Did A Cold Turkey From Benzos Now Reinstated And Drugs Are Less Effective Please Help

ebs

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Never go cold turkey from benzo's, unless you're on a low dose. It can really **** you up. When I was on 50mg oxazepam once due to medical circumstances I tapered as slow as possible, going down 10mg every two weeks because it takes about two weeks for your brain to adjust. Took me over two months to come off, but with minimal withdrawal. I think it's incredibly stressful for the brain going cold turkey and it can cause longterm damage.

That said, it's better for the brain going back to this dose and then taper down. I'm currently using diazepam again for medical purposes and I notice that whenever I up the dosage my body gets used to it very quick and then I have to go back to my normal dose for at least two weeks for the higher dose to have effect again. It really sucks that these meds lose their effect so quickly because they can be a lifesaver in times of high stress.

Also, I notice that once you get used to these drugs, the effect it has when first starting will never be the same again. I suspect that protracted withdrawal can linger on for a very long time after discontinuation, even if you don't experience withdrawal symptoms.
 
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CoconutEffect

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Would seriously consider what @amintadreamer is doing microdosing Amanita Muscaria, n = not many, but it is very compelling.

Amanita Dreamer

Muscimol (also known as agarin or pantherine) is one of the principal psychoactive constituents of Amanita muscaria and related species of mushroom. Muscimol is a potent, selective agonist for the GABAA receptors[citation needed] and displays sedative-hypnotic, depressant and hallucinogenicpsychoactivity. This colorless or white solid is classified as an isoxazole.




Amanita (muscimol) + Ashton (gradual taper)

benzo.org.uk : Benzodiazepines: How They Work & How to Withdraw, Prof C H Ashton DM, FRCP, 2002

Amanita the soma, fruit (ing body) of the tree of knowledge?
 

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TreasureVibe

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Would seriously consider what @amintadreamer is doing microdosing Amanita Muscaria, n = not many, but it is very compelling.

Amanita Dreamer

Muscimol (also known as agarin or pantherine) is one of the principal psychoactive constituents of Amanita muscaria and related species of mushroom. Muscimol is a potent, selective agonist for the GABAA receptors[citation needed] and displays sedative-hypnotic, depressant and hallucinogenicpsychoactivity. This colorless or white solid is classified as an isoxazole.




Amanita (muscimol) + Ashton (gradual taper)

benzo.org.uk : Benzodiazepines: How They Work & How to Withdraw, Prof C H Ashton DM, FRCP, 2002

Amanita the soma, fruit (ing body) of the tree of knowledge?
How do I micro dose amanita?
 
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TreasureVibe

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Never go cold turkey from benzo's, unless you're on a low dose. It can really **** you up. When I was on 50mg oxazepam once due to medical circumstances I tapered as slow as possible, going down 10mg every two weeks because it takes about two weeks for your brain to adjust. Took me over two months to come off, but with minimal withdrawal. I think it's incredibly stressful for the brain going cold turkey and it can cause longterm damage.

That said, it's better for the brain going back to this dose and then taper down. I'm currently using diazepam again for medical purposes and I notice that whenever I up the dosage my body gets used to it very quick and then I have to go back to my normal dose for at least two weeks for the higher dose to have effect again. It really sucks that these meds lose their effect so quickly because they can be a lifesaver in times of high stress.

Also, I notice that once you get used to these drugs, the effect it has when first starting will never be the same again. I suspect that protracted withdrawal can linger on for a very long time after discontinuation, even if you don't experience withdrawal symptoms.
Yes I messed up real bad cold turkeying it, the effects are now much less because of it.
 

Andman

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Yes I messed up real bad cold turkeying it, the effects are now much less because of it.

Have you considered riding it out? It seems youve been trying to quit that stuff for quite a long time now. (not judging btw, iam prone to addictions myself)
 
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TreasureVibe

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Have you considered riding it out? It seems youve been trying to quit that stuff for quite a long time now. (not judging btw, iam prone to addictions myself)
What do you mean with riding it out?
 

