Alcohol use advice? Third taper. Currently at.25mg

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I’m new hear but have read a lot of wonderful things and have my own experiences to share as well.  I have used alcohol to help tamper the symptoms of withdrawal- 2years tapering from 1mg reinstated 2times over the last 4years.  I need to know if alcohol has caused my tapering to flare up ?  And how do I get back on track? Did I do serious damage with using alcohol?  Thank-you

[[je...]]

Hi @[...]

Welcome to BenzoBuddies!

We generally advise against drinking alcohol during withdrawal because alcohol works on the same receptors as benzo's and can aggrevate withdrawal symptoms. Alcohol is known as "liquid benzo's" around here. The best would be to abstain from alcohol going forward. Our bodies are very resilient.

Can you give us a bit more detail about your taper history please? You started at 1mg. Did you stop benzo's completely and then reinstate or did you mean you updosed? Would you like to continue tapering again?

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Thanks for your response- here it goes … I have been on using Klonopin since approximately 2002- always same dose- .5-1mg at least 3 x week , some times none .  But regular since that time.  Saw a co-worker taking Xanax and having the worst time getting off.  I decided with my Doctors supervision to wean off over a period of a couple months the first time.  2016 December, .25 mg cut every 2 weeks until crumbs.  Off by February 2017.  Things went very dark and scary for 6 weeks.  I was losing it- almost had to quit working.  I found a therapist with Addiction/psychiatric medication experience and started therapy.  One month in with therapy my sleeplessness was doing me in .  I was almost 8 weeks out.  I reinstated- .25, then .05, then back to 1mg as I felt I needed to feel much better and had zero patience nor enough knowledge.  Waited almost a full year I think before doing water titration.  Fairly successful during that taper - 1ml of water every day- only holding a few times.  By February 2020- I was off .  4 weeks off I started to have substantial symptoms… and Covid hit.  ( I believe my alcohol use was masking withdrawal symptoms until I was no longer on the drug.  My symptoms were mainly DP/DR, anxiety and the sleeping.  Still traumatized by the first taper - I freaked out again and reinstated after 6weeks, this time only back to .05.  I had learned more by now and kept at the smallest dose that would keep me functioning, and waited until the storm passed.  Held at .05 for about 6 months.  Felt strong enough to do this again- slower than last time . So here I am …. Currently holding at .25mg since December 2023 when I destabilized myself by taking an ODT, at .25 mg and thought it could be used the same way for water titration- it only took me 2/3 days to start feeling extremely weird- I figured it out with my therapist and quickly got my ..5mg tablets prescribed and now split them for my .25mg dose .  Alcohol is not helping me now and I am terrified that by using it , I have damaged my taper by not staying away from the alcohol.  Everything feels strange, blunted emotions, not quite the same as symptoms I’ve had before, but similar-  thanks for reading- it’s been quite a struggle… I think I have really messed up this time.  Doing permanent damage and maybe will not stabilize. 
 

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It seems you're being quite hard on yourself. This is a difficult journey with or without alcohol. You can't change the past, but you can change how you see and manage the future. Avoid alcohol -- it doesn't bring benefit. Focus on tomorrow. Then focus on the next day.

Our bodies and brain have a remarkable recovery ability. Don't get ahead of yourself and put faith in that. Focus on your day to day and the recovery will happen.

[[je...]]

[[ve...]]

Alcohol lowers the seizure threshold.  It's a treacherous drug.  I became alcoholic because of drinking while doing benzos (not that I mixed on purpose).

I now only drink non-alcoholic beer because I love the taste of it so much.

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Thankyou all for your input:).  It’s been a long road so far , I feel ashamed at times for not staying away from alcohol, I read the success stories, but haven’t found someone like me yet - who has mentioned using alcohol, then still able to withdraw successfully.  It helps me to find/read similar situations to mine - thanks for your kind support- 

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@[...] here's a success story for you mentioning alcohol: 

 

 

I also used to use alcohol to lessen the symptoms somewhat, but it really only brings temporary relief and makes the whole process more difficult on the long term.