XANAX Support Blog: If you're tapering Xanax/alprazolam, join in the discussion!

[[Je...]]

Jerry, I really feel for ya buddy, this is no cake walk.  Even though I've been able to work, today I felt like I was ready to break again.  It's just plain hard, no getting around it.  Lexapro caused me terrible anxiety, insomnia and puked my guts out.  I only took it once!  I just cannot take the SSRIs or SNRIs, the all make me feel like that.  And you are not losing your mind, it's just w/d.  Like everyone has said, some have a less rough time than others, but it's still hard.

 

Whatever you choose to do, we are here to support you.  Hugs my friend!

Thanks bunny

[[ma...]]

Jerry hope you get to feeling better. Thinking of you

[[Je...]]

Jerry hope you get to feeling better. Thinking of you

 

Pretty good tonight!

[[No...]]

 

  Hi Jerry,

 

            Hope all is well with you. You've had a rough couple of weeks.

           

              MJ

           

 

[[Je...]]

hanging...  Mornings r sucky...but I'll be fine later... 

[[Ju...]]

HOLY CRAP JULIEA YOU JUST EXPLAINED MY LIFE IN THAT LAST POST! ONE LAST DITCH TOTALLY COMMITTED EFFORT TO FEEL BETTER BC IT HAS BEEN SO LONG OF BEING PLAGUED BY EXCRUCIATING PAIN AND OTHER PHYSICAL SYX THAT I HAD GIVEN UP ON LIFE UNTIL I READ UP ON XANAX! YEP! TOTALLY ME! NO STOPPING BC I HAVE NO OTHER OPTIONS, TAPERING OFF IS IT! 

 

Thanks,

 

G 

 

I told you we were very similar Grinch!!!!!!!  Xanax attacked me in my muscles, joints and head/neck, (headaches).  These were also the spots that got hit during withdrawal the hardest.  In other words, I felt a bit worse, (on hit days), before I started to feel better.  But the way I looked at it was it was just different levels of feeling crappy, (and boy was I accustomed to feeling crappy.  I'm sure you know what I mean).

 

I wish it didn't take so long to figure this out.  Better late than never though.

 

 

 

[[th...]]

My days are one of these: sucky, suckier and suckiest.

 

Sucky - my everyday life of feeling terrible with my everyday syx but since I have been dealing with these syx for years now I can manage them for short periods if needed...I am used to them, I guess. 

 

Suckier - syx are worse, usually relentless nausea reels it's ugly head and head/neck/face pain is worse, stomach and gi syx increase to terrible  :'(

 

Suckiest - hit hardest with syx, no sleep, every syx is a 10/10 or worse, no getting out of bed unless absolutely have to...like my kids hs graduation...somehow made it thru this day...when we left to come home though I felt like I needed the ER I was in so much pain...had that "heart-attack and can't breath feeling" of-course didn't go bc I know it's wd and will pass with time and the ER does nothing for us.....learned that by going twice...I just crawled in the back seat of the car and laid in a fetal position trying to breath for the 90 min drive home....these are my worst days. 

 

The anxiety and depression syx I refuse to admit in those terms bc for me it can be a trap to swallow me up in bc I have a "busy brain" normally and don't want to be labeled with those simply bc I have a busy brain, so I just call them wd syx and wait for them to lift. Hopeless, frustrated, scared, blah, restless...sure, I have those feelings, ..but "regular" people have those feelings too. So as far as I can see, it's normal. I try to keep this perspective. TRY!!! 

 

When I cut, so far it can be any of those days that come up. But even my sucky baseline days are a struggle. Waiting to see what a window feels like 

 

G

[[Ra...]]

Jerry, glad to hear today is a bit better.  You keep hanging in there 

 

Grinch, I hope you turn a corner soon and start catching some breaks.  It sounds like you're pretty acute, geez, I'm so sorry.  Maybe you will be like Juliea and your crappy part is towards the top of your taper and you will feel better as you get lower in dose.  I sure hope so.  You're so brave!

 

Today was not a great day for me.  I ended up in the ER on Tuesday because of chest pain and then the next day a stress test.  Haven't eaten very much, so guts are gurgling.  Still able to work, but didn't want to go today.  Warm healing vibes to everyone tonight. 

 

Bunny

 

 

[[ju...]]

