Xanax Withdrawal. What Has Been Your Experience?

[Steve721]

When my T first become intrusive, I had the standard panic/anxiety reaction, and I was referred to a psychiatrist who prescribed .5 mg of Clonazepam three times a day. After about six weeks, I told the doctor that I was feeling much less anxious and that the drug was making me feel sedated during the day, so he told me to try taking just the .5 mg dose at night. I had no problem doing that--the anxiety during the day was pretty much gone, and I never liked the sedating effects of the drug anyway.

IMHO, one thing to consider in taking (and getting off of) these meds is whether the anxiety that they successfully mask has now become manageable without the drugs. If the anxiety is still there in full force, it will obviously come roaring back once the drugs are gone.

 

[Aaron123]

Great job getting off oxicodine!

Is your anxiety pretty constant or does it increase between your doses and go down when you take it? If it is the latter, it is possible that you have interdose withdrawal. Xanax has a short half-life.

If you have a 0.25 mg pill, it might be tricky to cut it any finer than 1/4.

I agree with LadyDi that we all respond differently to drugs. However, if you are experiencing anxiety and want to get off Xanax, I would go slow. I white-knuckled it from 1.5 mg to 0.5 mg of Klonopin, and it was no fun at all. I sometimes get impatient with my progress. But just like I try to be careful about loud noise, I figure I might as well go slowly.

 

[sol sober365]

xanax is not a safe drug at all.
im surprised you managed that long with it.
i was addicted to xanax but they gave me attivan which helped me get off it.
attivan is a way safer med then xanax and can help you get off it, but dont take it for more then a year cuz it can get addicting

 

[Dutchy]

Thanks for the reply! I still have the ringing but I think I have the anxity under control somewhat? The anxity issue is why I. Want to cut back on the Xanax to see if it helps with anxity issue as what I have read Xanax can cause anxity. Funny you take it for anxity and then it can cause anxity what an oximoron! Anyway back to the subject at hand how much split should I take on my present pill? 1/16, 1/8 or maybe a quarter? What signs will I have when I do the weeing? I took myself oft of oxicodine last month with no problems, but what I have read is that Xanax is a whole lot tougher to get oft.

Medications are weird it's a ototoxicmoron .

 

[Moondynejoe]

I took 1.25 mg of xanax a day for 21 days and had zero withdrawal effects and i was pretty paranoid about comming off them but it was totally fine. Theres a lot of doom and gloom regarding benzos but they are a safe drug as long as not abused and can give wonderful respite from anxiety. I cant imagine you will have any real trouble from your smaller dose / time. Just my experience / opinion.

 

[Inge]

I went and saw my doctor last week and told him I was wanting to get oft my Xanax .025 and how much should I take to wean oft this drug. Well to my surprise and wonder he stated that I should just not take one pill a month till my monthly allotment was down to zero! My prescription is for 60 pills a month and I told him that would take five years! This to me I was a ridiculous statement he made and so here I'm wondering if he was right or wrong? I have been taking this med for probably 10 years oft an on but never over doing the amount that I was prescribed for. Now my question is that I do not feel as though I'm dependent on this drug and would really like to wean oft this drug as I do not feel it's doing me any good. Any thoughts about this weaning oft program? Really would like to get some other ideas beside one pill a month for five years. Thanks jon

I went of benzodiazepines cold turkey and the result was T among many other nasty withdrawal effects. After almost a year I still suffer from all these symptoms. The slower you taper down of xanax the better. You have less chance to get all those symptoms especially your T getting worse.

 

[cowdodge]

Yes twice a day .25!

 

[cowdodge]

Well day six and I'm cutting back to 1 pill at night and 3/4 of a pill during a the day. My T's are kind of screaming but if I keep busy and be with people I do not notice the junk as much. This will be an interesting ride to see what my brain will do without its added zanax. Next week down to one pill at night and a haft a pill during the day. I''m so fortunate to have a caring wife as she is my base for life. Any thoughts about my program?z

 

[barrow]

Was prescribed Xanax 3 years ago by my cardiologist ,the minimum dose of .25 mg, after a month she would not refill, said to see a psychiatrist – why prescribe in 1st place ? Anyways, always had problems sleeping from time to time, and here I am 3 years later on 3 mg a day. I know this is a lot. At most I will take .5 mg up to 2x a day – usually 1x. I have built such a tolerance it now takes 2nd for sleep. The bottom line is I am under a lot of stress - underemployed in a new job, so I need to sleep. But the other part is I have been taking it so long, that I feel as though I'm not the same person. Lately have been taking .5 as said twice a day, and notice I'm even more anxious than usual. Also, I have been a avoid exerciser and partly due to being drained from stress and not having the energy and boredom ( after many years) , have basically stopped – except for a few exercises on weekends. Noticed that I was unusually weak – even allowing for not doing.

I believe I am going through withdrawal between doses, and taking Xanax so long has had a negative effect on me mentally and physically. I was anxious to begin with , now I feel even worse. The exercising,which used to make me feel good about myself, for over 35 years, I have no inclination to do. My situation financially, career wise is much more stressful now than it ever was, so of course it's related. I find that I am self conscious about things,have anxiety of things I wouldn't used to give a second thought. Probably should be on a sleeping pill. As I said, my situation lends itself to feeling this way, previously did not really worry about money, wasn't rich , but had some extra if needed. Now, watching all the time. Have great partner, kids, otherwise let things go career wise. I'm mentioning all this cause in better times did not take anything, and usually slept well.

So, now is not a good time to stop, but if I'm going to be viable physically, mentally, to make myself as good a candidate for a job I need to get off – before it gets worse.

Any advice? Thanks

 

[cowdodge]

Well I'm back and still taking the zanax. Trying to figure out if I'm addicted to this stuff or is it the T's that make m nervous. I got a tragic ticket a few days ago and my anxity went oft the chart. But still managed just to take my prescribed amount of Xanax, could have taken more but still concerned about becoming addicted. Been on this stuff for over 15 years and it does help. My dosage is .025 two times a day or should I say night and first thing I my in the morning. Just kind of wondering what reactions I would be having as a withdrawl? I'm 72 years young and still do not know what withdrawl symptoms are from this drug. I still have my T's and they are louder than two years ago but the anzity part is just about the same, but except for that ticket I got. Going to fight the ticket as one of my sons is an attorney and he loves a good court battle even if it's for a simple infraction.

 

[Aaron123]

For information about withdrawal, visit benzobuddies.org. There's lots of information there and many horror stories. Withdrawal symptoms are things like tinnitus, rebound anxiety, "brain zaps", etc.

I know you didn't ask for advice so feel free to disregard, but if I were 72 and had been on a stable, relatively low dose of xanax for 15 years with no side effects or issues due to that dose, I don't think I would rock the boat. Tapering off seems like more risk than benefit to me. If you decide you want to taper, I would post at benzobuddies. Folks there will help with schedules, etc.

Just my two cents. Others may feel very differently about this....

 

[linearb]

I'm a bit of an alarmist about benzos and generally discourage use and encourage people to slowly withdraw, but I agree with @Aaron123. If someone is very dependent on benzos, withdrawing properly can take years, and cause problems which drag on for years after that.

 

[AnxiousJon]

Xanax is not a good drug to taper cause it leaves the system so fast. If you did taper I would ask a good doctor if a different benzodiazepine would work to switch and taper with--one that stays in the system the system longer.