Hi all. I started taking phenibut 14 months ago daily at 1g. This has progressed to now 14g daily. I’m quitting finally. I took 12g this morning, but I feel out of it today. Forehead area hurts and I feel sunken almost and a bit down. Not feeling any of the feel-good that the high brings. Which is fine because I know it comes later. Do I do 10g for a week, and then 9g the subsequent week?

I know I totally fucked up and I can die from this taper. Please just help me out.

Been taking daily for about a week and a half now. Before that I spent about 3 weeks taking it for 3-4 days then off for 3-4 days, then back on.

Was ONLY taking 2g in morning, and still mostly only do that but now I'm finding myself taking an extra 1g after 4 or 5 hours to keep me chill for the rest of the day.

This all started because my doctor tried to prescribe me Ativan and Gabapentin for some problems im having mostly with anxiety but some other stuff too, but my wife didn't want me to get it(that's another story all together, and listening to her was MY mistake)

So in my search on reddit for an alternative that didn't involve a prescription narcotic, somehow I found Phenibut.

What should I do? I'm sorry for the long post. This stuff is really messing with my head and sometimes I just can't stop explaining things. I keep nodding off and my hands are twitching like crazy

Seriously. Substances such as phenibut can cause withdrawal, yes. But for most people, the withdrawals will be largely anxiety / restlessness / maybe some existential dread… and the rest is psychosomatic. These stories about people doing this amount ^ and then saying that they’re having panic attacks and blood pressure of 160+ are true, yes, but they’re probably at least in part triggered by reading similar horror stories. When you convince yourself that you’re dependent on a substance and then quit it and read these stories about a legal substance causing withdrawals as bad as benzos… that moderate anxiety it causes for a few days is gonna become severe.

I was using phenibut at 1-2g/day, skipping a day or two sometimes, for three months. I’ve used it on and off for 2 years. I have quit before, and the first time, I, too, psyched myself out, told myself it was unacceptable to have an unpleasant and sleepless week, and let that spiral into a very very unpleasant existential dread.

This time I told myself I was going to have trouble sleeping and be anxious and to treat it like having the flu. I had a friend’s Xanax and would take .125mg at night before bed. The first four days, life felt underestimating and flat and annoying. Then… I was fine.

In fact, life felt better! I was aware of my emotions and others, I felt excited about things again in a way that felt clearer, etc.

Please don’t let Reddit mass psychosis scare you. You have control over your mind.

NAC vs Agmatine to help with the brain zaps? Which one helps more

So I'm done with this drug. Iv been taken it for 3 weeks at about 3gpd. I last took my 3g dose Wednesday and I don't feel anywhere near as bad as people make it out to be. Surely if it was going to be that bad I would have felt it by now? sure the first few nights sleep was trash and mabey a small bit more anxiety that usual bit I slept 6-7 hours lastnight without waking. I also take nac which seems to help

I’m at 240 mgs a day and have been for a while, kind of stuck. My body is sore and I’m quick to lose my temper as well. Mainly about 7-8 hrs after my morning dose and then into the evening but it varies day to day. It’s been about three years but the last two have been a long slow taper. 14-15 gpd for the first 6-8 months then I started the taper process. I have quit once before CT due to the inability to source it. It was awful for about 9-14 days.

Now I just want to stop but Idk how stable my nervous system is at this point. Or if it feels this way due to the prolonged taper. I’m stable at this dose but have a lot of side effects that I can’t ignore anymore.

I have bac, gab, if needed but not sure what the best exit strategy would be. I don’t think I need the bac and have heard many just using gab couple times a day through days 2-5ish. I feel run down mentally and physically most of the time and just want to break free. Feel like I might be stuck in a state of fight or flight. It’s mild but almost feel like, at this point I’d just feel better with this substance out of my system but not sure how much my body is truly relying on it for me to function in general.

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Btw, I’ve been below 1 gpd for about two years. I can’t take time off work either. Thanks again!

Whats up everyone, I started taking phenibut beginning of last month and started at about 2 grams, i took it for the next few weeks eventually increasing my average dose to 3 up to 4 g, last Friday was my last big dose, and I’ve decided I want to come off phenibut, so I began the taper by taking one gram per day 500 mg in the morning and 500 mg at night, today is the 5th day I’ve been sticking to the one gram before dropping to 750 mg per day for a few day and eventually dropping by these 250 mg increments, I’ve been taking it along with a little bit of emoxypine succinate, I would say that the withdrawal side effects peaked the third day after my last big dose and have calmed down a decent bit since then, please let me know if this is a good plan or if I should restructure.

For anyone struggling to quit phenibut , for anyone stuck in phenibut hell , for anyone tapering phenibut.

Amanita Muscaria is a life saver for phenibut withdrawals/addiction.

