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How long does it take for benzos to leave your system?


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I am 35 year male,I have been taking klopin 1.5mg along with other antidepressants for last 15 year, this is not first time I am trying to reduce the dosage, doctors has advised me to reduce the dosage several times but I failed always, you guys better know why !! I have reduced my dosage from 1.5 to 1.25 mg 1 year back & taking 1mg for last 60 days. Medicines I am taking at present fluvoxin 150 mg,venlafexamine 150mg,klopin 1 mg  &nootrpril 800 for last 75 days ,nootropil has helped me a lot to fight with withdraw symptoms in starting ( Arnd 2 mnth back ),but at present I have some withdrawl symptoms like excess mouth watering,some time feel uncomfortable while talking.e tongue slips, dry mouth, shivering with in body & hand, tiredness,depressive feeling,bloating,constipation,restlessness etc etc symptoms changing with time,I do,nt know why iam expecting too much with this forum,this forum has realized me I am not alone in the world suffering from this situation.My main problem is I am a salaried man ,I have not told ny body in my surrounding ,in my office about my medication and the reason is in our country attitude of people is different, people think only mad persons visits psychiatrist ,lolz!!!but this time I will not look back,I want to reduce the dosage & I will, I also pray with god to help all others who are struggling for it.

 

 

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Hi ampersand,

 

Read your story and concerned how the weekend went and going back to work today Monday after Christmas. Let us know. Joined site today.

 

Thinking good thoughts,

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  • 2 weeks later...

Obviously we want to get the benzos out of our systems, hopefully through a slow taper to avoid a seizure or other severe symptoms, but even once they're out of our system totally, that's only like the first step of the journey, isn't it? Then, don't we go through a gradual healing process of waves and windows?

 

The reason I ask, I see the title of this thread and I'm thinking it's a bit misleading for the fact that it might give potential withdrawalers ( just made up that word) the idea that that is the goal in and of itself, just to get the drugs out of our system. That be nice if it were, to get through this in a matter of days or weeks, but I know it doesn't work out that simply. If it did, there would be inpatient facilities that you could go into and successfully withdraw in 30 days and live happily ever after.

 

I just took my reduced dose and I'm waiting for my thinking to clear up a bit as it takes effect. I'm trying to hang on to the thought that what I'm going through is ultimately for a good cause, that I'm not just needlessly torturing myself.

 

 

Good luck to us all.

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I've got almost 20 years of experience on this particular subject of dodging urine tests . The half lives are only guides based on the average guinea pig or person. If your overweight and have a slow metabolic rate your urine may test positive for upto 6weeks. Last detox I done , I was still testing positive on day 32 . The first time I detoxed 7 years before I passed a dteat 15 days later. So to sum it up . All benzos are out your blood pretty fast but depending on diet and even your genetic makup , its variable.....and extremely variable as I've learned. Hope this helps!
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I took 16 Excedrin PM and other stuff for ear ache and sister in her sleep elbowed me in ear, I picked her up toss her off bed,,  well ok I was only 17 guess I needed anti biotics  but we had to be dying for mom to take us to a doctor,,, so the PM don't work, they actually have opposite effect,,,,,,
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Hi Colin, Thanks for the info on the half life. Although it's a tad bit complicated to me. All that I considered was that, in the 16 days I have before I can get a refill, I have 20 2mg. tabs. If I take 2mgs a day, rather than 4. I will be miserable, but not really in much danger. Also it was inspiring that you were able to get off 4.5 mgs of Clonazepam!!! Rarely does anyone take that high of a dose. Did you do it C/T or taper? I know about the Ashton Manual And reducing by 10%, but I just have to go for it. and try to make it till the 6th of April. Love all the cute faces and stuff ppl post on this site! I'm not talented that way. I'll just admire your work.

 

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Hi. I've tried to follow the math. I'm tapering 2-3mg of lorazepam a day to 1.5mg total.

I take .5mg 3x/day at 10am, 5pm & 12am trying to stabilize to do a .25 dry cut June 22 & every month.

Is this too fast? Are my receptors fried from cold turkey then reinstatement then bad dry cuts in 2012-2013.

I'm tapering due to tolerance withdrawals & more education on reasons for my memory loss plus personality changes. I want my life back.

Waves hit badly but windows last long. I'm 6 days into this dry cut. Insomnia is worse & body twitching has started.

