# how often do you drink w/benzos?



## paperheart (Apr 23, 2010)

Benzos are extremely helpful, but when the weekend comes around and I go out to dinner or any night time place conducive to drinking I'll want to reach for a glass of something. I'm very uncomfortable socializing w/o klonopin, forget being in bars and places like that with new or old friends :| It makes me feel really guilty that I have to function socially like this even if it's drinking moderately once or twice a week. I don't know if I'm being too hard on myself or being overly cautious. I'm aware and afraid of cross tolerance. 
guess i'm wondering if anyone does this, and how often?


----------



## No Limit (Dec 6, 2005)

I've only done it once before and it was when I started out on Klonopin. I took about 1mg before I left for a lounge. I remember I had 2 shots and then another drink or 2. Probably after an hour or so I started to feel tired and sat down. Next thing I woke up in my bathroom. Luckily I had 2 friends who met up with me at the lounge. I was told I passed out and was kicked out of the lounge. I took the Klonopin to relax and be more outgoing, but with the alcohol it just ruined the moment. Just do it at your own risk.


----------



## rustybob (Nov 19, 2009)

I've drank while on Valium and Ativan before, on both of those my alcohol tolerance actually went up for some reason. I'd say I'm more the exception than the norm though. Valium and Ativan don't make me tired at all. Really, they seem to energize me.


----------



## Foh_Teej (May 5, 2004)

i drink guinness and hoegaarden almost everynight while on klonopin. Know your limits because the combo has an uncanny ability to make you look like a fool in public. My personal experience is 4-5 drinks plus a 2mg K will make me about as stupid as a 12 pack would.


----------



## Positive (Jun 29, 2009)

I've tried it, it makes my tolerance a lot less.


----------



## paperheart (Apr 23, 2010)

yea, it increases my tolerance a lot to both klonopin and alcohol too. i am not def not a cheap date..lol

Foh,
I pretty much try to stay within my limits. The only thing is I feel the best socially when I'm on this mixture, which is a unsettling. I didn't come off like the brightest bulb :b but i'm so much more relaxed, and smiley, even charismatic to an extent. People took to me better, and vice versa. Did you experience did? Are you still drinking on klonopin btw? if not, how did you stop?


----------



## hensley258 (Apr 24, 2010)

I shouldn't say this because it doesn't mean that it's safe, but I drink A LOT on 2 to 3 Mgs of Klonopin almost everyday. 100 proof Captan Morgans being my drink of choice. When I say a lot I mean about 1/2 a fifth chased with up to 3 mgs Klonopin.

It's not good to do, I should not do it, and you should not do it.

On the other hand, to say your at risk if you take 1/2Mg of Klonopin and maybe have two drinks..... I have never in my life heard of anyone being killed with shuch small amounts.

With my amounts, well yes there is a chance it could kill me but my life doesn't mean that much to me anyway so no real loss if it does.

You would be shocked to know just how much the human body can handle. I know I am. My still being alive with regular usage of such mass quantitys of both, could also be due to the tolerance I have built up for both.

Either way keep it to a couple drinks and keep the Klonopin low. Everything in moderation.


----------



## Foh_Teej (May 5, 2004)

paperheart said:


> Are you still drinking on klonopin btw? if not, how did you stop?


i regularly drink on it. The only thing i absolutely wont do is drive with ANY amount of alcohol and K. Im not addicted to either and can stop when i want. Im not drinking tonight actually


----------



## hensley258 (Apr 24, 2010)

LOL! I'm probably addicted to both, but when P-docs keep giving you weak antidepressants that don't work what the hell else can I do to take the edge off?

At least I'm not chomping down 8 Mgs a day of Xanax like I see some people do.

For me at least the drinking has to stop because it's just way too excessive with me and I know it. I get on benders like that. Won't drink for months, then tip a bottle everynight for 4 months. Weird.

