Introduction - Details Pertaining to my Situation - Advice Needed

[[li...]]

Greetings,

 

So essentially, I'm going through a hellish experience trying to taper off of Xanax.  I was on a therapeutic dose, per my physician, of approximately 2mg a day, give or take .5mg, for the past year.  Prior to that I had been taking around .25mg of Klonopin per day for a year. 

 

I did not realize this medication was not ideally intended to be taken daily, and I blindly trusted my physician.  I have suffered from general anxiety disorder/health anxiety and panic attacks for several years, but it was generally well managed until I got very stressed after starting graduate school last year, which is when my doctor recommended Xanax.  I found the Xanax was initially very helpful and made me feel very nice, and it relieved the stress of school. Starting about 3 months ago, I found that I was beginning to go through inter-dose withdrawal, between dosages I was experiencing more of the symptoms that led me to take it in the first place, and the medication generally wasn't very effective anymore.  This got to be worse as I developed a tolerance and after a few trips to the ER that ruled out any major medical conditions, Xanax dependency was pinpointed as a factor in my anxiety resurgence. 

 

I'm now going to a new doctor, and they have had me trying to taper down by about .25 a week.  For the past week I've been taking about 1.25mg a day, down .75mg from my original dose.  The problem is, my original dose was no longer effective due to tolerance, so I'm basically suffering all day long from panic attacks.  I have all kinds of unpleasant symptoms and I don't know which stem from my preexisting anxiety condition, and which are being caused by the Xanax withdrawal. 

 

Right now my routine is taking .5mg around the time I wake up, then another .5mg later in the day, and .25mg in the evening an hour or so prior to bed (just so I can sleep, because insomnia is really intense for me right now).  The big issue I'm having is that I am feeling incredibly bad about within 3-5 hours of my doses, so this really compromises my ability to function and work like normal. 

 

I could really use some advice about strategies others have found helpful.  My current physician doesn't seem to understand what I'm going through.  I inquired about the possibility of switching to a benzo with a longer half-life in order to avoid these withdrawal symptoms, but she's very opposed to that notion because she sees it as "trading one dependency for another".  My situation doesn't seem to be improving and the short duration of Xanax is making things very complicated.  I'm lucky if I can make it 6 hours before feeling awful after a dose, generally within 4 hours I'm feeling very unstable.  The doses I do take are somewhat helpful, but they only take the edge off. 

 

Anyways, sorry for the long rambling introduction, I'm dealing with a whole slew of symptoms at the moment.  I find myself getting really cold/hot randomly, I have digestive symptoms with diminished appetite, a constant state of dread, mental fog, dizziness, increased sensitivity to light, a feeling of depersonalization, and more.  I'm constantly overwhelmed with fear, to the point where I'm becoming agoraphobic.  Considering that I'm a hypochondriac that used to suffer from health anxiety, these symptoms very difficult to cope with.  I notice things that I never did before, and have irrational fears, I obsess over weird things like the visibility of my veins.  I've had extensive bloodwork, and ekgs, chest x-rays, etc. done over the past few months, but it does little to allay my fears and get rid of these sensations.  It's very discouraging because prior to starting this medications I had been able to get over all of those irrational fears through cognitive behavioral therapy, but now my anxiety is back with a vengeance. 

 

Anyways, that's my story, and I greatly appreciate any assistance.  I know this is just an introduction thread, but I'm pretty desperate for advice at this point.  I'll post elsewhere when able, but right now I'm working really hard not to relapse back to my original dose (or more) and it's a constant battle.  I know some people have issues with way higher doses that what I was taking, and I can only imagine what they have to go through. 

 

Thanks

 

 

[[ma...]]

Greetings to you liminalmagus  Welcome to Benzobuddies!

 

You will be okay, and you’ll get lots of support here.  I reached tolerance level myself, I was never told of the addictive nature of these drugs.  I know how tough this is, but it’s worth it to be free.  Withdrawal symptoms can be severe, but remember they are temporary, you will come through it.    Many of our members deal with GAD and anxiety and  found that using benzos long term, actually creates more anxiety.  These meds were meant for short term use, (2 or 3 weeks).  It doesn’t take long for your body to become dependent. 

 

Benzodiazepines should be tapered off slowly by reducing your daily dose by somewhere between 5% and 10% every 10 - 14 days.  You can alter this schedule to whatever feels comfortable. The aim is to keep symptoms manageable.  You might consider titration, if you wish to go  slower.

 

I would suggest you read The Ashton Manual, you might copy some pertinent pages and show your doctor. S/he might help you with a crossover.  The manual is a great resource for understanding the effect benzo’s have on our body.  It provides Tapering and withdrawal information and includes a list of common symptoms 

 

You will find some very valuable support and information on the forum.  Our members are happy to share their personal experiences with you and support you.. Please feel free to browse the boards and post questions to any of the dedicated threads.

 

I'll leave you a few links:

 

The Ashton Manual. 

 

Withdrawal Support

 

General Taper Plans

 

Anxiety     

 

When you can, please add a signature (history of meds/doses etc) it will help members give you relevant advice.  ”Create a signature”

 

Welcome aboard

 

Magrita

 

[[Th...]]

