[gqblu]

David...how are you doing? John

quote:Originally posted by dlw422

Hi all. New here. I have been on xanax for about 7 years now. I take 1mg. 4 times a day. I have read the horror stories of this drug, and i am scared to death.

I suffer from severe panic attacks, social phobia, and anxiety. My Dr. has just stopped giving me xanax, and gave me zoloft..which i tried before, but didn't help. I have been on 1st, 2nd, and 3rd generation anti-deppresants. The side effects are so scary, that i don't want to talk about them.

I have enough xanax to last a couple of months. They do help to some degree with the panic and anxiety. At least they will let me go outside on my porch. My driving is limited to about 2 miles from home. I can't go into wal mart or a store.

How will i come off this med? I already scared thinking about it. I can't take no more on my body and mind. Do i check myself in a hospital? Do i just kill myself?

These post really scare me about coming off xanax. I have seen other Dr's, but they won't touch any benzo's. I am just screwed.

I would rather be dead than go through withdraws... like i said "it's hard enough now with the meds.

Please...anybody help. dlw422@yahoo.com

Regards
David...

[jmullen]

Please be careful with this drug. I am a tacher who three years ago was hospotalized for and eating/ running disorder. I had never been on any drugs up to this point (35 years old) when I was in the hospital for 6 weeks I was put on 900 mg neurotin, 50 mg serquel, 300 mg of welbutron and .1 mg of xanax. After 2 years I wanted OFF all this junk. I felt like an addited junky and could bearly teach my classes with out getting the shakes if I did not have my 1mg of xanax at lunch. I went to my regular doctor and asked for help. First he weined me off the high dosage of neurotin which was a long and hard ordeal. Then the xanax. It took 3 months and I have been clean for aobut 2. However, I do take one now and then when needed for TMJ pain. When I say as needed I try not to take it more then once a week. I have found that I need a beer everynight to wind down and help my jaw to relax. My continued running every day 4-6 miles helps a lot with the stress also. BUT, please be careful. Some of these doctors are no worse then drug pushers and just because the drugs are prescribed does not make them any less additive. I still take 300 mg of welbuton and 50 mg of serquel to help me sleep at night. But, I am not near the drug addited person I was 6 months ago. good luck. Please e mail me if I can help anyone in any way.

Jennifer

[Ralexa]

I am clean for 6 months from xanax. It is not easy at all. but it is worth it. I had a fever,shakes, a seizure,just about every negative reaction you can think of. But I did it. If our doctor will work with you,great. I had to stay in an institution for a month. I didn't want to risk a seizure again. I barely got off the interstate. The doctors mixed up the lexapro with the xanax with me also. It's like russian roulette. In the last 6 months I have stopped xanax,smoking,caffeine. It does get better. If it's only been a month you might can taper yourself. Tell the doctor to let you try Buspar, Good luck.

[Ralexa]

Originally Posted by gqblu

David...how are you doing? John

David, please get help.

[Ralexa]

Originally Posted by seamellow

I remember the feeling I couldn't breathe, and symptoms of a heart attack, when I was having a panic attack. If you put Xanax/valium etc. under your tongue, it will get into your system quicker, and it doesn't take as much to get relief.

I am off xanax and I have suffered from panic attacks for years. I don't have near the momentum of severity in panic attacks now as I did with xanax. I was the panic queen! I even took a plane trip in April and without xanax. It was a good trip. I don't want anymore xanax.

[SilverLining]

Hi all,

I just wanted to post because when my wife was contemplating getting off Xanax, she came across several forums like this one full of horror stories and of course was completely freaked out and demoralised from attempting to quit this drug. She had been taking 1mg once a day to help her sleep for at least 6 months or so and was convinced that she'd never be able to get off.

She went to the doctor and was prescribed some Temazepam to help her ease off. The doctor also helped her figure out a schedule of how she'd reduce her dosage over a number of weeks. She also started doing Yoga every day for about 1/2 hour a day, and watching what she ate and when. She also started a new type of therapy called ACT, which has turned out to be very helpful and worth a try if you've been doing CBT and finding it doesn't work for you.

Armed with this plan, we proceeded to cut down her dose. I won't pretend it was easy, there was a week or so where neither of us got more than a couple of hours sleep a night, with lots of tears and angst. And the Temazepam turned out not really to work for her, so she didn't take that at all. But after that week the worst of it was over, she got to sleeping 4-5 hours a night, and after 2-3 weeks 6-7 hours a night, and she had completely stopped Xanax.

It is now about 2 months later and she rarely has difficulty sleeping at all, perhaps 1 night a month, and usually due to obvious reasons like staying out late and drinking too much etc. She also has hardly any problems with the anxiety that she was originally prescribed the Xanax for at all. Of course, anxiety disorders are complex things and it may rear its head again if life gets tough again in future. But next time I think we'll deal with it with lifestyle changes and therapy rather than drugs.

I just wanted to offer this story as hope to anyone out there that is facing the prospect we were a few months ago and feeling demoralised. I'm sure that some people do have big difficulties getting off this drug and dealing with their anxiety problems. But remember that most of the people who DON'T have big problems with it probably won't go on the internet and vent their frustrations, so the story you get when you go searching online is likely to be biased.

Anyway, good luck whoever you are. Don't lose hope. Take action. It will probably be easier than you think.

Tom

[rexcirex]

this is not a reply, in this browser some how I can post a "quick reply" anyway...


