Benzos Help please! :(

[derrrrr]

If I have been using Xanax (alprazolam) for 2 weeks. Maybe every day, 2 or 3 bars a day, and then quit cold turkey, would that be enough to cause a seziure? I thought you'd have to be on it longer maybe like half a year but I just want to be sure. If I quit cold turkey tomorrow after doing anywhere from 1 bar to 3 bars a day for the past 2 weeks could it cause me to have a seziure?

 

[Coraline]

Welcome to Bluelight! I hope you find our site helpful. Please read the guide lines. We don't use swim here. Reading the guideline will also help you post better and get responses fast, most of the time. Sometimes everyone who has knowledge on a topic is away. Also use the search engine. It will link you to all threads that have something in common.

Now to the question;

Depending on your body you may just have withdrawals, you may have a seizure, or you may be fine.

If you plan on doing high doses of Xanax make sure you have enough to do a taper at the end to avoid wd or seizures.

If you feel weird or think you are in danger seek medical help.

 

[derrrrr]

I have 1 bar left. How do you suggest I ween off it? Quarter bar every other day? Or what?

Edit: the most I would do at 1 time is a bar if that makes a difference

 

[tricomb]

^Yes, do a quarter bar for two days, then skip days with the last two doses.

To make things 1000x easier for you, give us more notice, don't make a thread here cos your down to your last xanax, that's not much help. You're very lucky that this is only a 2 week stretch we're dealing with because if you'd been more dependent on xanax and only had one bar left, there's not much we could do to help besides tell you to go to the hospital and get a diazepam script.

Thankfully, your usage was brief so we should be able to get away with this rushed improvised taper.

 

[derrrrr]

Thank you so much. So let me get this straight.

Tomorrow morning take a quarter bar, the next morning take a quarter bar, then wait like 2 days? Do a quarter bar, then wait 2 more days and do the last quarter? And that should prevent seziures?


Edit: and also, how soon would a seziure happen? So that way if I know i get passed it I can be relieved. Lol

 

[tricomb]

tomorrow, 0.5mg. the next day, 0.5mg. skip a day. then 0.5mg. skip a day. then 0.5mg. and hope that it's not too uncomfortable.

 

[derrrrr]

I don't mind w/d. I'd prefer to not have them, but it's better than a seziure. I might buy 1 more bar tomorrow so I can taper even more

Edit: the reason I've been using Xanax is because I have anxiety issues. I get my first script of Zoloft tomorrow. Will that have any interaction?

Edit 2: the withdrawals can't be any worse than shooting dope for 2 months then quitting cold turkey. I should be fine there. Work will suck but I'll get through it

 

[tricomb]

No interactions with zoloft, tons of people are RX'd benzodiazepines with their antidepressants. However, on the note of withdrawals, benzodiazepine withdrawal is 100x worse than opioid withdrawal IMO, opioid withdrawal is mostly psychological, whereas benzodiazepine withdrawal is brutal psychological and physical symptoms.

 

[Deblanc]

Oh man I feel for you. Years ago I had a panic attack, thought I was having a heart attack, called 911, classic. Doc gave me Xanax, worked my way up to 1 mg PRN with a 60 script, ran thru two refills in two weeks, was on an island and had no way off for several days and was forced into WD. I didn't know then about seizures and looking back I'm lucky I don't have any. I should have known better from the horrible WD and stayed away from Xanax, but nooooooooo...

If you can learn the lesson frm others and not make the same mistakes, you will be so much better off. Stay away from Xanax. Nothing good ever comes from abusing it.

 

[DubNaut]

on the skip days try 1g+ Valerian root
if you think you may have any issues, that seems to help for me
i also take other supplements to help with sleep

 

[Swimmingdancer]

benzodiazepine withdrawal is 100x worse than opioid withdrawal.

I think that's an exaggeration. It completely depends on the person (their unique brain/body/sensitivity to WDs), the specific drug, how much they take, how long they've been taking it, their level of mental addiction (as strong cravings etc make it much harder to bear), etc. I would say that in general quitting Xanax after 2 weeks is NOT likely to be anywhere near 100x worse than quitting IV heroin after 2 months, if worse at all. I would definitely choose benzo withdrawals myself over heroin or methadone withdrawals. I guess it just really varies from person to person.

