Alcohol and Diazepam...

[Cherry_mvff]

Let me just say that I am NOT the kind of person who takes drugs recreationally. I’ve really never seen the point, and have only ever tried a couple of things once and always regretted it. I’d much rather just drink ;L This was just a stupid one-off and will not be happening again!

I had a friend over for a drink last night which was ace! But for f**k knows what reason, our incredibly intoxicated selves thought it’d be a really good idea to take a couple of Diazepam... They’re 2mg tablets so we had a total of 4mg each which I know is a pretty low dose. We were so drunk by this point that we really don’t remember much, only very vaguely remember taking the pills, and can’t recall what the affects were. I know that it was about 2am when we took them though.

It’s now mid-day. I woke up a couple of hours ago feeling quite sick but not overly hungover (god knows how 😂). I certainly don’t feel any noticeable out if the ordinary symptoms, just the usual elevated anxiety that I get after a drinking binge. I’m just mega mega paranoid that I’m still at risk for adverse affects! I’ve read online (which I know is a massive mistake) that you can have seizures, fall into a coma, and even die of respiratory failure from mixing alcohol and benzos! Obviously had I known this last night I definitely wouldn’t have taken them, I always thought it could just make you really drowsy, and my doctor never mentioned anything about not drinking with them so I assumed it wasn’t dangerous!

Does anyone know if I’m still at risk now (about 9 hours after my last drink and 10 hours after taking the diazepam) of any of these things happening?! Like I said I don’t feel anything alarmingly weird, I’m just really worried that something’s gunna happen out of the blue, especially considering I’ve never taken it before last night. I’ve spoken to my Mum about it this morning and she didn’t seem too concerned.

Any advice would be hugely appreciated! x

[guynfl2chat]

While I am not a doctor, you are probably ok if you are feeling ok now. It is never a good idea to mix benzos and alcohol, but it seems like you woke up and are feeling fine. Most issues people have are from long range use of the two together.

[Cherry_mvff in reply to guynfl2chat]

Thanks for the reassurance! Damn I’ve been so paranoid all day. I genuinely had no idea that there was any direct risk taking the two together, I’m pretty sure my doctor just said it’d make me feel very tired! Absolutely ridiculous idea and I’ll definitely not being doing it again, especially when all I’ve gained from it is 0 recollection of going to bed and a day-long panic attack 😂 I’ve called NHS direct to ask them and they’ve got a medication specialist calling me back in the next hour or so, so hopefully that’ll put my mind at ease

[guynfl2chat in reply to Cherry_mvff]

Also Benzos dont stay in your system that long. You should drink plenty of water, but the effects of the Benzo is probably gone.

[Agora1 in reply to Cherry_mvff]

Cherry_mvff, Having been on calls regarding Benzo & Alcohol mix, I can tell you that 9 hours later you are okay, you are safe. As the others have said, flush out your system with water as well as making sure you eat. You will be okay.

[Cherry_mvff in reply to Agora1]

Thank you Agora, it’s very reassuring to hear that from someone with experience! I never got the call back from NHS but it was quite late when I contacted them so I’m guessing they’ll do it tomorrow.

Feeling a lot calmer now anyway! I’ve got through about 4 pints of water and a can of fruit juice today and have (very reluctantly ;L) eaten plenty as well Just a couple of questions!

How dangerous exactly is mixing booze with valium? NOT because I plan on doing it again (like, I seriously can’t believe I did it in the first place), I just have this very un-pleasant background feeling of “holy sh*t I nearly died last night” looming over me which is making relaxing just that little bit more impossible than usual! Is that really the case? I only took about 4mg, but I was like, REALLY drunk ;L What exactly is the risk?

Secondly, my brother and his girlfriend are visiting tomorrow night and I’d quite like to have a couple of beers (literally 2 or 3) with them. Am I okay to drink or should I leave it a couple of days? x

[Agora1 in reply to Cherry_mvff]

Hi Cherry_mvff, sorry but I just saw this now, it didn't show up as a response waiting for me. No problem in having those couple beers when your brother comes over. He probably did already.

As for what happens when you mix alcohol with benzos is that they are both suppressants. Alcohol being a drug in itself. They suppress your breathing and having both in your system at the same time can stop your breathing or go into labored breathing.

It happens when people wash down the benzos with alcohol. The risk of something happening to you from the other night is long gone. You waited a safe amount of time before taking the valium, I think you said 9 hours. You hydrated which is important since alcohol dehydrates and causes the symptoms of getting drunk more apparent. They say a good rule of thumb is one glass of water for every drink you take. In other words have a drink, have a glass of water. Ugh...I wouldn't think you could drink as much, since you'd be spending most of the time in the John lol.

Enjoy yourself but stay safe. You're young but drink responsibly and you won't have any regrets. Again sorry for the delay...Hope all is well ....

