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Can anyone drink alcohol post benzo withdrawals? Stories?


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Question for fellow benzo-surviors

 

Has anyone gone through withdrawals from benzodiazepines (Xanax, Klonopin or Ativan or any benzo) and healed completely to the point where they can enjoy an alcoholic drink without feeling sick or going back into withdrawals?

 

I am 3 years and 8 months clean of benzos and alcohol

 

I'm scared to try and drink again because 2 months after quitting cold turkey I had a beer and it made me feel sick and go into a mini-withdrawal..

 

A little about me...

 

I went through two episodes of benzo withdrawals in 2012 and 2013 and they were the most difficult parts of my life. Both were after about 6 months of weekly use 1-2x a week. I quit xanax cold turkey and went through hell for a week in a foreign country

 

My 6 months of benzo use culminated in a final weekend of partying in South America, after which I decided to flush all my xanax and ativan down the toilet and quit. (I had no idea what tapering was until later) .

 

This cold turkey detox was the most difficult thing in my life. I felt like I had died and was living like a zombie, not dead or alive, like time had stopped and the world went on with me only present as an observer. Almost like I was living in another evil dimension. I was shaking, having tremors, feeling extremely depressed and not eating for nearly a week and finally I saw the light shine through.

 

The next few months would be difficult but after about 2 months I stopped having waves.

 

It has now been 3 years and 8 months and I feel normal and I am tempted to have a drink even though I told myself I would not drink for 4 years.

 

There is no magic time for how long your body takes to fully recover (I have read 36 months in the worst cases) but there are people who's withdrawals last longer than that though rare.

 

Has anybody been able to drink without getting sick post benzo withdrawal? No one in the entire internet has discussed this topic for years!!There are no new stories or information. Please share your stories and ask me any questions you have!

 

Thanks a lot

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[7e...]

I can (and do) drink post-benzo.  I'm looking forward to a couple of IPAs in a few hours with the after-work golf league that I play in. 

 

My first beer also didn't go very well.  I tried it at 3 weeks post c/t.  Rev'd me up for two days.  I tried again at 3 months and it went a little better (I nursed a single beer for something like 3-4 hours).  By 5 months, I could have a couple of drinks without any difficulty and by 7 months, I could drink like the good old days without issue.

 

If you decide to reintroduce alcohol, go slow.  Just a sip or two the first time.  Build up your confidence.  I had some strange 'hangovers' the first few times that I had multiple drinks, but they only lasted a few hours (and while weird, it wasn't terrible).

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Question for fellow benzo-surviors

 

Has anyone gone through withdrawals from benzodiazepines (Xanax, Klonopin or Ativan or any benzo) and healed completely to the point where they can enjoy an alcoholic drink without feeling sick or going back into withdrawals?

 

I am 3 years and 8 months clean of benzos and alcohol

 

I'm scared to try and drink again because 2 months after quitting cold turkey I had a beer and it made me feel sick and go into a mini-withdrawal..

 

A little about me...

 

I went through two episodes of benzo withdrawals in 2012 and 2013 and they were the most difficult parts of my life. Both were after about 6 months of weekly use 1-2x a week. I quit xanax cold turkey and went through hell for a week in a foreign country

 

My 6 months of benzo use culminated in a final weekend of partying in South America, after which I decided to flush all my xanax and ativan down the toilet and quit. (I had no idea what tapering was until later) .

 

This cold turkey detox was the most difficult thing in my life. I felt like I had died and was living like a zombie, not dead or alive, like time had stopped and the world went on with me only present as an observer. Almost like I was living in another evil dimension. I was shaking, having tremors, feeling extremely depressed and not eating for nearly a week and finally I saw the light shine through.

 

The next few months would be difficult but after about 2 months I stopped having waves.

 

It has now been 3 years and 8 months and I feel normal and I am tempted to have a drink even though I told myself I would not drink for 4 years.

 

There is no magic time for how long your body takes to fully recover (I have read 36 months in the worst cases) but there are people who's withdrawals last longer than that though rare.