SonOfEurope

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Bro,

I struggled with benzodiazepines for almost 2 years until I realized the only way to come off was an extremely slow taper with the help of Progesterone to help my brain re adapt.

2 years ago I was on 2,5 mg of Clonazepam.... I have reduced it to less than 0.5 mg in 20 months by doing this, may sound funny but it works.:

With an average 12 inch ruler I Drew a straight line (12 inches - 30cm) on the the wall.

On day one, I softly scratched the 0.5 mg morning dose pill through the length of the ruler.

I did the same with morning, afternoon and evening dose... One scratch for day one.

Day 10= ten scratches

Day 50= fifty scratches.

The reduction is incredibly slow.... But by day 40 or 45 you can notice the pills getting smaller... The slower the better when it comes to benzo withdrawal because you need your gaba receptors to re-adapt....

And speaking of re adapting that's why I added in the progesterone, 12 mg (3 drops of Progest-E) ever 2-3 days, Progesterone is the hormone of adaptation and recovery for the brain.

Now I'm at less than 0.5mg per day and should be clean by next April... Your progress will be faster in the growing days of spring and summer but never EVER, increase the dose again or you will experience that which they call "kindering" harder to bring it back down every time you fail BUT if you follow a protocol such as the above even that can be corrected.

You could find a dose of Valium where you feel comfortable (not sedated but not anxious either ) and start the reduction from there, Progesterone would make things 100 times easier and I would only suggest (not giving medical advice) that if you wanna come off or at least come down you might want to switch to a longer acting benzo because Valium is more fast acting but shorter half life and those roller coasters are not good.
 
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GutFeeling

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Sep 25, 2017
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292
Bro,

I struggled with benzodiazepines for almost 2 years until I realized the only way to come off was an extremely slow taper with the help of Progesterone to help my brain re adapt.

2 years ago I was on 2,5 mg of Clonazepam.... I have reduced it to less than 0.5 mg in 20 months by doing this, may sound funny but it works.:

With an average 12 inch ruler I Drew a straight line (12 inches - 30cm) on the the wall.

On day one, I softly scratched the 0.5 mg morning dose pill through the length of the ruler.

I did the same with morning, afternoon and evening dose... One scratch for day one.

Day 10= ten scratches

Day 50= fifty scratches.

The reduction is incredibly slow.... But by day 40 or 45 you can notice the pills getting smaller... The slower the better when it comes to benzo withdrawal because you need your gaba receptors to re-adapt....

And speaking of re adapting that's why I added in the progesterone, 12 mg (3 drops of Progest-E) ever 2-3 days, Progesterone is the hormone of adaptation and recovery for the brain.

Now I'm at less than 0.5mg per day and should be clean by next April... Your progress will be faster in the growing days of spring and summer but never EVER, increase the dose again or you will experience that which they call "kindering" harder to bring it back down every time you fail BUT if you follow a protocol such as the above even that can be corrected.

You could find a dose of Valium where you feel comfortable (not sedated but not anxious either ) and start the reduction from there, Progesterone would make things 100 times easier and I would only suggest (not giving medical advice) that if you wanna come off or at least come down you might want to switch to a longer acting benzo because Valium is more fast acting but shorter half life and those roller coasters are not good.
Did you managed to avoid all withdrawal symptoms with the slow tapering?
 

CoconutEffect

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Joined
Mar 27, 2015
Messages
403
Bro,

I struggled with benzodiazepines for almost 2 years until I realized the only way to come off was an extremely slow taper with the help of Progesterone to help my brain re adapt.

2 years ago I was on 2,5 mg of Clonazepam.... I have reduced it to less than 0.5 mg in 20 months by doing this, may sound funny but it works.:

With an average 12 inch ruler I Drew a straight line (12 inches - 30cm) on the the wall.

On day one, I softly scratched the 0.5 mg morning dose pill through the length of the ruler.

I did the same with morning, afternoon and evening dose... One scratch for day one.

