Anyone familiar with The Coleman Institute and using Flumazenil for Rapid Benzo

I don't know if this is the correct board to post this on -

 

Wondering if this is a safe and effective way to get off Temazepam...

 

I found this place online - The Coleman Institute - it is a rehab center with two of their locations offering an 8 day accelerated detox using Flumazenil injections 

 

It's really expensive - but I am willing to consider it if it actually works.... 

 

I need to get of Temazepam and am super sensitive to medications, so I am hesitant to do the Ashton Manual switchover using Valium....

 

Scared of the whole process frankly!

 

Hoping someone here knows something about this Institute and the process!

 

Thanks!

Hi potato1234, I'm not familiar with this and I have never heard of it. I googled Flumazenil and it is an agnostic for benzos and it has been around since 1987. If they have had this so long and it eases benzo WD why is nobody here using it.  It sounds like its intended purpose is to take away the effects of benzos in situations like overdoses. I don't know if it would make any difference in actual WD or making the process any easier. If it is really expensive I may wait to see if anyone else knows anything about it. I want to keep an open mind I would just hate to see you waste your money on it. Their website makes it sound really promising.

 

Maybe others here know more about it then I do.

Thank you - googling old replies - I think I'll delete this thread...

 

Guess I can't delete it....  will ask a moderator to do so - don't want to stir this all up again when I found it in old posts. 

Thank you - googling old replies - I think I'll delete this thread...

 

Guess I can't delete it....  will ask a moderator to do so - don't want to stir this all up again when I found it in old posts. 

 

There is no magic potion. There is no way to quicken the process. I think if they had the answer that people would be flocking from all over the world.

I've read about this. Experiences vary. I suggest reading what the institute states on its own website, for which patients it works and for which ones it doesn't.

 

Having studied the topic myself, it seems experiences vary. Maybe it works for people who would have gotten off easy anyway ... Previous withdrawals ?

 

Also, do they use drugs like gabapentin or Lyrica ? Certain adjunct drugs may help more than flumazenil ... And there is the placebo effect !

 

 

I've read about this. Experiences vary. I suggest reading what the institute states on its own website, for which patients it works and for which ones it doesn't.

 

Having studied the topic myself, it seems experiences vary. Maybe it works for people who would have gotten off easy anyway ... Previous withdrawals ?

 

Also, do they use drugs like gabapentin or Lyrica ? Certain adjunct drugs may help more than flumazenil ... And there is the placebo effect !

 

flumazenil is simply an antidote to force benzo's off the gabaa receptors.  If you ever watched a wild life video you have seen flumazenil in action.  They dart some animal with a Valium dart (tranq dart) and to wake up the animal after tagging it they give it a shot of flumazenil.  How this could repair billions of missing or switched off gaba receptors is garbage science. 

 

One of the best things to rebuild gabaa receptors is STRESS.  Yes, I know it sucks.

 

There is always a calm before the storm

 

I did this in September.  Actually set me back and is a waste of time and money!

'One of the best things to rebuild gabaa receptors is STRESS.  Yes, I know it sucks.'

 

Birdman ! You should know better ! Lack of stress can be bad. But too much stress (overactivation HPA axis, suppression HPG axis, too many excitatory neurotransmitters etc.) can make things much worse. Not to mention the lack of sleep ...

I did this in September.  Actually set me back and is a waste of time and money!

 

You are the first member I have ever seen who has first hand experience. What was the cost?

$6400

I would pay that if it would work !

I researched low dose flumazenil. It is more useful for reducing tolerance and dosage or for upregulating GABAa receptors when you completely quit benzos. It is nonsensical for rapid detox, and possibly dangerous. Coleman just gives you a cocktail of drugs: probably depakote, seroquel, and barbiturates... and gives you flumazenil infusions and sends you to a motel after. It takes 8 days. So you have to walk back to your hotel 8 times wondering if this is going to work. It be more useful to do ultra low dose flumazenil infusions for 45 consecutive days after quitting benzos. It may speed up the healing process but who knows. But this isn't something you can get done in the US. It is more of a do it your self thing. I'm not interested.

$6400

 

That was about the cost of my phenobarbital taper at a detox center. How long did they keep you? Did you have to travel far to get there? Were there others there doing the same?

One week.  I had to travel.  Had to fly from Wisconsin to Virginia.  I was able to stay with my brother-in-law and he drove me each day. 75 minutes one way.  No one else was going through this.  They hooked you up with the flunazemil pump and you went home.  They just checked on you each day and some days were a complete waste to drive that far.  I would not recommend it as i think it set me back and delayed my recovery because of the the gabaergic drugs they put me on during the treatment.

Flumazenil is a GABA antagonist that is used primarily as a reversal agent. If a benzo and opioid are both used to sedate a patient for some sort of procedure, flumazenil and naloxone are given to arouse and wake them back up.

 

Flumazenil research is in its infancy stage. Supposedly, Australia is spearheading the research movement and many claim there are local trials that are experimenting with flumazenil as a possible detox option.

 

The theory is because flumazenil binds at GABA receptors with such high affinity and density, the brain is re-directed and sparked to up-regulate and/or resynthsize receptor sites much, much quicker. The Coleman Institute will let you try the stomach pump infusion, but they may also be doing the subcutaneous injections.

 

One of the major risks with flumazenil as a treatment option includes refractory seizures, as you'd have glutamate firing unopposed.