Is there any way to taper Xanax XR?

[Guest [am...]]

You can become more "grounded" without pharmaceuticals.  Try to learn some intense yogic breathing exercises and meditation, if you haven't yet.  I'm going to do some right now because I'm in a panic mode today.

Amp, are you familiar with Chakra balancing? Do you think this might be something that would be helpful for Althea?  Or something like Reiki. I have a feeling that alternative therapies might be just the ticket.

 

Yes, I know of Chakra balancing and Reiki.  They would be good to start the grounding, but she would also need something that she can practice herself whenever she wants and keep to a daily schedule of that over a long period of time.  I know of something very powerful, it costs $$$, but it would be just the right thing in her situation. I won't write what it is here, because I'm not pushing it, but whoever wants to know can send me a personal message and I'll tell them what it is. 

[[si...]]

i think tapering off drugs is one of the best ways to get grounded.

 

and some daily meditation with some breathing exercises is great to - pretty much a must if someone wants to work on grounding and can be done in your home for free.

 

i am in cognitive therapy - it seems to be working really well for me.

[Guest [am...]]

I'm 80% grounded tonight after about 40 minutes of breathing techniques.  I was a fool to not continue to practice them daily.

[[el...]]

 

Yes, I know of Chakra balancing and Reiki.  They would be good to start the grounding, but she would also need something that she can practice herself whenever she wants

 

I have done my own Chakra balancing at home. I have a few books on the subject. All you need is a little kit with stones and instructions. You can find it online I"m sure.

I'm sure some people think it's pagan hocus pocus, but I'm a believer.

[[Al...]]

I am very interested in natural solutions as long as they do not involve taking meds. I am not interested in taking pills, even the "homeopathic" stuff from the health food store. The most I will do is the chamomile tea - too many bad experiences in my past to act otherwise.

 

I would like to learn more about the breathing, I do sun salutations in teh morning and at night to try to center but it is often ineffective. In the meantime my real goal is to continue this taper.

 

Please feel free to send me a private message if you feel you have some extra tips that might help me along this road.

 

Ampersand - I am convinced that if I was able to come to terms with the twisting colorful world the way I see it now I would achieve some kind of zen, it is just really difficult for me, always has been. Hence that staunch anti drug stance I live by now. Some people weren't meant to see some things I believe.

[[bl...]]

Althea,

 

  I am sorry that you are suffering from DP/DR.  It has been and continues to be my worst withdrawal symptom. I have been in a constant state of this since my horrible detox experience in Dec of '07.  I do not have any solutions or even advice for you.  I do yoga and deep breathing, it does not help me.  I think the symptom is anxiety in hyperdrive.  When we get calmned down enough, it will eventually go away.  I am trying to stay positve and believe that one day there will be relief from this.  I hope you find a solution for it, I am still looking.

 

XXXXX

Christine/BlueMoth

[[...]]

Hi BlueMoth

 

DP/DR is my greatest fear as i continue with my taper. DP/DR was a mental condition I suffered from long before I ever took benzos. So I fear the uncertainty of not knowing whether any DP/DR I experience as i taper is a result of W/D or a reactivation of the original condition. I am doing a liquid titration of 6 mgs of Klonopin. My reduction is humanely small I reduce my intake by .0075 mgs per day. I cut every day. So far. I believe that if a titration is done correctly any w/d symptoms should be minimal or non existent. If you begin the titration while symptom free. At the rate i am cutting I will loose 1mg of k every five months or so. As a friend  said I am sneaking up on the gaba recptors rather than smashing them with a hammer.

I wentt through long periods of time when I wasn't taking benzos and still remained more or less free of DP/DR symptoms. I found that distraction was often effective in relieving the symptoms of DP/DR when they appeared.