 

[*samsonite*]

You should be ok, but everyone is different of course. I had a similar regimen for about 3 wks and CT quit ok. Didn't really have any physical wd but psychological was another issue... Best of luck and keep us posted so we know you made it out ok!

 

[Coraline]

Good luck! You can keep us posted daily on this thread for daily support.

I know you can do it! Think positive!

 

[derrrrr]

thank you everyone for the support. Im pretty sure its only been about a week maybe a week and a day. i just overshot it to be safe. Like I said, I have one bar left. Im gonna try to space it out by quarters like the above poster said. Honestly I think ill be okay because I have a friend who does 7 bars a day or so until his dudes script runs out. then hes cold turkey til he finds more. so If hes fine, I should be okay. Im not feeling any w/d yet because I took a bar last night at like 8. I bought a gram of bud just to help with the "edge" per say when i actually start w/d. but I still feel the bar from last night tbh so I wasnt planning on taking any more xanax yet.

 

[Moe-D]

Bud is allways helpful
Do you have access to any other benzodiazepines?
If you are, I would recommend to get some valium or any other benzo with a longer half-life for the taper
Instead of buying 1 bar more

 

[derrrrr]

No I don't do you think I will have a seizure if I ween off with only 1 bar? I have had friends that have done it longer than me like 5 bars a day and quit cold turkey and was fine.

 

[Moe-D]

I dont think there is a risk for seizure.
But if I was you, I would get maby one or two bar more.
Seizures or not, youre not gonna feel 100% after the 1 bar taper..

 

[tricomb]

I think that's an exaggeration. It completely depends on the person (their unique brain/body/sensitivity to WDs), the specific drug, how much they take, how long they've been taking it, their level of mental addiction (as strong cravings etc make it much harder to bear), etc. I would say that in general quitting Xanax after 2 weeks is NOT likely to be anywhere near 100x worse than quitting IV heroin after 2 months, if worse at all. I would definitely choose benzo withdrawals myself over heroin or methadone withdrawals. I guess it just really varies from person to person.

Yeah it was my subjective opinion, not an exaggeration to me.
I updated my post so it's written better SD:

benzodiazepine withdrawal is 100x worse than opioid withdrawal IMO, opioid withdrawal is mostly psychological, whereas benzodiazepine withdrawal is brutal psychological and physical symptoms.

I'd rather withdraw from opiates every time rather than go through benzodiazepine withdrawal, and I get horrible opioid withdrawals, but I will never forget what I went through when I was going through my withdrawals from my 250+mg alprazolam / day stunt, and even the many other times that I discontinued benzodiazepines from less severe dependencies were worse than any opioid withdrawal, which to me feels just like being sick with a cold or flu.

 

[tricomb]

thank you everyone for the support. Im pretty sure its only been about a week maybe a week and a day. i just overshot it to be safe. Like I said, I have one bar left. Im gonna try to space it out by quarters like the above poster said. Honestly I think ill be okay because I have a friend who does 7 bars a day or so until his dudes script runs out. then hes cold turkey til he finds more. so If hes fine, I should be okay. Im not feeling any w/d yet because I took a bar last night at like 8. I bought a gram of bud just to help with the "edge" per say when i actually start w/d. but I still feel the bar from last night tbh so I wasnt planning on taking any more xanax yet.

Just because your friend does 14mg of xanax a day and then is fine when he runs out, that doesn't mean that you will be the same way, it's a total amature mistake to make thinking that "oh, ______ doesn't have problems when they go through WD, I'll be fine".

However, as I said earlier, I think you'll be fine because your stint with xanax was so brief and you exercised restraint somewhat with your dosing.

I dont think there is a risk for seizure.
But if I was you, I would get maby one or two bar more.
Seizures or not, youre not gonna feel 100% after the 1 bar taper..

This.

 

[derrrrr]

I couldn't handle it at work tonight. I took 3/4 bar. I feel okay right now. I'm just gOnna deal with the w/d. Cold turkey starting now. I don't think I've been doing it long enough or dosed enough to have a seziure. It really only was about a week I just overshot it to be safe. Idk. Pray for me, guys.