 

Has anybody been able to drink without getting sick post benzo withdrawal? No one in the entire internet has discussed this topic for years!!There are no new stories or information. Please share your stories and ask me any questions you have!

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I dont know if this will help, but i am 3 months off Ativan and drank a few weeks ago and i mean, really drank. Binge drank for 2 days and when i sobered up, i was straight up withdrawaling, the shakes and everything. I was really scared, it was awful. But your way ahead of me, I think youll be fine, but who knows?

 

Alcohol affects the same receptors as benzos, maybe our receptors are FRIED from the benzos? Wont know til you try .

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I'm really interested to follow this post. I was never an alcoholic but definitely enjoyed having social drinks with family and friends and although I'm far too sick now to even attempt it I'd like to think some day in recovery I can enjoy a glass or two of wine again. If you do decide to have a drink please keep us posted ❤️
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After not touching alcolhol for about a year a tried a few beers a few weeks ago and all symptoms went away. I felt sooo good. So good infact that I drank for 2 days straight without any problem. Off course I had a bad hangover that lasted almost a week but that's normal for me. Since then I have had alcohol (alot) on two different occasions. No setbacks for me atleast. In fact I think I might feel even better now after 3-4 weekends of heavy drinking than when I was completely sober.

 

I would not wan't to crave alcohol this much but it's really hard since I feel 100 times better when I drink and it completely melts away all my anxiety, fear and headache.

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After not touching alcolhol for about a year a tried a few beers a few weeks ago and all symptoms went away. I felt sooo good. So good infact that I drank for 2 days straight without any problem. Off course I had a bad hangover that lasted almost a week but that's normal for me. Since then I have had alcohol (alot) on two different occasions. No setbacks for me atleast. In fact I think I might feel even better now after 3-4 weekends of heavy drinking than when I was completely sober.

 

I would not wan't to crave alcohol this much but it's really hard since I feel 100 times better when I drink and it completely melts away all my anxiety, fear and headache.

 

This is my fear. I am still dealing with a lot of lingering anxiety and I'm worried that either alcohol is going to throw me back into withdrawal (that'd be FUN!), or it'll make me feel amazing and get rid of the anxiety, and then I'll be an alcoholic because at this point, I'd do anything to get rid of the anxiety. Ughhhhh....

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I've been able to drink without issue. I try to limit myself just because I know I'm still recovering, but it doesn't seem to aggravate my symptoms. I can't handle any caffeine, though. Sensitivities are different for everyone.
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I know it's not good for me in any way to drink but I just don't care anymore. Feeling this bad 100% of the time is just not an option anymore. I don't care how bad a hangover I get or if it sets me back a little. The temporary feeling of happiness is worth it at this point.
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[7e...]

So u were able to drink 3 months off the drug?

 

I was able to drink a single beer over the course of 3-4 hours at the 3 month mark (and I didn't actually quite finish it).  I would not say that I was able to drink 3 months off.  But it was a start. 

 

Go slow.

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I know it's not good for me in any way to drink but I just don't care anymore. Feeling this bad 100% of the time is just not an option anymore. I don't care how bad a hangover I get or if it sets me back a little. The temporary feeling of happiness is worth it at this point.

 

I'm not one to preach but this is a recipe for disaster.  You basically traded one GABA drug (benzo) for an even more dangerous GABA drug (ETOH).  It's not that it "sets me back a little" as you put it but it is preventing healing and can even be doing more damage to your GABA receptors because of the short 1/2 life of alcohol.  You're on a path to having to drink non-stop to keep feeling well which leads to so many more issues like liver and cardiovascular damage.  In the end you, you can do what you want but I just want to make sure you are fully aware of what you are doing.  Best of luck to you regardless of what you decide to do.

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drinking is the reason i started benzos, ive been off since last august but i was still drinking, i  would sober up a mont or two the past year then start drinking again, im sober 9 weeks and not going back , i cant describe the hell im going through
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I've had two massively horrendous setbacks from alcohol. Some people I guess don't have a problem, but no more alcohol for me for sure.
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I know it's not good for me in any way to drink but I just don't care anymore. Feeling this bad 100% of the time is just not an option anymore. I don't care how bad a hangover I get or if it sets me back a little. The temporary feeling of happiness is worth it at this point.

