# need help for addiction to phenibut



## sisterslee (Mar 25, 2012)

in long island i have been using phenibut to help sleep (worked so well) and help with extreme social anxiety as well as panic attacks. i have had insomia for years and tried numerous things to help and most of them failed miserably, my status now is phenibut is helpful but the side effects are horrible. I have been using it for over a year at first i would take it a few days go off then take it again, then it started to make me sick if i didn't take it before i knew it i am up to 6-10 pills of it a day to sleep an to keep away the side effects of not taking it. I recently have tried to take less of it and i get extremely anxious and overwhelmed with depression that was from decreasing it one pill. If you don't increase the amount of it every few days you start getting ill. I have called a few substance abuse hotlines none of them are versed in this drug my family md said they were clueless on what to do. Because it isn't a known substance in the US and sold here over the counter i am finding help is almost nonexistent. My mom recently passed in jan and while she was ill in nursing home for a few months is when i started not taking breaks of nonuse of phenibut because i really needed to sleep to be able to visit her and take part in her care. I already take zoloft and trazadone (trazadone at night for sleep) I don't like how i feel anymore and i am scared and anxious as hell and need help or direction of how to get help for something that is really unknown. i in the past with other medicines have experienced tapering off things and stopping them but this one there is no tapering off without severe dangerous side effects any out there can help? I have tried already a large number of supplements kava taurine etc i want my life back


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## kennyc (Nov 15, 2011)

sisterslee said:


> in long island i have been using phenibut to help sleep (worked so well) and help with extreme social anxiety as well as panic attacks. i have had insomia for years and tried numerous things to help and most of them failed miserably, my status now is phenibut is helpful but the side effects are horrible. I have been using it for over a year at first i would take it a few days go off then take it again, then it started to make me sick if i didn't take it before i knew it i am up to 6-10 pills of it a day to sleep an to keep away the side effects of not taking it. I recently have tried to take less of it and i get extremely anxious and overwhelmed with depression that was from decreasing it one pill. If you don't increase the amount of it every few days you start getting ill. I have called a few substance abuse hotlines none of them are versed in this drug my family md said they were clueless on what to do. Because it isn't a known substance in the US and sold here over the counter i am finding help is almost nonexistent. My mom recently passed in jan and while she was ill in nursing home for a few months is when i started not taking breaks of nonuse of phenibut because i really needed to sleep to be able to visit her and take part in her care. I already take zoloft and trazadone (trazadone at night for sleep) I don't like how i feel anymore and i am scared and anxious as hell and need help or direction of how to get help for something that is really unknown. i in the past with other medicines have experienced tapering off things and stopping them but this one there is no tapering off without severe dangerous side effects any out there can help? I have tried already a large number of supplements kava taurine etc i want my life back


I think you should see your doctor again and explain how bad you're feeling. Also if I was you I would start slowly coming off all these drugs. Every week say, reduce the amount you take and little by little you will be drug free. You do not NEED to take drugs. Anxiety is just the emotion of fear and drugs only mask anxiety, not get rid of it.


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## sisterslee (Mar 25, 2012)

*seeing a doc today*

with other drugs i would agree totally but what i found out about this one is it is so short acting you go in and out of withdrawl It is something that i have been advised to do with medical supervision I have found one doc who seems versed in this drug and i have appointment to see him today. Has anyone here used this product or had a problem with it? If this doc is good I will be happy to reccomend him i will let you all know


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## belfort (May 3, 2009)

phenibut hits the Gaba-B receptors hard so if you cant do a slow taper off phenibut alone, then id suggest having a doctor try to prescribe you Baclofen, small dosage for a few weeks, then come off of that...

problem is, what do you plan on doing for sleep and anxiety once u stop the phenibut?


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## belfort (May 3, 2009)

phenibut has a very long half life so the withdrawals last a long time..thats the pitfall of using it but also the benefit as u dont need to constantly dose..i would stay away from detox centers now as id recommend a very slow taper first...


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## sisterslee (Mar 25, 2012)

*thanks belfort*

have you had any experience yourself with phenibut? as for what will i do about sleep and anxiety i have to answer i don't know this has been a lifetime problem of insomnia anxiety depression i haven't found a doctor yet that found the answer and i can only say neither have I . I have been suffering most of my life


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## Helpme88 (Jul 18, 2012)

*To Sisterslee*

I was wondering if you had any success going off the Phenibut with that doctor you were going to see? Please let me know how you are doing.


