Xanax Recovery Help

[WalkingInMemphis]

I was prescribed Xanax by my MD several years ago while going through a tough time. He kept me on it becuase I told him it made me sleep better. Little did I know what it was doing to me. I was on .5mg once a day (at night) for about two years. I have weened off of it and have been off of it for about a month. The docotor told me it could take about a year for the withdrawal effects to cease. The biggest symptom I have is some nights I cannot sleep and\or I wake up in a panic attack (which I never did before Xanax) and then my stomach cramps up and I am ill for a few days.
Now to my question. Does anyone have any suggestions from tgier own expierences on how to make the recovery period more tolerable. The do's and dont's. Any supplements to help, etc..
If there is another thread that adresses this please direct me to it.

Thanks to everyone!
Have a blessed day.

WIM

[kevin9494]

Welcome to the world of benzo detox. And it's a pretty bad place to be. You want to stop but you can't just stop because you will run the rish of seizures. Not to scare you, but benzos (xanax,valium, klonopin) and alcohol are the only 2 drugs that you can die from while detoxing. That's why a doctor should wean you down off the dose you are on. That's about all I can say to help you. Good Luck. Kevin.

[noles]

Overcoming benzo addiction is really tough. I had a major addiction to Xanax that lost me nearly everything in my life. There are no easy answers as to overcoming the addiction, but detoxing was the only way I was able to do it. And, it was still very hard. If you have a good GP, you might try a drug called Clonidine which is for heart palpitations but it also helps reduce anxiety.

[ARTIST658]

I was prescribed Xanax by my MD several years ago while going through a tough time. He kept me on it becuase I told him it made me sleep better. Little did I know what it was doing to me. I was on .5mg once a day (at night) for about two years. I have weened off of it and have been off of it for about a month. The docotor told me it could take about a year for the withdrawal effects to cease. The biggest symptom I have is some nights I cannot sleep and\or I wake up in a panic attack (which I never did before Xanax) and then my stomach cramps up and I am ill for a few days.
Now to my question. Does anyone have any suggestions from tgier own expierences on how to make the recovery period more tolerable. The do's and dont's. Any supplements to help, etc..
If there is another thread that adresses this please direct me to it.

Thanks to everyone!
Have a blessed day.

WIM

Hi WIM,

Congrats on getting clean of xanax - that's terrific! My own experience has shown me that detox off the benzo family of drugs IS one of the worst. So what you have done is monumental, in my humble opinion.

Yes, the residual anxiety and sleep issues remain a problem for a while. I had never had a real "panic attack" prior to taking the benzos, but I certainly had plenty of them after I stopped - just part of the detox. It was pretty awful, but I am so grateful today that I stuck with it.

There are a number of OTC herbs and supplements that may help: kava kava and valerien root are two herbal supplements I used - and they helped. Also melatonin helped with sleep sometimes - and that's all-natural, as well. Ultimately, what helped me most with the sleep issues was something prescribed to me at the detox facility: trazadone. I still take it today, many years later. It was originally designed as an anti-depressant medication, but doctors found it was not particularly good at treating depression - but it was excellent at helping people sleep. So now, it is routinely prescribed to those who have had a substance abuse issue in the past - and do not want to take anything addictive now. It's a PRN drug, meaning, you can take it when needed - and need not take it every night. It is not addictive.

Trazadone will not only help you to fall asleep, but keeps you restfully asleep through the night. I swear by it.

Let me assure you that the anxiety and sleep issues DO improve over time. (Nights I don't take the trazadone, I still sleep very well now.) There is a light at the end of the tunnel - and what you have done already has been the hardest part!

God bless you in your journey, WIM.

Ruth

[cow 45]

imm currently on xanax for irritable bowel syndrome,my dr prescribed it because it can eliminate the excruciating abdominal pain ibs pain-predominent ibs can cause.
For the 1st 3-4 weeks it completely stopped the pain,but then out of thin air it stopped working,so i told my dr,and he said we'll keep u on it just so you can ween yourself off it,so he gave me another script.
i didnt get it filled though and threw it away,and because it no longer stopped the pain,i never thought about it (xanax) again,and from day 1 off it,had absolutely no withdrawl effects,none at all,perhaps i didnt get any withdrawl because imm a legitimate pain patient and are only concerned about my abdominal pain,so to get over it,maybe you just stop thinking of it entirely and think of another way to get rid of your pain.If your a legitimate pain patient that sould be your main concern,to get rid of the pain,and if u are the thoughts of taking xanax don't even exist and you get no withdrawl effects,thats what happened for me anyway,it was just like an automatic process,that i didnt even have to think about.good luck,id rather go through xanax withdrawl than go through my abdoinal pain every day,but then again i dont know what xanax withdrawl is,but its just in your mind,change your thought process and it shouldnt bother u at all.

[Justin27]

^^^ Hi, believe me you dont want to get through xanax withdrawal. Is is one of the worst feelings in the world not to mention its very dangerous and could cause a health risk..

Anyhow, I myself am in a similar position the first poster. I have been taking xanax for over a year or 2 now and I am tapering down. I was originally taking about 4mg daily and now I am down to 1.5mg and soon to be 1mg. I tried stopping xanax cold turkey and I just couldent hold up the powerful withdrawal. I went cold-turkey for about a month and it was terrible. Therefore went back to xanax.

