42 replies to this topic

[inw]

I'm on benzobuddies too and I haven't seen any 'permanent' sufferers. I also see a fair amount of people getting back into drinking alcohol and doing whatever they have done pre-benzo with no issues. It does look like most people who are prone to protracted withdrawal are taking at least 12-16+ months to be able to function like a normal person with constistency. I really don't see many who are 14-18+ months out who can't leave the house or do normal things. It seems like after 12+ months there are lingering symptoms of lesser intensity.

As stated, there are many people who only took benzos for 3 weeks to 2 months and they took 6-12 months to recover! There is a good video series on youtube by a guy named KlonopinKills, he was on klonopin for 2 months and Cold Turkeyed, he turned a corner around month 8 and was 100% by 12 months off. Even on the other end, if you do a slow taper you really see the symptoms weeks after the last dose and then for the next 6-18 months if you are prone to withdrawal.

Edited by inw, 22 January 2013 - 07:50 AM.

[ManuteBol]

Hey folks... I'm also on benzo buddies. Bout 2.5 months off of klonopin, xanax and librium (and heavy drinking).

About 1.5 months ago I was prescribed to the antibiotic ciproflaxacin. Are quinolone antiobiotics GABA antagonists? Does that mean that while my experience has been awful since I took the cipro that technically (perhaps?) it may have helped to up-regulate GABA receptors?

Sorry to bump an old thread...

[SlimNm]

I have used dihydromyricetin and kudzu root to relieve stress. That combination is very effective because kudzu root is an agonist at a serotonin ANTI SEIZURE receptor site (5ht2c) so you can take doses of antagonists with confidence of safety. This receptor is why bacopa upregulates gaba, it prevents 5ht2c downregulation. Kudzu actually upregulates it!

My 2 Week Trial:
~5,000 MG of Holvis Dolvis fruit (NOT AN EXTRACT).
2,400 MG Kudzu root (not extract)

75% of the time I take this combo I get such anxiety I convince my self I have overdosed and much more. The times I took it with food, my anxiety was lowered so this suggests a delayed release is better. But 2 weeks of trying this and my results are good. I plan on trying this for 1 month in the hopes of curing GABA A down regulation. It was hell during taking it, but it will be worth it!

This is the safest way to upregulate your gaba receptors. But remember these receptors are delicate so ask a doctor if you are sensitive to seizures.

It would be really interesting to know if anyone else has tried this with success.

[inw]

I'm 16 months off a xanax prescription, the process is unreal. My WORST months by far were month 6 and month 10. It comes gradually out of nowhere, an irrational fear of everything. SEVERE anxiety/panic attacks and an inability to calm down. At month 10 I was in the ER because I felt like I got injected with adrenaline, I had the worst panic/anxiety for HOURS and it wouldn't go away. It's insane that the brain is messed up for so long. The ignorant dr's there say "oh it's out of your system" Yea but I never in my life felt that shitty for 10 months straight, it's no mystery what caused it! They don't admit the changes that the benzo made to the brain.

It slowly started getting a little better where I would get days of calm, but I'm still not able to work or do anything every single day. I tried celexa again at month 10 and even at 20mg, the only difference I noticed was an added depression. So I've been off that and am coming back to the nutritional supplements.

Edited by inw, 15 September 2013 - 02:06 AM.

[srthomas]

Hey,

I'm very happy to have found this topic. I'm 18 month's off Valium. Was on it for approx 7 years and it was a hell of ride getting off of it. I basically hibernated in bed for six month's the willdrawals were so painful. But, I made it through. I survived, and I will NEVER touch that poison again.

The part about the down-regulation. I think I have that. My tolerance to all medications now is so high that nothing I take seems to affect me, at least from a strictly physical standpoint. I drank a whole bottle of champagne for New Years. No buzz, nothing. Pain killers, no effect. By that I mean no buzz and no pain relief either. Muscle relaxers, same deal. No relaxation for my back. Just nothing and that was after 4 350mg tabs of Soma. A pretty hefty amount.

So my question is, what gives? Why aren't these medications working on me anymore? Is it because they all hit the Gaba-centric neurons and mine are just shot or what?

Thanks for any input!

[socialpiranha]

etizolam actually upregulates gaba a receptors after 2 weeks. So i don't thinks it's as simple as downregulation causing the paws.

[Flex]

I´ve found this:
Long-lasting modulation of glutamatergic transmission in VTA dopamine neurons after a single dose of benzodiazepine agonists
http://www.ncbi.nlm....pubmed/18563060

Maybe this could explain some adverse effects what You do suffer.

[Kompota]

It is much more than just GABA receptor downregulation behind that bad experience. Most likely the NMDA receptors go into overdrive at the same time. Also the normal function HPA-axis might get disrupted. Having said that 28 months after Clonazepam, my glucocorticoid feedback mechanism has still not recovered and I am still suffering with excessive cortisol levels.

[Flex]

I dont know much about it,
but could it be that in this timespan whereas Gaba is downregulated and Glutamate + Glucocorticoid are upregulated,
maybe a excitotoxicity is happening or at least more likely happening ?

If this is the case, some supplemets could/should help to avoid this, as long as the up and down regulation needs to get back to baseline.

[finalgates]

some probiotics converts glutamate to gaba.that means that they will downregulate the receptors in the future?

[Keizo]

I will just add that Noopept or Cerebrolysin can help a lot. I also recommend stretching facial and neck muscles.

I have been off completely about 12 months now, and I would say that time helped a lot but more so Cerebrolysin which I have done about 100ml this year. Some cognitive problems seem to come and go, but that might also be a normal stress-response. (My brain freezes in social situations and I loose track of what I'm about to say, even though I am rather lucid otherwise.) I'd say I was 70% functional late last year, and now 90%-150%

One thing I have noted, is that I tend to get extremely tired and unable to focus on anything during parts of the day, usually 10AM and into the afternoon. (If I wake up at 7AM) Sometimes this does not happen, and it has gotten much better as of late. It is similar but just a fraction of what I experienced during the late tapering and the months thereafter.

Edited by Nume, 03 March 2014 - 03:09 PM.

[2swole79]

I was prescribed 2mgs xanax bars 3x/day for about a decade....it does seem to  me that benzo withdrawal is the most drawn out and frustrating....however even at those doses and length, plus bout of buying extra off the black market, that within 8-12 month about 90% normalcy had returned....on the topic of permantant damage, I can tell right away that being e new guy around here there are some with a much deeper level of the scientific knowledge of these things, but these days it takes very very little exposure to any benzos before I'm experiencing withdrawal symptoms without a constant supply...what used to take months to work up to, I reach the same level of tolerance/dependence or whatever within a matter of a few days, particularlly with alprazolam, although I don't have alot of experience with all these newer "research" benzos on the market now.  I've also damaged my Gaba-b system and I will say that that seems to happen quicker and is more severe in its effects...at least in my exp.

[Justchill]

Anybody had some succes using kudzu root extract (gaba antagonist)?