Withdrawal/Detox from Valium/Xanax

[Sykotherapudik Lee]

I've seen plenty of taper schedules, but what are some good drugs to help detox from purely benzo's? I've heard that neurontin works, but that barbituates are the way to go. I've a habit of around 20-25mg's of Valium per day....

Apologies if this has been covered elsewhere, but any advice is definitely appreciated.

Thx....

[ProdigalSon]

I've seen plenty of taper schedules, but what are some good drugs to help detox from purely benzo's? I've heard that neurontin works, but that barbituates are the way to go. I've a habit of around 20-25mg's of Valium per day....

Apologies if this has been covered elsewhere, but any advice is definitely appreciated.

Thx....


Hmmmmm...Maybe nuerotin, I heard that too. id get a health Pros advice. Methinks its gonna be tough. Are you prescribed these?

[Sykotherapudik Lee]

sure, but I pay for the scripts. I've got no dr, if that's what you're asking.....

[ProdigalSon]

yeah dude go the prvate forum. Its moderated by a pro. I know they CAN be dangerous to come off of so get a health pros opinion

[Babydollangel]

well i was told it cant be done without rehab at dosage over 4mgs daily and i was on 6 mgs daily for over three years and begged dr for taper...he halfed my script and told me to do it in two weeks...it doesnt take long to know that wont work....i went to an outpatient rehab and they want you to learn to deep breath and shit...i was like, this isnt fucking going to work either so i did it myself..listened to my body and was down to slivers of it just at bed time....it CAN be done.....but i know the hell of benzos now and cannot freakin beleive i went back to them last summer !! just thinkin a bouat what i went through and damn cant beleive they are sittin herre next to me now....stress will do that though...

[Babydollangel]

and oh yeah, at everyones comment to get professional help......my own dr did this to me.....i could have died the way he wanted it done at the amount i was on and length of time...i beat that damn demon myself by listening to my body and slowwwwwwwwwlllllllllllyyyy getting lower as i could tolerate...going too fast (as MY DR had me do) will send you to the abyss of hell.....LISTEN to youR body...it will tell you how slow/fast to go...i tried it ALL even sat up for two weeks straight cuz i couldnt sleep cuz i didnt want it to 'beat me' finally gave in took some and went to bed and proceeded anothre route ...evErybody is different though but i have seriously been thre and went through hell getting off them.....but i did it....then 8 months later, stress kicked my ass and i am on it now...stupid me...the bottle SHOULD say take as needed NOT take freakin daily....i listened to my dr....he obviously never had to beat a benzo addiction...also thought if my dr said it how can it be dangerous....i did what he said....

[Seedy]

^^Ahh but you on klonopin, right? 4-6mgs of kpin is equiv to about 40-60mg valium, innit? Not that Sykotherapudik Lee (http://forum.opiophile.org/member.php?u=30) shouldn't seek medical help.

[Ragdoll]

I've done wd from benzos on my own and last time I did so, I felt like I might not pull through - I'm not joking. I wouldn't attempt wd again without rehab, but if you do, my advice is go extremely slow. By that, I mean, shave off tiny bits at a time over a period of 4 to 8 weeks.

Best to you - this is a tough one.

[CMonk]

I've seen plenty of taper schedules, but what are some good drugs to help detox from purely benzo's? I've heard that neurontin works, but that barbituates are the way to go. I've a habit of around 20-25mg's of Valium per day....

Apologies if this has been covered elsewhere, but any advice is definitely appreciated.

Thx....


I don't think barbituates are going to help. I don't know much about their addictive nature, but I'm guessing you will really just be replacing addictions.

I think the way most do this is to taper. Switch to a benzo with a smaller half life (xanax?) and start tapering slowly.

Good luck to you. I've heard its hell.

[Sitar]

No no no... switching to a shorter acting benzo is not the way to go.

To taper off of a benzo successfully with little withdrawal symptoms, you need to use the longest acting benzo you can get, so if you have valium, that's the way to go.

There's a really good website all about benzos and addiction and tapering, and also has good links:

http://www.benzo.org.uk/

Look at the FAQ and the Ashton Manual for lots of great info on benzo dependency and how to taper off of benzos safely.

[satori]

I have had WD's with clonopin a few times now. Not fun. My best and only advice..... DONT RUSH! 2-3mg clonopin WD (long duration) is much worse then a 60mg+ oxycodone addiction. You will learn what insane is very quickly if you go "cold turkey" which i know your not doing i jus wanted to make my point. Im rambling.... but if you need to talk PM me or any one else who seems to have had a lot of.... time with these meds.

[Sykotherapudik Lee]

So I'm down to 5mg's of Valium twice daily. As I understand it, I need to get down to around 1mg daily before I start thinking about quitting, yes?

