Benzodiazepines: How addicted am I?

[Sublimit]

ok for the last two months SWIM has been starting to get more and more Benzo prescriptions from his 2 GP's for varies reasons. Tamazepam, diazepam, nitrazepam, and some Z drugs. Swim recently bought a bottle of 50 2mg Alprazolam because swim is an idiot and likes to make things difficult. Ok so its been 2 months and in the last 3 weeks i've noticed SWIM's tolorace being huge, SWIM's had 8mg of Xanax in one dose, 3 hours in SWIM feels a little tippsy and a little sedated... but wait a minute. isn't Alrazolam meant to be the equivilent of 30-35 mgs of diazapam? Swim is 26 and has never really had manuy experiances with benzo'sbefore this. i hear the withdrawl is hell.

Just a few questions and any help would be very much appreciated;
how bad is swim addicted? swim haven't felt any withdrtals going a day with out a benzo. does it take a while for the withdrawls to start?

what are some good things to taper of benzos? SWIM's seeing a phychiatrist for the first time and SWIM's going to tell him everything, but i defenently dosn't want his doctors to know about Swims benzo tolerance, it would feel like a betraial of trust, i've know theses doctors most of my life. i just need to know whats in store. That last thing SWIM wants to do is to go on the street and buy another 50 Xanax

Sublimit added 49 Minutes and 14 Seconds later...

not to mention Swim's had two glasses of wine and smoking pot. SWIM really doesn't know what to expect??? should swim taper or cold turkey it? how long would the W/d last and how long will the symptoms start to take significant effect? SWIM has 30 mg of Xanax left and is seeing his psychiatrist in 5 days.

SWIM has options, and is hoping for some feedback from people who can relate. If Swim was to be sensible about it he'll use the rest of his Alrazolam to slowly taper off, or he'll just probably wait and see what his psych says.
either way i'm pretty worried because of how reckless SWIM has been with all this, and the last thing he wants is another addiction i'm sure.

Well sorry about the ramble, but SWIMS pretty hammered ATM, not from the 8 mg of Xanax(witch SWIM had about 4 hours ago) but from the wine! or maybe it's just the wine unlocking the power of the Alrazolam??? hmmm, anyway

Just wish i could edit the title of my thread! Jatelka will be mad at me again, and there's no way for me to clarify with her or reply to a warning for some reason? i read the FAQ was there something i missed? must be more careful in the future

[Venusia]

Swiv can give you a little advice SWIY may find helpful, but she's nowhere near as knowledgeable as the Benzo Queen Maybe she'll be around to give SWIY some real, solid advice.

Swivy would recommend going to a new doctor and ask them to help you taper off. Instead of betraying the trust between SWIY's primary docs, SWIY could get help from someone completely new. It is important to taper correctly and slowly, as benzo withdrawals can be dangerous if done too fast. It sounds like SWIY has a decent tolerance, and getting help for it, if it is what SWIY wants, would be best if done under the supervision of a healthcare professional, IMO.

Hope Swivy helped SWIY out! Best of luck to you.

[Mike177]

Hi there,
Is SWIY taking benzo's everyday? What benzo's and doses does SWIY take and how often? If SWIY could be as specific as possible about this it would help members of the forum assess SWIY's situation.

Benzo withdrawals can be hell and can cause seizures if SWIY trys to cold turkey himself off of a high enough dose. The last thing SWIY needs is to go into withdrawals and have a seizure. Benzo tolerances can take awhile to develop (depending of various factors, so its important to be specific about your regiment and dose). SWIM remembers reading a journal article about the use of Diphenhydramine (benadryl) as an aid in benzo detox. If SWIM finds it he will certainly post it.

Originally Posted by venusia

Swivy would recommend going to a new doctor and ask them to help you taper off. Instead of betraying the trust between SWIY's primary docs, SWIY could get help from someone completely new. It is important to taper correctly and slowly, as benzo withdrawals can be dangerous if done too fast. It sounds like SWIY has a decent tolerance, and getting help for it, if it is what SWIY wants, would be best if done under the supervision of a healthcare professional, IMO.