 

When I used to post on the DP/DR site ,I mentioned previously in this thread ,there was a woman there who was a Fruedian Lay analyst she recommended that for DP?DR one should concentrate on focusing their attention outward. She felt that DP was a neurotic delusion an obsession of self annihilation.  Whether or not that is the case i couldn't really judge since we are all so different. Did you experience DP/DR before benzos? I have heard that DP of all the mental disorders is one of the most painful of all  "mental illness symptoms". Of course DP/DR  is spread across the whole field of mental disorders at least to some degree. There is w/d symptoms and there is mental illness sometimes it is hard to distinquish one from the other. This is my great fear. If I start to experience DP/DR can I be sure that it is a w/d symptom. Admittedly it is a withdrawal symptom for many people and is transitory but some people suffer from DP/DR their entire life. Personally I think DP/DR it is trauma based.  A relatively brutal cut and suffer taper of 5 to 10 percent and the W/Ds associated with this cut every two weeks or so may very well be experienced as traumatic by many. Daily tiny reductions the body is able to accept in my opinion is the safest way to go.  But I am no expert it is just what seems like common sense to me. All statements made in my humble opinion.

 

Congratulations for loosing the benzos Christine. I'm very proud of you. You are an inspiration to many.

 

Sincerely John

[[bl...]]

Hi John,

 

  Interesting comments.  "Neurotic delusion an obsession of self annihilation"  just about sums it up.  So painfully true.  Before detox I experienced DP DR as a teenager when I smoked pot, (and then at one other traumatic period in my life when I was about 40).  I never knew what it was called, just knew it as feeling stoned, I never liked it and never smoked pot much for that reason.  I think what I am suffering from now is a post tramatic stress reaction from being yanked off valium, sleep deprived, tortured mentally and physically in the detox place.  I have to get passed the trauma I suffered there.  It was a huge blow to me in all ways.  I am still fighting to recover my sanity and self esteem.  They pretty much stripped me down to the bone. I don't know how much longer my recovery will be, but if I was sane and in reality once, I will be again.  I never suffered from DP/DR when I was taking benzos.  I think before I went to the detox place I was anxious, but never unconnected with reality the way I feel now.  Please don't worry about this happening to you John, you are doing a very slow taper, having minimal side effects and I am sure will come down from your benzo use with no problems.  If I had found benzobuddies before I tried to ct and then dietox, I am sure I would be having little or no problems either.  Thanks for your congratulations. No matter how long or hard my recovery is, I will never go back.

 

XXXXXX

Christine/BlueMoth

[[si...]]

i think extreme stress can break a person down - and i think we ALL have extreme stress during periods of our life.

 

but drugs just add to the feeling of being out of control of our lives - of ourselves.

[[el...]]

  Before detox I experienced DP DR as a teenager when I smoked pot, (and then at one other traumatic period in my life when I was about 40).  I never knew what it was called, just knew it as feeling stoned, I never liked it and never smoked pot much for that reason. 

 

Wow, is that what DP DR feels like? I know that exact feeling from pot, and why I don't/didn't smoke it anymore.

When I first smoked it, at about 15, I really liked it for about 2 years, but all of a sudden it turned on me and freaked me out. I stopped, and the few times I've smoked it since over the years, it's terrible each time. Like you want to run away from yourself. Yuk.

[[...]]

eljay,

 

Here is a link to a pretty good description of the experience of DP/DR, and the terror it can invoke. I think anyone who has experienced it for an extended period of time will concur with this description.

 

http://www.dpselfhelp.com/

[[el...]]

Thank you John. What a nightmare. I can't even fathom it. But this statement at the end has to comforting, knowing it is cognitive and not some sort of physical damage, and that you can recover.

 

"It is important to remember that the frightening experience of being lost inside one's own mind is purely a feeling state and (once any neurological or systemic dysfunction has been ruled out) there is no reason to believe any permanent change has occurred within the brain itself. While in the midst of the illness, it seems impossible to believe that the ‘normal' self is still intact. But these are feelings as if reality does not exist – or as if the self/identity has perished. We know better – we just cannot feel what we know. Reality has not actually been lost – it is only the ability to experience it that is temporarily beyond reach. The same cognitive clarity that allows us to realize that the world itself has not actually changed is the same cognitive strength that will allow for complete recovery. "

http://www.dpselfhelp.com/forum/archive

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[[Al...]]