Im now through withdrawal (almost cold turkey), and is hard but I know Im gonna make it. I was first at 4mg daily, in a couple of weeks up to 6mg, and then, prescription can not exceed 6 mg so I have to take them from the streets and I was on 8mg daily!!
When all are off, prescription an the street, I was a week withdrawal to zero, a week of hell, Cold Turkey but I survived, if I did it means others can make it, but this is what Im doing. I told the doctor what happened and he told me I was lucky nothing happens to me, I told him to get me prescription this time no 6mg, just at 4mg (cuz I wanted get out of this)... Then I get back on and Xanax again but in less quantities, and now aware the dangerous of addiction, so with God by my side, I decided take this drug out of my body...Xanax works for only 4 hours, so I forced myself to only take 1 mg twice a day (if a panic attack occurs, I use the 2mg in emergency)
In one month (when I was 8mg) Im just in 2mg and before the 2mg I survived a week with zero. Im now with some little withdrawals (some times shake my legs). The are days that I use just 1.5 mg a day, this doesnt mean that Im out but Im just almost there (I wasn on 8mg). Ambien (and is not addictive, at least on me) seems to taper very goood at night!

What I suggest in my experience (Im not a doctor just in case, is my experience) ask your doctor to give you ambien, it helps at night to sleep cause one of the worst enemies of the withdrawal cold turkey is insomnia. Believe me, 10 mg of ambien, watching a movie at bed you will sleep very well, relax and will taper the withdrawal at night. Try to use xanax when you need it only and in lower dose (please not every four hours)

My main goal is going to zero, I think I can make it to zero next month, lets see what happens. All in JesusChrist!!

[Ralexa]

well that face was how I felt. I took all I could because I always thought the problem was that I didn't have enough. I didn'y know if I would live to get off. But I did. I had to go to an institution for about 20 days. It was a couple of months before I slept. Right now I am ready! I encourage you to stop. EN-COURAGE. no,you can't sweat it out in the bathtub(I tried). But I will never go back to that life,ever.

[Robert_325]

there is a website ... www.benzoisland.org that I suggest you check out if trying to stop benzos. This detox can cause seizures and even death if done the wrong way. The website previously mentioned is for stopping benzos ONLY. They use what is called the Ashton method. It works and is a painless method of tapering off benzos. I really recommend checking it out before jumping off into a cold turkey detox from benzos. You won't regret it I promise.

[ksgirl2008]

Another alternative for tapering off Xanax is known as Water Titration. It was developed for those who are unable to get their doctors to prescribe Valium or simply did not want to use Dr. Ashton’s crossover method. This method involves mixing one’s daily Xanax dose with a fixed amount of water. By gradually eliminating the amount of water, one can slowly reduce the daily amount of Xanax. Further information about Water Titration including PowerPoint demonstrations can be found at http://www.benzosupport.org/water_titration.htm An Excel spreadsheet has also been developed which can be downloaded and customized for individualized schedules/doses at http://www.benzosupport.org/Get%20schedule.htm

Another support network is the Yahoo Benzo group at http://health.groups.yahoo.com/group/benzo where one can receive support from the group’s moderators and members alike. The collective knowledge of the group is derived from years of aiding people who sought and obtained freedom from Xanax and other benzos.

[NikiDeaf]

Hi, I've been using Xanax for a few years now and I never would have started it if I'd known I would become addicted to it. I did have a legitimate reason for starting the med; I had anxiety so severe that I had trouble getting to sleep at night because I'd lie awake staring at the ceiling, worrying about things I can't control, like my own death, the deaths of loved ones, etc. Finally my doctor prescribed me Xanax and it did help. But I've been through a lot of severely stressful life situations that made my use of Xanax increase and now it's at the point where I take about 4 mgs of Xanax per day (2 mgs in the morning and 2 mgs in the evening.) I recently tried to quit "cold turkey," but that had disasterous effects. I really thought I was going to die. I had the sensation of ants crawling on the inside of my skin, I was highly irritable and unable to make decisions for myself, and I had trouble sleeping, eating, and even my vision was blurry. I finally saw my doctor yesterday and she not only gave me a prescription but also administered a dose right there in her office. I was so relieved to feel normal again! But also ashamed that I could not get by without the medication. I plan to try to taper off, under a doctor's supervision, until I am off this med for good. It helped initially but the price in the end is too steep to pay.

I think I will probably always keep a supply of it on hand in case of a severe panic attack (those are scary, I always think I'm about to die from a heart attack and I can't breathe because of hyperventilating) but I need to get off this. It's ruining my life. But cold turkey is NOT THE WAY TO GO. My doctor said that I was probably fine missing a couple days worth of the meds, but if it had gone on longer I could have had severe complications, including seizures and death. I was so shocked. Then I found this post online. It explained a lot!

Still on meds but hoping to get off them soon...in the APPROPRIATE way!!!
Niki

[Robert_325]

The best way to detox from xanax is still the Ashton Method. It's safe, painless, and it's been proven over and again to be successful. Let us know if you want some help pursuing this method. Benzo detox is very tough and even dangerous if done the wrong way.

[leigh61]

Sorry to freak you but your in deep right now and you must get off as soon as the mind has it right.Xanax and Klonopin are worse then any drug that I've ever taken in my life and I've done them all. Because it affects the nervous system and that is why they are so in demand, these MD's give them out like water,they work but only to be used once in a while and that is doubtful. I went into the Hospital for 21 days and5 months of pure hell and last month I had to go back on them sad to say, but everyone's body is different and yours may respond different? You can not do this on your own you need people that know what they are doing and do not go into a "nut ward" to detox go to a place that specializes in this type of withdrawal. you will have tough nights and days but it will pass. but the longer you stay on them the tougher it is. My heart and prayers go out to you,but the bottom line is that you must get off them, I'm 61 and my body can't take the punishment any longer but you can. Eat right and think right and get very spiritual. Signed your on-line friend