SWIM concurs. As SWIM understands it, if SWIY sees a new doctor and tells him/her about SWIY's other doctors this falls under privilege and in order for two of SWIY's doctors to discuss his case they would need a signed release from SWIY. SWIM is not 100% sure on this, so SWIY should double check before telling his new doc about his other current doctors (however, you don't have to tell your new doc their names or anything). Can someone clarify this?

SWIM is a little unclear about how much and often SWIY takes benzo's, post back and this will help others help you. SWIM hopes this helped SWIY, if not, SWIM us sure the benzo queen can

[Sublimit]

Okay, first off, just wanted to say thanks for the prompt replys! Well actually SWIM never thought about seeing another doctor... although that might be a good option for SWIM, but also wonders what SWIMS new first time doc will think and do when swim says " hello, umm i think I've got a pretty high benzo tolerance, what are my options?" SWIM lives in Melbourne and isn't totally sure about doctor confidentiality issues over here. Either way SWIM would be reluctant to tell a new doc any info about benzo's he's been prescribed by other doctors. He would prefer just to say they were bought off the street, which is half true>

okay i'll try and be a bit more clear on SWIM's use. it's hard to work out but i'll do my best. For two months SWIMS been on benzos mainly. The first 5 weeks was all prescribed benzos. Tamazepam, diazepam and nitrazepam(the exact amount i 've had in these 5 weeks can be seen on my original post). SWIM admits he exaggerated symptoms slightly with the intent of getting something nice to experiment with as he hasn't really had any significant experiences with this drug before. so for the first 5 weeks SWIM would be saving doses for an all in one go sort of thing, he'd go a day or maybe even 2 just so he'd be able to take a lot a once, for recreational use. for example, when i first joined this forum SWIM had an 80mg dose of Tamazepam, i think it was his first post?? Anyway, so for those 5 weeks SWIM was doing that... Now in the last 3 weeks SWIM decided to go somewhere infamous for Heroin to ask dealers/junkies for the infamous Xanax, 15 mins later SWIM was offered 3. SWIM went there again a few days later and ended up finding someone who wanted to sell a whole bottle of 50 2mg xanax. so to summarise SWIM's last 3 weeks of benzo use, i'd say he'd be taking between 4 and 8mg of xanax a day.<sigh>

SWIM recently had 120mg of Tamezepam which he found to be slightly stronger than the 8 mg of Alrazolam... thats interesting.

SWIM has heard of Diphenhydramine hydrochloride before. Funnily enough, the last time SWIM was with his doctor, he brought that up saying there are certain anti histamines that work well as an alternative for sleep. SWIM never asked about it's use on benzo W/D, felt too embarrassed, but would like to hopefully find info on that here.

At the end of the day SWIM realises he needs to get off all Benzos for a while, but not necessary say goodbye to them, hopefully he can respect them more in the future...

[Uncle Getafix]

At least its only a 2 month period of use. SWIM was trucking thru them for 10 years or so.

Your p-doc can prescribe, SWIM would just lay it out to the p-doc that your use increased with increased stress, and you are keen to taper.

Have a nosy at the Ashton Withdrawal charts and start a diary with what your doses are so you can sum it up.

Everyone makes the occasional mistake, at least its 2 months not 2 years mate!!

Reputation Comments on this post:

Great suupportive and informative post! Good advice too.

[allyourbase]

SWIY is addicted to a fast actor. stop taking pills for 36 hours and youll see the worst of it. swim suggests you not do that however. with xanax the withdrawls are worst at the beginning, with protein binders like klonopin and ativan its always worse toward the middle, and with slow actors (valium, heavier ultra-polar molecules) the withdrawls are the worst two weeks in on average. swim suggests cutting out all other GABA affecting compound use until fully withdrawn (up to 6 months); which includes alcohol, and a number of hypnotics, and muscle relaxants, in addition to the usual list of anxiety drugs. Less is really more.

allyourbase added 16 Minutes and 15 Seconds later...