Juliea (or anyone)

I take 6 doses of Xanax daily--two of them in the night when I wake up.  Anyway, I am thinking of tapering off the 4 daytime pills first, and the 2 nighttime doses last.  Does this make any sense?  Would appreciate any advice.

[[Ju...]]

Hi justgonefishing.  Welcome to the Xanax blog.  I was a one time per day doser, so I'm not great with dosing support.  From what I gather, most people cut down their doses in a turn taking fashion, where each dose gets a turn at being cut.  What you are proposing might work out.  But having never done this myself, I hope someone who has will chime in and give you a few pointers. 

[[Ra...]]

JGF- I only dose twice per day right now, so I'm afraid I'm not much help either. 

 

Do you have insomnia, is that why you're thinking of getting rid of the daytime doses first?  Just judging by what others have said, it seems that keeping your doses as evenly spaced as possible is helpful.  I'm tapering my nighttime dose first to get it even with my day time dose, then I will ping pong back and forth between them.  It seems to me you should keep at least 1 daytime dose in the mix to keep those interdose w/d at bay. 

 

Please keep posting how you're doing 

 

Hugs to you,

 

Rabbit

[[Sa...]]

Sorry guys but I don't understand how to join thread?

[[Je...]]

Sorry guys but I don't understand how to join thread?

 

I think u just did

[[Sa...]]

Great, jerry! I've been reading some of r posts, it all sounds very familiar. I withdrew too fast and crashed so bad I thought I could never recover but 12 days later I'm feeling a whole lot better. My appetite is back, I no longer gag when I look at food, I'm less snappy, but my head is not clear yet. Now that I have a plan (thanks to this forum) I'm looking forward to my next taper. Thanks for your posts and good luck!

[[Ju...]]

Hey, Sally C!  Good to see you on the Xanax Blog today.  Glad you're feeling better. 

[[Je...]]

Hey, Sally C!  Good to see you on the Xanax Blog today.  Glad you're feeling better. 

 

Hi Juliea, hope u are doing well.

[[Ra...]]

Hi Sally,

 

Good to see you here.  Yes many have the same story.  At least you are on a relatively low dose of Xanax.  It can still be hard if your system is very sensitive.  Glad to hear your appetite is returning, that's a very good sign 

 

Glad to have you aboard 

 

Rabbit

[[Ju...]]

Hey, Sally C!  Good to see you on the Xanax Blog today.  Glad you're feeling better. 

 

Hi Juliea, hope u are doing well.

 

Hey Jerry, doing fine!! Good to see ya on this quiet Sunday.

 

 

Hey Rabbit!! <<waving emoticon inserted here>> 

[[Tr...]]

Hello everyone! Sorry I haven't been here for a while but I wanted to check in. If you're new to BB, welcome. You've found a loving and generous bunch of people who absolutely understand what you're gong through. You don't have to go this alone when you have support through this forum. Take it slow and easy and don't be hard on yourself. There's no prize for detoxing too fast.

 

I'm doing well and coming up on 9 months of being Xanax free. It's a miracle! My only two lingering symptoms are tinnitus and leg pain. The ringing in my ears is sometimes very loud and annoying but I accept it and believe it will one day be a distant memory like so many other sxs I had during my taper. My leg pain is entirely another story. 

 

I had a nasty summer cold about a month ago and the only good thing that came out of it was for about two days my leg pain completely disappeared and the tinnitus diminished to about half of what I usually experience. Perhaps my body's need to fight off a virus overrode my central nervous system's need to be heard? I'm not sure I've read anything like this before, but I took it as a sign that healing is coming. During my taper and lasting into my early days post jump, anytime my side effects became especially harsh, healing soon followed. Weird, but that's been my experience.

 

This time my leg pain, which intensified BIG TIME after the cold, has almost reached the point of being intolerable. OTCs like Aspirin, Tylenol, Advil, Aleve, etc. give very little relief which isn't surprising given that the brain is causing my pain. I'm taking calcium and magnesium with little to no help.

 

The leg pain has been with me since the early days of my taper but the pain location and intensity has morphed over time. Initially it was confined to my ankles before migrating upwards to my calfs and thigh. The exact location of the pain was difficult to pinpoint, but seemed to be coming from tensions rather than joints or muscles. Several months post jump, the pain centered to the region around my right knee and stayed there. I'd had a knee injury many years ago and wondered of there was some correlation. It's now muscle pain and effects both legs almost equally. It feels like my muscles are wound tight and are sore to the touch.

