help!!!!!(newbie)

[[re...]]

After about 3 years of using Xanax to deal with my anxiety and panic attacks, I can no longer get the drug.  I am 24 years old and have told my parents about the problem, and they got in touch with a company(not sure of the name) that helps put you into an inpatient treatment center.  The problem is the woman is telling me I will only need a stay of 10 or so days to be free of physical symptoms.  She says she has worked with many patients such as I and this always works.  From my reading, with the dose of xanax I have been taking per day (4-5mg), that seems waaaay to fast.  She told me that whatever center I would be placed in would put me on valium.  I showed her a taper chart at http://benzo.org.uk/manual/index.htm and she looked at it and basically laughed, saying I could ween off using valium, comfortably in about 10 days.  is this possible to do at a good inpatient facility, or am I going to go crazy.  My parents are willing to pay for a very nice facility, but I just dont believe this 10 day stuff.  please let me know asap, as I will be having to make a big decision very soon.  Thanks alot guys

 

Sean

[[si...]]

After about 3 years of using Xanax to deal with my anxiety and panic attacks, I can no longer get the drug.  I am 24 years old and have told my parents about the problem, and they got in touch with a company(not sure of the name) that helps put you into an inpatient treatment center.  The problem is the woman is telling me I will only need a stay of 10 or so days to be free of physical symptoms.  She says she has worked with many patients such as I and this always works.  From my reading, with the dose of xanax I have been taking per day (4-5mg), that seems waaaay to fast.  She told me that whatever center I would be placed in would put me on valium.  I showed her a taper chart at http://benzo.org.uk/manual/index.htm and she looked at it and basically laughed, saying I could ween off using valium, comfortably in about 10 days.  is this possible to do at a good inpatient facility, or am I going to go crazy.  My parents are willing to pay for a very nice facility, but I just dont believe this 10 day stuff.  please let me know asap, as I will be having to make a big decision very soon.  Thanks alot guys

 

Sean

 

hi sean welcome to benzo buddies - a moderator should be by to help you.

[[ru...]]

Hi Sean,

 

First of all, welcome to BenzoBuddies! I'm glad you found us and I hope we can be of help.

 

If you've been taking 4-5 mg of xanax a day for three years, then yep, 10 day detox is way too fast.  First of all,  for many people it's not the physical symptoms that are the trouble, it's the anxiety and all its related symptoms that can be so bad. But yes the physical symptoms can be a problem as well.

 

My suggestion would be to go to your doctor and develop a taper program with him/her. The suggested rate of taper is a 10% drop every two weeks at a minimum, although some folks take it faster and some take it slower. 4-5 mgs of xanax is a hefty amount of benzodiazepam. If you look at some of the older blogs here, you will see that Patrick59 tapered off of a large amount of xanax as well, although he eventually crossed over to valium for the last leg of his taper.

 

You said you had been taking the xanax for anxiety/panic attacks. Why did you get cut off so suddenly?

 

Whatever you decide to do, please keep in touch. If you want to taper off yourself and are able to get some xanax to do so, we can work up a taper/titration for you that will be less anxiety provoking than the detox that you are considering. Whatever you do, do not go cold turkey. Cold turkey would only make things worse.

 

rufus

 

 

[[ru...]]

hey Sean,

 

Another guy who has a similar benzo background as you is "daveishere". He was on 4 mgs of xanax and is doing a direct taper off of it. He's down to 1.5 mgs now. Anyway, you might want to check out his posts as well.

 

rufus

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I was at first given a prescription for xanax .5 mg(twice daily) when i was prescribed Zoloft, because everytime i try a new SSRI, i have horrible anxiety and other side effects.  I was given a 30 day supply.  Then I stopped the Zoloft after only a few days b/c Xanax seemed like a miracle drug to me.  At the time I was in college, and got pills from my roomate who had a prescription, but did not really use them.  Then i started ordering them off of the internet from those shady online pharmacys (now illegal in the US).  After that I ordered them through a european source, and here i am now at 4-5 mg a day.  I want to stop.  My parents want me to do an inpatient stay, which is fine with me, but this lady is saying that no psychiatrist would be willing to taper me off of them, because of ethics issues.  And like i said, she says she has had "plenty of people" come out of inpatient rehab for benzos after only 10 or so days with no physical withdrawal symptoms.  She mentioned Mayo clinics among others.....  I have also seen websites for inpatient places that talk about the long taper.  Man, I am not too excited about this.....

