Subutex and Xanax - Sleep Problems Want Out Help Please

[MakeItStop]

So I have a very unique situation which is my own fault, but here goes.

I got on Sub years ago because it was either that or my parents were shipping me out to a boot camp rehab. Of course, any addict would do Sub. A couple years into Sub I talked my doc into giving me Xanax .5mg for the withdrawal that I was half assing in the first place. Long story short, I got dependent/addicted to both.

About 6-7 months ago I stopped taking Xanax .5mg once a day as I was just using it for sleep. Two weeks go by without any WD's (maybe sub masked them). Then out of nowhere I start getting DIZZY and have HEADACHES. To top that off, my sleep is terrible. I'm wanting to lay in bed all day and I have been since I work for myself and had money saved up.

2 months into being off Xanax with bad sleep, I decided to take it again just to see if my symptoms of bad sleep and fatigue/dizziness/headache would go away. Well it didn't, and now I literally have to take .5-1mg broken up into 1/4s throughout the night to get 5-7 hours of bad sleep.

I had a sleep study done and they said I have mild obstructive sleep apnea. Well I am in my 20's, excercise everyday, and have never had issues with sleep until this past year. I feel its the mix of Sub and Xanax, as well as potential damage of detoxing quickly off Xanax.

I want to come off both ASAP, but i've been off work for two months and need to get back into it. What the hell should I do?

Has anyone experienced poor sleep, fatigue, headache, and dizziness, from Xanax or Sub?

 

[RaizdByWolvz]

Hello sorry to hear you are having these bad side effects and sleep issues. I am prescribed both, I'm on 5.7 mg Zubsolv per day and I take 1mg of Xanax at night and I have no side effects or trouble sleeping at all. I am also prescribed Zolpidem but I usually finish my 30 day script within 2 weeks of filling it and I never experience a single bit of withdrawal from Zolpidem and I sleep just as well without it. I myself am trying to get off of the Buprenorphine but I find it difficult, I've been taking only a half of a 5.7 mg zubsolv which to me feels no different at all than taking a whole 5.7mg Zubsolv, I guess I just need to commit to the titration and start going down to a quarter of a 5.7 and see how I feel. Hope you start feeling better soon man.

 

[MakeItStop]

Well this thread didn't go very far.... Thanks for the response Raizd.

 

[SS373dOH]

While both bup' and xanax can cause dizzyness, I'm thinking the bup' is the culprit, especially the headaches. Make sure you "spit" the bup' out, after SLuse. Also the fact that you stopped use of the xanax, then tried to take them to rid you of the symptoms, all unsuccessfully, has me learning towards the bup' too.

This is probably a dumb question, but which otc sleepaids have you tried?


- Hopeless

 

[IMtrying]

ill tell you right now, if you were ONLY TAKING FOR BED TIME, then you WERE NEVER ADDICTED. realize Xanny half life is so short, that if you truly take it ONCE A DAY, for SLEEP ONLY, then no physical addiction would ever be picked up. also, because its a benzo, there is NO WAY IT WOULD WAIT 2 WEEKS before you feel a withdrawal, ya know!? so start looking for other reasons because its surely NOT the benzo.

 

[Phil.McKeer]

Are you using suboxone or subutex? I only saw in your post your referencing it as "subs".

The reason I ask is that many people report headaches and nausea using suboxone, and it is supposedly caused by the naloxone (which should be completely inert due to bupe's much higher binding affinity, but I'm just repeating many reports I've read).

Like someone said earlier, the fact that w/d's didn't come on immediately, but TWO WEEKS after discontinuation of the alprazolam, this cannot possibly be acute benzo withdrawal.

But then if it was the naloxone in your suboxone, you would be getting the nausea/headaches/insomnia from the start if you've been using suboxone the whole time. I'm stumped, man.

Both xanax and bupe have always promoted sleep for me and I've been able to discontinue both easily (always tapered down, never CT'd).

 

[Burnt Offerings]

IMO the drug buprenorphine is kind of stimulating, for an opiate anyway.

 

[SS373dOH]

Well it still could be the nalaxone, even if the symptoms didn't occur from the get go. I say that out of experience, I didn't get my first "sub headache",.until 6-8 months after initial induction.



- SS373dOH

 

[SS373dOH]

^ Ah Burnt, yes bup' is quite "stimmy", this could be affecting op's sleep.


- hopeless

 

[chelle216]

I was always under the impression that bupe was stimulating because it's derived from thebaine.

 

[chelle216]

@OP
Yes and yes to your questions. Unfortunately there is really no easy way to just cold turkey either of these drugs after long term use. You will likely experience withdrawal from both to some degree. We all have individual tolerances and though 0.5mg of alprazolam might not seem like a lot or that it could cause withdrawal symptoms,but because that's the dosage you've continually taken, I'd wager a bet that it's an issue of dependence. You're likely going to have to taper off of it, even if that means bumping the dose down by half for a month or so and then hopping off. As mentioned previously, because subs have a tendency to cause some neuro-excitement, I'm wondering if you take them once a day or more and at what times? If youre very low dose such as myself, I've found that I can't sleep (even with prescribed klonopin in my system) so, I use about 50-75mg trazodone and have something to eat with it, I've also had luck with ambien though it makes me aggressive as hell the next day. I personally find antihistamines such as Benadryl or hydroxyzine to cause a hangover effect, however, you could try an OTC or prescription antihistamine(hydroxyzine in particular is known to have mild anxiolytic effects).As far as supplements, lemon balm and l-theanine may be of use.