Can anyone tell me about thier sxs after doing a CT from xanax?

[[be...]]

I am in a similar situation to Jess.  I also can't change doctors. I have no insurance and I have checked into other alternatives thoroughly and just don't have the means to travel to a city.

 

I am now down to 1mg per day of X by use of titration.  I mixed a 1mg tablet in pre-measured apple juice (it dissolves quite quickly) and take .25 mg at 9am, 2pm, 6pm, and 10pm. Two days down and so far so good. Regular wd symptoms, but so far not completely unbearable.  I will keep my fingers crossed and know I will need some very good luck.

 

Bertha 

[[gr...]]

Jess

Some of my longer lasting issues: Sleep did not return until 15 months off. Physical pain and stiffness (muscles, joints) increased the longer I was off and did not clear until just recently, I was pretty much disabled with pain from 15 to 25 months off. Mania kind of fueled me thru the first year but then along with the pain severe fatigue set in. You tend to get pretty tired of it all after 12 months, makes it real hard to cope.  Bad tinnitus was a major issue for the first year, it's gone now, but my hearing seems damaged to some extent. DP/DR, emotional blunting, and cog fog lingered a lot longer than I like to admit to.

 

That's not counting all the destructive physical symptoms I dealt w/ during the first year.

 

I'm fully functional now but changed by it all. Much more subdued than I ever was in the past. Beaten into submission, feels like.  Took me along time to feel like there wasn't an axe splitting my brain in two...not a painful feeling, just a feeling of something is not quite right, like all the connections were not being made.

[[be...]]

Why is it that everyone seems to attack a person for stating their experience with a CT?  It's just an 'experience' and an opinion and we ask for that.

 

 

Bertha

 

 

Bertha

 

Have you ever done a cold turkey?

 

If anyone on this forum choses to visit the cold turkey section of this forum they aint gunna find Disneyland now are they.Jess is not  a new person in town so she has been down the path before and I totally respect her dont always agree but thats ok.  Jess knew what kind of responses she would get when she posted it and although the threads here are for many to read I guess the questions answered were written for her who we know.

 

Anyway dont get scared of the forum take it from me the best thing to do is this if you see a thread and you dont feel comfortable dont read it their is some scary $hit on here.  Curiosity killed the cat words i need to remember myself.

 

Lizzy

 

 

Lizzy,

 

The question was asked by BOTH Jess and myself if you would take the time to read the entire thread. My posting is the second one after Jess's.  I saw no need to start 2 threads on the same discussion that Jess and I were speaking of just prior to this post (on her own blog).

 

My opinion was based on the attacks I felt were given to Tortoise and the remarks of his lack of experience about doing a CT. Now it seems as though you are doing the same to me... so shameful on YOUR part.  Yes, I've read the CT section of this forum and that is NOT what my remark was about.  When I see someone 'attack' someone else's opinion, I'm going to call them out on it.  It's just simply NOT nice!

 

I 'CAN' handle the opinions and experiences of CT situations on the forum, but what I can't handle is people attacking another for 'positive' results' from a CT. I think you need to read the entire thread Lizzy......

 

Bertha

[[ce...]]

Bertha, I read Lizzy's post and it was not at all shameful.  It was actually a very caring and level headed response. 

[[be...]]

Cedar

 

I didn't mean to dismiss your opinion or "attack" you. In fact, you seem like a nice person and I appreciate your best wishes. but you admit yourself that you CT'ed xanax once with only one hellish week. Therefore it is possible to do it and recover quickly.

 

If you read the Benzo Book by Jack Hobson, you will see a perfect example of a person torturing hemself with a long taper. Hobson crossed over to 60 mgs Valium from 3 mgs Xanax and tapered for over 2 years, and suffered withdrawal symptoms for 9 months post taper. That adds up to three years of misery, most of which would have been avoided, in my opinion, with a rapid medical taper or detox CT. And I speak from personal experience. I tried a valium crossover and taper, and found it completely intolerable. My hospital supervised rapid taper has saved me well over a year of slow torture.

