If benzos work for alcohol withdrawal, can alcohol work for benzo withdrawal?
Just kinda curious.. Withdrawaling from 1mg of klonopin (clonazepam) three times daily. I get my prescription soon. Can alcohol help with the withdrawal from klonopin (clonazepam)?
I wasn’t planning to take the two together. I’ve been on klonopin at this same dosage (1mg three times a day) for nine years. I was prescribed when I was fifteen and I’m now twenty-four going on twenty-five.
Since both benzos and alcohol work on GABA, I wasn’t planning on combining the two together. What I was curious about was whether or not I could use alcohol to help the symptoms of klonopin or clonazepam withdrawal until I can get my medication.. Right now I’m getting the crappy stomach/band around the head/bad memories/no sleep/nightmares if anywhere close to sleep. I get my prescription tomorrow, but I don’t know if I should continue on the 1mg a day or try to stop it while ahead. I was prescribed this when I was fifteen for anxiety, now it feels like it has a life of it’s own.
I was prescribed 50mg of hydroxyzine three times daily, but since I’ve been taking it, it feels like like a weak form of diphenhydramine that barely has any antihistamine/drowsy effects. I remember taking 200mg of diphenhydramine to induce dreams and/or delirium and that was ~500mg. I cannot sleep and I feel the urinary retention very tighlty. What else is there to do?
Tagged with: Alcohol • benzo • benzos • withdrawal • Work
Filed under: Alcohol Withdrawal
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…lets not mix those two, it will cause death. Yes benzos help with the symptoms of withdraw, but if you give into the drink you can die.
Benzo withdraw is bad, but if you’re using alcohol to get over it, you’re giving yourself alcoholism. They’ll probably give you a milder drug and ween you off the pills.
don’t mix the two, please.
As someone mentions, mixing the two can cause death. Klonopin stays in your system for a very, very long time and declines slowly. It’s honestly one of th easiest benzos to withdraw from.
And no, alcohol cannot, as it lowers seizure threshold. Since there’s the possibility of seizures with benzo withdrawal (though I wouldn’t worry at 3mg a day), adding someone else in that causes this is VERY risky.
Benzodiazepines are also used to manage withdrawal from opiates, occasionally spasmolytics, anything unpleasant at all really.
I would see your doctor to get him to make a withdrawal plan. You have to be careful coming of these.
Withdrawal symptoms are horriable. Ive just come of anti depressants for anxiety and its been 2weeks fully of them and im still ill from it and my anxiety is returning. So you have to be careful yours isnt… If it does, i sujest an anti depressant or buspirone to deal with it.
Because Valium has the longest half-life of all benzos yet mg for mg is far less potent, it is ideal for treating withdrawal from other benzos. My doctor has switched me from Xanax to Valium in order to taper off benzos. Klonopin is longer acting but it is about equally potent as Xanax, so in order to gradually taper most people need to purchase it in expensive wafer form. If you wish to go off benzos, ask your doctor if Valium might be a better option.
I truly don’t know the answer regarding the alcohol question, but logically it doesn’t make sense. It would be like treating methadone withdrawal with heroin which obviously wouldn’t make any progress. Make sense? Also, your statement is not entirely accurate. Valium specifically is used for alcohol withdrawal but most other benzodiazepines are not. Alcohol would “work” temporarily but then what are you going to do when the alcohol withdrawal comes back? It creates a never ending cycle between alcohol and benzos.
You will have withdrawal symptoms and side effects no matter what you do – and you will pretty much just have to suffer until you feel better.
I think it’s silly for many of these posts to imply that drinking is dangerous or deadly because it simply isn’t the fact. Of course, *excessive* drinking can be dangerous on it’s own, or mixed with benzo’s, but from my point of view – that wasn’t your question.
A glass of red wine or a beer (or two) will help with the withdrawal symptoms – the only important thing to remember is moderation.
That being said – the only genuine danger you face (apart from just feeling crappy) from benzo withdrawal is seizures. Whether you have a history of them or not, abruptly stopping benzo’s after long term use can cause seizures. Too much drinking – especially the next day’s hangover – can increase this risk tenfold!
Heavy drinking to curb benzo withdrawal is a very risky way to manage withdrawal – however, note the emphasis on HEAVY drinking…
If you can responsibly have a single serving of beer or wine in the evening to ‘take the edge off’ so to speak – then by all means – you should do so and it will probably help ease the symptoms of withdrawal for the first few weeks.
Cheers! Good luck! Be safe!