how to stop xanax, large daily doses for 2 months?

[supanoid]

I had read on here before about the dangers of benzo addiction, warned a friend of mine who I saw getting started and now its too late almost. He finally wants to stop but I can't find ANY information to help him at the dosage he has been abusing. He cant think till he has them after waking up/they start to wear off the night before and starts getting bad withdrawls if he tries to go a while without them. We are not talkng some doctor prescribed 2-5mg a day shit.
He has been eating 8-10+ bars (yes that is 16-20mg) a day for 2 months. Preferred method of injestion has been to chew up a good 5-8 and hold them in the mouth until they hit. They even have a sweet taste to him now. How can he stop? How fast can he taper? I don't know that he can control himself with a supply while tapering. What other pills can he take to assist in withdrawls?
I've used tfse and cant find much about people who eat this large of an amount. Many of the nights in this 2mo the xanax was supplemented by sipping 4-z or so of lean (barre, purple stuff, codine syrup). He is of course looking for an easy way out and wants some magic pills that will help out. Any suggestions?
Keep in mind *ANY* pharmacutical is available.
Any experiences/advice is greatly appreciated.

 

[fairnymph]

Oh man.
Benzo addiction/withdrawal is one of the WORST out there. There is not an 'easy way out' of benzo addiction/withdrawal. Your friend will need will power and determination, and support from good friends like you. If possible, convince your friend to let you keep his stash so that you can dole his drugs out to him as needed.
Your friend needs to do a VERY SLOW, VERY GRADUAL taper. It might take him more than a month, even. I suggest the following regimine:
for the next 4 days: 16 mg
for 3 days after that: 14mg
3 days: 12 mg
3 days: 10 mg
3 days: 8 mg
3 days: 6 mg
3 days: 4 mg
5 days: 3 mg
6 days: 2 mg
5 days: 1 mg
3 days: 1/2 mg
Now, in all cases, the drug should be spread out throughout the day as much as possible, rather than taken all at once. If your friend starts having insomnia, though, then he should try and take a larger chunk of his daily dose before bedtime. If your friend feels he can taper down faster (i.e, it takes him two days instead of 3 to adjust to the lower dosage), then by all means he should do so. If you friend feels that he isn't tapering slow enough (i.e he goes down in dosage after 3 days, but the withdrawal is not tolerable), then he should go back up to the previous dosage and stick there for a couple more days. He might find that he will need to start tapering by 1 mg increments earlier than in my proposed outline. This is fine. The important thing is to keep making progress, even if it is slow.
I STRONGLY DISCOURAGE the use of other drugs (esp. G, alcohol, and opiates) to try and 'ease' his withdrawal symptoms. These drugs are also very addictive and in the process of getting clean from one drug, your friend would develop an addiction to a new drug! I know that he wants an 'easy way out' (don't we all?) but he will need to bite the bullet on this one and suffer a little pain (and lots of insomnia!) in order to overcome this addiction.
Good luck, and keep us updated on the situation.
[ 06 May 2002: Message edited by: fairnymph ]

 

[supanoid]

Thanks for a suggested chart on how to taper, I would hold his stash but I am almost 2 hours away.
His doses arent really taken spread out through the day. A normal day would begin by waking up at 2-4pm, and by 10pm or so xanax would be acquired and the whole dose almost always taken at once I dont think his tolerance has gone up too much after it hit the point of a normal 16mg chewed. Then he is usually up all night and going to sleep at 5-7am.
What do you think of switching to a longer acting benzo such as klonplin? I'll probably just suggest the one less bar every 3 days for a few days until it gets to an amount much lower.
[ 06 May 2002: Message edited by: supanoid ]

 

[supanoid]

Well, I just talked to this kid and its apparenty a bit worse than I had thought. Does anyone even know of someone injesting 20-30mg of xanax daily for an extended period?
He just confessed to me its been 10 minimum and upto 15bars a day recently. I didnt think his tolerance would plateu at 16mg... Ive suggested the tapering of 2mg every 3 days and told him if he needs to wait at a certain level for longer than that that would be ok and if he can cut back a bit more then that would be too.