You asked is it safe? Well, It's a gamble depending on how much your system can tolerate. Take a person with no Benzo tolerance or alcohol tolerance and give him 2Mgs Klonopin and just 4 stiff drinks and he could end up dead. That's not even a mild buzz to me, but my tolerance is high.

For any one though I just can't see 1/2 Mg Klonopin and two beers killing them. If that has ever happened then I have never heard of it. A childs body could tolerate that.


----------



## scared1960 (May 3, 2010)

*drinking on benzos*



hensley258 said:


> LOL! I'm probably addicted to both, but when P-docs keep giving you weak antidepressants that don't work what the hell else can I do to take the edge off?
> 
> At least I'm not chomping down 8 Mgs a day of Xanax like I see some people do.
> 
> ...


i was on xanx for 17 years and the last 6 years on it i drank about a 12 pack of beer a day thats the happiest i had ever been i weighed like 125 im female then my counsler scaredme and told me i could go in a coma so i stopped xanx and beer cold turkey haven tbeen the same since..benn on ativan or klonopin the last two years so 20 years on benzos,my ne dr who recently put me back on xanax and prozac and adderall told me last week to live and have a couple beers a night its not gonna hurt me he said,,im so scared as before i was just on xanax and depakote when i drank..i called pharmisist and some say its ok others say no..i weigh 150 now and 49years old..i believe my fear and depression got worse cause i couldnt drink these last 2 years and i live a life of fear no enjoymnet my hubby drinks all the time and we spend lots of time at bard and its been hard not to drink..now dr gives me permission and im scared im on 3 mg xanax and 30 mg adderall and 20 mg prozac what would u do


----------



## cv2010 (May 6, 2010)

I drank while I was on Klonopin and it was the worst hangover in my life,I dont advise drinking while taking that.:afr


----------



## Klonii (May 10, 2010)

Personally I've found 2-4 drinks on 1-2 mgs of klonopins on the weekends to be a non-issue and I'm typically a lightweight, but everyone is different.


----------



## orbit55 (Apr 23, 2008)

hensley258 said:


> LOL! I'm probably addicted to both, but when P-docs keep giving you weak antidepressants that don't work what the hell else can I do to take the edge off?
> 
> At least I'm not chomping down 8 Mgs a day of Xanax like I see some people do.
> 
> ...


I'd really like to re-open this benzo/alcohol topic. It seems to me that you have the people who don't drink at all and the people who drink a lot but not a lot of people in the middle.

When I started benzos I did not drink at all. I started on Xanax and it was around the time Heath Ledger died so I was extremely worried about mixing them.

My doc transferred me to 2 mg of Klonopin per day, where I have been for 2 years and I gradually moved myself up. I remember being so worried about mixing it with 1 beer. I went back to college and set a 6 drink limit for myself on the weekends. This worked well. I counted my drinks and once the sixth was consumed I was done for the night.

I spent Spring Break in Mexico, made 9 trips to Vegas and studied abroad in France. At this point, which is where I feel I am now, I've gotten lazy and stopped counting to 6 and now go between 8 and 10 during an entire night. I'm pretty sure I've got up to 12 before but very rarely.

Lately my hangovers have been awful. My head throbs in the morning and it really feels like withdrawal. I say this because I know the feeling when you quit smoking cold turkey. What's this I hear about cross-tolerence?

Frequency is low. This is a 2 night a week thing. I was recently unemployed for 2 months and stopped drinking altogether during that period. Why are there no labels on Klonopin that say DO NOT MIX? I've filled my rx in two states and never got a label like that. It just say may intensify the effects. I've had two docs as well and they just say count 1 drink as 2. Thoughts?


----------



## orbit55 (Apr 23, 2008)

Oh yeah. And in response to someone with no tolerance dying on 2 mg of Klonopin and 4 beers... How? I researched this topic quite a bit before I ever mixed a benzo with alcohol and from what I have read, benzo's only increase the body's blood alcohol content. So for someone to die on the mixture they basically have to poison themselves with the alcohol. 

