stress affects me a lot

[[Fa...]]

Hi guys! I haven't taken xanax for almost two months, I took it for 3 months, about ten days ago I started to feel that many symptoms went down, but I still have a lot , I have unbearable anxiety, I am nervous all the time and I shake, what affects me most is that any type of stress causes me a lot of suffering, yesterday I saw something about my ex-girlfriend and I had a nervous breakdown, is this normal? Is there any advice? Thank you so much

[[Br...]]

Hi @[Fa...] - It's completely normal to be feeling intense symptoms at 2 months off.  The nervous system is so sensitized during withdrawal that stress and stimuli of all kinds can trigger a lot of distressing effects.  As you heal your symptoms will tend to ease up.  It's not always a straight path; symptoms can disappear and reappear but the trend is still heading toward recovery.  It takes time.  The best ways we know of to cope with the intense symptoms is to distract yourself by pouring yourself into anything that absorbs your attention.  Also healthy eating, plenty of water, and moderate exercise can help support healing.  You'll find a lot more good ideas as you explore the site.  But what you describe is normal - it's excruciating to get hit so hard by difficult feelings but it's a sign of your system making repairs. You will get through the.

Anxiety is the most prevalent withdrawal symptom

Here's a quote about this from The Ashton Manual Ch. III Benzodiazepine Withdrawal Symptoms:

The most prominent effect of benzodiazepines is an anti-anxiety effect – that is why they were developed as tranquillisers. As a consequence, nearly all the acute symptoms of withdrawal are those of anxiety. They have been described in anxiety states in people who have never touched a benzodiazepine and were recognised as psychological and physical symptoms of anxiety long before benzodiazepines were discovered. However, certain symptom clusters are particularly characteristic of benzodiazepine withdrawal. These include hypersensitivity to sensory stimuli (sound, light, touch, taste and smell) and perceptual distortions (for example sensation of the floor undulating, feeling of motion, impressions of walls or floors tilting, sensation of walking on cotton wool). There also appears to be a higher incidence than usually seen in anxiety states of depersonalisation, feelings of unreality, and tingling and numbness. Visual hallucinations, distortion of the body image (“my head feels like a football/balloon”), feelings of insects crawling on the skin, muscle twitching and weight loss are not uncommon in benzodiazepine withdrawal but unusual in anxiety states.

[[Fa...]]

Just now, [[B...] said:

Hi @[Fa...] - It's completely normal to be feeling intense symptoms at 2 months off.  The nervous system is so sensitized during withdrawal that stress and stimuli of all kinds can trigger a lot of distressing effects.  As you heal your symptoms will tend to ease up.  It's not always a straight path; symptoms can disappear and reappear but the trend is still heading toward recovery.  It takes time.  The best ways we know of to cope with the intense symptoms is to distract yourself by pouring yourself into anything that absorbs your attention.  Also healthy eating, plenty of water, and moderate exercise can help support healing.  You'll find a lot more good ideas as you explore the site.  But what you describe is normal - it's excruciating to get hit so hard by difficult feelings but it's a sign of your system making repairs. You will get through the.

Anxiety is the most prevalent withdrawal symptom

Here's a quote about this from The Ashton Manual Ch. III Benzodiazepine Withdrawal Symptoms:

The most prominent effect of benzodiazepines is an anti-anxiety effect – that is why they were developed as tranquillisers. As a consequence, nearly all the acute symptoms of withdrawal are those of anxiety. They have been described in anxiety states in people who have never touched a benzodiazepine and were recognised as psychological and physical symptoms of anxiety long before benzodiazepines were discovered. However, certain symptom clusters are particularly characteristic of benzodiazepine withdrawal. These include hypersensitivity to sensory stimuli (sound, light, touch, taste and smell) and perceptual distortions (for example sensation of the floor undulating, feeling of motion, impressions of walls or floors tilting, sensation of walking on cotton wool). There also appears to be a higher incidence than usually seen in anxiety states of depersonalisation, feelings of unreality, and tingling and numbness. Visual hallucinations, distortion of the body image (“my head feels like a football/balloon”), feelings of insects crawling on the skin, muscle twitching and weight loss are not uncommon in benzodiazepine withdrawal but unusual in anxiety states.

thank you so much! You have helped a lot during this time, I know it is normal and that I have to be patient, but sometimes it is unbearable, I can't manage my emotions and it's like I don't have good feelings, it's horrible !

[[Br...]]

I understand.  I remember how horrible it was for me when I was in the thick of early withdrawal.  I couldn't imagine I would ever feel like myself again.  I clung to Success Stories for dear life and often found myself reading them in the wee hours of the night looking for reasons to feel hopeful.  And over time, little by little, step by step, I healed.  The misery will pass and you will live in the world with ease again.  I know right now it's brutal.  But the severity of your symptoms right now is temporary.  

[[Fa...]]

Just now, [[B...] said:

I understand.  I remember how horrible it was for me when I was in the thick of early withdrawal.  I couldn't imagine I would ever feel like myself again.  I clung to Success Stories for dear life and often found myself reading them in the wee hours of the night looking for reasons to feel hopeful.  And over time, little by little, step by step, I healed.  The misery will pass and you will live in the world with ease again.  I know right now it's brutal.  But the severity of your symptoms right now is temporary.  

Thank you very much.. If I recover from this, I will remember your words all my life, your words make a difference and give me strength to move forward, you have helped me much more than you think, I hope that week by week it will improve

[[OD...]]

I've really made it a point to eliminate as many stressors as possible during this time. This means things I look at online, movies/shows that I watch, making sure music I listen to is slower paced, making sure I'm not rushed when cooking, bathing or doing other things etc. For me, my body is very sensitive to stress right now so every little area I can eliminate it helps.