Do i risk problems with tolerance to benzos?

[Bluesummers]

N doesn't arrive, and I'm thinking about 20g phenobarbital + 300 mg diazepam. The fact is that I'm in therapy (for a panic attack disorder) with alprazolam (2.5 mg/day, not a very high dosage). At the moment I have no sign of tolerance (I use the same dose without craving for more). Do I still risk that this makes diazepam less effective? Should I be completely clean from benzo when I get the combo pheno/diazepam or I could go anyway?

 

[CTB-London]

2.5mg of Alprazolam is quite a high dosage and will cause addiction and tolerance. Benzos have the same mechanism of action so they are cross tolerant. As you say, consider coming off the Alprazolam to lose your tolerance.

 

[mathieu]

I've found that my benzo tolerance doesn't really go away over time even while refraining from their use.

 

[Fragile]

I'm in a similar position, I'm an alcoholic and I also take pills that give me tolerance to GABA. even though I have N, there's a possibility that I'll be on the group of people that take over 24 hours to die from it instead of the usual 15-40 minutes on normal people.

phenobarbital is much weaker, but it can definitely kill you. in your case it depends on how long have you been taking alprazolam, this benzo is notoriously easy to get addicted to without you even realizing , I'd say that if you've been taking them for a short period of time (less than 2 months) then you could ask your psychiatrist to help you cut down the dose until you no longer need it daily, but be careful because this is really hard to achieve if you've been using it for longer periods of time.

I've found that my benzo tolerance doesn't really go away over time even while refraining from their use.

yeah, GABA tolerance in general is extremely hard to regulate. many people find that it never truly goes away, and those who manage to lower it go through hell with withdrawals that can last for years. it's a common opinion on drug forums that benzos and alcohol have worse withdrawals than heroin.

 

[Bluesummers]

2.5mg of Alprazolam is quite a high dosage and will cause addiction and tolerance. Benzos have the same mechanism of action so they are cross tolerant. As you say, consider coming off the Alprazolam to lose your tolerance.

Well, I woudn' say it's precisely high. Usually the risk for tolerance and dependence is relevant with dosage like 4 mg/day or more. But i would say it's a medium dosage and the risk is not inexistent.

I'm in a similar position, I'm an alcoholic and I also take pills that give me tolerance to GABA. even though I have N, there's a possibility that I'll be on the group of people that take over 24 hours to die from it instead of the usual 15-40 minutes on normal people.

phenobarbital is much weaker, but it can definitely kill you. in your case it depends on how long have you been taking alprazolam, this benzo is notoriously easy to get addicted to without you even realizing , I'd say that if you've been taking them for a short period of time (less than 2 months) then you could ask your psychiatrist to help you cut down the dose until you no longer need it daily, but be careful because this is really hard to achieve if you've been using it for longer periods of time.



yeah, GABA tolerance in general is extremely hard to regulate. many people find that it never truly goes away, and those who manage to lower it go through hell with withdrawals that can last for years. it's a common opinion on drug forums that benzos and alcohol have worse withdrawals than heroin.

I'm using alprazolam daily since january. Unfortunately at the moment is the only thing we can use to prevent panic attacks (I tried other drugs that didn't work and I cannot use antidepressants since I have mixed depression - I'm a half-bipolar).
I don't know, maybe I'll wait until the moment they will stop me from taking benzos (it could not be a therapy for life, or the panic disorder goes away or they probably must give me antidepressant, despite the risk of it).