I don't think I can do it......man o man

[[Je...]]

I wake up in the morning and my mind is racing.  It takes my 5AM and 9AM doses just to not feel like I'm freaking out...

 

 

And then....then, any relief I get lasts only a couple hours....

 

How can I get off this $hit?  Am I just not strong enough?

[[Je...]]

Or maybe I'm just strong enough

[Guest [ba...]]

I'll go with your second post - you're strong enough.  It's amazing how normal, everyday people can rise to the occasion when they really have to.  Once your mind is 'set', the rest of you will follow thru even in the worst of situations (which this withdrawal often is).  I KNOW that your mind is 'set'.  Just hang in there, man.  You'll get thru this. 

[[Je...]]

It's just so hard to function.  Am I just supposed to sit on the couch for a year?

[[be...]]

You can handle this. You just said so yourself. The w/d symptoms appear sooner rather than later b/c you are taking Xanax, and not Valium. Bets

[[Je...]]

I get WD symptoms in between doses of Xanax.  Cutting just makes em worse, to the point of feeling like I am loosing my miiiiiiinnnnndddd

[[ea...]]

JerryK, the worst thing you can do is just sit on your couch for however it takes you to heal! Somehow you have to keep busy, doing whatever, whatever. This is the essence of distraction, and it really works.

I looked at your signature....you have come a long way! Be proud of that. It cant have been easy, yet you did it, you are doing it.

east

[Guest [ba...]]

You definitely don't want to spend a year on the couch.  Didn't you used to run occasionally?  Maybe I'm mixing you up with somebody else??

[[Je...]]

JerryK, the worst thing you can do is just sit on your couch for however it takes you to heal! Somehow you have to keep busy, doing whatever, whatever. This is the essence of distraction, and it really works.

I looked at your signature....you have come a long way! Be proud of that. It cant have been easy, yet you did it, you are doing it.

east

 

Yet I sense further cutting will incapacitate me...

[[Je...]]

Hi Jerryk,

 

I was on the couch for six months. It will get better. I waited. I didn't go up or down. In my opinion you have to feel okay to taper.

Hang in there. You can do it.

 

Jenny

[[it...]]

Its going to be tough absolutely but if your committed as badsocref said your body will strve survive and follow thru. Eventually you have to stop after tapering or ct if low enough and start the process.. The sooner your med free the sooner you will be up regulating gaba and the quicker you will heal remember it takes 6-18 months to recover from WD and heal a year being average anything over is protracted or considered to be. Sometimes you have to get mad get tough and like Nike,just do it. I never thought I could but I'm surviving and over the worst I believe at 8 months starting to finally get emotions back and a better brain.

[[Ha...]]

Keep going if I can do it so can u!!!!! I was on different doses for 13 years. Keep going my friend u got this!!

[[Ja...]]

Hi Jerryk,

 

I was on the couch for six months. It will get better. I waited. I didn't go up or down. In my opinion you have to feel okay to taper.

Hang in there. You can do it.

 

Jenny

 

In my opinion, if you wait until you feel good to taper, you will be waiting a long time. If most of us felt good, we wouldn't come off the stuff.

[[it...]]

Jack straw makes a good point also happy me. Your having interdose withdrawal being xanax us one of the shortest halflifes and most potent benzos..it will get worse if you go lower but if you can take it that's good. Its extremely hard to taper from a strong short acting benzo like xanax. Because after 2 hours  you start feeling sick again and by 6 pretty wacky and usually by twelve need to redose having intense symptoms.. Like someone else said Valium can jeep you week for 240 he's roughly 4 or 5 days and also let you down much gentler  with a much longer half life and being less potent. Only roughly 10 to 15 percent of people ever effectively taper off  of them..so hang in there keep going slow or maybe jump when its not effective or doable anymore be prepared and hit the ground running. You'll feel better after several months. And get better vecerymonth and easier

[[th...]]

Yes, my answer is yes, if it takes a yr of being couch bound to get off this crap then so be it!!! What other choice do you have? Stay on them? Then updose and updose forever bc eventually the dose you are at won't work....been there done that....benzos should not be taken daily EVER so keep the taper up, cut small amts like .0625mg if you need to, but keep cutting....we are so close!! 

 

Grinch

[[Ju...]]

It's just so hard to function.  Am I just supposed to sit on the couch for a year?

 

If this is what it takes, absolutely yes, in my opinion.  My withdrawal had me in bed for three months and on the couch for 6 months.  But of course I wasn't tied totally to the couch the entire time.  When I felt like I could take the stimulation of doing other things, I did other things.  But yes, my time on the couch paid dividends because now I'm no longer stuck like this or TRULY stuck on the med.

 

I did 'whatever it took' to become Xanax free.  And if this meant spending time on the couch to make it happen, this is what I did.  Had I not taken the down time I needed, I would have never made it off after 25 of years taking a benzo every single night. 

[[Je...]]

This bites pretty badly.  Esp. when u never know for sure if you'll get better.  I'm not sure how much my lovely wife would tolerate me sitting on the couch for a year...

 

One day at a time....

[[ea...]]

No reason for you to just sit on the couch for however long it takes you to heal! And, you WILL get better. Everyone has their own timeline....its an individual thing. No predicting it, but you will heal from this. We all do. Even ME!

It is my opinion that sitting around is the worst thing a person can do. Its almost impossible not to worry, obsess and be scared if that's all you're doing. Get up, do something, do anything...but get busy. This heals both body and mind. And it wont allow you to be so worried and scared.

Yes, your wife may become impatient. I think that's only natural. She cannot possibly understand unless she has done it herself. But, if she sees you up and moving about, her own fears may be relieved. Someone here once told me to "act as if" I felt better than I truly felt. This was great advice. Around other people, I put on my "happy face" and acted as if I felt just fine. The weird thing is that your brain/body actually start to feel a lot better, when you do this. I still do it. I still distract myself - its become a habit. Im doing right now as I type this response to you.

east

[[Je...]]

No reason for you to just sit on the couch for however long it takes you to heal! And, you WILL get better. Everyone has their own timeline....its an individual thing. No predicting it, but you will heal from this. We all do. Even ME!

 

Some days my peak performance IS simply holding on until evening when I know I will feel better.

This may involve sitting on the couch, just staring out the window, waiting for the sx to abate.

[[...]]

Jerry, I did get out "some" early on, but not much! It was just to difficult!

 

At almost 6.5 months out I can do everything I want to do! It's not always easy, but I can do it!

 

You will get there! Be strong...you are strong!!

[Guest [Ma...]]

Do whatever it takes Jerry.......cry, punch, couch it, hug your wife, pretend to read when brain cannot really function, call a friend ........whatever it takes.  Because we are trapped while on this poison. Up dosing brings little relief right?

Hang on and keep inching downward. Hurts like hell.........but keep the faith.