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Kava for benzodiazepine withdrawal

infraredz

BULA!
I've been on high doses of benzos for over a year and a half due to a stint in the hospital that arose from a 3 day long panic attack. They loaded me up on ativan and gabapentin (each on the maximum possible dose/day). I stayed on that for about 9 months when I finally started the cross-taper to clorazepate (long acting form of valium) that has an incredibly high half life (~150-200hrs) which theoretically helps. Anyways, I started to come off the 60mg daily dose at 7.5mg a week. The first two weeks were fine (due to the protracted withdrawal from the long half-life) but all of the sudden, the reductions started to catch up to me and I went through absolute hell. That was over 9 months ago.

I had finally gotten down to 30mg/day which is where I stand now. I talked to my doctor and decided it was time to get my mind and soul back from this absolutely evil drug. I'm absolutely terrified of starting the taper. I've dealt with this sort of thing (though with different substances) and I can honestly say that benzo withdrawal is the absolute worst.

Has anyone had success with using kava to help get off benzos? What does it help with, and what does it not help with? Were there particular strains that seemed to give more benefit for the symptoms (which are so complex and varied)?

Thanks for anyone's experiences. I'm ready, though terrified. :(
 
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Deleted User01

I friend of mine quit smoking and he did it by cutting back on his cigarette intake on a weekly basis. First week he had 10 cigs in the jar for the day, next week 9 cigs and so on. I'm not sure if that works for your particular drug. But they say cigarette addiction is worse than morphine addiction. So maybe chip a teeny tiny piece off the ole pill here and there? I'm talking slooowwww taper.

I've experienced my shared of anxiety and stress (in the past) and I know what works for me (besides drugs). I'm going to once again lecture everyone here about exercise. If you are physically able, please take the time (4-5 times a week) to get 30-40 minutes of exercise so you can release some badly needed serotonin. A brisk walk around campus with a friend will do the trick. A long walk on an autumn day in a park will give you great peace of mind. And please don't get on your bike while under the influence and get run over. I recently had several close calls while driving under the influence of Kava and I ain't gonna do it no mo. We can't be replacing one drug for another because that is not a long term solution. We need a variety of solutions to deal with anxiety and stress.

I really, really wish you well in your battle and I hope you have some kind of local support system to help you through this difficult time. You know you got us here in cyberspace.
 

infraredz

BULA!
Thank you very much @Deleted User , those are amazing sites. I've coincidentally already signed up for an account at BB.

I started my taper yesterday evening, but because the half life is nearly 8 days, I won't know how that affected me for another week-week and a half. I started off with a 10% reduction and I hope that I can tolerate that well, and not need to go 5% at a time, because that will take forever and I really want to get off this shite. That being said, I realize from my previous attempt how vital it is to be patient and go at a safe rate.

I appreciate the support, no matter how I get it and be assured, I know the importance of physical activity :)
 

earth mother

Love and Light
I just wanna say, You Got This! I have experience in tapering off of meds. I may even have the pocket calendar around somewhere, from my last time I had to do this in 2010. It was a pretty Big med, so I bet it would be along the same lines. I think it was like a 3 month??? I will dig around for it. Another gem I have for you...as corny as it sounds, if and when you can eat, eat some chocolate. It truly does trigger the same receptors that are tripped with benzos and opiates. Not buzz wise, but almost like a mini massage:) I will look and see if I can find that calendar, just in case for ya! Love and Light Dear One <3
 

yepimonfire

Kava Enthusiast
I am not trying to discourage you infraredz, but I do want to caution you to be VERY FREAKING CAREFUL. Anything that messes with gaba is very serious. Stock up on high dhm dhk kavas and don't hesitate to take them during the day. They will substantially reduce your risk of seziures and anxiety. As someone who has beat a gabaergic addiction, I wish you the best, it's a very tough process but the knowledge of freedom is worth all the difficulty. Also, stay far away from caffeine, it will only aggravate the glutamate/gaba imbalance.
 

infraredz

BULA!
I'm taking the most cautious route possible, within reason. From my geekiness, I know about glutamate and GABA and the sheer overwhelming power of GABA and the consequences of addiction or dependence to GABAergic drugs. I won't be at risk for seizures because 1. I'm going slowly and 2. I'm staying on a 900mg dose of Gabapentin.

Luckily I don't drink caffeine anyways, so I'm glad I won't have to "give that up" so to say.

So far so good! Day 3 and feeling good, though I know the symptoms won't present for another few days due to clorazepate's ~200 hr half life.
 