Hi, I read your introduction and want to give my initial comments despite of the fat that I'm quite new in here. I'm not very long time benzo user but used them more less 4 months before I started tapering drug amount down. I noticed withdrawal symptoms you mentioned in your post and recognized many of them as I have had many of those as well. My own experience is that during my taper I have used to tolerable amount w/d symptoms and accepted that they occurs during the taper and recovery period. However it has cooled me down a lot to see that most of the symptoms I have had and have are typical w/d symptoms so they are something going away over the time. Well it has eased my hypochondriac thoughts of having a serious disease or something. You already mentioned that you have asked about switching xanax to longer half time benzo and it seems to be someting many people do. Valium seems to be prefered choice and sometimes Librium. It is the one I switched to. I think you have at least two options; convince your doc need to make a cross over or increase number of times of taking smaller doses of xanax daily by maybe using liquid titration. I think that option 1 is easier but it is just my opinion as I haven't taking xanax. It also seems that slow taper wins over quick ones. I'm sure you will get lot of opinions and advices by joining the BB. It was my case as well. Welcome! T.

[[Iw...]]

Hi and Welcome to BB

 

I have experience with the poison xanax although I wish I didn't.  I know many people crossover to another drug but I didn't want to introduce yet another drug in the mix.  I have also heard that Valium -one of the pipular crossover drugs is notorious for depression.  That may not be the case with you as everyone reacts differently.  But the this forum is filled with people on Valium who are severely depressed.  In all fairness, I am going through a bout of depression-but It is part of my past and I am dealing with some tough personal issues. 

 

This is the part you may not want to hear-but as you said you are having interdose withdrawals now.  I know this is frowned upon by the Ashton Manuel and many in this forum but I believe you need to get stable before your tapering journey can start.  I would updose to 1.75 mg as you may have gone to fast and the ID withdrawals.  A .25 mg is a considerable drop.    I think you need a fresh start.  You may have to updose further although I hope not.  Once there I would do a long hold to try and reach stability.  Then I would start tapering very slowly guided by my symptoms.  Split your doses into 4 or five doses a day.  Hold, get stable and then start tapering.  This is just my opinion.  I know the short life of xanax which is why I would split my dose 4-5 times a day. 

I hope this helps.  This is just a suggestion.  There are many here that have been in the game longer than I and may offer different advice.  You need to do what you feel best for your relief of symptoms and tapering experience. 

It may help if you create a signature for yourself.  You can do this by going into the profile setting and start there. 

 

Good Luck.  We are all here for you. 

[[ly...]]

 

 

Will your doctor let you taper more slowly?  I have successfully tapered off of 8mg xanax and had been taking benos for 25yrs.  It is possible to taper off xanax (directly - avoiding the possible problems of Valium or other benzos).

 

It is not unusual at all to have wd sxs come on at 4 hrs. I dosed every 6 hours at points in my taper and even had thoughts of every 4 hrs.  I found that the interdose faded as time went by.  I had to incorporate some long holds after tapering too quickly.  It sure seems that your present taper rate is too fast for your brain to adjust to.  I am not an advocate of "pushing thru" bad symptoms or rigidly adhering to a set schedule.  My success centered on a symptom-based taper  with holds and adjustments when things started ramping. I still had some wd but it was very tolerable and I led a full life during my taper.

 

It's my opinion that going faster than your brain/CNS can adjust to can lead to a very bad taper experience and a long post-taper recovery.  Nothing I wanted to have happen to me.

 

We all must decide for ourselves what is best and since there really is no science behind this it's not a certainty how things will progress.  Read different experiences and opinions here and do what you think best.  Dont hesitate to make adjustment/changes if things aren't going well.  I chose to take as long as necessary to taper in a manner that caused as little distress as possible.  I have not experienced any ramping of sxs or acute since my "jump" 5 weeks ago and don't expect to.

[[li...]]

Thanks everyone for the incredibly helpful input!  I feel some measure of relief knowing that there are others out there who understand what I'm experiencing. 

 

I feel that my current physician doesn't understand the gravity of my situation.  She insists I simply taper .25mg a week and push through the bad symptoms.  I have been following her advice, and it's now gotten to a point where I am having difficulty doing minor things, like going to the grocery store, because of the rebound anxiety.  I've gone back to her to check in and she just tells me what I'm going through is normal and to be expected.  She recommends yoga, playing an instrument, or exercising.  I do all those things, but I can only really do them when Xanax is in my system, when I'm in the midst of withdrawal I have a very difficult time focusing. 

 

I respect my doctor's advice, and will continue to consult with a physician periodically throughout this process, but she's just a general practitioner and may not have the most extensive knowledge of this subject.  I'm considering finding another doctor for a second opinion.  I have had bad luck with doctors throughout this whole benzo journey, starting with the previous doctor who put me on Xanax.  The Ashton Manual seems like an amazing resource, I've learned a lot in the time I've spent perusing it this morning, but my current doctor is not one who will take advice from sources presented by a patient, she already was incredibly dismissive when I mentioned other sources that said switching to a longer acting benzo could be a more viable option for tapering.