was switched from ativan to xanax

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Hi Hazyworld,

 

Beeper corrected me regarding your meds.  I didn't mean to say it was the ativan causing your w/d symptoms.  I know you are on Xanax.  Tapering off any benzo is difficult.  Sorry about the error.  Hang in there.

 

Patty  xo

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im trying to hang in but feels like im crasdhing my whole right side of my body feels messed up my ear my shoulder my back my right breast side of face im freakin i took a tylonol and im afraid i will have a bad reaction to it oh my gosh i took tylonol for years i have to make it cant go to hospital and a party i have to attend with hubby tonight im so scared i haved an app with heart dr for check up at 12 45 and afraid i wont make it im nuts

[[Lo...]]

Hey hazy,

I am sorry to hear that you are not feeling well. Please let us know how your dr. appointment with the heart dr. goes. I really don't think you are going crazy; benzos can make you feel like you are going crazy at times. I wish your doctor would help you out with the ativan/xanax situation. Have you thought about just tapering off the xanax and not switching back to ativan; being benzo free? I wonder if the benzos are the root/source of your symptoms? Please keep us updated....

 

Lori

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trying to make it if anyone has any ideas how i can switch back to ativan and off xanax PLEASE let me know

[[Be...]]

Hazy - 

 

When you first posted on this thread, you said the doctor switched you to xanax because you felt so bad on the ativan.  I don't see how switching back to ativan is going to help you; it will just trade one set ofproblems for another.  The only thing you haven't tried is tapering off the benzo; when there isn't any benzo in your system anymore, your body can really heal.  After taking benzos for 18 years, it will take a while  but it isn't going to happen if you keep taking them.  I took one benzo or another even longer than you and I'm feeling a lot better now that I am 5 months "clean". That's my opinion anyway.

 

I'm sorry you are always so scared and worried.  I don't know what to do for that. 

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Beeper you are correct that i felt ativan was making me feel bad but also i was on risperdal at that time too and dr stopped both of then,i had a lot of dizziness and blamed the ativan but i wasnt dizzy on it at the beginning so we tend to blame the risperdal for teh dizziness i would ,love too be off all benzos but im a physical wreck i can barely think today my chest has bugs or something in it feels like my eyes are all messed up and i never felt this way on ativan i went to HEART DR today and he is concerned as my heart rate was high and thats tarted yesterday along with th

is bad way im feeling  he aid GET AHOLD of your other DR...so im trying  How long were you on benzos me its been 20 years nonstop I thank you for your advice and how will i get off the drug after so many years and still with the extreme anxiety

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Was put bqack on ativan today so my question when i was on it before i was on 1/2 mg 3 to 4 times a day and then on the xanax 1/2 mg 3 times a day will i need more ativan now from stopping xaanx and could i have a siezure ffrom stopping the xanx im scared about that now after starting the ativna now the right side of my face is numb,,,i took a 1/2 mg of ativan at 9 am 1/2 at 2 pm and then the numbness started so i took anotehr 1/2 thinkking it was from anxiety from stopping the xanx i took that half at 5 pm and its been thirty min and face still feels funny and fingers aret tingling anxiety withdrawla or meds?

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hazy, I posted this on the other thread you started.  It applies here, too.

 

Hazy, there is no easy way to get off these drugs.  To put it bluntly, you are going to feel like hell, and with all that you've been through with the changing of med you are going to feel like you are are in hell, there's no two ways around it.

 

You are going to have to dig deep within yourself and find the strength and the commitment to do this.  You can do it, many, many people have.

 

I'm not trying to discourage you but it seems that once you get on a drug and you are feeling like crap you think it's not working, or working as it should.  At this point, if I were you, I would pick one and stay with it until the end.  You've tried them all and know what you think will work the best for you.

 

We're here to help and support you but you are going to have to decide how you want to get through this.

 

  TS

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Was put bqack on ativan today so my question when i was on it before i was on 1/2 mg 3 to 4 times a day and then on the xanax 1/2 mg 3 times a day will i need more ativan now from stopping xaanx and could i have a siezure ffrom stopping the xanx im scared about that now after starting the ativna now the right side of my face is numb,,,i took a 1/2 mg of ativan at 9 am 1/2 at 2 pm and then the numbness started so i took anotehr 1/2 thinkking it was from anxiety from stopping the xanx i took that half at 5 pm and its been thirty min and face still feels funny and fingers aret tingling anxiety withdrawla or meds?

 

Nothing has changed since the last time you were on it.  Same symptoms, different day.  Stop messing around with your meds!  Get on a schedule and stick with it.

 

You are not going to die.  You are not going to have a seizure.  Do you think your dr. would have changed your meds to something that would kill you?  Of course your face is numb, your fingers feel funny, you are in tolerance withdrawal and they will continue to feel like this until you are off your the poison.  It will not kill you. 