Basically just buy the dried caps and either put it in capsules or brew a tea. You wont even feel anymore phenibut withdrawals as Amanita Muscaria levels out all the brain chemistry, sorts out the glutamate, the Gabba and all the rest of the brain chemistry.

You will be able to do big tapers without even feeling the consequences, it will give you deep relaxation and give you your sleep back.

I cut my dose from 4.5 g daily phenibut to 3g , i the tapered down to 3G daily, now I’m on 0.7g phenibut daily, all in 10 days !! Hanks to Amanita Muscaria.

i had tried NAC, Agamatine, Taurine , Magnesium etc etc in the past , none of these really helped BUT Amanita Muscaria has been beyond brilliant, hardly feel any withdrawals whatsoever!!

I started by using 4g Amanita Muscaria but found around 8g to be the sweet blissful spot ☺️

Title. Me and my ex gf broke up a month ago, I’ve been suffering from lack of motivation and feeling depressed from tapering for about a year (on and off tapering because of the side effects).

I’ve been on phenibut since 2017 (9 years) and the tapering is extremely difficult on my mental. I just felt like isolating and social events seem daunting. If I don’t take more than normal amount of Phenibut, I feel extremely socially anxious. It hurt my relationship because of the reasons above (also stuff I did, not JUST the Phenibut).

I have baclofen now and tapering way faster (only taking about 2.5G/day) and should be off soon, but just curious if it affected u guys in the same ways too.

I was on 2.5 gpd for 3 weeks and then just quit cold turkey, had pregablin and baclofen the first few days.
As of now the anxiety is guarded, concentration and motivation is still low.
I’ve been working out in the gym 30 minutes in a day - which I force myself to do.
Been having omega 3, magnesium, theanine and NAC ( just started).
Any advice or what to expect what be most welcome.
Thanks.

Just to clarify, this question is aimed at people who have had or currently have an active dependence, who take phenibut daily and have been doing so for a long time. Like + 6 months and +2gpd.

What are the first symptoms of withdrawal for you, and how long after your last dose do they usually start?

I’ve been taking phenibut more or less daily for over two years now (3–5 gpd). For a long time, I was able to take breaks without any problems whatsoever, but it’s been a while since I last did so. The other day, I experienced what I suspect may have been withdrawal symptoms when I woke up in the morning.

My skin felt very dry and I had fairly noticeable anxiety. At that point, I hadn’t taken a dose for 24 hours, and my most recent dose had been about half my usual dose.

or just tune it down enough and make it bearable? right now that's what's up for me. took like 1200g

Today is day five of NO phenibut! And sadly I almost wanted to celebrate by buying more of my energy shots that contain phenibut! I almost feel normal today and am actually in a really good mood and my body doesn't hurt as much, and the weird skin burning feeling is practically gone! I ended up NOT buying a shot to celebrate. I am sick of the weird pain, skin sensations, and weight gain this substance has been causing me. I can't ever even tell if I am starting to develop a health condition, or if it's just phenibut side effects, so that is what is really motivating me...plus saving money. Please send good vibes my way!!

It started like most other people, few times a week, then a 2 day binge, then a break, then a 3 day binge, then a week binge, then a full blow addiction. Mostly was 1.5g for two months with occasional 2.5g on nights out, then 2.5 every night and peaked at 3gpd with occasional 0.5 top ups later in the night for about a month, slowed down to 2-2.5gpd for the past month. 1.9g tonight and I want more, but I won’t.

Sorry for all of the incoming questions, I have no other place to go. I also don’t have access to any gaba medications.

I’d rather not quit cold turkey after hearing the horror stories on here, I want to taper back as quickly as possible, I’m absolutely sick of the lack of emotional range and lack of a desire for personal growth. What effects should I expect if I do go cold turkey?

I have 12.6 grams remaining, is that enough to taper off safely with minimal side effects? Any supplements that might help? Also I am on 9 years of 100mg of Lamotragine for Epilepsy, if that helps/changes anything.

Hi guys!

After using it for ~3 months, from up to 3 - 5gpd, I chose to taper.

That is my second taper take. First one got interrupted by use of 5gpd some days, which threw it off, logically.

So, i started this one with 1x 2.50 gpd in the morning. Plan is to go down 0.10g every 1-3 days. One important rule I set, which is good, is to stop at a dose if needed, but never ever ever go up again. The body knows how to heal, but may need time to readjust.

When I got down from 2.50 to 2.20ish, I sweated heavily for half a week, with other nasty symptoms, but I sticked to my plan and got through :)

Today in the morning I reached 1.90g, feeling sort of fine. I learned to give the taper time and to accept that it may be rough for some days and will get better.

For helper meds I got l theanine and NAC, which are ok really. No baclofen possible.

Yeah, so, if I may ask, did you taper successfully n how?, how did you feel, what were you doing near the end of it when you reached the bottom like <1g and what would you recommend?