Any advice would help. Thanks! :)

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  • 1 month later...
I'm at .125 mg Xanax Colin and I remember your saying I was next to being there at .5 mg. worried about what will happen when I stop taking them. Also what happens after that. On my way to India end of August and don't want to take what's left of my prescription. Any thoughts?
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  • 1 month later...

Clonazepam is supposed to have a half-life between 18 and 50 hours.

I can feel daily fluctuations and usually get a panic-like mood always at the same time of the day (3-4 PM). This was true even on therapeutic doses. I only took one daily dose (1 mg) before bed time because I was prescribed it for insomnia.

 

I guess I'm just a very fast metabolizer of this drug? So my half-life is just more likely to be close to 20?

I can't put on weight easily and I am an ectomorph, and somewhat look skinnier than I really am! (58 kgs x 1.70 m)

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It depends on your metabolism, half life etc...

I guess for Valium around 28 days if you have a normal metabolism. In urine u can leave positive tests for up to 5-8 weeks! Valium is in your fat, brain, bones, heart, muscles. I have an enzyme problem I don't have the most important enzyme that metabolise Valium in the liver so my half life and w/d is much longer .1-2 % of all people have poor metabolism of CYP2C19. Mine doesn't work at all. Two enzymes breaks down Valium to their active metabolites in the liver. Lucky I have the other one CYP34A....

 

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  • 3 months later...

IMO, you are tapering way too fast and risking a melt down. :o  Let us know how you make out. Sandy

Did you ever notice that when you were tapering down or off the benzos altogether that you react differently to all sorts of situations, voices sound different, major things feel major, minor things feel major  (over-sensitive), your choice of words in any conversation take on a different approach... more like living in the here and now almost.  ;)

 

Absolutely.  This last cut hit me a bit more than any of the others.  Weird. 

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[88...]
For me with a slow metabolism of diazepam. Genetic missing the enzyme that is the most important to metabolise diazepam CYP2C19...It took me 5 weeks after 4 years of non stop using
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Hi Im new to tapering. But I take 1.mg of rivotril. Not familiar with the half life concept. I doubt I can switch.meds and if I do they may not even take into account how they vary in potency so.I have to stay with klonopin..its too small to split. This worries me. Thoughts?
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I realize this is an old thread but I have some input on the subject.  Benzodiazepines are metabolized mainly by two different liver enzymes: CYP2C19 and CYP3A4.  Our genes will tell us how we will metabolize the drugs based on those enzymes.  For instance, because of a polymorphism, I am an ultra fast metabolizer of CYP2C19 drugs.  That means they will move through my system much quicker than normal folks.  That explains why my temazepam was only effective for 4 or 5 hours and the rest of the time I experienced tolerance issues.  It also explains why the valium does not work so well for my taper (darn)!Some people may be poor metabolizers, meaning the drug stays in their system longer, and most folks are in the middle - normal.  I found out about my genes by having genetic  testing done via a local company called Genelex and also 23 and Me.  There are several places online that will help analyze your findings. 

 

I hope this helps someone understand why they are experiencing issues with these drugs.  Unfortunately, I was on them for almost 10 years before I figured it out.

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Wish i understood the Metabolism better with the Klonopin.  Never too good at math, and especially now with the withdrawals.

Does it matter the amt of years a person was on it?

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i find what used to work for me isn't working that well anymore.

 

i do better with liquid forms of stuffs - enters your system faster.

 

i have some real smelly valerian tea - Valerian hops is the strongest form of Valerian - it may come in a tincture somewhere.

 

i have gone back to smoking - i am smoking indian spirit filtered.

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  • 4 months later...
Colin, so the emphasis that all withdrawal programs including benzo's is to exercise and thus try to boost the metabolism. I would think that is the reason it is always incorporated into any withdrawal. Although again with exercise we also boost endorphins. It can only be predicted that if we keep active or start to be more active that the system will not have to work if you happen to not have a slow metabolism and along with the health benefits the metabolism boost may help. It certainly cannot. Hurt, it is always stressed no matter how difficult it may be to get up and do this with little sleep or no motivation,it just is helping ourselves possibly rid the system of benzos but make it easier for the body to adapt to a new healthy life along with sensible eating habits.
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Im bad with calculations and math-stupid.

 

When I take benzodiazepine (LORAZEPAM),  2 mg,  i feel the effects after about 40-60 minutes. Then i am very sedated. I sleep. After 7 hours of sleep and waking up, I feel tremors and WD symptoms. So I guess after 7 hours lorazepam is already not with me, and my brain is 'protesting' for not it being present.

