Why is benzo WD so different?

[[Mo...]]

I didn't know where else to ask, so I asking here

This is more of a science question. When coming off narcotics or amphetamines or even cocaine, there is no such thing as re-kindling effect. If you spend 30 days off narcotics and then take one dose, you won't get recurring narcotics WD symptoms afterwards and the same applies to other drugs, but not benzo's. Going cold turkey off narcotics does not make WD worse in the long-run, but with benzo's it does. All them heroin addicts think they got it so bad during cold turkey WD, but I would take 10x of such WD's in a row than a single benzo WD.

 

What is it about GABA system that causes such slow healing and up-down regulation? I can't find any scientific info on that...

 

I was also curious whether GABA A antagonists can be used to speed up up-down regulation of GABA A receptors (at the cost of more severe WD symptoms of course).

[[Da...]]

Hi MonarchX , I don't have a scientific answer to your question, I think if there was something that helped WD or sped it up we all be doing it, Why would you do anything that makes it worse?

[[Mo...]]

I figured in the short-run, GABA A antagonists would make WD worse, but in the long-run they could cause expedited healing because antagonism would cause GABA A up-regulation just like agonists cause down-regulation.  There was an article on how some scientists looked into Quinolone-based antibiotics (heavy GABA A antagonists) to see if they helped benzo WD sufferers in the long run, but I can't find it now...

[[Da...]]

There are medical experts who understand what happens to the gaba receptors during the WD process. Like Dr Heather Ashton who did the in depth study from the 1990s.  If there was some way to make it easier they would have probably found it. . I went cold turkey November and I have a lot of bad symptoms. Do I believe that a cold turkey WD versus a taper to do with the length of the WD, I only an speak for myself where I have been off for a while My symptoms suck really bad. I can only relate it to a CT detox. 

 

If you think you can find a way to make detox easier then try it on yourself.

[[Si...]]

I think the realquestion iswhy are allpyschistric medications hard to get off of. Benzos get the goldmedal but i hear antidepressants and antipyschichotic medications are pretty horrible as well. Big pharma knows something and that when you startchanging brain chemistry its really hard to comebzck to baseline.  Brains needhomeostatisis you removea benzoabruptly the brain is going to struggle to know how to come back. I know im 7 months out and still feeling most of symptoms and theyare horriffic.

[[MH...]]

I read a very interesting article that may shed some light on this: http://www.jbc.org/content/285/46/35606.long . The article indicates that sustained activation of glutamate receptors actually causes big time downregulation of GABAb receptors and disrupts the recycling of GABAb receptors. Here is the interesting thing. We know through other animal studies that benzo withdrawal downregulates the number of GABAa receptors and GABAb receptors ( GABAb is impacted by Klonopin). We also know that Benzo withdrawal upregulates AMPA receptors which are stimulated by glutamate. Consequently, we may have a scenario where GABAa and possibly GABAb receptors are downregulated, AMPA (glutamate oriented) receptors are upregulated, and a situation where the continued stimulation of AMPA receptors unimpeded by the now downregulated GABA receptors is slowing down the upregulation of the GABAa/b receptors.

 

Consequently, the people who have serious benzo withdrawal issues might be in a situation where their AMPA receptors got really upregulated and the level of upregulation is actively slowing down the process of GABA upregulation. It might be that the body first needs to cut down on the number of AMPA receptors before it can really upregulate GABA which might explain the timeframes of months to years. It's just a bit of speculation on my part but it might explain some things.

[[so...]]

Super interesting topic. I love getting into the "why" of things even if much of this is over my head. What I wonder about is why these particular drugs are only useful in the short term. I mean, I understand the mechanics. I know why. But other drugs can be taken long-term to treat whatever condition you may have. Why haven't they found a safe way to medicate anxiety on a long-term basis? It seems like it shouldn't be so far out of reach with the technology they have nowadays.

[[li...]]

GABA is a very dominant neurotransmitter, it acts like the 'brake' in the CNS (and possibly elsewhere).

 

Repeated withdrawals can seriously disrupt the balance between GABA and glutamate repeatedly. With complications like HPA axis overactivity/disruption and more.

Also, there is an effect on the cholinergic system.

 

I wasn't even taking into account that reference to GABAB receptors ...