Side effects from X & or K or w/d? Dp/Dr

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Hi there. Not sure where to post this, so will just start here.

My signiture might be wrong, will update ASAP...too struggling right now. I hope you all are doing well. I'm having some scary symptoms that I thought were from another Medication, but it's well out of my system, now. They started with that med, for sure, I thought, but I also started Xanax(In addition to my klonopin, at that time, switching out 1/2 of my klonopin for equal doses of Xanax)this past Dexember. (I've spoken to the doctor for the other med & my primary care about this. They didn't think it was the other med, nor my benzos. )

Then I thought, maybe I was having side effects from both the discontinued med as well as my benzos & just didn't realize it was partially the benzos causing side effects untill discontinuing other med. This could be anything-but maybe is a benzo combination & or withdrawal problem.

Does anyone take both klonopin & xanax? At the same time? Or any other benzos that you felt caused you these symptoms? Ever had any interactions? Like visual disturbances? Things don't look right(hard to explain-one example is liquids or anything reflective is extra sparkly or too shiny, it's harder to see the details of objects, sometimes faces look off-misshapen, like my dogs nose will look longer, or cheeks droopier, my face is sorta unrecognizable, although I look like me, it's off, not quite right, like I can't connect & sometimes the shape is a bit different, photos look like colors are extra vibrant & somtimes look a little air brushed/soft, sometimes look fake like an old movie set)Derealization? Dissaciation? Feeling disconnected emotionally from what's going on around me, like the world is going on without me, not always. That's the worst part. Bad short term memory. Blurry vision? I feel lke Im looking through like glaring glass at things, sometimes, sometimes it's like I'm looking through fog, sometimes it's clear, but people, places & things are distorted.Poor eye hand coordination?

I've been taking klonopin daily for ten years. I believe I'm tolerant to it & my manufacturer was discontinued & I had to switch which messed me up. I've taken both Xanax & klonopin before in the past, with no problems, but never dosed both at the same time-i.e. both at bed time. I took Xanax as needed during the day & klonopin at bed in past. My doctor & I made a equal dose for dose straight, all at once cross in January. Now I'm on both,(maybe not the wisest decision), as I was miserable for so long on klonopin & xanax is so much more effective, I switched for quality of life(not just mine, but my loved ones). Thought I'll continue taper & figure it out as I go along, keeping the longer half life of klonopin(& what my body is used to) in me, along with the effectiveness of Xanax. But now I'm wondering if these awful symptoms I'm having are from the combination of the 2 at bed & or from the cold straight cross & withdrawal therefore from klonopin? I'm  now Taking .25 Xanax as needed during day, up to 1mg & 1X at bed with 1.75 klonopin(tapered down from 2) @bed. Anyone ever have the strange side effects I mentioned above or know others on these 2 meds or with similar side effects? Sorry so long. I've never had any ongoing symptoms like this in my life. Just cut kpin 1.75-.1.625-5/16/20 I posted more symptoms on next page

Thoughts on crossing to an entirely different long acting benzo to taper? Hold? Ideas?

much  appreciated, SC

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dissociation visual disturbances

Light is too bright, colors are more vivid, liquids or anything with a reflective surface are extra sparkling, too shiny, & or just doesn't look right, water so, times looks more like baby oil,sometimes it is harder to see the details of objects, as they are blurry or just seem distanced & sometimes things look more detailed, like in photos or on tv, they pop out at me & look a little bizarre or unreal, phone numbers & letter sometimes look very bold & sometimes look very skinny, & sometimes just seem to jump around too fast. I'm usually blurry in the mirror & it seems like I can't look myself straight in my eyes-like I'm standing there trying to, but it seems I'm off just a bit, dogs faces look misshapen, like their nose will look longer or the curves of their faces aren't right, depth perception seems off, sometimes my dogs hair looks blurred together & airbrushed(giving that cartoon effect)& sometimes it looks fluffy, textured & detailed, & sometimes they look blurry & far away, sometimes everything looks foggy & blurry, or like I'm looking through foggy glass, I don't feel like I can trust my sense of judgement visually, cognitively, nor emotionally(the emotional part is normal for depression, & anxiety, though)i.e. I can't always tell if something is wet or dry, or I can't quite make out visually what I'm seeing at first with some things, I don't recognize what they are right away like I normally would-like I have to look & think harder to figure it out-I'm not feeling fully aware of my surroundings, I.e. I may come close to accidentally stepping on my dogs foot, my judgement & cognitive reaction processing time is off/slower than on auto pilot as I normally would be, slow decision making, poor cognition, can't grasp complex subjects, poor short term memory off & on, sometimes simple cognitive tasks seem too difficult/overwhelming(I know part of that could be depression, but it's different than just that) it's like my brain & eyes are easily overwhelmed with too much stimuli. I'm having a dissociated & or disconnected feeling, where I feel like the world is just going on without me & I can't quite connect, like I'm on the inside looking out & it's a very sad & lonely & awful feeling & along with that is like there's a pause button, where I am either too fatigued, anxious, or unmotivated-it's hard to describe-but like a combination of those feeling with this there's a 'break on' 'feeling', restricting me from texting, calling, or reaching out to others in anyway, like a lack of dopamine effect, maybe. It's like I'm pretending to be ok, here in this world, for myself,S.O., dogs & loved ones, but I can't really feel the connection & feel I'm in a separate world that I can't break out of to be back in the world that I know is all around me-it's so hard to explain.