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## xsiv8 (Jan 26, 2012)

For those of you stuck in this conundrum, and it can be a very slippery slope there are a number of routes you can take but with each, I'd highly advise a gradual taper down...the more gradual, the better. I'd also advise your physician if you could. If he/she can help you, you'd likely need to taper down slowly (as slow as 10% of your dose per week - can be as long as you want though to ease the withdrawal) It can normally be done in 10-12 weeks. Treat it like you're withdrawing from a benzo dependence because it IS a drug. It's just that it's available over the internet lol. Baclofen is stucturally similar to Phenibut but more directly agonizes Gaba B receptors and less so for dopamine. This is the reason you may still experience anhedonia. If you can taper down to 800mgs of Phenbut a day, I'd say you'd be ok with about 20mgs of baclofen a day or less. This is just a guesstimate. Some soruces say it's 20x more potent while others say 50-100x more. Truth be told, they're still apples and oranges in the way they make you feel. Nevertheless, Baclofen will ease withdrawals. A short round of xanax or some other quicker acting benzo would be needed for sleep. At least for the first 7-10 days. The other way is through a gradual tapering off of Phenibut with the addition of supplements that preferable do not down regulate gaba receptors although some have had success tapering and still using Valerian, Ashwaghanda, Kava Kava and the like. I found chelated magnesium, suntheanine, bacopa, NAC, some taurine and ZMA (at night before bed) helpful during my taper along with a half of a Unisom II (Doxylamine) to help with sleep. The key is tapering as slow as you can and having enough of it to commit to a 12 week tapering regimen.


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## RelinquishedHell (Apr 10, 2012)

I would recommend asking your doctor about prescribing Diazepam to take as needed in order to help you withdrawal from the Phenibut a little easier.


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## basuraeuropea (Jul 25, 2012)

ThatOneQuietGuy said:


> I would recommend asking your doctor about prescribing Diazepam to take as needed in order to help you withdrawal from the Phenibut a little easier.


or baclofen, as diazepam works on gabaa receptor sites and is not cross-tolerant with phenibut, while baclofen works on gabab receptor sites in a manner similar to phenibut and should help considerably more, in theory, anyway, and taper off that.


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## Kakumbus (Mar 27, 2012)

Apparently thats like legal GHB , i really need to get that.

Edit: Ordered


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## sethVacelli (Sep 24, 2012)

*Im so far in your boat & then some bro~~~read what i posted 2day,8years on it,killsme*

8years on the stuff, i take 200grams a week, cant get off, did 5detoxs, just 2start cing things,"read my post on put on 2day"~i want my life back 2~ my email is [email protected]~~seth


sisterslee said:


> in long island i have been using phenibut to help sleep (worked so well) and help with extreme social anxiety as well as panic attacks. I have had insomia for years and tried numerous things to help and most of them failed miserably, my status now is phenibut is helpful but the side effects are horrible. I have been using it for over a year at first i would take it a few days go off then take it again, then it started to make me sick if i didn't take it before i knew it i am up to 6-10 pills of it a day to sleep an to keep away the side effects of not taking it. I recently have tried to take less of it and i get extremely anxious and overwhelmed with depression that was from decreasing it one pill. If you don't increase the amount of it every few days you start getting ill. I have called a few substance abuse hotlines none of them are versed in this drug my family md said they were clueless on what to do. Because it isn't a known substance in the us and sold here over the counter i am finding help is almost nonexistent. My mom recently passed in jan and while she was ill in nursing home for a few months is when i started not taking breaks of nonuse of phenibut because i really needed to sleep to be able to visit her and take part in her care. I already take zoloft and trazadone (trazadone at night for sleep) i don't like how i feel anymore and i am scared and anxious as hell and need help or direction of how to get help for something that is really unknown. I in the past with other medicines have experienced tapering off things and stopping them but this one there is no tapering off without severe dangerous side effects any out there can help? I have tried already a large number of supplements kava taurine etc i want my life back


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## jonny neurotic (Jan 20, 2011)

Addicted to phenibut? Pfft! I didn't get anything from it. I presume your doctor didn't give it to you in which case if you are going to mix drugs up you really ought to have some kind of plan in your head. 