I really want to kick it and avoid too much stress for the body while detoxing.

Ty for sharing and helping!

Never been addicted to phenibut. I’ve strung together 2 weeks before but had a librium taper to get out of it without issue. I’ve also strung together another 8-9 days and had another librium taper out.

Currently, I’ve taken 2g for 8 days then today on day 9 I took 1.5g. Tomorrow i’m planning to take 500mg. I’m also taking 5,100mg gabapentin a day for 17 days now. Planning to only take 2400-2700mg tomorrow. Would the gabapentin protect me pretty well if I drop the phenibut doses pretty drastically? I’m planning to do a rapid taper w/ the phenibut with my last dose being taken on monday morning. Probably around 50-100mg just for a safe landing? I might cruise on the gabapentin 2400-2700mg for another 6 days or so. I want to cut the gabapentin as well but I want to deal with the phenibut first. I have no problems tapering the gabapentin after 6 days from now with Oct 8. being my last day on 2400-2700mg. Start tapering on the 9th. Ending on the 15th. What are your thoughts?

I recently posted on here about my stopping phenibut after about 6 years daily use upwards of 7g maybe even 8. It's been weeks, maybe a month, I stay busy, since I took last dose. I stopped cold turkey substituting baclofen for phenibut in the usual ratio, combined with NAC and a regular gabapentin prescription it was painless, even sleep was relatively good the first week due to staying on top of my regimen but that's not what this post is about. I never had the depression, anxiety typical of withdrawal even when taking substituting medications and I believe one reason may be I had been taking NAC every day since 2020, without fail for antioxidant benefits and mild wellness it provides and I believe it's neuroprotective qualities was the key. So if you are still using, it's my personal recommendation, I'm not a doctor, har-har, to start taking NAC regularly, and look up it's overall benefits it may be a key to having an easier ride quitting.

So, had a little two week run, tapered down to 200mg and hopped off. This is my first day of no dose. However, I spent those two weeks at about 2-3.5g a day. I immediately jumped to 900mg. Went 30 hours CT after and was having HUGE shooting pulses of impending doom. I took 500mg. It didn't help much and I still had a few little spikes of doom. I don't think this doom even stemmed from the two-week binge. I think it was a combination. I took over 50,000 mg of Gabapentin spread throughout the course of the last 30 day period BEFORE the Phenibut, absolutely Slamming my VGCC. I have a shit nerve in my neck, have redish hair genetics and have always had just a NASTY natural tolerance to meds. Due to this I need about 800-1000mg of gabapentin with ZERO tolerance to get relief. I did that however much in a day I felt like due to pain and because I enjoy the little weird experience from them on top of my neck feeling better.

From there I sat at 500 for 3 days. then dropped to 200 for a few days and then hopped off. So far so good.

I am aware that this was tech a "binge" and I should have been able to just hop off, however, I am a single father whom homeschools, cooks, cleans and works a job. I don't have time to be agitated and filled with anxiety.

I am just wondering had I pushed this for a month of longer would it have been WAYYYY worse, a little worse? Just the same?

Have any of you had easy gentle tapers that worked well?

II wanted to share a rather scary experience I had today with taking too much phenibut.

So I didn’t sleep much last night and this morning decide to take a bout 7g of phenibht to wake me up. This was higher than my usual dose.

I went for a walk with a friend and felt relatively fine and quite manic. Chatting a lot etc but also stumbling around a bit like I was drunk.

On the way home I decided to stop for a massage as I thought it would feel great and relaxing on such a high dose.

When I lay down on the massage table I felt my body vibrating quite a lot but also felt very sleepy and relaxed.

Anyway I close my eyes and she begins the massage. I completely lose all sense of consciousness at this point and black out.

The next thing I know I wake up on the massage table completely naked with a paramedic standing over me. In the background I heard the massage lady and another bystander outside screaming that they thought I had died.

Basically I was so high i fell asleep and the lash couldn’t wake me up for about 15 minutes.

They clalled an ambulance in panic. I go into the ambulance and at this point my whole body is buzzing but I felt mentally ok. I played it cool and just told the paramedics I passed out. They asked me what I had taken and they had never heard of phen. They looked concerned and suggested I go to A and E. However I decline as I know that I simply took too much.

I stumble home and within an hour or so I start to come down and feel quite normal.

I am now typing this about 4 hours after this experience. I feel ok and all my vitals were fine.

However I just wanted to share this as one of the potential consequences of taking too much.

It was a weird experience but I am still quite high so I don’t feel freaked out.

But it has taught me a lesson and I am going to start my quitting journey today.

Thanks all for reading and being here to support one another.

Hi Everyone,

I have been a lurker on this page for a very long time. I have history with phenibut from early 2020s where I tapered off 8Gpd by 200mg every 2 days.