The challenging part for me is that along with all the bizarre feelings of dissociation I also have to ignore permanent visual disturbances like breathing walls and a static snow like appearance to the air around me. Also, when I look at something and then turn my eyes from it I see it's after images like a colorful shadow in my vision that sometimes lasts for as long as a few minutes, particularly if I'm tired or if  the object was really bright, like a computer screen.

 

Klonopin helped to abate the panic attacks that these symptoms would provoke, but now that I'm in a real taper this is no longer the case so I exercise, drink a bunch of tea and ... hope for the best I guess. 

[[Pe...]]

I don't mean to make light of a serious situation :crazy:but maybe they are cartoon characters out there.

 

Some people apear so shallow at times I just can't connect. On the other hand I've always wondered , what is actually real?

 

That is part of my motivation for becomming benzo free. I want to be a genuine person , capable of depth,capable of real love, compassion, insight and have a meaningful life worth living.

 

My former psychiatrist, Dr. Looney Tunes aka licensed drug pusher, used to greet me with a hand puppet, Really , no fooling.

 

Sometimes gotta wonder, who is the crazy person in the office.

 

Have a great day, taper seems to work for me, though we do have our ups and downs. Oh yea, when that comittee meets in my mind, guess it's time to take charge.

 

I have to pray alot for guidance and believe that God can and will restore me to sanity.So glad i found this site. Nice to know I'm not alone.

[[si...]]

I don't mean to make light of a serious situation :crazy:but maybe they are cartoon characters out there.

 

Some people appear so shallow at times I just can't connect. On the other hand I've always wondered , what is actually real?

 

That is part of my motivation for becoming Benz free. I want to be a genuine person , capable of depth,capable of real love, compassion, insight and have a meaningful life worth living.

 

My former psychiatrist, Dr. Looney Tunes aka licensed drug pusher, used to greet me with a hand puppet, Really , no fooling.

 

Sometimes gotta wonder, who is the crazy person in the office.

 

Have a great day, taper seems to work for me, though we do have our ups and downs. Oh yea, when that committee meets in my mind, guess it's time to take charge.

 

I have to pray alot for guidance and believe that God can and will restore me to sanity.So glad i found this site. Nice to know I'm not alone.

 

i just love it.

 

i treated some of my withdrawal with humor - now that being said i am also in cognitive therapy with a doctor that knows i am not taking anymore drugs - he may of thought i needed them - but he knew i would not hear of it.

 

now that i am off he sees i don't need them and most likely never did - BUT i still have a lot of work to do on myself.

 

so althea i would recommend that you see a therapist expereinced in panic disorders - because it is unfinished business.

[[Al...]]

I thin thats a good idea - getting a therapist. I'm just hopeful that I can find one that even knows what HPPD is and can perhaps give me some educated support.

 

At this point though I am still working slowly but surely on my taper and looking forward to being done with all of this.

[[si...]]

HPPD

[[el...]]

HPPD

 

Silver,

 

It's "Hallucinogen Persisting Perception Disorder".

Check out the site that Dave pasted.

 

I just found this site the other day myself.

[[si...]]

oh great - one more thing i have to deal with.

 

i always thought i was physic - now it turns out i did too much acid

 

ok i can deal with this - i think it becomes a problem when you are under pressure and grounding is very important.  meditation - deep breathing and keeping it real - counseling helps - maybe some panic counseling - anxiety counseling.

 

i know i can't handle pressure at all in an enclosed area - i get a real fight or flight surge through my body.

 

i don't know if this information helps - i just found out i have this right this min. and i can't even remember the letters.

[[el...]]

oh great - one more thing i have to deal with.

 

i always thought i was physic - now it turns out i did too much acid

 

 

 

Silver, you don't have HPPD. Believe me, you would know if you had it. Now that's not saying we all(those of us who did that stuff) might not have some sort of after-effects, but we'll never know it it was from that, or if it's just us!

But true HPPD is obvious, as I understand it by reading some of that site.

 

 

[[si...]]

i will have to spend more time on that site reading.

 

i used see auras and i used do age - time progressions - but i blocked it - i don't like it.