 

I ahve one caveat. If you find a sweet spot with a slow taper that is better. I tried a slow taper and just kept crashing. It put me into Major Depression.

 

Thanks for this information Tortoise..... it's a very good view! Everyone is not the same and I agree that a slow taper is not ALWAYS the answer.

 

Bertha

[[ce...]]

Maybe a rapid taper or ct will go well for some people, but why risk it is what we're asking?

 

This isn't cold turkey'ers against the world. We're suggesting the safest way to get of benzo's and the safest way is to taper for the vast majority of people.  We are not all insane here, we have experienced this too.  This isn't a fight, so don't make it one.  It's not one shoe fits all and we know that. 

 

No one is beating up on you, so please stop taking it that way.  Please?

[Guest [...]]

LOL

 

If i would take the time to read them.  Listen up I dont have time to read them all sweety im to busy living my life atm making up for lost time.  Im not going to bother with your rude self.  You dont know me from a bar of soap how dare you cast judgement and call me shameful.  You know what im speaking from experience my response to you was out of care as a fellow human being.  What a shame you are finding that people are attacking you where is this coming from.  anyway whatever.

 

 

[[be...]]

LIZZY Quote

"4mg of Xanax given September 2011

2 c/t bad move and 2 rapid tapers bad moves dont do it you will be sorry

 

DONT LISTEN TO ALL THE NEGATIVITY JUST BECAUSE IT HAPPENED TO OTHERS DOESNT MEAN IT WILL HAPPEN TO YOU

 

 

Lizzy,

 

Isn't your above statement 'contradictory'?

 

I read your 'life' story Lizzi and it seems to me that you spend a LOT of time on here writing a loooong drawn out pity-party.

 

You say you are too busy living your life...... uh 4,859 posts???  Looks like it!

 

I think this site is NOT for me and there are a lot of people who put their life into this blog and try to act as though they are suddenly experts in the field of Benzo's.  You are not trying to help people, you just keep repeating your life woes with all the other people on this site who spend their time typing about it also.  Everyone has a story to tell and mine would just add to all the 'too abundant drama'.

 

Time for me to find a different, more positive place than this.  Most of the people on here just try to 'out-do' each other with their negativity, attacks, experience, advice, and sob story.

 

I will do things my own way.....  I don't have all day for this crap anyhow.  I have a business and a farm to run.......

 

Adios!

 

Bertha

[Guest [...]]

make this 4,860

 

 

you are one nasty arse woman i feel sorry for you.  I read your edited version of events oh that was before you edited it.  I wonder where your religion fits in here.  Compassion is obviously not on your agenda. 

 

yes while i was in hospital i wrote lots thats because I couldnt talk after c/t 4mg of xanax so i wrote big freaking deal.  get a life woman go milk a bloody cow or something and stop being one.

 

holy cows i thought you were a woman well that makes this twice as bad thought you were just being a nasty woman now i see your a guy friggin hell go abuse someone else mate.  dont go bringing your power and control issues here to me. 

[[ce...]]

Lizzy has been an incredibly inspirational and helpful member to everyone here on the forum.  Attacking her has been truly uncalled for.

 

Lizzy, your original post here was well thought out and certainly not shameful in the least.

 

Bertha, it's a shame you feel you have to attack others here who only try to offer their support and kindness to others.  To me, that is truly shameful behavior.  Just because you lied to your doctor is no one's fault here, but your own.  Perhaps if you were truthful you could taper too.

 

 

[[pi...]]

This thread is clearly out of hand now.  Everyone take a step back and discontinue the tone of the remarks and the personal attacks.  This is not what we do here on the forum, this is not how we treat each other.

 

I have read the posts and one thing needs to be made clear. We support everyone going through withdrawal no matter what avenue they decide to take.