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Deleted User01

Infraredz is our Chief Mad Scientist here at the Kava Labs. In his fight against GABA, he has decided to be a live human experiment and do it interactively with us as spectators and cheerleaders. I’m very confident that he will call it off and regroup if something goes awry. Once he has succeeded, I have no doubt that he will put together a road map that others can follow out of the Gaba Maze or any other Benzo-Related Maze. I see people wandering into this forum on a daily basis who come her desperately looking for solutions. A “how-to” written by Infraredz with personal stories from you guys would be a tremendous boon to others who suffer the same affliction. So this project has long term implications and I salute Infraredz for carrying the flag into battle. I’m proud of you man!
 

infraredz

BULA!
Well, not that this is my journal or anything, but I thought I would give an update as to how I'm doing a week in.

The withdrawal from the first reduction hit me two days ago, and mostly I've been feeling very emotionally labile (mostly in terms of feeling sad and weepy very easily, as in watching Apollo 13 and crying every other scene). I've found that I have some anxiety and uncomfortable stimulation which some kava has helped tremendously with, although I must say that my normal dose of kava doesn't seem to have nearly as significant of an effect on me as it did before. This is probably due to the GABAergic qualities of both (kava exerting its GABAergic effects to a "depleted" GABA system). I've found that pure head kavas have been my go-to, mostly probably because of the "depressed" sort of feelings I've been having. Nonetheless, I'm doing okay, getting through it and am going to wait another few days until I'm stabilized for a full two days before I take my next reduction. Thanks again for all the good wishes!
 
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Deleted User01

Thanks for the update Infraredz. Glad to know you are "hanging in" there.
 

Alopeye

Kava Curious
A little late to this thread, but I just wanted to extend my good luck wishes to infaredz. My drug dependency is not as challenging, but I'm still with you as far as the depressive feelings go. Since I'm still trying to get past the RT, all I get is about 20 minutes of dizziness and a few hours of nausea. I'm hoping that a few more days will knock that out of me though. Anyway, good luck with everything and keep the updates coming.
 

Buddhacide

Kava Enthusiast
Been there bud. Ive been on some sort of benzo or z-drug for over a decade for reasons due to an undiagnosed sleep disorder. I'm currently in the process of a slow and merciless valium taper as well. At the time I was prescribed them originally (ativan) I had very little idea of how dangerous they are. It has been very, very difficult to get off them without substituting something else. I find kava to be a godsend most of the time, but it can also interfere with my sleeping (believe it or not) and make me feel worse. Hate to say it but the only way to really quit is probably to quit everything and focus ONLY on getting off the benzo. However, I dont think thats always possible. I dont think I'll ever be able to do it, which is why kava and other herbs are so important. If I didnt have kava I'd be doing much more dangerous things I reckon. So, my advice is stick with the kava but dont think of it as totally harmless. Continue to treat it with respect, and with a "harm reduction" frame of mind. Good luck man. Just know that you're not alone, and that people do manage this with time and patience. +1 for Harpos post about Benzobuddies and the Ashton Manual.
 

StinkWeed

Kava Enthusiast
I don't know how well kava works for tapering off benzos, but I strongly discourage going cold turkey. I broke many an expensive item out of blind and unexplained rage and woke up on the floor with a black eye SEVERAL times when I did. My blood pressure was at a level that would beconsidered stage two hypertension, and even though I spent most days knocked out by heavy mmj meds I still felt the terrible withdrawals. Alcohol made it much worse, I can't imagine kava being too detrimental though.
 

infraredz

BULA!
Ugh, not too well. Sorry I haven't been around lately... a lot has been going on for me.

I was tapering and going nice and slow, feeling some mild to moderate withdrawal symptoms but they were manageable but I just had a massive panic attack so I'm going to have to hold off on the taper and take a half step back. This shit is not fun at all :shy:
 

yepimonfire

Kava Enthusiast
Ugh, not too well. Sorry I haven't been around lately... a lot has been going on for me.

I was tapering and going nice and slow, feeling some mild to moderate withdrawal symptoms but they were manageable but I just had a massive panic attack so I'm going to have to hold off on the taper and take a half step back. This shit is not fun at all :shy:
Perhaps the benzos are a necessary evil then. I found even with kava I needed a gabaergic (phenibut, works on gaba b, benzodiazepines (gaba a) cause me to go into depression). I tapered down the phenibut one time and even though I wasn't experiencing wd s I quickly reverted back into the anxiety below a useful dose for me. If you could theoretically stay tanked on large amounts of kava you'd probably be okay, however for the purpose of getting anything productive accomplished, at least in my experience, this just isn't practical.

Sent from my KFTT using Tapatalk HD
 
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Deleted User01

Damn Infradredz, where have you been? I've been wondering about you and we miss you. Sorry about the small setback but we need you here to help all the newbies who are fighting the same thing. Glad you are back. We really can't afford to lose the Head Scientist at the Kava Labs. The doctor is in folks. Next patient please .....:joyful:
 
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