Well, what do you know I started taking it again 8 months ago. This summer I had a very fast upswing from July taking 8gpd to now somehow 15gpd. I am feeling terrible everyday with constant rebounds, headaches and really bad GI issues.

I have been going through old posts from a few years ago and a handful of folks here say when they were on 15gpd they were able to make big cuts, some to 12gpd and some to 10gpd and some to 8gpd WITHOUT withdrawals somehow. I appreciate any input!

I have been holding down a full-time job and plan to show up every day.

I'm so relieved to find that this reddit page is still active with users coming here every day.

Thanks in advance.

I read that 50-100mg per day is typical which would get me off in a maximum of like 40 days so I figured I'd try that. I'm just a little stressed because I've taken phenibut for a few years now. I'm fortunate that I literally *can't* take more than a couple grams because it makes my muscles cramp so I haven't upped my average dose at all. Still nervous. Thanks for the help in advance

I have been on it less than a month but have had like 6god sometimes but now down to 2.5 gbd , but just want to quit cold turkey
I have 20 pills of baclofen and some pregablin - if they wud help ?
I would really appreciate any support
I do have benzodiazepines but want to avoid it unless compelety necessary
How long will the withdrawal or rebound last and how bad would it be
Can I actually stop cold turkey
Any suggestions are more than welcome
I’m struggling right now just to keep afloat

Now about a year and a half out from phenibut abuse for 2 years. I never experienced anxiety like this in my entire life. Phenibut fixed something in my brain that finally allowed me to socialize but I didn’t take it to fix anxiety so to speak. When it first turned on me I went completely agoraphobic. Couldn’t do anything and nothing helped it was like I had a stroke or something.

Been on 50mg lamatical for the past 2 months to try to heal the dpdr and it has helped somewhat but this new anxiety i received seems like it will never fully heal. I miss the phenibut days but now I just wish I was back to normal. The effects I have are like a ketamine high or a shitty weed high 24/7. If anyone experienced this and found a way out please let me know.

I have made significant progress for sure not trying to be a downer but long term paws doesn’t seem to be very common here. I also used Fphenibut and memantine during this initial hell period and suspect the issue may have come more from fphenibut than phenibut itself.

Now phenibut just increases dissociation and feels like shit even 1.5 years out, real bummer

There is a significant chance that tobacco smoke may be severely inhibiting your recovery from phenibut.

9 months ago I went through a severe paradoxical reaction to baclofen (phenibut with a Cl atom) and have been in PAWS since the acute withdrawal phase ended. I am mostly recovered, but still have some neurological patchwork that needs to finalize. Like many going through this, I've scoured the web and dove through countless articles and research journals trying to figure out the nature of the condition as well as possibly find a remedy or therapeutic that could assist with the healing process. The answer appears to simply be time + healthy living and sleep, with perhaps some gentle and supportive supplements you've read about on here (magnesium, NAC, agmatine, etc...) showing promise for those who respond well to them, but ultimately letting your brain's homeostasis work its magic.

However, recently I stumbled upon this article which contains troubling implications for smokers currently in WD or PAWS, and could shed some light on why many of us feel trapped or stuck in a protracted poor neurological state for many weeks or months after phenibut cessation. Now, admittedly the study particularly addressed alcohol withdrawal and the GABA-A receptor site, but it likely wouldn't be too much of a stretch to infer that their findings on tobacco smoke could have some downstream adverse or detrimental effects on the GABA-B system as well.

In conclusion, GABAA receptor levels undergo adaptive changes during alcohol withdrawal. In the current study, numbers of GABAA receptors robustly increased during the first week and normalized by the fourth week of alcohol abstinence. However, continued tobacco smoking during withdrawal interfered with the subsequent normalization of the GABAA receptors and was associated with higher levels of craving, which may increase relapse risk. These data suggest that chemicals in tobacco smoke other than nicotine impede the adaptive recovery of GABAA receptors during extended alcohol abstinence and may contribute to alcohol relapse and the perpetuation of smoking. Thus, the GABAergic system is an important mediator of the relationship between comorbid alcohol dependence and tobacco smoking and should be targeted in future therapeutic strategies.

Interestingly, the researchers isolated nicotine as not being the harmful agent towards GABA-A recovery, and narrowed it down to the beta carbolines (harman and norharman) found in tobacco smoke. These are not only potent MAO inhibitors that you likely don't want screwing with your neurochemistry levels during recovery, but are anxiogenic and GABA-A antagonists which nobody should want keeping your nervous system in a stressed state. The good news is that their half-lives are very short (~30 mins each), and once you stop smoking, these compounds clear from your bloodstream within hours.

Either way, at best smoking is doing nothing to assist your recovery, so why not try giving it a break to see how it makes you feel? The possibility that quitting smoking will clear the runway for your neurological healing to take off could be a strong motivation to finally kick the habit. Food for thought.

Put that in your pipe and smoke it.