So are you saying someone could die from consuming 8 beers w/o tolerance?


----------



## Recipe For Disaster (Jun 8, 2010)

i'm not sure why it doesnt say dont mix. i guess because having one or two drinks on benzos really isn't going to be lethal or anything. i am not sure if the benzos are contributing to making your hangovers worse, but it is possible. hangovers can get worse over time with heavy drinking regardless. 

i used to drink on benzos every night. i stopped after an incident where i took 4 mg of xanax, drank 2 bottles of wine and 3 beers and woke up bleeding from the head with no recollection of how i'd hurt myself.


----------



## Recipe For Disaster (Jun 8, 2010)

orbit55 said:


> Oh yeah. And in response to someone with no tolerance dying on 2 mg of Klonopin and 4 beers... How? I researched this topic quite a bit before I ever mixed a benzo with alcohol and from what I have read, benzo's only increase the body's blood alcohol content. So for someone to die on the mixture they basically have to poison themselves with the alcohol.
> 
> So are you saying someone could die from consuming 8 beers w/o tolerance?


yes they could. a 90 pound girl who drank 8 beers over one hour would have a blood alcohol content of .39, easily lethal. of course she'd probably throw up first, but replace those 8 beers with 8 shots and it would be lethal.

but as far as i know, benzos don't increase blood alcohol content. they simply add to the effects. you can die from the benzo alcohol combo because of respiratory depression. it's still not that easy to do though, will not happen from a couple drinks.


----------



## mebe87 (Feb 11, 2010)

well last night i drove my motorcycle home after ripping shots while on kolopin. lets just say i dont know how i made it home.... i rode the line the entire way, luckly there were no cops around


----------



## orbit55 (Apr 23, 2008)

Recipe For Disaster said:


> but as far as i know, benzos don't increase blood alcohol content. they simply add to the effects. you can die from the benzo alcohol combo because of respiratory depression. it's still not that easy to do though, will not happen from a couple drinks.


Well I guess we are both saying the same thing though. Death from alcohol poisoning is usually from respiratory depression. Benzos increase blood alcohol concentration and thus fatal respiratory depression can be triggered more easily.


----------



## Recipe For Disaster (Jun 8, 2010)

benzos do not increase blood alcohol concentration as far as i know. where are you getting that from?


----------



## jim_morrison (Aug 17, 2008)

orbit55 said:


> Well I guess we are both saying the same thing though. Death from alcohol poisoning is usually from respiratory depression. Benzos increase blood alcohol concentration and thus fatal respiratory depression can be triggered more easily.


Benzos interact with alcohol definately, and the combination of these 2 sedatives when taken together can indeed increase the likelihood of respiratory depression. As for benzos actually increasing blood alcohol concentrations though, I have not heard of this.


----------



## jim_morrison (Aug 17, 2008)

To the OP; I'm not sure if I'm understanding your question correctly, but if the case is that you feel uncomfortable that your friends will 'judge' you for not drinking, you could try a few methods such as, ordering a glass of plain coke and just saying that it's rum & coke, or ordering a glass of tonic water and saying it's vodka & tonic, if your friends are drunk I doubt they will notice or care.


----------



## hensley258 (Apr 24, 2010)

I drink about a fifth of 100 proof Rum a week and take 3Mgs a day of Klonopin. I like to have three stiff drinks after work each night and then take my Klonopin. Some nights I only take 2mgs of the Klonopin.

I'm not dead yet. On an occasional bender I have taken 5Mgs of Klonopin and a whole pint of 100 Proof Rum in one night. Also keep in mind I am on MAOI-A and I ain't dead yet.

I suppose it depends on your tolerance. I happen to have a very high tolerance to alcohol and honestly even a whole pint of rum does not make me wobble around.