 

withdrawla or meds?

 

It's both!  One causes the other, it's uncomfortable but it won't hurt you.

 

 

TS

 

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YES I DO THINK THIS DR WOULD DO SOMETHING TO AMKE ME WORSE SHE STOPPED ME OFF TEH ATIVANA ND PUT ME ON XANX AND I HAVE BEEN WORSE TEH WHOLE MONTH OF DEC NOW BACK ON ATIVAN OFF XAANX I PRAY JANUARY IS BETTER BUT I KNOW  YEAR I STOPPED XANX COLDTURKEY WENT IN MENTAL HOSPITAL I WILL TRY TO STABILIZE AGAIN ON ATIVAN AND STRT WORKING ON GETTING OFF IT..I HOPE SOMWEONE IS RIGHT THTA I WONT HAVE A SEIZURE  OR STROKE

[[Lo...]]

 

I WILL TRY TO STABILIZE AGAIN ON ATIVAN AND STRT WORKING ON GETTING OFF IT

 

Hey hazy,

Sounds like you have come up with a good New Year's Resolution. Stay on the ativan for 2-3 weeks (since you started a cross-over) and then begin a slow and steady taper (not a cold turkey) off the ativan. We can help you with a taper schedule when you are ready. I really don't believe that you will feel better until you get completely off the benzo. Try not to think about things like seizures and dying or you will just feel worse; I know because I have been there.

 

Lori

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Can anyone recomend someones story of how benzos messed up their life or a place to find such a story im trying to explain to hubby at how bad these drugs are andd i need off ,I may be put in a mental hospital and if someone here had a story that tells the horrible effecys of being on these drugs for like 20 years please let me now where to go to read it,,tomorow i may be commited if something dont happen and im scard i will never get out ..

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Here Hon, click this link I think this would be a good one for your husband to read.

 

http://www.benzobuddies.org/forum/index.php?topic=8639.msg105218#msg105218

 

Take care Hazy...it will be all right.

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thqnks he read it asnd said she was very lucky and everyone is differenrt waht worked for her might not work for me im slo lost and feel so hopeless if i go in hospital what will they do i wonder and how will i fight when i feel so week im depressed and need help for that i feel so empty adn now back on ativan i feel like my cheeks keep burning and my hands feel swoleen i dont sleep since being put on xanax i have no intrest in anything do u all think i should go to hospital

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Hazy, I don't know what you should do. I feel so sad for you. :'( I have watched your confusion at all this for a long time. I just want you to get well, and be yourself again. Maybe the hospital could get you stable enough that you would feel like you could manage a taper when you got home? I don't know? I know you are stuck in a bad situation know matter how you cut it. I hope you can just stay home and taper, with your husbands support. That would be what I would wish for you.

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thqnks he read it asnd said she was very lucky and everyone is differenrt waht worked for her might not work for me im slo lost and feel so hopeless if i go in hospital what will they do i wonder and how will i fight when i feel so week im depressed and need help for that i feel so empty adn now back on ativan i feel like my cheeks keep burning and my hands feel swoleen i dont sleep since being put on xanax i have no intrest in anything do u all think i should go to hospital

 

Those comments don't seem to fit Jenilyn's story.  In what respect did he think she was lucky?  What did she do that he thought wouldn't work for you?  Those comments make no sense.  Here's an excerpt from near the end (I hope you read her story as well):

 

"Anyway...fast forward 5 years.  I got very hurt on my four wheeler and had to have knee surgery.  After the surgery they put me on Percocet and Vicodin for the pain.  I stopped the Xanax completely being afraid of ODing myself.  The combination of these drugs caused me to have severe insomnia...so I quit the pain pills and reinstated on the Xanax.  Now the Xanax did the opposite it was doing before.  Instead of relaxing me...it amped me up.  For three months I probably didn't sleep more than 3 hours a night.  I kept going to the doctor telling them I thought I needed off the Xanax and they just kept making my prescription stronger.  I was a basket case in tolerance and that last week before the hospital I didn't sleep at all.  Went back to the hospital and they said they couldn't admit me for insomnia.  It was so much more than that.  I had dropped 17 lbs, couldn't sleep at all, couldn't eat, my mind raced so fast I couldn't watch TV or read or hold a conversation.  It was the closest I ever want to come to hell.  There was no escape...not even in sleep.  I was desperate and started having thoughts of suicide.  After all, nobody was listening to me and I wasn't getting any better.  That's when I decided to check myself into the mental hospital.  Big mistake although in hindsight it may have saved my life.  At this point I absolutely refused to take any Xanax and was going through pure hell of withdrawal.  They reinstated me on Klonopin.  From January to March I tapered myself off.  Once I was off all their drugs...I started feeling better.  It wasn't over night and it took a lot of work on my part.  I was severely agoraphobic at this point and couldn't even stand the thought of going to the store.  I started forcing myself to do little errands and do little things I used to do.  Eventually, I got better.  By that August I was back working full time. "

 

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he meany she was lucky she got better and off drugs and he meant i may not be able to get off drugs thats what he meant what works for others might not work for me and im sitting here falling apart and im scared to go in a hospital for fear i will totally lose it but i ahve got so bad i just went to store and im freaked out what advice would tell me to tell the peolplw at the hospital aout me..do u think i will get out if i go in

[[Lo...]]

