There's a lot of really interesting stuff in this thread here. I'vei been addicted to Xanax in the past for a couple of months and my Peak usage was about 5 mg to 6 mg a day for probably about the last 30 days of my 60 ish-day experience. (On closer thought... maybe more like 75 ish days... its fuzzy)
Within about 12 hours of my last dose, I could feel the anxiety setting in and it would just start to amplify just like some kind of resonance frequency, it got so bad to the point where I was tweaking out as if I had just smoked a whole 1/2 gram of gak. Fidgeting, couldn't sit still, depressed, couldn't think clearly, definitely couldn't sleep. This all occurred because my dealer all the sudden ran out and his goof ass couldn't figure out how to re-up in time to keep all of his addicted customers satisfied. So anyways, it was a godsend that my dealer was a fucking goof. Withdrawal lasted for probably about 14 days, during which time I had intense cravings, pretty much the only thing that really mitigated the anxiety and crazy brain zaps was just training at the gym and getting some exercise in, hitting the sauna and that seemed to really help reset everything. I felt way better after training every single time so that has a big adjunct to any withdrawal reginin for me.
Etizolam on the other hand, I've been using on again off again, for what seems like probably three months and I can just stop at any point, and not experience any withdrawals. I can stop using it for 10-14 days, nothing. And my typical usage is about somewhere around 0.5 to 2.5 mg, whenever I feel stressed out. I'm really neurotic about my blood pressure and I eat a very particular diet to keep it in check, but without fail nomatter if I've taken drugs or not, stressful situations jack up my blood pressure. Sympathetic nervous response symptoms start to set in, and the easiest way to get it back down is either to go train, and drink some water. But if that doesn't do the trick, or I have no time to train, Etizolam is my "go to". Tolerance never seems to be an issue, I don't find it very "more ish" and I always have the threat of having a difficult awakening the following morning to keep my dose in check (I like to be up between 3:30 and 5 AM).
Just my personal experience I guess. If I give it some careful consideration I think there had been one time where I was on it for a pretty steady couple weeks, and cessation of it give me a little bit of General rebound anxiety, but absolutely nothing like I experienced with Xanax.
It's like the difference between fentanyl withdrawl and marijuana withdrawal for me. Xanax was so much worse, but coming off any convenient GABAergic has its pitfalls. Hell people even say stopping phenubit is a hard time. We're all individuals with unique chemistry, all I can say is that if you are coming off and you are having issues with falling asleep, try to do some kind of exercise regimen that'll tucker you out, so that you can get some sleep. It fucken helps a lot, trust me.
Also, tapering.