[[si...]]

getting off drugs may not be a nightmare - it has been for some - everyone reacts differently.  but if it back fires it could be devastating - that does not mean it can't work -.

 

i tried a rapid decrease and it did not work for me - i tapered faster this time then what was recommended - but seemed to do as well as others - better then some and worst then some - it is a personal decision.

 

this site recommends a 10% taper every 2 wks with flexibility - i tapered at a larger cut but held it longer.

[[TP...]]

Looks like this was posted under planning your taper as well. There were no responses ther so I got worried, and then found it here. I think I'll delete the thread over there so that others don't freak like I did.

[[bo...]]

HI

Well I cant reccomend a 10 day de tox from such a high dose of Xanax, Have you by yourself tried to reduce your daily intake? What happens to you when you when  miss a dose? Many professionals dont seem to acknowledge any problems with quitting benzo's, If that were 100% true no one would be here.

Bobers

[[TP...]]

... this lady is saying that no psychiatrist would be willing to taper me off of them, because of ethics issues.

 

Sean bro, that is an out and out lie! Please don't trust this woman. I have worked with two psychiatrists in a row who have been helping me taper, and they don't seem concerned about ethics issues. On the other hand, cold turkeying people off of 3 years of 4 mg Xanax is downright dangerous. You could have grand mal seizures and all manner of long-term problems from that. Now that is unethical! http://www.freedominmessiah.com/aargh.gif

 

Tony

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"What happens to you when you when  miss a dose?"......when i miss a dose I have a terrible panic attack.....basically feel as though I am having a heart attack.

[[bo...]]

Then you know yourself that a 10 day detox is ridicules, you need to find a doc that will allow you to taper at a reasonable rate, you nedd a doc because you need to get ahold of a reliable amount of Benzos to do a taper.

You need to explain that missing even 1 dose affects you.

Bobers

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Has anyone here heard of any InPatient treatment facilities that specialize in Benzos in the USA???....also does anyone know of any psychiatrists in the dayton, ohio area that are compassionate and willing to do a slow taper?  Thanks alot guys, im getting more and more anxious the more I think about this huge change that is about to take place, especially if i have to go the inpatient route.

[[TP...]]

"What happens to you when you when  miss a dose?"......when i miss a dose I have a terrible panic attack.....basically feel as though I am having a heart attack.

 

Xanax has a very short half life. Therefore you get withdrawals within about 8 hours. I know what that's like because I had them on Xanax some 15-20 years ago. I didn't knwo what it was though. I just knew if I took more Xanax I felt better.

 

I know I see a lot of direct tapering here, but I personally would strongly urge a cross over to Valium before tapering as it has a long half life and the withdrawals take a lot longer to kick in. I take it once a day and when I have windows they last a long time. I'm in the middle of one now and am keeping track of it now so I can see how long it lasts. I never did keep track of it before.

 

Tony

[[TP...]]

Has anyone here heard of any InPatient treatment facilities that specialize in Benzos in the USA???

 

Not recommended. I thought you had one anyway?

 

....also does anyone know of any psychiatrists in the dayton, ohio area that are compassionate and willing to do a slow taper?  Thanks alot guys, im getting more and more anxious the more I think about this huge change that is about to take place, especially if i have to go the inpatient route.

 

I'm putting feelers out to see if I can find someone for you. Not promising anything though.

 

Tony

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Also, I have a 3 week, MAYBE 3 and half week supply of Xanax left.  All of psych's that i have called in the Kansas City area to try and get an appointment with to talk about a taper can't get me an appointment in time.  I am moving back in with my parents in ohio this coming weekend to go through this process.

[[re...]]

in reply to "I thought you had one anyway?".....

 

the person my father and I have talked to on the phone is actually a service that helps place people into rehab facilities, outpatient stuff, etc.  They themselves do not do any rehab.

 

sorry about the confusion there.

[[bo...]]

Hi

Try a GP doc, you dont have to have a psy doc, but seriously try and get with some kind of Doc, tell your parents to view this site or Dr Ashtons site, to show them that your reaction isnt un-normal. The drugs your are taking can and do produce symptoms when withdrawing, that may be worse then what they were prescibed for, benzos stop doing there job after weeks, then you start treating withdrawals with every dose.

Bobers

[[TP...]]