Is the zoloft etc doing much for you? 

Why did you take the phenibut in the first place? 

Have you tried NMDA antagonists?


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## jonny neurotic (Jan 20, 2011)

Kakumbus said:


> Apparently thats like legal GHB , i really need to get that.
> 
> Edit: Ordered


No it's not like GHB. So some bloody research. Have you never heard of wikipedia?


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## jonjacob (Aug 28, 2012)

Damn Seth, that sounds like pure and utter hell. Make no mistake phenibut is one that got away from the scheduling, just cuz you can order it online doesn't make it safe. I feel bad for you and the OP. I recommend treatment, inpatient treatment. They may not know about phenibut but F them, that is their own ignorance. They will know about it soon enough as more people flood their centers with this problem. I have let it go with phenibut for short periods of time and suffered drastically, so I can only imagine what long term constant use would do to you. You need to be in a setting where they can monitor you and help you throughout a period of about 30 days minimum.


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## basuraeuropea (Jul 25, 2012)

jonny neurotic said:


> Addicted to phenibut? Pfft! I didn't get anything from it. I presume your doctor didn't give it to you in which case if you are going to mix drugs up you really ought to have some kind of plan in your head.
> 
> Is the zoloft etc doing much for you?
> 
> ...


antiglutaminergics, e.g. memantine, aren't going to do anything to ease the withdrawal symptoms of a gabab agonist nor will adding such a drug do much at this point to possibly reduce tolerance as the dependency/addiction is too far gone. that aside, the efficacy of the reduction of tolerance to gabaergics is questionable at best with the addition of nmda antagonists.


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## jonny neurotic (Jan 20, 2011)

basuraeuropea said:


> antiglutaminergics, e.g. memantine, aren't going to do anything to ease the withdrawal symptoms of a gabab agonist nor will adding such a drug do much at this point to possibly reduce tolerance as the dependency/addiction is too far gone. that aside, the efficacy of the reduction of tolerance to gabaergics is questionable at best with the addition of nmda antagonists.


Na, you misunderstand me. I wasn't talking about reversing tolerance to benzos. NMDA receptors are like pins that hold neural structures together via long term potentiation. By removing a few of them temporarily we can step outside ourselves, as it were, and view things from a different perspective. I am thinking abstractly here.

I have been working through a lot of spinal problems that have accumulated through the years due to a combination of poor exercise habits and lots of tension. Nutrition may have played a role too. Anyway, I find that DXM melts away the tension and lets me feel how I need to stretch and what postures I need to hold, etc. I get into a whole bunch of freestyle Yoga stuff when I'm on Dex. It's not a sedate kind of relaxation as one would expect from a benzo, rather, it is the removal of the cloak that we wear all the time and a chance to adjust ourselves physically and mentally without inhibitory impulses getting in the way. Personally I think that NMDA antagonists are a shortcut to what Buddhists call nirvana. Only because you haven't achieved it through your own force of will you cannot retain it when the drug wears off. But it gives you a peek at what is waiting for 
you if you can learn to discipline yourself...


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## basuraeuropea (Jul 25, 2012)

jonny neurotic said:


> Na, you misunderstand me. I wasn't talking about reversing tolerance to benzos. NMDA receptors are like pins that hold neural structures together via long term potentiation. By removing a few of them temporarily we can step outside ourselves, as it were, and view things from a different perspective. I am thinking abstractly here.
> 
> I have been working through a lot of spinal problems that have accumulated through the years due to a combination of poor exercise habits and lots of tension. Nutrition may have played a role too. Anyway, I find that DXM melts away the tension and lets me feel how I need to stretch and what postures I need to hold, etc. I get into a whole bunch of freestyle Yoga stuff when I'm on Dex. It's not a sedate kind of relaxation as one would expect from a benzo, rather, it is the removal of the cloak that we wear all the time and a chance to adjust ourselves physically and mentally without inhibitory impulses getting in the way. Personally I think that NMDA antagonists are a shortcut to what Buddhists call nirvana. Only because you haven't achieved it through your own force of will you cannot retain it when the drug wears off. But it gives you a peek at what is waiting for
> you if you can learn to discipline yourself...


ah, gotcha. thanks for clarifying your point of view.


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