 

Does anyone have experience with leg pain or is there a support group on BB that may have some answers? Thank you all.

[[th...]]

TrueSouth,

 

All I can tell you is I have the same pain. Both my legs hurt and ache all the time. Nighttime is excruciating. Soaking in hot water helps for a short duration. I may have to start Epsom salt baths again too, seemed to give some relief. My legs have sore areas in the muscles and facia and are tender to touch, muscles mostly. Stretching helps. Walking if I can. But I haven't found any lasting relief. It is basically day by day and syx management. All I can do is understand your pain, but not sure how to relieve it. When I am done tapering I am going to try acupuncture and message. But I am not going to do that during the taper bc the cuts bring on syx so I don't see a point right now until I am down to 0mg.

 

G

[[Ra...]]

Good to see you TS! And glad to hear you are doing well aside from a few lingering symptoms.  I've heard that the T can be one of the last symptoms to go.  My legs don't hurt as much as they feel uncomfortable.  I think it's restless legs syndrome caused by the Seroquel.  Didn't have it prior to taking the Seroquel.

 

Thank you for continuing to come back and give us progress reports, it's so encouraging.  Huts to you 

 

Hi Juliea 

[[Tr...]]

Thanks Grinch1.

I should have mentioned I've been taking Epson salt baths since before my jump. A hot bath is so relaxing and feels wonderful. I do think the heat ramped up my heart palps but that's long home. In hind sight I should have taken a hot bath earlier in the evening rather than hop out and go straight to bed.

 

I failed to mention I had acupuncture for my leg pain Friday afternoon. I went all out to the tune of $140 and had the tens unit during the application and the cupping afterwards. I had high hopes for some relief, and while my left leg is slightly better, the pain in my right leg, (which had always been the worst), remains unchanged. Over the months, the pain has changed in intensity, location, and type. I've tried stretching and it helps but I want more. It's not impacting my mobility or ability to carry on normal activities, but after almost a year of this, it's beginning to wear on me in a big way. Yea, I'm complaining,  but when my symptoms take a turn for the worst, healing is usually just around the corner. I sure hope so...

 

I've had leg pain of some sort and intensity since the start of my taper, but it's been especially severe the last few weeks. Weird, but lots of things about benzo detox are beyond weird. Only one of us benzo heads would believe the crazy stuff we experience. Hang in there. It's worth all the pain.

 

Rabbit; The tinnitus is annoying and I've also read it can be one of the last symptoms to disappear.  You've been a real sweetheart since your first post. Thanks for appreciating the small things. With such a positive attitude, you'll be fine. I just know it.

 

If I can do this, anyone can! 

[[mr...]]

TS, have you looked into magnesium glycinate at all? A lot if buddies use it for anxiety & such, but I believe I've read of some buddies using it for muscle soreness.

 

Parker has posted a decent amount about magnesium glycinate, too. Anyways, thought I'd make mention in case it could help Nothing is for everyone, of course So feel free to make your own decisions of course

 

Take care, and I'm happy to hear things are going well for you

 

Mrs.

[[ma...]]

Hi TrueSouth,

 

I still have leg pain, but it doesn't sound like what you are experiencing.  Mine are really more stiff/weak feeling when I stand up.  Standing in one place is very hard.  I do have what feels like muscle soreness also at times.  All this seems to have really ramped up lately.  I haven't found anything that helps.  I do take magnesium also.

 

Like you, I'm hoping this intensity is healing just around the corner for us!

 

Mama

[[Tr...]]

Thanks Mrsalw. I hope you're feeling well as you wind your way to the finish line. I do take ionic magnesium citrate on bad days, but it doesn't seem to do anything for me. Its not exactly the same, but at this point I'm willing to try almost anything. *One thing's for certain, I haven't had any anxiety related symptoms for many months. Without question, those were absolutely the worst thing I've suffered post jump. The leg pain is with me 24x7. It's there when I go to sleep, and there when I wake up. It's intensified over the last few weeks and after such a long time, I'm just plain weary.

 

Mama2; I know your legs have been a problem for you during the entire process. You're correct, our leg symptoms sound different, but I feel for you. Leg pain of any kind sucks! Mine actually seems to be worse when I'm off my feet. Weird benzo/CNS crap.