Xanax withdrawl/Taper with Valium

[Thereckoning]

Hi all. I am new here and seeking some advice/help. I have been taking Xanax off and on for the last year roughly. I went through a small withdrawal from 0.5mg 1x daily for 2 months in January, that was not so bad and was gone after 3-4 days, basically moderate anxiety but no panic. I started taking Xanax again around May, 1x 0.5mg daily. However, after moving into a new house and a breakup with my girlfriend, I eventually started taking 0.75mg-0.9mg 2x daily (hard to break the pieces of the bars in half evenly). As of the last 4-5 days, it became 0.75mg-0.9mg 3x daily. I have noticed in the last few weeks if I go too long without a dose I go into an extreme panic with a heavy pain in my chest/neck area. I got my hands on 10mg Valiums and have started the process to switch to a longer half-life benzo. I took my last Xanax around 1am last night, and my first dose of 10mg Valium at 11am (roughly 4 hours ago). It worked great for the first few hours, but as of about 30 minutes I had a 10 minute episode of panic, but eventually subsided. I have some light anxiety now. I am just wondering if this is a safe way to stop taking the Xanax, is 10x of these 10mg Valium enough to get me to a safe place to detox where I can just "deal with" the anxiety and not risk seizure? Does anyone have a schedule they could recommend where these 10x may be best used for my purpose? Any help is appreciated. Thanks!

 

[aihfl]

The Ashton Manual

 

[Thereckoning]

I have the Ashton Manual open and am reading, but it's a bit hard to take in information with anxiety. I just hope this will be enough to get back to a state of not needing benzos.

 

[Thereckoning]

I took a second dose of 10mg Valium, T+4.5 hours from original dose. I do not believe 10mg was equivalent enough to what I was taking in Xanax. Since Xanax is so short lived, and that I have only recently upped my dose, I hope these withdrawal symptoms will not be too severe for too long, I can deal with some light anxiety for a few weeks, but having panic attacks is not doable for me with my job.

 

[Mafioso]

Getting off benzos has never been easy in my experience and can be pretty dangerous. I've had psychotic episodes and seizures from abrupt withdrawal.

Tapering is the only "safe" method that I am aware of that doesn't involve medically assisted detox. I was fortunate to have been around people who were able to get help when I had my seizures.

Making the switch to valium can be a smart move for sake of taper, but unfortunately I do not think 10x 10mg valium will be close to enough to get you safely off.

Get yourself some help if at all possible. Might not be a bad idea to hit a medically assisted detox after you go through those valium. Seizures aren't the end of the world if you have medical care. If nothing else, let someone who lives with you or someone who can check up on you know what is going on. Make an agreement that if you start showing signs of psychosis that it is ok for them to get help.

Your job is the least of your concern, even though it probably doesn't seem like it. The situation is bigger than a job. A job can be replaced, your life and sanity can not. Once you go into full benzo wd you wont be able to work any sort of job for at least a week or two, depending on the severity. Don't be ashamed to take some time away from your responsibilities to care for yourself. Ultimately you'll be better and more productive in the long run.