New Member Intro

[[ma...]]

Hello,

 

I was prescribed Xanax by a doctor about three months ago for sleep issues and anxiety. All I was told by this doctor was to take the medication as needed and do not take more than 8 pills in one day (each pill was .5 mg). I experienced almost immediate relief from Xanx and began taking it regularly as prescribed over the next six weeks.

 

At week 4, I was taking around 3-4mg per day and started to notice odd symptoms in-between my doses (particularly at night). I would often wake up feeling nauseated and having cold sweats. To stop the symptoms I would take .5 - 1mg more Xanax and go back to bed. After Googling the symptoms I began to realize I was experiencing interdose withdrawal issues. I discussed this with the prescribing doctor and he switched me from Xanax to Valium since it's a longer acting benzo. I stopped taking Xanax and started taking 5mg Valium, which helped, but I was still experiencing undesirable withdrawal symptoms.

 

Things didn't change over the next week or so and by week six, I was scared that I was now becoming more dependent, so I quit cold turkey, which was a huge mistake. I went into full withdrawal for the next three days (i.e. nausea, insomnia, cold sweats, ringing in my ears, spiked blood pressure and this horrible jittery feeling throughout my whole body ... similar to like an exposed nerve). By day four I relented and took a bunch of Valium to stop the withdrawal systems. At that point I decided to speak to my primary care provider about the situation and my desire to begin a taper off of Valium. My taper off of Valium took one and half months since I was only on the benzo's for a short time.

 

Thankfully, I'm now off of the Valium completely but still taking Trazadone and Valarian to help me sleep. It's been about 3 weeks since I last took Valium and I'm still experiencing odd withdrawal symptoms, mainly periodic nausea and a milder form of the jittery feeling in my legs and arms. I'm also finding I'm very sensitive now to supplements, many just make the symptoms worse. I'm joining the BB forums to share my story and get advice from others who have taken this horrible medication. I understand I don't have the long-term addiction story as many others, but the short-time I took benzo's (not understanding how addictive they are) has really left my mind and body negatively impacted. I'm hoping it will pass soon and I will begin to feel more normal.

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Hi maxcole04,

 

Welcome to BenzoBuddies, we are glad you have joined us here!

 

It sounds like you were fortunate to realize quickly how difficult these drugs can be and I'm glad that you were able to come off of them without too many symptoms. I took Xanax for years before I started having interdose withdrawals and at that point I was very dependant. Happily, I'm tapering off of it now.

 

I'll start you with a couple of links that you might find helpful. The first is the cold turkey and rapid withdrawal board.

 

Cold Turkey, Detox & Rapid Withdrawal

 

I'll also provide the link for the withdrawal support board. That is a very active board and a good place to ask questions about some of the withdrawal symptoms you are having.

 

Withdrawal Support (during your taper)

 

I'll also post the link for the success stories board as well because I find it helpful to read stories that have a positive outcome!

 

Success Stories

 

It sounds to me like you did a fairly rapid taper so I'm not surprised that you are having some withdrawal symptoms. Hopefully they will continue to improve with time. You may want to read the Ashton manual as well which is a great resource for tapering off of benzos but also gives you a list of withdrawal symptoms to expect. That doesn't mean you will have them all but you may recognize some of the ones you are having.

 

The Ashton Manual

 

Also feel free to browse any of the other boards that seem helpful to you. Again, welcome!

 

SRR

[[ma...]]

Thanks for the thoughts and the links you provided. Much appreciated!