 

I'm posting journal entries that explain some of my symptoms more. TIA

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Dissaciation/DO/DR/Visual/Cog Symptoms Journaled more detailed

 

blurry vision, can't tell what things are in fridge etc-ie can't see details, fb, still not right too bright, blending colors, pictures look a little unreal/distant/vivid-busy letters-no patience/cognition to read through posts

dogs look pretty clear, still hard to gage eye-hand-coordinations & like the strength & or quickness or slowness at which I'm petting the dogs, just visual & mental judgement is off-ok mood-bad cog fog-feel in a fog & like outside or inside compared to everyone else looking through at them, still separate by this weird invisible barrier, like I'm observing them from a separate world & cant really connect-.photos of dogs still have that airbrushed mild cartoon effect going on

4/21

The news looked airbrushed & soft the people don't look real, but they look real enough, I feel like I'm on the outside looking into the world that's on the news, big feeling of disconnect , when they showed flooded streets, the water didn't look right & had more depth & texture to it than it should, the talking on the news was too busy & loud  & stimulating for me, bathroom light was too bright this morning, like every morning since this started and like every morning since this started, I can't quite recognize myself in the mirror, it's like my eyes don't look into my eyes, I have to force it,I can't fully recognize & connect with myself , like, I know who I am, but I'm starting to sorta forget, the longer this goes on, so hard with depression

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Maybe it's wishful thinking or grasping for straws but starting to Really wonder if This is a xanaxside effect that I just never had before & or its interaction with klonopin? Thoughts? Experiences? Thanks

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It's hard to say how many of the side effects are caused by the drugs, withdrawals or maybe a pre-existing condition. It would be good to find a doctor who can help but that's not always easy either.

 

I have taken xanax for 14 years and am about five months into my taper. I have had several of the side effects you describe. I definitely have blurry vision, things looking strange or unreal.

 

Depersonalization, feelings of not being real or that the world is moving on without me. However, I do have panic disorder, ocd and generalized anxiety disorder and depression. For me, there is really no way to know how much is the drug and how much has to do with my underlying conditions.

 

All I know is that I definitely started to have more problems than benefits with xanax and even though a second benzo was suggested to me, I just want off of them. I've had enough. So, I haven't taken both at the same time. I do take 100 mgs of gabapentin at bedtime which has some of the same actions as a benzo. The worst side effect from that has been stomach ache but I'm only going to take it until I'm done with my taper and then I'll taper off that as well.

 

So, I'm not sure if this helps but in my experience, Xanax definitely has caused a lot of weird side effects. I can look at a wall and it will start moving. I'll see shadows out of the corners of my eyes, like something moving. It's happened for so long that I'm used to it.

 

The only thing I can suggest is to slowly and gently taper off of everything. Xanax is definitely not a long term solution. For the first few years it really helped. Then I didn't know whether it was my disorder or the Xanax causing the symptoms. Now I am 100 percent sure that most of my symptoms are from the benzo. The reason I know this is because as I taper down, some of the worst anxiety has lifted. Yes, I still have terrible withdrawals but I can feel that the constant underlying anxiety is starting to lift somewhat. I feel more like my old self. I have windows of clarity which are becoming more frequent. 

 

Good luck! I hope you can find answers!

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It's hard to say how many of the side effects are caused by the drugs, withdrawals or maybe a pre-existing condition. It would be good to find a doctor who can help but that's not always easy either.

 

I have taken xanax for 14 years and am about five months into my taper. I have had several of the side effects you describe. I definitely have blurry vision, things looking strange or unreal.

 

Depersonalization, feelings of not being real or that the world is moving on without me. However, I do have panic disorder, ocd and generalized anxiety disorder and depression. For me, there is really no way to know how much is the drug and how much has to do with my underlying conditions.

 

All I know is that I definitely started to have more problems than benefits with xanax and even though a second benzo was suggested to me, I just want off of them. I've had enough. So, I haven't taken both at the same time. I do take 100 mgs of gabapentin at bedtime which has some of the same actions as a benzo. The worst side effect from that has been stomach ache but I'm only going to take it until I'm done with my taper and then I'll taper off that as well.

