and then with close follow-up care.

But a person using benzos recreationally for one night? As long as they didn't over-do it, SWIM doesn't imagine they'd have much more than a little carry-over fatigue the following day. SWIM would caution any user however that, much like opies, benzos can be a sneaky bitch and cause one a BIG problem before they even know it.

[blackpen]

sorry swim wasnt clear.

swim was talking about wat wud happen after someone who just did xanax one night's high wore off

some one told swim that with every drug there was a high then a "comedown" right after it. apparently that person was wrong

thank you for the detailed answers

[pinksox]

some one told swim that with every drug there was a high then a "comedown" right after it.

Many people have different reactions to benzos. And those same people may even have different sorts of effects from different individual benzos.

Take my buddy SWIM for example. SWIM's favorite benzo EVAR is Valium/diazepam, but SWIM has a pretty high tolerance for benzos in general so it takes them about 40-50mg to get to that 'happy place." SWIM would NOT recommend anyone unfamiliar with Valium...or any benzo..to start at the doses SWIM finds fun. SWIM has been mucking around with various benzos for many years and knows each intimately and what they can handle.

With Valium/diazepam, SWIM gets instantly happy, has an ear-to-ear grin permanently plastered on their face, and gets an energy rush and has around 3-6 hours of crazy productivity. After that, the typical "benzo chill" hits them and they're mellow for the next few hours. Redosing smaller amounts(no sense using larger at that point) only produces a longer "mellow" period for SWIM.

Ativan/lorazepam just relaxes SWIM. No crazy energy rush. It just sort of clears their busy mind and allows them to enjoy more quiet activities without being bombarded by a million other thoughts. SWIM never uses more than 2-4mg of ativan at a time. Redosing in several hours only makes them sleepy.

Restoril/temazepam also produces a euphoric productivity for SWIM...but not to the extent that Diazepam does. Perhaps a few hours...but not always. Sometimes its just mellow. SWIM also takes fairly large doses of temazepam that she wouldn't recommend a newbie start with. SWIM also experiences a phenomena called anterograde amnesia with temazepam from time-to-time...probably due to the fact that her dose is a little high.

Often she only vaguely recalls the events of that day..or the few hours right after dosing..some events she doesn't recall at all. SWIM has a strange habit of hiding her greenery stash when she's has temazepam..which always leads to a fun game of finding the stash once the effects have worn off. She doesn't smoke often, so its usually a few days later until she realizes its not where she left it...and of course on temazepam, she has no recollection of where she's moved it too.

She also finds that tolerance to temazepam develops ridiculously fast if taken daily. SWIM would advise not taking that one more than once a week...preferably longer if one wants to enjoy its magic without needing progressively larger doses. SWIM also finds that the anterograde amnesia and short-term memory issues while on the drug increase exponentially with the dose.

Xanax/alprazolam effects SWIM in much the same way as ativan/lorazepam. A nice mellow, chill feeling. Sometimes with a degree of productivity...sometimes not.

SWIM finds she can take benzos daily for a week or two at a time and then stop with no ill effects...but, and SWIM, stresses this, every person is affected differently. SWIm also doesn't take the same benzos singly during that time but perhaps alternates temazepam one day, lorazepam the next two, then alprazolam for a few, diazepam for a few, then back to temazies. Also, nearly ALL benzos have the dose-dependent ability to cause anterograde amnesia...some are just better at it than others(takes lower doses to produce the effect...most noticeably Versed/midazolam) That combined with the decreased inhibitions that result from benzo ingestion can lead to one putting oneself into particularly risky/dangerous situations. SWIM would advise never driving while using recreational doses and until one knows how each effects them having a sober friend nearby isn't a bad idea either.

Anyhow, SWIM friend thinks SWIY's friend might have been referring to an initial euphoria mellowing out to a smooth "chill" in a few hours. Which is experienced by some users, but certainly not all. Some experience that...others just get the mellow.

These are SWIM's experiences. As she said, the effects others users feel may differ greatly. And they may differ significantly even from one benzo to another.