Benzos Xanax question

[Swf123]

If one happened to be taking between 0.5mg to 1mg of Xanax once every other day, how bad would it feel if one quit cold turkey? Sometimes one goes 3 or 4 days without a dose but most of the time takes 0.5 to 1mg every other day. One has been doing this between 6-9 months to deal with stress. After 4 days one feels a little anxious but nothing to crazy as long as nothing very stressful happened that day. Please give your opinion on this. It is known to be dangerous to quit benzos cold turkey, but is that the case even with this low of a dose and frequency? Do not comment if you are going to say talk to your Doctor, etc...
FYI when one does take the a dose it is usually anywhere between 5:30 - 8:30pm. They Started due to stress and know a friend with a rx. Works well and hasn’t impacted their life negatively for now. Level headed person with a very successful career but they know they are playing with fire when it comes to benzos. Let’s hear your thoughts. Sorry for typos.

thanks in advance for any thoughts or comments on this

 

[Snafu in the Void]

Heh, don't worry nobody here is going to say "talk to your doctor" or judge you in any way, trust me. Welcome to BL.

You're definitely not going to have any sort of significant withdrawal. The half life of alprazolam is about 6 hours and giving yourself a full 40+ hours between doses gives your body and mind time to "reset" and avoid most of physical dependence over time.

I can tell you right off the bat you're going to have some psychological cravings that could be from mild to severe. I only know you so well and your drug/benzo history or mental state/history.

If you can skip a whole day and not take any benzos - specifically xanax too since it's short acting - you're going to be absolutely fine and will be much less difficult than if you had taken it every single day for 9 months.

In terms of real physical effects you're likely going to experience some minor rebound like soft insomnia/general anxiety. Nothing too bad at all, but will be noticeable for sure. This can be overcome easily.

Taking 1mg xanax every other day is going to create habituation but NOT a physical depedence.

Unless you are somehow majorly predisposed to seizures - you have zero risk of seizure from that type of use over 9 months, so get that worry out of your head.

A lot of the troubles you're going through are psychological in nature and not physical. They are still very powerful, that is not some dismissal of what you're going through. But it is their true nature.

We can help a lot in this situation. Most of us have already been through this, several, dozens or hundreds of times.

We care, we understand.

You will get through this and trust me it will be much worse in your head than in reality.

 

[simstim]

I feel pretty confident stating that you shouldn't be in danger of seizures from withdrawal with that dose and schedule. How you feel without it will be a function of how long you've been on it and how bad your symptoms were before starting.

 

[Pickledlemons]

I had a similar schedule at one point, I did have some pretty bad rebound anxiety but it was very short lived, maybe 48 hours at the most. I think I kind of pscyhed myself out. Get some kava.

 

[Swf123]

I had a similar schedule at one point, I did have some pretty bad rebound anxiety but it was very short lived, maybe 48 hours at the most. I think I kind of pscyhed myself out. Get some kava.

Dumb question but what’s kava

 

[Snafu in the Void]

Dumb question but what’s kava

It's a plant from Polynesian/asian islands. It's legal in the US and most places but it is illegal in some countries like Australia.

It has some mild relaxant properties and GABA effects. You typically drink it as a milky tea and it makes your mouth very numb like cocaine.

Some places even have kava bars

 

[Pickledlemons]

you forgot to mention the absolutely terrible taste.. I normally don't mind the taste of drugs, kratom, mushrooms, GHB, all no problem for me. But kava is something else entirely. EWWW!! It tastes almost as bad as valerian smells.

But it is a good safe way to ease your suffering from other GABAergic drugs.

 

[Snafu in the Void]

Unfortunately kava never did anything to me, even after trying repeatedly heavy doses.

Also it somehow tastes worse after you eat it all, too. (Somehow?? Lol). The taste lingers.

 

[Pickledlemons]

Have you heard about the reverse tolerance? some say you have to do it several times before getting any affect.

 

[Snafu in the Void]

Have you heard about the reverse tolerance? some say you have to do it several times before getting any affect.

Yeah, I bought a whole pound of kava and went thru it over a month and never noticed a difference. It's possible just bad bad stuff but the vendor seemed reputable

 

[Jabberwocky]

OP, if you can just stop. No taper, no nonsense - cold turkey and flush rest of Xanax if you have. Get out while you're still ahead. Given that you can go 4 days without experiencing

a little anxious but nothing to crazy as long as nothing very stressful happened that day.

risk of a serious withdrawal is very unlikely. The withdrawal you could face will seem hard but will be next to none if you prolong taking benzos and inevitably start taking them every day. I may sound dramatic but you are at a crossroads and if you dont really need benzos becoming dependent on them would be biggest insult to your nervous system that you could get.

I am not a doctor and this is an opinion. Talk to a doctor and make a plan with him. If you choose to stop on your own it would be best to give few pills to someone near to you who can hold them for "worst case scenario".

Please try to get off them now cause you will not be thankful that you didn't in the future.

If you need taking benzos for legit health issue than talk to your doctor about things that worry you.

I hope you kick those nervous system hijackers. Take care.

 

[Swf123]

Thanks for the info