Day 10= ten scratches

Day 50= fifty scratches.

The reduction is incredibly slow.... But by day 40 or 45 you can notice the pills getting smaller... The slower the better when it comes to benzo withdrawal because you need your gaba receptors to re-adapt....

And speaking of re adapting that's why I added in the progesterone, 12 mg (3 drops of Progest-E) ever 2-3 days, Progesterone is the hormone of adaptation and recovery for the brain.

Now I'm at less than 0.5mg per day and should be clean by next April... Your progress will be faster in the growing days of spring and summer but never EVER, increase the dose again or you will experience that which they call "kindering" harder to bring it back down every time you fail BUT if you follow a protocol such as the above even that can be corrected.

You could find a dose of Valium where you feel comfortable (not sedated but not anxious either ) and start the reduction from there, Progesterone would make things 100 times easier and I would only suggest (not giving medical advice) that if you wanna come off or at least come down you might want to switch to a longer acting benzo because Valium is more fast acting but shorter half life and those roller coasters are not good.

Thank you for this. The wall scratch method is so smart.
 
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TreasureVibe

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Joined
Jul 3, 2016
Messages
1,941
Bro,

I struggled with benzodiazepines for almost 2 years until I realized the only way to come off was an extremely slow taper with the help of Progesterone to help my brain re adapt.

2 years ago I was on 2,5 mg of Clonazepam.... I have reduced it to less than 0.5 mg in 20 months by doing this, may sound funny but it works.:

With an average 12 inch ruler I Drew a straight line (12 inches - 30cm) on the the wall.

On day one, I softly scratched the 0.5 mg morning dose pill through the length of the ruler.

I did the same with morning, afternoon and evening dose... One scratch for day one.

Day 10= ten scratches

Day 50= fifty scratches.

The reduction is incredibly slow.... But by day 40 or 45 you can notice the pills getting smaller... The slower the better when it comes to benzo withdrawal because you need your gaba receptors to re-adapt....

And speaking of re adapting that's why I added in the progesterone, 12 mg (3 drops of Progest-E) ever 2-3 days, Progesterone is the hormone of adaptation and recovery for the brain.

Now I'm at less than 0.5mg per day and should be clean by next April... Your progress will be faster in the growing days of spring and summer but never EVER, increase the dose again or you will experience that which they call "kindering" harder to bring it back down every time you fail BUT if you follow a protocol such as the above even that can be corrected.

You could find a dose of Valium where you feel comfortable (not sedated but not anxious either ) and start the reduction from there, Progesterone would make things 100 times easier and I would only suggest (not giving medical advice) that if you wanna come off or at least come down you might want to switch to a longer acting benzo because Valium is more fast acting but shorter half life and those roller coasters are not good.
Did the progesterone help you a lot?
 

PATB

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Joined
Oct 7, 2018
Messages
63
I recently did a cold turkey off of benzos as well, xanax. I was taking daily for 2-3 months or something like that. I don't know the exact period, I think I went through about 2g of xanax. It was in powder form, I was not prescribed this at all.
Why would you be trying to get back on these drugs? The withdrawal was horrible for me, it lasted about a week and I just felt terrible. There are other things you can take for sleep or sedation I don't even see the reason why benzos would be your go-to for that. They are good for anxiety but sleep? There are so many things for sleep.
Sometimes tolerance does not reset very easily for things. In my case, my tolerance to NMDA antagonist dissociatives appears somewhat permanent: even after years of cessation I retain a tolerance of sorts.
Personally, I am glad to be off the xanax. Benzos are bad news generally. If you can sit on them for long periods and not take them, I don't see the problem. Evidently I could not do that. If I have it I will probably consume it eventually. That is the way that it is for certain things and certain people.
If sleep is your issue there are other things, as I said. I was once prescribed quetiapine (seroquel) after 4 different prescriptions for sleep. I was given 90 pills (not sure of dose) and told to take 3 per night for sleep. I did not and I only took 1 per night 5x a week, before work. I was able to take this 1 month script for a few months and afterwards I had no issues at all. I cannot imagine taking benzos for such a thing, the withdrawals would be terrible when there is no reason to take this this over many other choices. Seroquel is not peaty at all (nor are benzos) but it would [probably] put you to sleep with the same guaranteed risk of future withdrawals. There is probably that risk of withdrawals with long-term use but I don't see it as it as physically addictive as benzos (which can cause withdrawals with 1 week of usage).

