Looking for some new support

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I have been off Xanax since April 2020 and am dealing with symptoms while trying to keep my life moving forward. I'm an educator and online learning has been very ideal for me but that is now coming to an end after this week.

 

I'm fairly certain that this is my third time going through this type of withdrawal but did not research it at all in 2006 and 1993 when I did it before. The first time I don't really recall what happened to start it all off. I just know that I went on and off different meds trying to get help with anxiety. I struggled alone and in relative silence for about 3 years before life mellowed out in 1996. In 2006, my anxiety sprialed and a doc just kept piling on the dosage of benzo until another doc kindly took me off the poison and began selling me supplements. That hell lasted about 2 years. Each of those times, however, ended with new rounds of different benzos. Tjhis time I have no plan to go back.

 

I did a short taper from Xanax to Valium but hurried off the Valium thinking I was better in April 2020 after a couple months tapering. I did a lot of reading but got impatient as soon as I started feeling relief and now the symptoms are much worse than they ever were during taper. Acute was pretty bad. 

 

Anyway, I just wanted to introduce myself and get started. I've been reading around here for a good bit but its is my first post. I have really good support from my family and up to a couple weeks ago thought I had a great attitude toward this and was again ready to re-enter regular life only to be bombarded with new waves of intense anxiety. I feel like I'm going backwards and need some more support. My wife and kids are doing a great job but they are limited as are my friends. Lookin for some new people to help me on to the next phase of recovery.

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Congrats on finishing your taper. You did go pretty fast, which we understand, but that usually results in pretty intense symptoms once you finish your taper. You did it anyway, that is amazing. Your central nervous system is still healing, so be patient and accept it's part of the process. It can take a while, this is not unusual. 18 months post cessation recovery is a general time frame, but your experience could be 6 months or a few years.

 

Keep your eye on the prize. You will be free eventually of symptoms, and feel like yourself again.

 

Here is the section on post taper recovery, you will find camaraderie and support, as well as information in here:

 

Post-withdrawal Recovery Support

 

This link explains the mechanism of benzo's, and is a great place to start self educating. After reading this, you will understand what is causing your symptoms.

What is happening in your brain?

 

As to coping skills, there are many, and they are effective in getting through.

1. Distraction. When something has most of our attention, you still have the anxiety, but it isn't the dominant feeling running us. This is anything and everything that engages your mental attention.

2. Meditation

3. Physical activity. Get up. Walk. If you can do more, Yoga is very good, and if you can do more than that, cardio.

-There are many more, you can start exploring them and keep adding on to your coping techniques.

4 keep a journal of your symptoms. This is very beneficial, as you can learn "triggers," and also start to see patterns in various manifestations of with draw. When you have a good day, or even a good 30 minutes, write it down. In time, you will notice more about your bodies waves and windows, and eventually, you will see from your posts that you are improving. We have buddie blogs just for this purpose:

Buddie Blogs

 

Please take some time to Create a Signature. This will help other members understand your history so they will be better able to support you. Go to the top of the page and select Profile, then choose Forum Profile, insert drug history/timelines into the text box and click Change Profile. For example, how long since you jumped, and your benzo history, as well as any other pharma.

 

-Welcome from the BB team, we are glad to have you. Let us know if we can help you in any way.

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Welcome! I have also been using Xanax as prescribed and I also didn't know about how intense withdrawals can be. I'm doing a taper but there are still plenty of side effects either way. Hopefully you will start to get more windows and periods of feeling better but just know that it's completely normal to have waves of symptoms for quite awhile after this process. It's very hopeful to know that we can heal from this and that in time we will be well again!