Can this be withdrawal? Benzo induced POTS?

[[An...]]

Please I need help!! I’ve been attempting to taper from X. I was taking 0.5mgs daily but last week I reduced it to 0.25mgs. Since then, I’ve been having the worst vertigo…everytime I walk I feel like I’m in a funhouse, everything seems to be moving, boat sensation, and everything almost appears distorted. Weird brain drop sensations. I go outside where it’s bright and I get tunnel vision. What’s scary is that this morning I got out of bed and my heart started beating so fast. I would sit down, my HR would come down, but as soon as I got up I’d get very tachy, lightheaded, and full body tremors. I’m beyond myself, I can’t stop crying because I don’t know why this is happening. Can this possibly be withdrawals? Just a month ago I was running and lifting weight and now I’m pretty much bed bound. Is there a chance benzos are masking an underlying illness? 

[[Pa...]]

Hello @[An...], welcome to BenzoBuddies,

A 50% drop in your Xanax is too big of a reduction, my suggestion is to go back up to your normal dose and stay there a few days until you stabilize. 

Depending on how long you've taking the drug, we suggest reducing your dose by about 5-10% every few weeks but what works best is to reduce according to your symptoms and now that you've found out just how powerful they can be, I'm sure you understand the importance of going slow.

You may eventually stabilize on this dose but since you only started tapering last week I believe it would be better to go back up in dose and make a plan for a slow taper.

As for an underlying illness, your symptoms perfectly align with benzodiazepine withdrawal but of course, if you're concerned, its a good idea to get checked out by your doctor.  But if you do, be aware they may attempt to treat your symptoms with more medications then it will be difficult to know what is causing what. 

@[Pa...]

[[An...]]

 

14 minutes ago, [[P...] said:

Hello @[An...], welcome to BenzoBuddies,

A 50% drop in your Xanax is too big of a reduction, my suggestion is to go back up to your normal dose and stay there a few days until you stabilize. 

Depending on how long you've taking the drug, we suggest reducing your dose by about 5-10% every few weeks but what works best is to reduce according to your symptoms and now that you've found out just how powerful they can be, I'm sure you understand the importance of going slow.

You may eventually stabilize on this dose but since you only started tapering last week I believe it would be better to go back up in dose and make a plan for a slow taper.

As for an underlying illness, your symptoms perfectly align with benzodiazepine withdrawal but of course, if you're concerned, its a good idea to get checked out by your doctor.  But if you do, be aware they may attempt to treat your symptoms with more medications then it will be difficult to know what is causing what. 

@[Pa...]

I genuinely didn’t think it would be so bad. I’ve only been on them for 2.5 years and  rarely go over 1 full milligram (unless I have a panic attack). How can this small dose cause these kind of symptoms??  I literally thought I was going to die this morning. I did end up having to take 1mg and my symptoms have improved. 

Edited August 2 by [An...]

[[bw...]]

You need to taper slowly off.

This is indeed benzo withdrawal.

[[Pa...]]

@[An...],these medications are only recommended for 2-4 weeks by the manufacturers but I've seen dependence happen in as little as 10 days.  Xanax is a strong benzodiazepine, 1 mg is roughly equivalent to 20 mgs Valium. 

I'm glad you took the Xanax to bring you out of your misery, I hope you'll take your normal dose of .5 for the next few days so you can make a plan.  Making a plan means talking to your family about what is happening and what will happen, educating  yourself about this process, making sure you have a steady supply of the medication from your doctor to do a slow taper and working on a toolbox full of ways to cope with symptoms.

[[An...]]

@[Pa...]Thank you for the advice 💜 I  can cope with a lot of things but what I felt this morning was just plain awful. If that keeps happening every time I attempt a taper, I don’t think I’ll ever be off these meds. 
 

[[Pa...]]

Here's the problem with never getting off of these meds @[An...], you may have to eventually.  Most of us become tolerant to the dose we started on and have to take more to achieve the same effect.  So, our doctor raises our dose but this can only happen so many times before the doctor says, no, I can't increase it anymore due to prescribing guidelines and license issues.  Then what?  Do you taper, do you try to find another doctor in this day and age of doctors fearing lawsuits who will take over your care?  And will the new doctor decide at some point that you should come off of the drug?  Most physicians are ignorant about what it takes to taper from these medications because not everyone will suffer like we do, so they recommend 50% cuts and when we let them know how intolerable the symptoms are, they suspect another mental condition, another label, and they prescribe more medication so we end up on multiple medications trying to chase the symptoms caused by the benzo.  

I know I'm painting a bleak picture but we've found the longer a person has been on the medication, the longer the recovery is.  

This was the most difficult experience of my life, the emotional, mental and physical symptoms are torture but the only way out is through. 

[[Bo...]]

This book is a great resource as you work thru this tapering off- exactly what pamster said and if you want to read something that backs this up with research this is it-

https://www.amazon.com/Maudsley-Guidelines-prescribing-Prescribing/dp/111982298X

[[Bu...]]

7 hours ago, [[A...] said:

@[Pa...]Thank you for the advice 💜 I  can cope with a lot of things but what I felt this morning was just plain awful. If that keeps happening every time I attempt a taper, I don’t think I’ll ever be off these meds. 
 

I developed a tolerance to zopiclone in 3.5 weeks. I do understand that everyone is different and some people take Benzos for very many years without developing tolerance. It would probably be best to assume you are likely to be somewhere in between these extremes . I don’t think it would be healthy to stick your head in the sand and assume you will never have to deal with this issue. I did this for only a few weeks and could not regret it more. 

The sooner and more carefully you do a taper, the less likely it is to blow up you life (like what has happened to me). Pamster used the phrase “torture” - she’s right. I can’t imagine a greater suffering than what I’m going through now. 

Please do listen to the experienced people here. Listen about both how to deal with a taper and how to develop other coping mechanisms. 
 

Good luck 

 

[[Bl...]]

11 hours ago, [[A...] said:

@[Pa...]Thank you for the advice 💜 I  can cope with a lot of things but what I felt this morning was just plain awful. If that keeps happening every time I attempt a taper, I don’t think I’ll ever be off these meds. 
 

Hi there, 

 

I am new here and I'm far less knowledgeable than almost everyone, but I recently quit benzo after being on it for about 10 months. 

 

The whole point of tapering is to avoid going through what you went through, so with a proper taper you shouldn't get these symptoms. I think you should try a much smaller drop. Try going down to 0.45 mg or 0.4mg at most. Slow and steady win the race. After being on benzo for 2.5 years, I think the taper process should take 6 months or more so that your brain can take its time to adjust. 

 

I wish you an easy journey. 

 

P.S. btw, every thing you described in your original post is classic withdrawal. From my personal experience quitting many many other substances, I can tell you that 70-80% of the distress these symptoms cause is due to fear, over-analysis, and jumping to worst case scenario. That is why Pamster recommended you plan and read about benzo withdrawal before attempting a taper. Knowledge goes a long way and can help you cope with whatever your brain throws at you. 

[[vo...]]

11 hours ago, [[A...] said:

 I don’t think I’ll ever be off these meds. 
 

@[An...] If you want to successfully get off Xanax, you need to shift your mindset and believe that you can do it. You have to truly want it—for your own health. Allowing Xanax or any other benzo to control your mind is not a way to live. There are natural coping mechanisms out there. I wish I had known about them when I started taking Xanax years ago, but I'm grateful that I'm using those 'tools' now instead of relying on a benzo.

Edited August 3 by [vo...]