Of course I would not advocate this kind of mixing of benzos and alcohol such as I do. It's very risky and given I am on MAOI makes it that much more risky, but I know what liquers contain Tyramine and stay away from them. Still I'm sure my BP gets very low when I do this which isn't good.


----------



## UltraShy (Nov 8, 2003)

Recipe For Disaster said:


> a 90 pound girl who drank 8 beers over one hour would have a blood alcohol content of .39, easily lethal. of course she'd probably throw up first, but replace those 8 beers with 8 shots and it would be lethal.


Very few people are 90 pounds and it's rather hard to imagine a tiny girl like that consuming 96 ounces of beer in an hour. I'm sure it's possible, just like eating dozens of hotdogs at once is possible -- though certainly not common, nor easy.

Yeah, she could do 8 shots instead. How many people can actually stand doing shots? I personally can't stand undiluted hard liquor.

Checking one of the various BAC calculators that can be found online, it came up with a 0.37 BAC for me if I (by some form of magic) drink 20 beers in an hour. I can't imagine many people could suck down a beer once every three minutes 20 times in a row. I sure couldn't. I could go with wine, but, again, there is no way that I'm going to consume 3 liters in an hour. I've never been that thirsty ever.

To get up to fatal alcohol levels one truly has to drink to totally insane levels.


----------



## rawrguy (Mar 29, 2008)

I used to mix xanax and alcohol all the time back when I took benzos. It really seemed to increase my drunkeness. A close friend once went crazy when he mixed alcohol with xanax while me and some other friends and ended up having the police called on him. Nothing really bad happened though. He's also stopped taking benzos.


----------



## nemesis1 (Dec 21, 2009)

I used to drink and take benzos all the time and do some seriously stupid stuff while i was on that combo. Actually i was abusing benzo's.....taking huge handfuls of valium and going on long drinking sessions but just kept making a complete fool of myself, i would often wake up in strange locations with no money, have black eyes and cuts all over me and have no idea what happened....i could never remember anything until one time my friends video'd me while i was wasted and i was pretty shocked at what i saw.......i looked like a total zombie, salivating everywhere and mumbling incoherent nonsense......that was the last time i did that combo.


----------



## orbit55 (Apr 23, 2008)

A fifth of 100 proof rum and 3 mg of Klonopin per day sounds crazy.

I just really want to understand how benzo's and alcohol interact with each other. Like down to the science of it...

I read somewhere that benzo's and alcohol both interact with your GABA sensors... So technically speaking should you lower your benzo dosage for the day if you plan on drinking?

My experience with the combo has been that for me it feels like drinking without benzo's except you get buzzed quicker. I can remember the night before and what I did.


----------



## jim_morrison (Aug 17, 2008)

orbit55 said:


> I just really want to understand how benzo's and alcohol interact with each other. Like down to the science of it...
> 
> I read somewhere that benzo's and alcohol both interact with your GABA sensors...


Yep, that's correct, both benzo's and alcohol boost the inhibitory neurotransmitter GABA, so this sends a more powerful disinhibitory signal to the GABA system in the brain then taking either agent alone usually would. Alcohol also has additional effects such as it also act's as an NMDA receptor blocker, yet another mechanism by which alcohol can have an inhibitory and memory disrupting effect on the brain.


----------



## UltraShy (Nov 8, 2003)

orbit55 said:


> A fifth of 100 proof rum and 3 mg of Klonopin per day sounds crazy.


That implies drinking a whole bottle of 100-proof liquor by itself wouldn't already be crazy.


----------



## jim_morrison (Aug 17, 2008)

UltraShy said:


> That implies drinking a whole bottle of 100-proof liquor by itself wouldn't already be crazy.


Wouldn't a fifth of 100-proof rum be implying that he only drinks 1/5th of a whole bottle though?


----------



## Medline (Sep 23, 2008)

hensley258 said:


> At least I'm not chomping down 8 Mgs a day of Xanax like I see some people do.