 

People are very passionate about cold turkey for a very good reason, most have had a horrific time with it.  However, not everyone will. As we have all read in the literature the majority of people do not have difficult withdrawals. It is vital, however that the dangers of a ct be pointed out. I was forced to do a ct of ativan for a medical test and fell into the depths of  a terrible withdrawal, the problem was I didn't know it and neither did my doctors. We do provide information here based on experience and research, this is information that I truely wish I had at the time.

 

Attacks on members simply will not be permitted.  Notice the reference to this in the Forum Manual:

 

•Be polite towards, and respectful of, your fellow Buddies. We do not tolerate attacks upon fellow members.

 

Take some time now and try to understand where each person is coming from and respect their opinions as such. Lets get back to the business of support.

 

pianogirl

 

 

[[Ga...]]

Lizzy has been an incredibly inspirational and helpful member to everyone here on the forum.  Attacking her has been truly uncalled for.

 

Lizzy, your original post here was well thought out and certainly not shameful in the least.

 

Bertha, it's a shame you feel you have to attack others here who only try to offer their support and kindness to others.  To me, that is truly shameful behavior.  Just because you lied to your doctor is no one's fault here, but your own.  Perhaps if you were truthful you could taper too.

 

I agree about lizzy. When mo later after my ct I would read her posts

She would usually make me laugh. She too went thru a rough time.

I think writing helped her get thru it.

She is just an upbeat tough person but big hearted, too

[[Ga...]]

Hi Jess.

 

I hesitated to post on this because everyone is different and we are on different lengths of time, etc but I was forced to ct and survived.

I am now 11 mo off and have vibrating skyhook not everyday, I have alot of fatigue if I have to socialize. Tinnitus mainly in left ear. Dr and do though not as bad and some mornings wake up very stiff and aches although not every day.  Dizziness too but I had it on xanax, too

Please note I was on many yrs good luck in whichever you choose

[[to...]]

Bertha

 

I appreciate your speaking out for me. The cold turkey threads can get very heated.

 

Lizzie is OK in my book. She is a rapid taper vet and is highly supportive of people's choices. Others not so much.

 

I think that we should all agree that there is more than one way to skin a cat. A slow taper is not required to safely get off benzo's. And these 2 plus year micro tapers prolong agony and stress the hell out of the microtaperers in my opinion. I think it is important for the taper to not become an obsession, like it was for me for a very long time. Sometimes you have to get it over with to save your sanity over the long term.

 

There are those who are absolutely dogmatic that the taper is actually a tool for healing. Jana at BDR is one of those. I have seen her give people dubious advice, often suggesting reinstatements beyond a year. There are those who believe that CT/RT will guarantee someone protracted symptoms. I belive that the brain heals fastest in a benzo free environment. I can feel that happening in me now. And I don't have to worry about titration schedules, doctors appointments, pharmacy hours, organic vs inorganic milk, syringes,pillcutters, scales and most impotrantly, when is the next shoe going to drop.

 

I am surprised Krock and Chrisw haven't weighed in. Those guys are both wacko, but their posts are always colorful and passionate. Speak up boys.

[[Ho...]]

Tortoise,

 

Not everyone who does a slow taper is in agony or stressed out. My taper has been slow and my symptoms have been very manageable. I am not in agony, I am not stressed and I am not obsessed with my taper. Making generalizations doesn't help anyone.

 

I am surprised Krock and Chrisw haven't weighed in. Those guys are both wacko, but their posts are always colorful and passionate. Speak up boys.

 

This statement is uncalled for and not welcome on this forum. Please refrain from this sort of statement in the future. You may tell me you weren't serious or were trying to be funny but my warning stands. Please abide by it.

 

Hope

[[to...]]

Hope

 

I was trying to be funny. I accept the warning. I like both of those guys and I was trying to goad them into chiming in.

[[Ho...]]