Hey hazy,

I am sorry that your husband is not very supportive for you right now. I know what it's like to have people/family who don't understand how hard tolerance and withdrawals to benzos really is. The stress you are under only makes things worse. I know you feel bad, and I did as well when I was tolerant to klonopin for a year. I DID start feeling better a few weeks into my taper. I still had withdrawal symptoms, but it wasn't as bad as tolerance. I really wish you could do a slow and steady taper off the ativan and then if you do need to be on some kind of anti-depressant, atleast you would have the benzo out of your system. Let us know what you decide to do; we are concerned for you, but feel helpless because we can't "fix" this for you. Take care....

 

Lori

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im having horrible day oday cant think went to store and freaked out pain in my heart diziness and the dr i seen on friday put meon klonopin and told meto use ativan on a as needed basics i feel im falling aprt how will i make it in a mental hospital without losing iot

[[Lo...]]

hazy,

I didn't know that you were taking klonopin AND ativan? I thought you just switched back to the ativan from the xanax?? How much of each of these are you taking everyday and have you ever been on klonopin before?

 

Lori

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oh i was just put on the klonopin friday when i went to the new dr the one that feels i need to go back into mental hospital,yes i was on Klonopin back in the ninties and also from june 07 till jan o8 whena  dr stoped it and i ended up in hospital and tehn i was put on it in april 08 till aug o8 when t was stopped and i was put on ativan  so now i ahve been on klonopin and ativan since friday,i feel like i m having a heart attack and bugs crawling in me cant concentrate i havent worried about my heart in long time but iot feels almost like a vibration could cutting back on the xanax nad the ativan im taking ativan as needed now and the klonopin 2 times a day could all that casue me to be freaking so

[[Lo...]]

Hey hazy,

It's a good chance that all the switching and now the klonopin is making you feel bad. You have had medical tests done to rule out serious things, like a heart condition. You said in the chat room that you will probably be going to the hospital?? When will that be??

 

Lori

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oh i was just put on the klonopin friday when i went to the new dr the one that feels i need to go back into mental hospital,yes i was on Klonopin back in the ninties and also from june 07 till jan o8 whena  dr stoped it and i ended up in hospital and tehn i was put on it in april 08 till aug o8 when t was stopped and i was put on ativan  so now i ahve been on klonopin and ativan since friday,i feel like i m having a heart attack and bugs crawling in me cant concentrate i havent worried about my heart in long time but iot feels almost like a vibration could cutting back on the xanax nad the ativan im taking ativan as needed now and the klonopin 2 times a day could all that casue me to be freaking so

 

oh i was just put on the klonopin friday

 

 

HO-LY LORD Hazy!!!  You are drugged to the gills and it's no wonder you are feeling this way.  You are

 

going to have to take control of your health, that is the only way out of this.  I don't know of anything that's going to

 

help you other than get off the drugs, and you are going to have to do that.

 

We are here to help but we can't compete with your drs.  It's your decision on what you want to do.

 

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Im proberly going to a mental hospital tommorow the dr i saw on friday said im way out of her scope she is just a medical dr and she feels i need inpatient,,i can ask to get off the benzos there right,,,i do believe i will have to have something for depression or maybe i should go into a detox,i cant do it on my own here in my home i feel like im having a heart attack,,,maybe it was alright but what if all the med changes have done omething to my heart..all im on now is 1/2 ativan can take 3 of that a day and 0.5 mg klonopin twice a day.....and i stopped the xanax on dec 31..do u think i will die im so scared and im scared to go in a hospital

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No, you are not going to die.  The way it sounds you are on 1.5mg of Ativan and 1mg of Klonopin and that won't kill you but you are in tolerance and the only way you are going to get better is to get of the drugs.

 

You won't truly know if you need something for depression until you have gotten off the benzos and healed.

 

Maybe the dr. at the mental hospital can get you lined out with your meds enough for you to feel better and for you to get a grasp on what's going on. 

 

It's obvious that you are having severe tolerance wd, nothing helps that but to get off.

 

Let us know what you are going to do.