If sleep is the issue I think a better idea would be to cycle between different things that have different effects that cause you to sleep and hope that eventually it shifts your circadian rhythm back so you do not have to take anything. I would also recommend a red tint to your computer/laptop/phone screen (this should be built in or there are many programs/apps that do it) + a web browser plugin that will make websites black background with light text. I always have a red tint on my screen and if I remove it so it is normal I can just feel it burning my eyes.
 

SonOfEurope

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Joined
Jul 10, 2016
Messages
602
Did you managed to avoid all withdrawal symptoms with the slow tapering?


Yup,

It's so slow the brain doesn't have time to realize the dosage is being brought down (as I said.... I just notice the pill getting a LITTLE smaller by 45 or 50 days.... It's a very soft scratch against those 30cm on my wall ) and being that slow the receptors and Gaba-ergic system of the whole body has the time to "re-learn" or "learn again" to be it's true self without them....

Some days i did obviously feel a bit anxious, but not in a "lacking benzo " type of anxiety just normal anxiety and I realized - that's the "Me" I used to be before getting into these drugs... As the weeks and months passed I learned and relearned new strategies to cope with my stress without ever popping an extra klonopin.

I did not experience any withdrawal symptoms.. Again probably because I started this taper from a dose I was comfortable at (2..5 mg) as usual morning dose (1.25mg) and my night dose (1,25 mg) and it was only after more than a month that I could even notice the Pills getting smaller in size barely in the edge, but I knew then I was making progress and would not stop.

As for the "normal" bit of anxiety I had (and still have, it's part of being human I guess) it's more common in Winter and I find ways to deal with it like chatting with my friends, going to a restaurant or lifting weights... I must admit that I incorporated the progesterone already a year in (8 months ago) when I had already dropped it from the original 2,5mg to around 1,25 mg .... (once the 0.5 pills got to about half size I knew it was time to cut them in half and celebrate my progress) the progesterone helps immensely with any type of anxiety and re-discovering who you used to be before making your brain dependant on these abominations... I'll dare say that at this point I could (but won't out of discipline to not screw things up) just ditch the .45mg I'm on daily and massive dose progesterone, but I would be risking it and as I've said the 0.25 mg I'm taking once morning and once night are getting smaller too hehe... I'm closing in to freedom from these abominations and I'll gladly continue the protocol a few more months until I'm at the tiniest possible dose before ditching it....

I might have to switch to diazepam (much lower potency) and keep shrinking from there because these 0.25 mg of Klonopin aren't gonna get much smaller in three or four months.

That's the most important things to remember for me, soft scratch, and bring the dose as close to 0 before I come off for good, I waited 2 years and made all this progress then I can wait another half year or a full year even, if necessary.
 

akgrrrl

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Apr 28, 2018
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Is there any way to resensitize the gaba receptors for the drugs to work? To reverse the tolerance?
Dear Treasure, you are attempting a monumental task by cold turkeying. When I first came here looking for answers, the benzo boards were marginally helpful. You may find many clues here on the forum as I did to recover from 10 years physician pushed benzofication. My doctor is now in federal prison. Please learn to be easy on your self. This requires at least 18 montgs of dedication to highly nutricious foods, supplements, planned sleep schedule, planned sunlight or red light schedule, limitation of anxiety producing contacts wuth other humans...you really have to baby yourself. Immerse yourself in small deliberate exercise motions, hot baths, favorite foods, calm interesting music, delicious hot liquids, accomplishments and improvements in your immediate environment. Do things to deliberately change your thought patterns by focusing on something to improve or learn. Sing. Wash your car and clean the inside. The GABA receptors need TIME to change. We have 45 years of forums and boards and chatrooms that prove that slow, measured withdrawal results in fewer crises within the body, and the mind. Itts a hard path either way, its a diabolical drug. We are listening, are you?
 