 

I think the ashton manual says how much half life for lorazepma but if someone wants to tell me you can do that in private or here, im pretty bad these days barely read or type

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This was originally posted as a reply to this thread: http://www.benzobuddies.org/forum/index.php?topic=5660.0


 

Strictly, it will not be earlier doses that are processed, but just a proportion of the amount of drug you have in your system. It just depends on the particular molecule coming into contact with your metabolic processes. So, it is all chance, and probability. But since there are huge numbers of these drug molecules floating around our system, we can predict how much (a proportion) of the drug is metabolised over a period of time. The only problem is that it varies from person-to-person. The usual way to describe this is how long it takes for half of the drug to be metabolised (assuming that you have stopped taking additional doses), we can work out the amount fairly simply. This will be expressed as a range because of our individual differences. So, Valium will take between 36-200 hours for half of it to be metabolised. Of what's remaining, half of that will be metabolised after a further 36-200 hours. So, you will have a quarter left in your system after 72-400 hours. The maths is as follows:

 

Since we cannot know our individual rates of metabolisation, we will have to instead calculate a range of possibilities. In the case of Valium, that's 36-200 hours. To calculate how much is left in our system, say, after 6 days:

 

144 hours in 6 days, divide by 36 hours, equals 4. (144/36=4). - This is our power.

 

Half-life (0.5) to the power of 4, equals 0.0625 (as a decimal). Multiply this by 100 to express it as a percentage, equals 6.25%. This is how much is left in our bodies after six days, assuming that we metabolise Valium at a half-life rate of 36 hours.

 

Now, if we instead assume that we metabolise Valium at half-life rate of 200 hours, then: 144 hours in six days, divide by 200 hours (144/200=0.72). This is our power!

 

Half-life (0.5) to the power of 0.72, equals 0.607 (as a decimal) Again, we multiply by 100 to gain a percentage figure, equals 60.7%.

 

So, you see, even after just six days, the range of possible blood levels is very large, and the gap grows even larger with more time.

 

Again (more succinctly):

 

6 days; half-life 36-200 hours

 

6x24=144 hours

 

144/36=4 (for a half-life of 36 hours)

 

0.54=0.0625

 

= 6.25%

 

144/200=0.72 (for a half-life of 200 hours)

 

0.50.72=0.607

 

= 60.7%

 

Range = 6.25 to 60.7%.

 


 

Another example:

 

Clonazepam; 2 days and 6 hours; half-life 18-50 hours

 

(2x24)+6=54 hours

 

54/18=3 (for a half-life of 18 hours)

 

0.53=0.125

 

= 12.5%

 

54/50=1.08 (for a half-life of 50 hours)

 

0.51.08=0.473

 

= 47.3%

 

Range after 54 hours: 12.5 to 47.3%

 

 

So, we can calculate possible ranges, but I don't think it really tells us anything, apart from our individual metabolic rates has huge effects upon our meds. Because of this variability, two people on the same benzo, at the same dose, can expect to have very different blood levels, even when not withdrawing!

 

As a matter of interest, the possible range for Valium left in our system after 30 days is: 0.000095% (that must be undetectable) to 8.25% (that must be easily detectable). This difference is enormous. Knowing this probably doesn't help any of us though.

Where should I ask about Serax? Most here are not on them and its hard to get answers. I cant say I fullt understand this explanation about "halflife". I would be gratefull if I could get an answer on this :

I know Serax is a short life. I dont know if my tapper is to fast (have a lot of withdrawal and feel awfull). I went from 20- 25 mg to 10 mg in a week. Then 5 mg in four days, then 2.5 mg. Im on 2.5 mg since 10 days and some days are just horrible. Should I go back a bit? I have no clue what to do. Thanks

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Hi, guess this is in the wrong spot, but I did have MTHFR test run and it said I had two copies of the same mutation 3677t.  What does this mean, does anyone know?
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So with all this talk of half life etc, benzos being stored in the body has me confused. If one is tapering and there is a perceived shortfall by the body, surely the stored stuff would be utilised?
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Hope - I know Benzos are fat soluble, and probably get stored in fat cells too.  And our brain's first love is really fats.  I'm wondering if not activated charcoal, maybe doing more healthier fats like olive oil, fish oil, etc. would help the process.  Fats are processed in the liver, as are the benzos, so liver 'turnover' if you will....?    That may be another reason why exercise is consistently said to improve symptoms because it revs up metabolism a bit.  Hopefully I'm making sense.  Any thoughts?
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