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  • BDD Moderators: Keif’ Richards

Alprazolam withdrawals.

I did 1mg of xanax for a week straight, and then at the end of it, I woke up with mild restless leg syndrome. It was enough to wake me up, but I ended up sleeping through it. After that, I didn't experience any symptoms. Is this the beginning of xanax withdrawl, or was it some other issue? Its been many months since I quit oxy, I know what oxy withdrawls feel like when you wake up in the morning, your legs are kicking bad. I know benzo withdrawls are way worse though, but my question is, are the mild, beginning withdrawl symptoms similar? I was suspecting it was xanax cause your body hits withdrawl much quicker than compared to oxycodone.

When I was going through oxy withdrawl, I didn't go to the hospital/doctor/clinic. I know opiate withdrawls typically are not fatal. But with heavy benzo usage, death is a real possibility. I wouldn't mess around, hit up a doc.
 
I've come off benzo's multiple times both tapered and just cold turkey. Even if it doesn't kill you (and it could), coming off benzo's cold turkey is an unpleasant and frightening experience. The correct thing to do is go to your doctor and tell them you have a Xanax habit and the standard choice of taper is Diazepam, what Superudol said about Clonazepam is... it makes some sense but if you formed a benzo habit you can't break on your own I'm not sure taking Clonazepam is the best idea in the world.

Really "I need help to quit this substance" is a thing to put to a doctor who will usually refer you to a specialist service who will provide appropriate treatment. If this approach is not amenable I'd recommend a Diazepam taper, but I don't claim to be a Doctor and can't substitute for one.
 
Xanax withdrawal unfortunately is among the worst withdrawals you'll experience from a benzo.

When I was in withdrawal from it and didn't have another GABAᴀ agonist to ingest, I would use clonidine. It worked surprisingly well. I haven't tried any GABAᴃ agonists (didn't have any at the time) but I assume they would work better.

One other time when I had just run out of Xanax and was starting to experience withdrawal symptoms, I was able to score some Dalmane (flurazepam). Little did I know at the time that it's a partial GABAᴀ agonist. Oh man that was hell.

Other than that, I've tried (with little to no success) vitamins, calcium, magnesium, zinc, melatonin, EFA, chamomile tea, hawthorn tea, celery (apparently has something in it that may cause sedation), lettuce opium, passionflower, hops, skullcap, valerian, GABA, 5-HTP, dimenhydrinate and diphenhydramine.

Thinking of trying phenibut and kava.
 
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Supeudol said:
Clonazepam is a better choice for tapering off benzo's than Diazepam is IMO. Since Clonazepam has a much longer duration of action (but shorter half life) than Diazepam. It still has a long enough half life to be used well for treating B/Z withdrawal symptoms. As Clonazepam can go from doses as a high as 2mg, all the way down to 0.25mg.

This is what I am doing now.

Clonazepam 2mg BID for ~ 1 week
Clonazepam 1mg BID for ~ 2 weeks
Clonazepam 0.5mg BID for ~ 2 weeks
Clonazepam 0.25mg BID for 2-3 weeks (depending on how I feel).
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I have to disagree, once Diazepam builds up in your system in can last all day, possibly longer. I used to think the same as you until I started taking the Diazepam daily. It lasted so much longer than Clonazepam. Klonopin only lasts 8-12 hours. Clonazepam is much too potent of a benzodiazepine to jump right off of. I found this out for myself as I relapsed trying to go straight off the Klonopin. This time I used the Diazepam taper and it was much easier, not as rough. I stayed cleaner longer than with the Clonazepam. Te long half life makes it much more ideal than any other benzodiazepine which is very important when tapering because it stays in your bloodstream longer, making each dose you lower much easier to deal with.
 
Tickle My Pickle said:
the withdrawls should motivate you to make an attempt and getting clean from them.
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you sound like a giant prick, and i can't help but think that you're suggesting against a taper, which is incredibly irresponsible advice. don't give advice about things you have no knowledge of
 
Thing that sucks with benzodiazepines is that the PAWS can last up to 18 months depending on how long you've been on them. That is always the reason why I relapse. Last time I made it up to a year clean but the withdrawals just never went away, it didn't seem like they ever would. This time around I'm in the same boat. Despite spending a year of tapering it does not prevent the PAWS. Been off them for 3-4 months or so and I am experiencing mostly muscle tremors, twitching & spasms. They are so embarrassing when I'm around people and all of a sudden my body jumps & arm jerks out of nowhere. Then my muscles clinch and hurt really bad.
 
K'd-OUT-in-AZ said:
Thing that sucks with benzodiazepines is that the PAWS can last up to 18 months depending on how long you've been on them. That is always the reason why I relapse. Last time I made it up to a year clean but the withdrawals just never went away, it didn't seem like they ever would. This time around I'm in the same boat. Despite spending a year of tapering it does not prevent the PAWS. Been off them for 3-4 months or so and I am experiencing mostly muscle tremors, twitching & spasms. They are so embarrassing when I'm around people and all of a sudden my body jumps & arm jerks out of nowhere. Then my muscles clinch and hurt really bad.
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what kind of doses were you taking or at a time? i'm on occasional user, like once a week. and so my tolerance isn't bad. 2mg of xanax i'll usually take on a stim comedown.
 
Tickle My Pickle said:
what kind of doses were you taking or at a time? i'm on occasional user, like once a week. and so my tolerance isn't bad. 2mg of xanax i'll usually take on a stim comedown.
Click to expand...

I was on benzodiazepines for 11 years and I was prescribed either 8mg of Klonopin or Xanax with 60mg Temazepam. I would very often take up to 15mg Klonopin some days. Generally never took over 6mg of Xanax at once but I would need to take it 3 times a day for up to almost 20mg. I was prescribed the Klonopin longer than the Xanax. Generally switched off from one to the other. If I wanted to get high from the Temazepam I'd need 180mg. This is my second attempt at staying clean but the cravings are just too much because I've been on these since I was 16 years old so when growing up I've never really been taught how to deal with anxiety without taking a pill.
 
K'd-OUT-in-AZ said:
I was on benzodiazepines for 11 years and I was prescribed either 8mg of Klonopin or Xanax with 60mg Temazepam. I would very often take up to 15mg Klonopin some days. Generally never took over 6mg of Xanax at once but I would need to take it 3 times a day for up to almost 20mg. I was prescribed the Klonopin longer than the Xanax. Generally switched off from one to the other. If I wanted to get high from the Temazepam I'd need 180mg. This is my second attempt at staying clean but the cravings are just too much because I've been on these since I was 16 years old so when growing up I've never really been taught how to deal with anxiety without taking a pill.
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wow. props on on currently being clean on doses THAT high.

did you stop by choice? have you tried getting a prescription for something to help that isn't a benzo?
 
Tickle My Pickle said:
wow. props on on currently being clean on doses THAT high.

did you stop by choice? have you tried getting a prescription for something to help that isn't a benzo?
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Yeah, I actually I made the decision but the cravings are so tough. Now that I spent so much time tapering to get off them my doctor will no longer prescribe them to me and I feel like I need some so bad for my anxiety. I think I made the wrong choice sometimes. Benzos are the hardest things to quite. I was able to with opiates but not benzos.

I am currently prescribed Lyrica which is a great alternative for anxiety and insomnia. It was a miracle drug getting me off them, nearly no withdrawals. But it does nothing for the PAWS. You become tolerant but the first few months you feel as if its better for anxiety then any benzodiazepine. If you have never tried it I would suggest you do.
 
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