 

I'm not one to preach but this is a recipe for disaster.  You basically traded one GABA drug (benzo) for an even more dangerous GABA drug (ETOH).  It's not that it "sets me back a little" as you put it but it is preventing healing and can even be doing more damage to your GABA receptors because of the short 1/2 life of alcohol.  You're on a path to having to drink non-stop to keep feeling well which leads to so many more issues like liver and cardiovascular damage.  In the end you, you can do what you want but I just want to make sure you are fully aware of what you are doing.  Best of luck to you regardless of what you decide to do.

 

 

Thank you for your concern.

 

I'm totally aware that me drinking is not a good option. IN ANY WAY. But during the summertime I will allow myself to drink 1-2 times a month, just to help me get through all this s**t. If it sets me back for sometime then I'm fine with that. I don't plan on becoming an alcoholic. The temporary relief is worth it since I have not had windows regarding my burning headaches for almost a year.

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Hey Bakulaflare,

 

I wouldn't risk it. Alcohol acts on GABA. It's most similar to Xanax, cause it makes one excited.

 

Been to hundreds of AA meetings. Ex has been sober thanks to AA for 14 yrs. From drugs and alcohol.

 

Many alcoholics start with benzos. Many add benzos to alcohol or alcohol to benzos.

 

Saw dozens of alcoholics die a very painful death. The agony is terrible. They were my AA friends.

 

Some were sober for many yrs. Returned to drinking and drank themselves to death.

 

My ex's father. A benzo addict and alcoholic all his life. Was neurotic probably.

 

Detoxed him from benzos during a two months' hospital stay.

 

Stopped drinking. Gave him an AD, AP, Vistaril.

 

Started drinking again after many years. Drank himself to death in a very short time.

 

Take care.

 

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how did he drink himself to death? when i was on benzos i drank alot and crave dit more i have been sober over 2 months now and im still going threw hell i dont know if its normal or not
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After initially coming off the benzos and going through the original withdrawal and recovery (which took about 4 months maybe) I thought I was totally healed and that I could go back to my previous lifestyle. I was also thrown off by testing out drinking here and there and didn't seem to have any side effects pop up. That didn't last. Everything was fine until I got drunk at a work event and then got the flu the next day. That brought back all the terrible w/d symptoms, the worst of which was insomnia. I wasn't sleeping for days at a time. Had other issues, but that was the worst one to me. That took about 10 months to recover from. I then went for a whole year feeling pretty much healed again. I got relaxed and thought I would try to drink some again. Same exact thing happened. I went for a few months drinking occasionally with absolutely no side effects. Then out of the blue, hit really bad again. The insomnia came roaring back as well as a ton of other s/x. There were even some that were worse than the two times before. My skin burning was at a 8 or 9. Felt like I had shingles basically every day. Akathisia really bad. I ran up and down Stone Mountain two times a day for about a week straight. My wife had to remove the rope from the house because I was going to hang myself. I hate to say that, but it's true. Then sometime around 4 or 4-1/2 months after this setback it all went away again and I started feeling normal. Very weird, but that's what happened. So I'm not drinking booze ever again. I don't think I'll make it through another setback like the last two. Of course, anyone else on here is free to test it out if they want.
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so u think these symtpoms im having are setbacks from my booze history? coming off the benzos? did u have like migraine pain and lightheadedness and dizzyness balance issues
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I think about alcohol every day, many times a day not because I want to get drunk but because I know it will ease the hell I am in.  But I had such a difficult relationship with it because of my anxiety disorder that I know that even if I am ever healed I won't be able to drink again. It is what it is. And right before Easter of this year a friend of my daughter, her mother passed away from alcoholism. She was only 45 but she'd had gastric bypass a few years ago and her emotional issues were never addressed so she turned to drinking. Alcohol is dangerous and if you have anxiety even if you're not dealing with withdrawal it's a sure bet that you are drinking for the wrong reasons. So good luck, but think hard about introducing it again because it's a slippery slope.
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