If you've built a tolerence to a benzo is it permanant or temporary??

[Depression4life]

I first started taking benzos 1 year ago in March 2016 it was prescribed to me by my doctor. The thing is I started at low doses I was taking 2mg of diazepam 3 times a day so 6mg then after a while I switched to Xanax I was given 0.5mg twice a day (1mg a day) it was working despite the low dose I was taking perhaps cause I was new to benzos so I didn't have a tolerance. So then after my psy switched me to lysanxia/prazepam I wasn't given a dosage so I was taking how much I wanted to bearing in mind 60mg is the maximum dose. Taking 15-30mg a day was effective for me. But then I switched back to diazepam & I saw a different doc who prescribed 30mg a day at first it was working but after a few months it stopped working so I upped the dose to 40mg which is the maximum dose but still nothing it wasn't working it was as if I was taking sugar pills! So I asked the doc to switch me back to Prazepam/Lysanxia he gave me between 40mg-50mg to take everyday but it was ineffective it had no effect on me I didnt feel sedated/stoned or calm/relaxed like I used to feel when I was taking a very low dosage of the same medication a year ago in 2016. So my question is if you become tolerent to a benzo does that mean it's forever or just temporary?? Another question is if you become tolerent to say diazepam does that mean I'm also tolerent to all the other benzos such as prazepam or xanax?? Obviously after a while the medication does stop working but if I take a 1-2 month break from Benzos not taking any benzos at all would my tolerence go away & then the medication would start working again if I start from scratch again at a low dosage??

 

[Psychedelicious]

meow meow

It's not completely permanent in my experience, but it just never seems to return to baseline. It's absolutely one of the longest lasting and hardest tolerance to get rid of. My advice would is to be careful and do't keep upping the dose, it's so hard to get rid of. I don't know how long it takes to godown reasonably, perhaps years. I have a massive tolerance to benzos and can't really take them anymore because of it. Have to take 10mg + of xanax to feel anything at all, and while that is lower than it used to be it's pretty damn high still. Benzos also seem to have a cross tolerance to alcohol and because of that I can't drink anymore either! I don't know if it depends on how high your tolerance is to reset but 1-2 months does not seem long enough. I can go months and months without and the tolerance does go down, but it never really resets itself. Be careful with benzos and don't be an idiot like me. Try and maintain the same dose the best you can. If you want your tolerance to go down any you have to be incredibly patient.

 

[Depression4life]

Re: meow meow

It's not completely permanent in my experience, but it just never seems to return to baseline. It's absolutely one of the longest lasting and hardest tolerance to get rid of. My advice would is to be careful and do't keep upping the dose, it's so hard to get rid of. I don't know how long it takes to godown reasonably, perhaps years. I have a massive tolerance to benzos and can't really take them anymore because of it. Have to take 10mg + of xanax to feel anything at all, and while that is lower than it used to be it's pretty damn high still. Benzos also seem to have a cross tolerance to alcohol and because of that I can't drink anymore either! I don't know if it depends on how high your tolerance is to reset but 1-2 months does not seem long enough. I can go months and months without and the tolerance does go down, but it never really resets itself. Be careful with benzos and don't be an idiot like me. Try and maintain the same dose the best you can. If you want your tolerance to go down any you have to be incredibly patient.

Wow that sucks! I can't see myself going months or even years without taking a benzo. It's something I need as I have PTSD & severe anxiety & insomnia too. The thing I don't understand is if I'm tolerent to a specific benzo such as Valium does that mean I'm tolerent to all the other benzos such as Ativan,Klonopin even though I've never took them before?!
I thought if I had built a tolerence to a specific benzo I'd be only tolerent to that benzo no other benzos/meds.
And yeah I think my tolerence is sky high like I said I've been taking benzos for a year at first i started with small doses & it was working whether it was prazepam,xanax or valium. But now even if I take 40mg of valium or 60mg of prazepam which are the maximum doses it has no effect at all anymore!

 

[Psychedelicious]

meow meow

All benzos are cross tolerant with each other. If you develop a tolerance to one, you will have tolerance to all benzos. GABA drugs seem to have a cross tolerance with each other so you might notice an increase in alcohol tolerance too. It's better to use them as needed than every single day, since tolerance is pretty rapidly developed and difficult to get rid of. Also it's important to remember that the rebound and withdrawal effects of benzos can be identical and exaggerated to the reason why you even started taking them in the first place. It's your mind playing tricks on you and making you think your anxiety is worse than it actually is, making you think you need the drugs to function.I think that's part of why these things are so damn addicting. I can tell you from my personal experience that after months of quitting benzos it DOES get better. Anxiety is still sky high but it has lessened since when i first stopped. Benzos can not be a permanent solution to anxiety. I'm sorry you're going through this, it's one of the worst withdrawals to go through. If you keep taking them every day your tolerance will only get higher and higher.

 

[Depression4life]

Re: meow meow

All benzos are cross tolerant with each other. If you develop a tolerance to one, you will have tolerance to all benzos. GABA drugs seem to have a cross tolerance with each other so you might notice an increase in alcohol tolerance too. It's better to use them as needed than every single day, since tolerance is pretty rapidly developed and difficult to get rid of. Also it's important to remember that the rebound and withdrawal effects of benzos can be identical and exaggerated to the reason why you even started taking them in the first place. It's your mind playing tricks on you and making you think your anxiety is worse than it actually is, making you think you need the drugs to function.I think that's part of why these things are so damn addicting. I can tell you from my personal experience that after months of quitting benzos it DOES get better. Anxiety is still sky high but it has lessened since when i first stopped. Benzos can not be a permanent solution to anxiety. I'm sorry you're going through this, it's one of the worst withdrawals to go through. If you keep taking them every day your tolerance will only get higher and higher.

I understand what you're saying but I need to take a benzo on a daily basis. Infact my psychiatrist advised me to continue taking them daily. I've got GAD,Social Anxiety,Insomnia,Panic attacks,PTSD. My tolerence is probably sky high so I'm gonna go 1 month/6weeks without benzos. If I use alcohol instead for that period of time ( I haven't had a drink since you can't drink whilst taking benzos) will my tolerence go back down to normal?? If I've built a tolerene to say Valium like you said I've built a tolerence to all the other benzos too but not to alcohol right??