Benzos can cause physical and psychological dependence just like alcohol, but they are far less toxic to the human body.


scared1960 said:


> i was on xanx for 17 years and the last 6 years on it i drank about a 12 pack of beer a day thats the happiest i had ever been i weighed like 125 im female then my counsler scaredme and told me i could go in a coma so i stopped xanx and beer cold turkey haven tbeen the same since..


And you had no severe withdrawal symptoms? If you took the Xanax daily for years and drank pretty much alcohol too, stopping cold turkey could have resulted in delirium tremens and / or status epilepticus.


orbit55 said:


> Well I guess we are both saying the same thing though. Death from alcohol poisoning is usually from respiratory depression. Benzos increase blood alcohol concentration and thus fatal respiratory depression can be triggered more easily.


Benzos do not increase blood alcohol concentration. It's like jim_morrison said: Alcohol potentiates the GABAergic action of alcohol.

It's by the way extremely hard to die because of alcohol poisoning when just drinking beer. Hard liquor... different story (especially when mixed with sedatives).


----------



## Recipe For Disaster (Jun 8, 2010)

jim_morrison said:


> Wouldn't a fifth of 100-proof rum be implying that he only drinks 1/5th of a whole bottle though?


no, a fifth is short for a fifth of a gallon because 750 mL (common volume of liquor bottles) is about equal to a fifth of a gallon. confusing i know.


----------



## netsavy006 (Jul 11, 2010)

I've never drank while on a benzo or any other medication. I don't drink period.


----------



## crunchman (Aug 11, 2013)

*Benzos as a limiter*

I would like to add to the topic.I have been a drinker for many years, on and off since alcohol use has caused me a great deal of difficulty in my life, largely due to increased tolerance and accompanying dependance.As such I feel as though using benzos to limit my alcohol intake would be a feasible option moving forward.It seems that adding benzos like sat 10-20 mg of valium would increase the effectiveness of alcohol by 2x or 3x thus decreasing ones desire to consume more alcohol to attain whatever level of "buzz" that is desired.To me this seems like a no-brainer, I do acknowledge it neds to be undertaken with considerable care, as a note I am a 46 yr old father of 3 who is not out partying anymore but do still to indulge from time to time to relax.What say you ?


----------



## Overthinker80 (Jun 19, 2013)

I don't want to influence anyone to drink on benzos so don't take my experience as gospel, and I know everyone is different, but my answer to the question is, I've been drunk on 1.5mgs of Klonopin and 40mgs of Prozac more times than I can mention, because I have been taking Klonopin for 10 years, and every single time I've been drunk in the past 10 years...which would be HUNDREDS of times, maybe over 1,000, I have been on Klonopin.

And EVERY single time I've EVER been drunk in my life I was on Prozac, and it says not to mix alcohol with either.

My neurologist told me that there is no real extra stress on the liver with alcohol and Klonopin, and that the risk of respiratory depression is small.

For me, I can drink every bit as much as I ever drank before I took Klonopin, maybe more.

Literally, there is simply NO difference for me whatsoever, I don't get more tired, I don't feel any different drinking on it than I had off of it.

I personally think the dangers are over exaggerated.

I think they are both CNS depressants, but really, Klonopin only makes me more tired when I am really tired to begin with.

I think it's possible the combo COULD make me a little more tired, but I have never noticed it to really be the case.

My doctor says that's about the only danger there is in mixing the two, that you could get a little extra tired and be extra out of it and slip and fall or something.

I don't think it's bad like drinking on sleeping pills or opiates or anything like that.

However, don't take my word for it and don't do it because I said it doesn't effect me badly.


----------



## crunchman (Aug 11, 2013)

Thanks for the response ot80, I guess I will just have to try it.My intention is to simply cut my alcohol intake significantly through synergism of the two.It should work in theory, I'll report back when I do.Tahnks again.


----------