Also, I have a 3 week, MAYBE 3 and half week supply of Xanax left.  All of psych's that i have called in the Kansas City area to try and get an appointment with to talk about a taper can't get me an appointment in time.  I am moving back in with my parents in ohio this coming weekend to go through this process.

 

Regular GP's can prescribe Valium. Perhaps you could print some stuff off here, especially the equivalency table (http://www.benzo.org.uk/bzequiv.htm) and take the documentation to your GP and see if he/she would be willing to tide you over with a month's supply of Valium for the time being.  (4 MG Xanax is 80 mg Valium!)

 

Tony

[[bl...]]

Hi Reillyse,

 

   First I am going to tell you that UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES  should you go to a detox or rehab clinic.  I tried doing that in Dec of '06 and it almost killed me.  I am not fooling here.  These clinics are for profit money making scams, who will yank you off of the Xanax either by using another benzo or phenobarbitol and leave you twisting in the wind with horrific withdrawal symptoms that might take you a long time to recover from.  Please listen to me when I say that going to one of these facilities can put both your mental and physical health at serious risk. I am not going to repeat here what I went through in the detox clinic, but here is a link to an old thread at BB where I describe the torture (and I take that word very seriously) that was done to me.  There may well be people who can come out of such situations body and brains intact, but you do NOT want to take the gamble that you might not.  Please tell your parents from me (and I am old enough to be your mother ok) not to even THINK about letting their precious son suffer in one of these wretched hell holes.  

 

http://www.benzobuddies.org/forum/index.php?topic=6164.20

 

 

Ok, so what can we do to help you get off the Xanax.  First you need to get a legitimate source of either Xanax or Valium to do a cross over and then start a taper.   No Doctor or psychiatrist who knows anything about benzo addiction is going to deny you help in a tapering off process.  Many of them try and wean their patients off much too quickly.  You need to print out a copy of Professor Heather Ashtons manual concerning the tapering of Benzo's and take it to whoever you think you can get a legitimate prescription from.  

 

   Christine/BlueMoth

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I did have both of my parents read dr. Ashtons online book.  Like I said though this lady who i talked to on the phone about my addiction scoffed at the site(she went to the taper schedule while on the phone), and questioned Dr. Ashton as being credible or not, even though almost every site I read about coming off of benzos recommends a slow taper, and most even cite Dr. Ashtons site.  AHHHHHH.  I just hope I can find a GP or psych who will understand my story: not think think that I am a junky, honestly want to get off these meds, and understands that i started taking these drugs because they were the only thing that worked.  All of that and hope it can happen in the next 3 weeks.

[[re...]]

Am I going to have to try a bunch of gp's/psych's before I find one compassionate enough to taper me off of Xanax?  Because I only have a few (3 max) weeks before I run out, and would then have to go to rehab, which everyone here agrees is a bad thing...I think.

[[si...]]

good luck - hold on to what you have and start at once on your taper - i feel your pain - i was dumped to.

 

careful you don't carry a shopping for drugs sign with you.

 

ask if they are willing to read the ashton manual - some people print it out and take it with them - GOOD LUCK - and start your taper at once.

[[TP...]]

Am I going to have to try a bunch of gp's/psych's before I find one compassionate enough to taper me off of Xanax?  Because I only have a few (3 max) weeks before I run out, and would then have to go to rehab, which everyone here agrees is a bad thing...I think.

 

I still think you're better off crossing over to a benzo with a long half-life such as Valium. Are you going to have to go to a bunch? Impossible to say. It might be the first one you go to if you arm yourself with information and he/she has an open mind.  Yes, everyone here agrees that rehab is a bad thing. 

[[si...]]

yep you have to arm yourself - if you can print out the manual do so.  click on this link - i think it is complete - i hope your can find a printer with paper - get familiar with it - dog ear pertinent pages.

 

http://www.benzo.org.uk/manual/

 

 

[[bl...]]

Reillyse,

 

    If you run out of Xanax, we will cross that bridge when you get to it.  Your parents need to get on the phone, asap, and get you into see someone.  Doesn't your family have a primary care physician that could prescribe for you? There are only 6 degrees of separation for anyone on this planet. Finding someone to see you within three weeks shouldn't be that hard.  

 

  Many doctors will not prescribe valium, thinking is more addictive and dangerous than xanax or klonopin (they are stupid).  So if you cannot get valium to do a crossover, try asking for Klonopin.  It matches xanax in strength, yet has a longer half life than xanax which makes it better suited for tapering. 

 

  XXXX

  Christine/BlueMoth