I used to use multiple GABAergic drugs heavily some years ago; mainly including GABA-B agonists such as GHB, Phenibut, Baclofen, Gabapentin, but also Zaleplon and limited sporadic use of GABA-A benzos (but never mixed with each other).
I thought: "As long as I don't develop a tolerance I'll be alright". I never found myself developing any tolerance, but I did notice a hardly noticeable gradually worsening mood and instability, some irritability and emotional pain. This was accompanied by the perception that my doses were smaller than they used to be - perhaps gradually reducing the GHB for the same effect. I was taking all these drugs mainly to treat agitation from a condition, but also the GHB or Zaleplon to treat insomnia nearly every night. I don't remember quite how long for but it was at least 8-12 months.
Eventually I used up my "buffer" so to speak and passed a "threshold" where I experienced only paradoxical effects of agitation and mental pain from any GABA-B drug - Phenibut first. It was strange that I tried a Xanax to calm me down from the Phenibut and it worked. This makes me wonder if I could tolerate GABA-A agonists given that the damage was a hell of a lot worse at GABA-B receptors.
After this I quit everything GABA-ergic for a whole year. After this I tried drinking again and had no problem. In fact I began to drink more and more for many months before the exact same problem happened again. I stopped for close to a year, but this time when I tried alcohol again I had one great night, and was the phenomenon repeated again - however I was on high doses of BCAA's for most of that year which is a GABA precursor, as well as Glycine and Taurine (both of which I later found influences GABA) so I don't know if those affected it.
Close to a year passed and I got to a much better place. I tried a few sips of a beer on holiday and experienced a horrible reaction, setting me back again, but luckily not all the way. Now I will never drink again I expect.
So what do you think? Is this kindling (a process by which each subsequent withdrawal episode produces a more severe withdrawal syndrome)? Because I think it might be different to that.
Could NMDA antagonists/agonists help? Is there any other thing I could do to heal myself and restore my full inhibitory capability? Perhaps something related to neuroplasticity; like studying, exercising etc.
Thanks for any help