11 replies to this topic

[phenibutsucks]

I've been tapering off Phenibut for the last month. I didn't consume it too much. About 1.5g twice a week for two months. I'm shocked I'm having withdrawals. Now, I last dosed just now at 150mg and before, four days ago at 300mg. Between this time I've not been sleeping much. It's hell.

How long should I taper out? Finish now? A week to two? A month?

I want to be normal within two weeks.
Should I see a doctor for meds?

Edited by phenibutsucks, 30 December 2013 - 09:29 AM.

[TVO]

Use melatonin to get to sleep at night, and taper off slowly.

[phenibutsucks]

Would slow taper be possible to avoid PAWS? e.g., I take 150mg daily for a week. Then 100mg daily for a week. 50mg for a week... 25mg...
This insomnia/high blood pressure is killing me. I have work and responsibilities during the work week, so I'm considering a slow taper. However, I also feel I'm close to the end, so it might be better to suffer.

Also, melatonin seems to make the symptoms worst. If I have high blood pressure at night, taking melatonin just makes me sleepy. Thus, now I'm in bed feeling sleepy all night but never actually sleep because my blood pressure is too high. Whereas, I could attempt to sleep and if I can't browse the internet or some light activity.

[phenibutsucks]

And any thoughts of using L-Arginine to treat high blood pressure? I had some laying around (used to take daily when cutting weight) and it seems to be working. Who knows though, I'll have to give it a few more days.

Edited by phenibutsucks, 31 December 2013 - 12:11 AM.

[phenibutsucks]

Some updates:
Today (Dec 31) I took 100mg Phenibut at 6:30AM to help me sleep. I've been awake since 12PM of Dec 30. I still couldn't so at 9:00AM I took 150mg and fell asleep at 9:30AM.
I'm figuring (and correct me if you think I'm wrong) that I could be tapering too quickly. I've read the down regulation of GABA could takes months for addict. I don't consider myself addicted to Phenibut, but the withdrawals are real.
So I might slow my taper to prevent insomnia. I don't feel like losing sleep for another three days like I did before.
However, I also feel like I have to lose sleep. As it's the only way; there's no compromises.

To be fair my withdrawals are mild. There's a good chance I could have cold turkey'd instead of taper and been over withdrawals a month ago. I might be prolonging a mild withdrawal, but I don't want to deal with a harsher withdrawal.

And about the L-Arginine. I can't gauge it's effectiveness, thus, It's not very effective. I still have high blood pressure, although I'm still continuing taking 500mg three times throughout the day. I've been drinking herbal tea now and continuing my fish oil, my multivitamin, and exercise regiment.

I'm going to the store tonight and buying some Powerade Zero and bananas to ensure I don't have an electrolyte imbalance.

I'm hoping every little thing helps.

Edited by phenibutsucks, 31 December 2013 - 10:49 PM.

[Trippy 1]

Some updates:
Today (Dec 31) I took 100mg Phenibut at 6:30AM to help me sleep. I've been awake since 12PM of Dec 30. I still couldn't so at 9:00AM I took 150mg and fell asleep at 9:30AM.
I'm figuring (and correct me if you think I'm wrong) that I could be tapering too quickly. I've read the down regulation of GABA could takes months for addict. I don't consider myself addicted to Phenibut, but the withdrawals are real.
So I might slow my taper to prevent insomnia. I don't feel like losing sleep for another three days like I did before.
However, I also feel like I have to lose sleep. As it's the only way; there's no compromises.

To be fair my withdrawals are mild. There's a good chance I could have cold turkey'd instead of taper and been over withdrawals a month ago. I might be prolonging a mild withdrawal, but I don't want to deal with a harsher withdrawal.

And about the L-Arginine. I can't gauge it's effectiveness, thus, It's not very effective. I still have high blood pressure, although I'm still continuing taking 500mg three times throughout the day. I've been drinking herbal tea now and continuing my fish oil, my multivitamin, and exercise regiment.

I'm going to the store tonight and buying some Powerade Zero and bananas to ensure I don't have an electrolyte imbalance.

I'm hoping every little thing helps.

You're doing the right thing by tapering. But, I'm actually really surprised you are experiencing withdrawals at such a small dose. I've came off of 8g before.

You're looking at 5-7 days of withdrawal and it will take about 2 weeks to feel completely "normal."

The most helpful thing is exercise. I can't stress this enough. Even during the peak of withdrawal a hard workout will make you feel a lot better. I think it's because your brain is so depleted of dopamine which exercise stimulates. Good luck.

[phenibutsucks]

You're doing the right thing by tapering. But, I'm actually really surprised you are experiencing withdrawals at such a small dose. I've came off of 8g before.

You're looking at 5-7 days of withdrawal and it will take about 2 weeks to feel completely "normal."

The most helpful thing is exercise. I can't stress this enough. Even during the peak of withdrawal a hard workout will make you feel a lot better. I think it's because your brain is so depleted of dopamine which exercise stimulates. Good luck.

What brand and type of Phenibut were you on? I'm taking LiftMode's Phenibut HCl (Crystals). Were you taking Phenibut F.A.A. (Free Amino Acid)?

And I will continue exercising. I did go on a four day hiatus when I tried to fast taper. I'll force myself to exercise even if I have no sleep.


Updates:
Jan 1: Heart rate and blood pressure increased. Headache began setting in. I could of suffered through it, but I decided I'm slow tapering. I took 100mg. I've also noticed around 11PM for the last week withdrawals begin to kick in. After three hours of that dose, I slept for five hours. When I woke up because of a weird anxiety headache feeling. Thirty minutes later, high blood pressure. I took another 100mg, back to bed one hour later, and slept for another four hours.