ALSO; beware capitalist aware doctors trying to trade one addictive substance for another: if they say they need to treat your "core anxiety issues" prior to a taper, theyre lying.....they usually just want either another or a more socially acceptable substance to have swiy addicted to. SSRIs are the enemy, unless theyre mesembrine or memembranone the doctor is likely lying to you in hopes of a corperate kickback.
Change comes from within...swim has survived these particular trials and tribulations, and wouldnt wish the best of them on his worst enemy......

Reputation Comments on this post:

Baseless scare mongering. No citatations to back up SWIY's claims. Not a helpful contribution at all.

[Sublimit]

Hey thanks for all your advice.

Just thought i'd update this for the sake of the thread and the forum.

Okay, SWIM ended up doing this cold turkey... well essentially it was. SWIM took his last dose of Xanax on Sunday the 14th.... so it's been 9 days without a benzo for SWIM so far. SWIM purchased some Restavit (Doxylamine Succinate) OTC with the hope that it would take the edge off and help SWIM sleep, But unfortunately they had zero effect on SWIM.

Okay the first 3 days were pretty rough, but manageable. SWIM was gettin the occasional muscle twitch, the occasional depressive though and in general just feeling physically exhausted and very anti social. Every now and again SWIM was having mild OEV's or hallucinations, very subtle but very noticeable. after those 3 days the WD symptoms started to subside slightly, but things like sleep and the occasional muscle twitch have lingered for a while longer.

After seven days SWIM feels like his old self again. But being literary an insomniac for the last week has made SWIM realise how sever the comedown can be

Reputation Comments on this post:

Useful followup

[Uncle Getafix]

Nice man, thats awesome to hear.

[nojokeshere]

I hear you - I'm trying hard not to cause Jatelka more trouble too. And I've done the rule thing, and again...

But about your friends situation. I can relate, as I've have friends who've had real problems with the diazapam (real bad when they start in with the alcohol along with - I've seen it called suicide attempt and OD a few times - one guy died about, oh, I'd say a month ago now. I have no idea what on earth he was thinking when he took 90 tabs of diazapam and drank all night). I've also have, at the moment, a friend who isn't trying to abuse them, and trys to only take them when she absolutely needs too. (Pain related - they go along with the pain meds to help knock off the edge alittle). But although she only uses it on the days the pain is real sever, she notices that after taking even 1 10mg dizapam, and feeling nothing as far as what people call a 'buzz', her body or mind or both want more and more. She wants to just go ahead and take the three a day allowed to take. Even when there is not a reason to do so. I found that she has begun using them for things like - grandma is starting to bug her, the kids are too loud and she don't want to be cranky etc.
It only takes taking one, for her, to kick of a sudden all the time want that will last a few days. She has no choice, she has to take them sometimes or she can't even get out of bed and get to the car to drive to work. But she has to force herself to limit herself to only 1 in a day, or 1 day of taking them as needed - then she has to go without for at least several days.
In the begining, when the pain event just started many years ago - she noticed that missing a dose turned her into something other than the pleasent person she normaly was. It was then that she realized the potential for an addiction and forced herself to be responsible with them. And sometimes, being responsible with them means doing alot less than the doctors perscribes.

One other thing I wanted to mention. Tell your friend that (at least here in the US) they are converting to on-line med records. Every doc you see and every script you fill will be available to every doc you see. That means people like your friend won't be able to go to several docs for spripts. So make sure your friend sees a doc, and gets everything in order. Maybe stock up and then come clean with your friends needs and reasons for the need. Here it is Aug 2010 as the dead line for the on-line records being complete.

[bignbrown]

what about 2 weeks of heavy use? Like one single dose a day, ranging from 2-4mg (and one time 8 mg)should that to be hard to get off? Or just rebound anxiety/feeling sketchy? etc?

[Uncle Getafix]

SWIM would say your timing is mint. 2 weeks would have SWIY probly feeling a bit sketchy, irritable. Probably very similiar to 2 weeks solidly drinking and then stopping suddenly.

Nothing serious, SWIM wouldn't keep it up for too long or SWIY will feel it allright!! Best of luck, good timing. Note that clinical guidelines are to use benzos for 2 weeks or less to avoid dependence.