I managed about 6 months ago to come off the xanax with minimal withdrawal by using certain medication. I weened down to a very low dosage of xanax. I then took kolonopin for 4 weeks after I stopped the xanax and then I was on serequil after the kolonopin to stop the xanax cravings. And boy I have to tell you it really worked and I was able to get off xanax and have minor anxiety and it was mostly social anxiety. However I relapsed with drugs such as opiates and benzos as I wasent truly ready to stop. I am now much more serious about stopping and am on suboxone, xanax, and zuloft. I am tapering off of suboxone and xanax. I am currently on 2mg of subs and about to drop down to 1mg of xanax. I am scared to completely stop both at the same time but I plan on getting of the suboxone first and then working on getting off the benzo second.

Yes, if anyone has good tips for benzo detox or can send a link to a thread that has a good taper plan I would greatly appreciate it. Thanks

-The only tips I know of for benzo detox is
-Going to the gym and drinking protein drinks
-Dont drink anything with caffeiene in it

I would like to know more info on Xanax detox and also the first poster above... when you stopped taking xanax and now clean for a month. At what MG were you at when you completely stopped taking the xanax?

[ARTIST658]

imm currently on xanax for irritable bowel syndrome,my dr prescribed it because it can eliminate the excruciating abdominal pain ibs pain-predominent ibs can cause.
For the 1st 3-4 weeks it completely stopped the pain,but then out of thin air it stopped working,so i told my dr,and he said we'll keep u on it just so you can ween yourself off it,so he gave me another script.
i didnt get it filled though and threw it away,and because it no longer stopped the pain,i never thought about it (xanax) again,and from day 1 off it,had absolutely no withdrawl effects,none at all,perhaps i didnt get any withdrawl because imm a legitimate pain patient and are only concerned about my abdominal pain,so to get over it,maybe you just stop thinking of it entirely and think of another way to get rid of your pain.If your a legitimate pain patient that sould be your main concern,to get rid of the pain,and if u are the thoughts of taking xanax don't even exist and you get no withdrawl effects,thats what happened for me anyway,it was just like an automatic process,that i didnt even have to think about.good luck,id rather go through xanax withdrawl than go through my abdoinal pain every day,but then again i dont know what xanax withdrawl is,but its just in your mind,change your thought process and it shouldnt bother u at all.

Many of us began taking medication as "legitimate pain patients" - just like you. You seem to think that having "legitimate pain" somehow insulates you from becoming addicted - but you are dead wrong. What probably kept you from the withdrawal symptoms was your short term use of the drug (as well as a low dosage) - not your reason for taking it.

You said you don't know what xanax withdrawal is -- yet you went further to say, "It's just in your mind" -- what gives you the right to presume it's all in a person's mind???? That kind of comment is truly quite ignorant.

I don't advise people on irritable bowel syndrome, as I've never experienced it.
I don't advise people on kidney disease, as I've never experienced it.
I don't advise people on diabetes, as I've never experienced it.

What I have experienced is drug addiction resulting from "legitimate pain" and legal prescriptions by my own doctor. After years of sobriety, I now work in the field of substance abuse - after advanced education in this field. Please do not spread your kind of "change your thoughts about it" advice when you clearly know so little about addiction.

Ruth

[doc.rose]

imm currently on xanax for irritable bowel syndrome,my dr prescribed it because it can eliminate the excruciating abdominal pain ibs pain-predominent ibs can cause.
For the 1st 3-4 weeks it completely stopped the pain,but then out of thin air it stopped working,so i told my dr,and he said we'll keep u on it just so you can ween yourself off it,so he gave me another script.
i didnt get it filled though and threw it away,and because it no longer stopped the pain,i never thought about it (xanax) again,and from day 1 off it,had absolutely no withdrawl effects,none at all,perhaps i didnt get any withdrawl because imm a legitimate pain patient and are only concerned about my abdominal pain,so to get over it,maybe you just stop thinking of it entirely and think of another way to get rid of your pain.If your a legitimate pain patient that sould be your main concern,to get rid of the pain,and if u are the thoughts of taking xanax don't even exist and you get no withdrawl effects,thats what happened for me anyway,it was just like an automatic process,that i didnt even have to think about.good luck,id rather go through xanax withdrawl than go through my abdoinal pain every day,but then again i dont know what xanax withdrawl is,but its just in your mind,change your thought process and it shouldnt bother u at all.

If I can add to what Ruth said

You also only took it for 3-4 weeks, which I think played a huge roll as to why it was so easy for you and why you didn't experience any physical or mental symptoms. You should be thankful you were lucky not to experience any seizures or severe withdrawal symptoms from your short term xanax use. Thanks for your input. But if it were as simple as you make it sound, why do you suppose so many people struggle with addiction?

[Jennann4]

Hi WIM,

I am on Day 7 off xanax cold turkey. I have a thread on Jenn Ann, benzos thread, but wanted to share a couple things. Good for you to taper. I didn't stupidly. I was on 1-3 mg a day for a few years but ramped up lately due to stress and it wasn't helping so I just said to hell with it.

Don't do that.

I found two homeopathic remedies to help with insomnia and anxiety, aganatia and aconitum. Check with the store but I slept for 5 whole hours last night up from 2. Lots of vitamins and B12. Fish Oil for mood.

I described some of the weird stuff on my thread but the best way to describe it as an out-of-body experience, not the good kind. So don't do things that require that you act natural or that will spook you (movies, etc). You also have to deal with hypersensitivity to sound and motion and nervous twitches, which I called zaps. Definately no caffeine. You won't need it.

And lots of baths and walks and thing that put you back in your skin. I re-occupied mine yesterday and it felt great!

I wasn't prepared but you will be. It's worth it already although I know I'm not done.

Also your face feels funny - like tight so just breath. Incidentally, I did lots of deeep breathing and meditation in the first couple days just to get by - it really helps you.

Best of luck, and hang in there!

Jenna Ann