[AWOL]

ok dude, this is what you want to do at this point. I'm no doctor, but if you want to feel ok when you're done you need to maintain that 10mg dose for a little while. I'd keep on it for a week, start your taper again and you should land pretty softly. But, if you keep going down down down like that the worst is at the bottom. Like that old saying, it's not the fall that kills you, but the sharp stop at the bottom.

Level yourself out, give your body time to adjust, then start going down again. In my opinion.

[SuperJunky]

I've had long stents w/ diazepam (valium) and Lorazepam (alprazolam) and never really noticed the difference, but I was on massive quanities of smack and never got above 10 or 15 mg valium a day, I assume the dope just covered it up, like it does w/ many other things. I dont have a "normal" sleep schedule though and I'm dopesick when ever I'm not wasted so who knows. I'll move this over to a forum moderated by a health professional.

[AWOL]

That's true. I know a lot of friends who go on runs with benzo's .... hell probably everybody has at some point. But I had been on them for a few years, and that was awful. I still think of Nick kickin that 20 year junk and benzo habbit at the same time. It nearly makes me vomit just to think about it.

[Sykotherapudik Lee]

So I've spent the last two months taking it down to what I *think* is less than 5mg's a day. 2.5 in the AM and 2.5 in the evening. I don't know for sure what the dosage is because I bought some tabs from a questionable online pharmacy that were in no way the equivalent in strength to the brand name 10's I was getting prior to my last order. I'm guessing they're more like 5-8mg's of what I'm hoping was valium. .25mg's of Xanax is too potent. .5mg's of Klonopin knocked me on my ass.

My last dose of valium was about 24 hours ago. i slept through the night with the help of some trazodone. i've got minor tremors, but nothing to be concerned about. My skin is on fire and I can tell my heart rate is up a bit. Nothing too serious yet.....

I'm guessing that I could probably get through on a few muscle relaxers that i have saved up - wot say the lot of u? What's the hump? 72 hours? longer?

Anyone have any experience in using Kratom or other opiates to alleviate Benzo wd?

[jonny-5]

i wasnt ever taking benzos enough to get wds, but i tested positive for em in a detox once and they said they had to give me phenobarbital so i wouldnt have seizures, they said they give it to all people addicted to benzos. its a barbituate.

[Sykotherapudik Lee]

I caved. Man, I'd hate to switch to barbs - I'm a certified idiot when I'm on that shit.

[candy]

So I've spent the last two months taking it down to what I *think* is less than 5mg's a day. 2.5 in the AM and 2.5 in the evening. I don't know for sure what the dosage is because I bought some tabs from a questionable online pharmacy that were in no way the equivalent in strength to the brand name 10's I was getting prior to my last order. I'm guessing they're more like 5-8mg's of what I'm hoping was valium. .25mg's of Xanax is too potent. .5mg's of Klonopin knocked me on my ass.

My last dose of valium was about 24 hours ago. i slept through the night with the help of some trazodone. i've got minor tremors, but nothing to be concerned about. My skin is on fire and I can tell my heart rate is up a bit. Nothing too serious yet.....

I'm guessing that I could probably get through on a few muscle relaxers that i have saved up - wot say the lot of u? What's the hump? 72 hours? longer?

Anyone have any experience in using Kratom or other opiates to alleviate Benzo wd?

You are in some way over the hump. Maybe try going down to one a day in the am and take the Trazadone at night to get some sleep.
I know it may sound difficult, but keep yourself busy during the day; Get some exercise, take a walk, whatever you like to do(besides the benzos) and maybe even try something new, preferrably a hobby, not a different drug!
Boredom is a difficult one for those of us addicted. So much of our time is spent on the drug(s), we forget how to have fun and do the things we once did!
Get out there and do something good for you today!
I know it may sound corny, but that is my suggestion and it helped me and countless others!

[colkraig]

i went to the ER and they gave me a shot of atavan and 2 25mg.pills of liberium sorry the spelling.They flushed my system out first.Then left me with a scrip of 60# of librium.Sent me home.It really did help in fact it worked.Did i tell you they kept overnight to flush my system.I was on alprazolam 2mg taking 3 a day. good luck.

[Sykotherapudik Lee]

This is the weirdest shit ever. So again I'm not sure how much I'm taking - I know it's not much and at least less than 5mg's a day. I'm guessing 3mg's now. I'm not fully understanding the action of the valium. It almost appears to have both short term and long term WD's...?

Friday night my skin was on fire and I was pretty shaky so I took what is probably around 1.5-2mg's right before bed. I woke up at 5am in all kinds of pain - similar to opiate withdrawals, just not as bad.