Edited by phenibutsucks, 01 January 2014 - 10:56 PM.

[Ben]

This thread should serve as a warning for everyone taking phenibut.

1.5g twice a week is not so bad. Are you sure you took only that amount?

[phenibutsucks]

This thread should serve as a warning for everyone taking phenibut.

1.5g twice a week is not so bad. Are you sure you took only that amount?

Final days: I got drunk, three days later took 1.5g, three more days later took 1.5g, and four days later 2g (highest I've ever taken). Four days later began withdrawals. I'm still tapering over a month later. I've tried going cold turkey after I fast tapered to 300mg and failed on day 3.5. Now I'm slow tapering. I'll be fine. It's past 2:00AM (as of posting) and I've noticed the withdrawals started setting in around 10:00PM. They're not as bad as yesterday's. I'll take 50 - 200mg tonight so I can sleep.

Also, I'm currently on winter break from university and work. That's part of the reason why my sleep schedule is disrupted (because I'm a college student), but Phenibut withdrawals exacerbated it.
If my withdrawals aren't gone by Jan 13 (school and work start), I'm going to have some issues. These withdrawals will interfere with school and work. I might end up see a doc for baclofen and benzos to get off ASAP.

----

Could someone upload this publication?
http://www.ncbi.nlm....pubmed/23391959

Edited by phenibutsucks, 02 January 2014 - 07:28 AM.

[Trippy 1]

You're doing the right thing by tapering. But, I'm actually really surprised you are experiencing withdrawals at such a small dose. I've came off of 8g before.

You're looking at 5-7 days of withdrawal and it will take about 2 weeks to feel completely "normal."

The most helpful thing is exercise. I can't stress this enough. Even during the peak of withdrawal a hard workout will make you feel a lot better. I think it's because your brain is so depleted of dopamine which exercise stimulates. Good luck.

What brand and type of Phenibut were you on? I'm taking LiftMode's Phenibut HCl (Crystals). Were you taking Phenibut F.A.A. (Free Amino Acid)?

And I will continue exercising. I did go on a four day hiatus when I tried to fast taper. I'll force myself to exercise even if I have no sleep.


Updates:
Jan 1: Heart rate and blood pressure increased. Headache began setting in. I could of suffered through it, but I decided I'm slow tapering. I took 100mg. I've also noticed around 11PM for the last week withdrawals begin to kick in. After three hours of that dose, I slept for five hours. When I woke up because of a weird anxiety headache feeling. Thirty minutes later, high blood pressure. I took another 100mg, back to bed one hour later, and slept for another four hours.

I was taking Primaforce phenibut. The taper method that worked for me was to just dose once per day, only at night before bed. I would dose around 7pm and it would kick in around 10pm. Around 5 or 6pm the next day I would start to feel withdrawal symptoms but I would tough it out until the (lower) taper dose kicked in. I wouldn't exactly *feel* the phenibut, but it would make me feel normal.

[phenibutsucks]

You're doing the right thing by tapering. But, I'm actually really surprised you are experiencing withdrawals at such a small dose. I've came off of 8g before.

You're looking at 5-7 days of withdrawal and it will take about 2 weeks to feel completely "normal."

The most helpful thing is exercise. I can't stress this enough. Even during the peak of withdrawal a hard workout will make you feel a lot better. I think it's because your brain is so depleted of dopamine which exercise stimulates. Good luck.

What brand and type of Phenibut were you on? I'm taking LiftMode's Phenibut HCl (Crystals). Were you taking Phenibut F.A.A. (Free Amino Acid)?

And I will continue exercising. I did go on a four day hiatus when I tried to fast taper. I'll force myself to exercise even if I have no sleep.


Updates:
Jan 1: Heart rate and blood pressure increased. Headache began setting in. I could of suffered through it, but I decided I'm slow tapering. I took 100mg. I've also noticed around 11PM for the last week withdrawals begin to kick in. After three hours of that dose, I slept for five hours. When I woke up because of a weird anxiety headache feeling. Thirty minutes later, high blood pressure. I took another 100mg, back to bed one hour later, and slept for another four hours.

I was taking Primaforce phenibut. The taper method that worked for me was to just dose once per day, only at night before bed. I would dose around 7pm and it would kick in around 10pm. Around 5 or 6pm the next day I would start to feel withdrawal symptoms but I would tough it out until the (lower) taper dose kicked in. I wouldn't exactly *feel* the phenibut, but it would make me feel normal.

Alright cool. That's like what I'm doing; I don't feel anything, just removes withdrawals. Good news is that my withdrawals is going away. Hooray!
Updates:
Jan 1: 50mg at 2:45AM. Try to sleep and couldn't. Stayed up about three hours longer than I wanted so I took another 100mg 5AM. My withdrawals were less than before.
Jan 2: Had light to mild withdrawals. That's good news. Took 100mg at night to help sleep because withdrawals became mild.
Jan 3: Light withdrawals, seem to be getting normal. Had some mild withdrawals for a few minutes. As I type, it's a light withdrawals. I might be able to sleep with no Phenibut tonight. Hopefully I'm getting over it.

Edited by phenibutsucks, 04 January 2014 - 07:35 AM.

[phenibutsucks]

Jan 3: No Phenibut to fall alseep, did take three hours though.
Jan 4: Light withdrawals. Took no Phenibut.
Jan 5: Light withdrawals. No Phenibut.

Today, no Phenibut. Light withdrawals. I guess I'm over it. I'm just hoping nothing pop ups in the next few days. I think I'll be fine. yay