[Cherry_mvff in reply to Agora1]

No worries for the delay Agora, it happens to me all the time! I usually only see my notifications if I visit the site on my PC which I don’t do very often.

Thankyou again for clearing things up for me though, you’ve been a massive help through this! The reason I was so worried is that I actually took the valium with the alcohol, not after (I realise the wording in my original post didn’t make this overly clear ;L) Pretty sure I even swallowed them down with a double vodka and lemonade 😑. It was only ‘cause we were so unbelievably drunk that we thought it’d be a good idea in the first place... We didn’t drink any more after taking them (if I remember rightly) but I’m pretty sure we fell asleep about an hour later, hence why I was so worried that I/ we “could have died” etc.

However, we didn’t! And it’s now 3 and a half days later, and nothing has happened, so I’m officially giving up caring! The 2 or 3 beers with my brother turned into about 8 or 9 (and a couple of glasses of wine 😉), and I felt completely fine. In fact we had a really good night, and for the first time since starting medication, I actually managed to drink without reaching blackout levels ;L It seems after 4 or 5 “sessions”, I’ve finally learned to pace myself again which is wonderful.

Thanks again for the help and I’m sorry for “going on” about it. Looking back I guess it really isn’t as much of a big deal as my mind thought it was at the time. My bro even told me that he’s mixed diazepam and even xanax in small doses with booze before (at various parties etc, he got into the “wrong crowd” for a bit during his last couple years of school) and that nothing has ever happened. I shall take this whole “experience” as a lesson learned, and I shall also be taking a week off of the booze, ‘cause I’m starting to forget what it feels like to not be hungover... (I blame christmas) ;L x

[Agora1 in reply to Cherry_mvff]

Hey Cherry_Mvff, Using alcohol as a chaser for benzos is always a bad idea. I was under the impression 9 hours had passed before you took your diazepam. However, that is in the past now. Over and done with. Hopefully you have learned something through that experience. You didn't die, you didn't have to go to the ER.

Your brother was lucky that during the time of mixing diazepam or Xanax with booze he didn't have serious consequences. It's like playing a game of Russian Roulette, it just takes one time to not be so lucky.

You're young and you should enjoy yourself. And you are right "Tis the Season to be Jolly" but do so by keeping yourself safe.

Wishing you a Merry Christmas! x

[Cherry_mvff in reply to Agora1]

I can assure you I shall be very responsible! I can pace myself with drinking again after a few weeks of “readjustment” and all my meds are in Mothers room JUST incase mega-drunk Adam does make an appearance at any point and decides to give it another go ;L Although after 3 days of otherworldly paranoia, I think that is highly improbable!

Luckily my brother’s drug phase was very short-lived, thanks to me “snitching” on him to our parents ;L I knew it was going on for a few months but in the end I just couldn’t not tell anyone. I’ve grown up in such an anti-drug area with such anti-drug people (hence why I’ve been so worried) that I couldn’t just let him get away with it and wait until something bad inevitably happened. Luckily he very quickly realised it was stupid and gave it all up immediately, as did most of his friends! Ironically, my doctor is certain that it was those events (particularly his behaviour towards me during this period) that lead to my anxiety issues being set-off (as this happened very shortly before)! But that’s a very long story for another day ;L

Thank you again for helping to get me through this little “ordeal”, I really appreciate it! Hope you have an ace Christmas too! 😎🤘🏻x

[Agora1 in reply to Cherry_mvff]

x

[Jeff1943]

You took alcohol and 4mg of valium right, not alcohol and a tablespoon of cyanide. It's been explained by several others that you're fine, the valium is out of your system by now so you can drink what you normally want tomorrow. Reread the knowledgeable messages that people have posted here and accept what they say.

[BilboBaggins16]

Yes don't worry Bento's are actually very safe and to overdose on them you'd need to take at least 3-4 boxes of 10mg minimum. They are much safer than you are led to believe. They can reduce the reduce the breathing but other than that are safe. Taking them with alcohol is going to increase any chances of Overdosing but still you'd need to take a lot of alcohol with Benzo's to overdose.

The human body is amazing and can take a lot of punishment before death is experienced. I've tried to overdose and most times I took enough to kill but was thwarted by the bodies ability to cope with external substances i.e. alcohol / Benzo's. I made 4 attempts on my life and I didn't even get near to overdosing. If you'd taken barbiturates then I'd be a little more concerned. Taking 10mg is not going to do a great deal to the symptomatic body function.

I'd say that taking 5-10mg occasionally is fine and can be constructive to a strong mental state. It can act as a relaxant that gives the mind a rest from day to day stresses that one encounters. So by all means take them occasionally, perhaps you should forget the alcohol as a caution.

[Kam360]

Alcohol is a stimulant and Diazepam is a muscle relaxant. I certainly wouldn't repeat that episode again mixing the two could have been very dangerous.If you don't know what you're taking..... don't take it!!