So yesterday I took probably 4mg's, but nothing after 11am. Last night I took trazadone to get to sleep and expected to wake up around 1 or so feeling the same WD, but I woke up at 10am feeling pretty much ok? It's now 11am - 24 hours since my last dose. I don't feel that bad, although I expect something to come on before the 36 hour mark...

I've found that eating helps out quite a bit - takes the burning away. Not sure why this is, but it makes a huge difference in just how comfortable I am. I also find that I tend to get tired when the drug is first wearing off (hence my saying short-term -vs- long term wd's...) and if I sleep for an hour, I feel quite a bit better.

I'm not every sure how to theorize what's going on:

1. Are there short term and long term withdrawals (short term meaning 6-12 hours after last dose and long term meaning 24-72?)
2. Are the short term WD's actually a bi-product of cheap, imitation valium from who knows where in India?
3. What am I in for here? I have some Kratom set aside, plus some muscle relaxers that I'm willing to take in place of the Valium to get me over the hump - what's the hump? How long should I take the kratom and muscle relaxers? If the trazadone will help me sleep, I might not be that bad off, even if I do have to suffer from some minor kratom WD's after a week's usage.....

Thanks, Candy. Yes, I'm staying busy. Working out and exercise does help and I'm doing so daily. On a strict diet of healthy food and doing quite well given the benzo circumstances. I just want to be off of this shit and I'm running out - the last thing I want to do is order more Valium. I'd hate to spend my summer strung out on this crap.

I've contemplated scoring some librium, but I remember being in rehab and seeing what that shit does to the alky's - I'm not sure if my work would welcome a drooling retard or not...? Is it that bad?

Thanks, everyone, for all your help...

[clinton]

note to self:stay away from valium/kolonopin
i find it odd how they make opiate withdrawal look like evil wrapped in satans robe yet you never hear anything about the w/d issues that prescription benzos can cause

i read a book by andrew weil regarding drugs in general, in it he states that a valium addiction and the withdrawals after quitting are much harder and deadlier than opiate withdrawal...he pretty much stated that if you get proper nutrition and rest while w/d from opiates you can usually soldier through it w/o medical help...in contrast he states that if you are addicted to valium and the like and want to quit you need to seel medical attention and taper of gradually...if not siezures and death can occur...
i guess im just really amazed sometimes at what docs prescribe patients for months without thinking what it can do to them in the long run..

[Sykotherapudik Lee]

So it's been almost 48 hours. Not as bad as I originally thought and definitely not as bad as the first run on Thursday where I caved on Friday. Kratom helps quite a bit, although the initial speediness of it is a little intense at first. I took a Soma last night with some Trazadone - slept fairly well considering.

Today is worse than yesterday, but better than the day before. My skin is still burning (mildly) and I'm definitely noticing muscle tension. My back has been killing me the last two nights, but to be expected I imagine. No seizures yet although the usual foaming at the mouth.

All in all, way better than my original shock several months ago when I thought I could just drop a two month klonopin habit.

[Sykotherapudik Lee]

Sorry for the double post, but I wanted to provide an update for the sake of information. So i followed this schedule (http://www.benzo.org.uk/manual/bzsched.htm#s5) and (http://www.benzo.org.uk/manual/bzsched.htm#s3 (http://www.benzo.org.uk/manual/bzsched.htm#s3%29from)) from http://www.benzo.org.uk/manual/bzsched.htm (although a little more aggressively) and I've almost walked away completely pain free after finding myself strung out on Benzo's since August of 2006.

I started at 4mg's of Klonopin a day and was on this dose for about 4 months or so. I worked my way down to 2mg's and then switched to Xanax, switching then to Valium at about the time I made the original post in this thread. I probably could've ended my taper sooner had I known where I was at in terms of dosage.

Day two was the worst, but really mild and nothing a small dose of kratom couldn't fix (and only one - tea made from about 3 grams of leaf.) 25mg's of Trazadone has kept me sleeping and in fact, I slept in today - I've been up at 4-5am every night for the last several months (going to bed at around 11pm.) Today I had a hard time waking up at 7 and could've slept more.

Still some mild burning of the skin, but nothing major. Cake compared to any other withdrawal I've experienced.

Thanks, Sitar, for posting the link to benzo.org.uk....!

[RxQueen]

glad to see that you worked out a taper plan that works for you! take it from someone who spent 10-12 years dependent on benzos.... it's the only way to come off them. best of luck to you.... i'm still dealing with lots of stuff months after weaning myself off 'em, mostly sleep problems. it's a good thing ya didn't let yourself go for too awful long, like i did!

[candy]

I am glad to see your doing well. Just hang in there and take it for the long haul. You don't want to go back to that.

The thing that always has done me in is boredom or way to much time on my hands!

Keep It up!