 

So, I'm not sure if this helps but in my experience, Xanax definitely has caused a lot of weird side effects. I can look at a wall and it will start moving. I'll see shadows out of the corners of my eyes, like something moving. It's happened for so long that I'm used to it.

 

The only thing I can suggest is to slowly and gently taper off of everything. Xanax is definitely not a long term solution. For the first few years it really helped. Then I didn't know whether it was my disorder or the Xanax causing the symptoms. Now I am 100 percent sure that most of my symptoms are from the benzo. The reason I know this is because as I taper down, some of the worst anxiety has lifted. Yes, I still have terrible withdrawals but I can feel that the constant underlying anxiety is starting to lift somewhat. I feel more like my old self. I have windows of clarity which are becoming more frequent. 

 

Good luck! I hope you can find answers!

SRR

Thank you so much for taking the time to share & reply.

 

Yes, doc help would be ideal, hard to explain predicament with that, but I'm going to Try & search For a benzo wise doc, second opinion, that won't do anything drastic nor more harmful to me.

 

Sorry I'm super cog fog, but to clarify, are you saying that the this part happened after you started tapering or before or both :

 

'I definitely have blurry vision, things looking strange or unreal.

 

Depersonalization, feelings of not being real or that the world is moving on without me.'

 

I have panic, general anxiety disorders, agoraphobia, treatment resistant depression, ocd tendencies(undiagnosed), too.

 

Do you have the dp/dr 24/7?

 

Yeah, that's great you're only on one benzo.

Congratulations on your progress on your taper & feeling anxiety lift!

Sorry to hear of your suffering.

Do you think the gabapentin has helped with interdose withdrawl?

Like may I ask how often you dose Xanax?

 

I've noticed that during the day when I'm taking rough dry cut .25 Xanax doses, I'll sometimes start crying right at the 4 hour after dose mark-sobbing depression has always been a benzo withdrawl symptom for me with kpin too. But I'm also tapering my kpin.

 

My Xanax are .5s shaped like footballs, not sure how I'd get a .125 dry cut out of them. Thoughts?

 

Of course your post helps. I feeling so alone & at a loss. So just the connection & your experience helps.

I will have to come back & retread this when I'm more clear, earlier in the day, maybe.

 

Thanks again

Best wishes-SC

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I have seen nothing but struggles for those tapering two benzo's at the same time

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I was having some symptoms before I ever started tapering and that was one of the reasons I had to start the taper. Now I get the symptoms at varying degrees each time I cut a dose. There are many other side effects too like brain fog, stomach ache, and depression and anxiety.

 

I do feel the gabapentin has helped with sleep but I don't like taking it. I'm worried about having to taper another drug. I also take 1 and a half mgs of melatonin before bed.

 

I have always taken 5 does a day with Xanax. The first cut I didn't know what I was doing and I just got rid of a dose. I wouldn't do that again. Now I'm taking 4 doses a day of smaller sizes.

 

I got my doctor to prescribe me smaller pills. I couldn't cut the 1 mg pills evenly. At some point I may have to either switch to valium or do a liquid taper but I'm not thinking about that right now. Just trying to gear up for the next cut which I need to do soon.

 

You might want to ask a doctor about smaller pills or other options for tapering. A lot of people use a gram scale but I haven't tried that.

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I have seen nothing but struggles for those tapering two benzo's at the same time

@MattNapa

Did you regret adding valuim to your Xanax taper? Care to expand a bit on you thoughts & experience, please?

Have you had any of the symptoms I've described? From Xanax? Xanax withdrawal & or interaction?

How's your taper going? Gone?

Did you taper both with liquid?

Have a good benzo doc to guide you?

Hope you're well

Thanks

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I was having some symptoms before I ever started tapering and that was one of the reasons I had to start the taper. Now I get the symptoms at varying degrees each time I cut a dose. There are many other side effects too like brain fog, stomach ache, and depression and anxiety.

 

I do feel the gabapentin has helped with sleep but I don't like taking it. I'm worried about having to taper another drug. I also take 1 and a half mgs of melatonin before bed.

 

I have always taken 5 does a day with Xanax. The first cut I didn't know what I was doing and I just got rid of a dose. I wouldn't do that again. Now I'm taking 4 doses a day of smaller sizes.

 

I got my doctor to prescribe me smaller pills. I couldn't cut the 1 mg pills evenly. At some point I may have to either switch to valium or do a liquid taper but I'm not thinking about that right now. Just trying to gear up for the next cut which I need to do soon.

 

You might want to ask a doctor about smaller pills or other options for tapering. A lot of people use a gram scale but I haven't tried that.

Much appreciated, again!

To clarify,(sorry not trying to be thick)do or did you have any of the weird visual(you yourself & or other people, animal, or things not looking quite right, Derealization(feeling disconnected from people places around you)symptoms non stop Around the clock 25/7?

 

Thanks again for all of your helpful feedback & best wishes