Miss

[[Al...]]

I am new here and I wonder if I'm in the right place? I'm here for my son, he's a long term Xanax addict (on and off for 4 years) now for 10 months he's been a chronic user, also on and off, but 6 months no real breaks. He decided to quit cold turkey 5 days ago after tapering for 7 days before and relapsing on day 8. He's now feeling low grade electric type shocks when he's awake and has terrible nightmares and false memories when he sleeps. He refuses to get help because he's sick of being addicted and wants to quit by himself. I'm really worried about him. He moved to Europe a year ago and he's literally all alone there going through this completely alone. Any advice or suggestions would be so welcome. 

Thank you. 

[[Cr...]]

Hello @[Al...], glad you found this site.

I am terribly sorry your son ended up in this horrible situation. This process often does not only affect the person in withdrawal, but also their loved ones as well.

Do you know what dose your son jumped from? Is he aware of this site?

[[Ma...]]

He needs to do a much, much longer taper.

I encourage you to read the Ashton Manual to learn how and go to the taper thread here for support and guidance.

[[Pa...]]

Hi @[Al...], I can see you're worried about your son, it must be awful knowing he's so far away and dealing with not only his addiction but his dangerous decision to quit cold turkey.  Do you think he would be receptive to speaking with us, to letting us help him through this?

Most of our members are not addicts, they've taken the drug as prescribed by their doctors and are suffering terribly for it, so you see, you don't have to be an addict to suffer horrible symptoms, anyone can get trapped in this situation.

I have addictive tendencies and while I didn't know the drug needed to be tapered, I don't think I would have been able to, people like me have a difficult time with this, so I quit cold turkey.  This may be the only route your son can take as well but I want you and him to know he can still recover, I did.  

Please let him know that he can find support here, we can encourage and educate him on what to expect and how to cope, hopefully he'll decide to join if you mention us to him.