Hope

 

I was trying to be funny. I accept the warning. I like both of those guys and I was trying to goad them into chiming in.

 

torotoise,

 

I happen to know that at least one of the members you named has not appreciated your "goading" in the past. It's not a joke if everyone isn't in on it.

 

Hope

[[je...]]

Thanks Gardenia for the positive outlook... and lizzy I know you have my best interests in mind.  Pianogirl, i appreciate the cold hard truth... and Tortise thanks for the support.  I think that the rest isnt worth going into.  Thank you everyone for all of your opinions and personal experiences...Jess

[[gr...]]

Jess

Please keep us posted. Whatever happens I hope it goes ok for you. Though I regret not being afforded some time to work down that last .25 mg slowly, in a way getting "cut off" kind of jumpstarted my postbenzo life, forced me to do some serious work in a way I never thought I was capable of! Obviously I'll never know how things would have gone had I tapered, but I worked with what I had and it has worked out all right, but it has taken over 2 years. Healed at this point, a little worse for wear is all. It's a journey, different for everyone. I'm sure you'll find your way

[[je...]]

Thanks greengirl, I will know tomorrow I guess...Jess

[[Se...]]

Not a pleasant experience.  Wouldn't recommend it.  If you don't die, you'll alternate between thinking you're going to and wishing you would.

 

1:  Zero sleep for six days

2:  Gastro problems

3:  Extreme confusion

4:  Audio n visual hallucinations

5:  Paranoia

6:  Altered taste

7:  Severe tinnitus

8:  Electric shocks

9:  Derealisation

10: Trouble talking/stuttering

11: Hyperreflexia

12: Anxiety

13: Panick

14: Extreme depersonalization

15: Lack of appetite

16: Shakes

 

Same thing for me when I c/t off of Xanax as well as myclonic jerks, a feeling that my center of gravity was going up and down in my body and one side of my body went paralyzed for half an hour. Then I went to ER and was hospitalized for a couple of days.

 

I wouldn't advise c/t'ing off of Xanax unless you are on .0625mg or less.

 

Be well and take care.

[[gr...]]

Serena

When lying down, did you have the sensation of your leg falling off at the hip, like it was completely separating from your body? That was the scariest symptom for me, I read somewhere that it is unique to xanax, but can't remember where.

[[je...]]

It is so crazy to me that my doctor is just convinced that there is not any wd at ct from .5 mgs...Then again she doesn't believe too much about how bad the ct of K was either.  Thanks Serena for chiming in...Jess

[[gr...]]

jess

If you tell your dr you are doing fine on .5, that this dose is workng out for you,  do you think she would be ok continuing to rx that dose? Then you would not have to updose to the 1 mg xr she wants to put you on. You can water titrate off from .5, as slow or fast as you feel comfortable with.

 

 

[[Se...]]

Serena

When lying down, did you have the sensation of your leg falling off at the hip, like it was completely separating from your body? That was the scariest symptom for me, I read somewhere that it is unique to xanax, but can't remember where.

 

I didn't have the sensation of my leg falling off, but after 7 days of the c/t is when one side of my body went numb and I literally had to drag my leg. Then I went to the hospital because of the myclonic jerks.

 

I'm not an expert Jess, but I believe c/t'ing .5mg of Xanax is too much because of it's high potency and short half-life.

 

IMO, if your doctor doesn't think you will have difficult sx's and you do, go to the ER and ask for a lower potency benzo with a longer half-life.

 

I know it is very scary for a doctor to c/t you, however you will be okay because if you have difficult sx's you will be taken care of at an ER.

 

In the meantime, if you can--find another doctor who will help you cross-over to a longer acting benzo.

 

As a side note, the doctor I have seen recently switched me from Xanax to Librium overnight instead of in a step-ward fashion and it was uncomfortable--but I have been able to taper to a 66% decrease in one month. I'm not exactly comfortable, however I have tolerated it.

 

take care, Serena