GutFeeling

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Joined
Sep 25, 2017
Messages
292
Yup,

It's so slow the brain doesn't have time to realize the dosage is being brought down (as I said.... I just notice the pill getting a LITTLE smaller by 45 or 50 days.... It's a very soft scratch against those 30cm on my wall ) and being that slow the receptors and Gaba-ergic system of the whole body has the time to "re-learn" or "learn again" to be it's true self without them....

Some days i did obviously feel a bit anxious, but not in a "lacking benzo " type of anxiety just normal anxiety and I realized - that's the "Me" I used to be before getting into these drugs... As the weeks and months passed I learned and relearned new strategies to cope with my stress without ever popping an extra klonopin.

I did not experience any withdrawal symptoms.. Again probably because I started this taper from a dose I was comfortable at (2..5 mg) as usual morning dose (1.25mg) and my night dose (1,25 mg) and it was only after more than a month that I could even notice the Pills getting smaller in size barely in the edge, but I knew then I was making progress and would not stop.

As for the "normal" bit of anxiety I had (and still have, it's part of being human I guess) it's more common in Winter and I find ways to deal with it like chatting with my friends, going to a restaurant or lifting weights... I must admit that I incorporated the progesterone already a year in (8 months ago) when I had already dropped it from the original 2,5mg to around 1,25 mg .... (once the 0.5 pills got to about half size I knew it was time to cut them in half and celebrate my progress) the progesterone helps immensely with any type of anxiety and re-discovering who you used to be before making your brain dependant on these abominations... I'll dare say that at this point I could (but won't out of discipline to not screw things up) just ditch the .45mg I'm on daily and massive dose progesterone, but I would be risking it and as I've said the 0.25 mg I'm taking once morning and once night are getting smaller too hehe... I'm closing in to freedom from these abominations and I'll gladly continue the protocol a few more months until I'm at the tiniest possible dose before ditching it....

I might have to switch to diazepam (much lower potency) and keep shrinking from there because these 0.25 mg of Klonopin aren't gonna get much smaller in three or four months.

That's the most important things to remember for me, soft scratch, and bring the dose as close to 0 before I come off for good, I waited 2 years and made all this progress then I can wait another half year or a full year even, if necessary.
Thank you, I really appreciate!
I'm suffering with anxiety and benzos works quite well. If others things continue to fail im gonna take clonazepam for long periods, it's a really good antidepressant too... Since my product is in drops I will probably get out of it easy.
Tapering 100mcg a week seems better than risk an ssri.
 

SonOfEurope

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Messages
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Did the progesterone help you a lot?


Yes I incorporated it 8 months ago, please read my last long message.

With such a slowww taper it's not absolutely essential but it help the brain "re-learn" it's gaba system faster, progesterone can help with the recovery from any addiction, and Haidut explained on a thread that I can't pull up ATM how it raises Gaba as efficiently as a benzo (though androsterone might be even stronger at that) but it does not create addiction because it does so (gaba increase) though a self regulatory mechanism that in short time re adjusts when you wean off the P4 (progesterone )
 
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TreasureVibe

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Yes I incorporated it 8 months ago, please read my last long message.

With such a slowww taper it's not absolutely essential but it help the brain "re-learn" it's gaba system faster, progesterone can help with the recovery from any addiction, and Haidut explained on a thread that I can't pull up ATM how it raises Gaba as efficiently as a benzo (though androsterone might be even stronger at that) but it does not create addiction because it does so (gaba increase) though a self regulatory mechanism that in short time re adjusts when you wean off the P4 (progesterone )
I read a study that progesterone withdrawal causes benzos to lose their potency did you notice this?
 

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