 

[sweatybee]

That is a shit load of benzo's everday. It will be easier to cut the mg's down at first until he reaches a level of discomfort and withdrawals. The above mentioned taper is a good one to follow. He might want to switch to Valium so he won't have to dose as often. This is something you don't want to take lightly he may want to seek professional help. Remember 1mg Xanax = 10mg Valium. Also tell him , as stated above, to take it slowly don't taper to quickly. Seizures are not uncommon if you taper too quickly. I wish your friend good luck and don't be afraid to see a doctor.

 

[FBDinNJ]

20-30mg a day??? Isn't there a risk of seizures if you try to quit benzos after having such a large tolerance? I'd reccomend that he see a doctor about finding a safe way to get off of that much Xanax.

 

[supanoid]

Some of you may not be familiar with the "ghetto" and that kind of mentality. If you are I am suprised you a computer and internet access. They dont goto a doctor unless they are damn near dead. Insurance? whats that?
It is pills that are at an unlimited supply not money.
I just talked to him again he said he tried not eating any xanax for 3 days but on the 3rd he "went crazy" and ate 50bars (100mg) in 3 days... I am pretty sure most doctors wont know what to say when 20-30mg a day of alprozlam useage is brought up. Most of them deal with complaints from people of getting dizzy on 1mg. I have read up on online benzo addiction sites and most dont even recommend 'professional help' aka treatment centers etc for even addiction steming from 1mg prescribed use.
He has been through months of withdrawls from stopping smoking glass. I explained to him that he needs to taper off, but I am trying to find some experiences I can relay with this kind of useage. I dont know about valium meaning eating them less often, its pretty much a one dose a day thing @ around 20mg with maybe a 5mg booster later in the night.

 

[Wombat]

I have been there, let me tell you, though I never could get enough of a supply to take that
high of a dose, it's easy for one to acquire a tolerance like this fellow has though.All you have to do is have an almost endless supply and keep taking them.Tolerance developes fast and increases exponentially with most CNS depressants.
Fairy's titration regemin is a very good suggestion and is what any good doctor would prescribe, though I would recommend spreading them out even more, if he has enough of a supply.
I also need to state, that with a tolerance and habit as extensive as this, that this person REALLY MUST WANT TO QUIT BEFORE HE/SHE WILL BE SUCCESSFULL.It is almost imperative, with someone abusing benzos to this extent, to have someone hold there stash for them.Because the titration will not work if he takes the dose all at once.Like someone else stated, it has to be spread out.And i know this dude NEEDS to get off in the morning, that is just the way it is.Unless he has huge amounts of willpower, it's gonne be hard to spread out the dose.
It's really best done in an inpatient setting because benzodiazepine withdrawal, especially if they have a seizure (and let me tell you, with him taking this much, if he stops cold turkey, he WILL start seizing) he could die.Yes, withdrwal seizures from alcohol as well as CNS depressants, barbiturates, benzos, fucking Ambien even, Soma, Meprobamate, whatever.If he runs out, better get him to the ER. My Father almost died from Valium withdrawall.
good luck and God speed.
~W
ABC122000
[ 07 May 2002: Message edited by: Wombat ]
[ 07 May 2002: Message edited by: Wombat ]

 

[supanoid]

What if he has always taken the dose at at once? Yes I know not many people can think of 20+mg at once but his goal was not anxiety relief. They want to get 'lean', chilled out, fucked up. Xanax bars are a pretty easy way to get to this point and definately cheaper than sipping syrup which contrary to popular belief is not DXM crap. They sip barre brand purple codine syrup to lean usually but damn its pricy.
I wont state prices on here due to guidelines but I'll say you can easily get 150+ bars for the price of a pint, which goes damn quick at 4-z a night. Should I recommend he stop taking his dose at once and spread them throughout the day?
Another concern with me telling him to find a treatment center is, do you really thing they are going to give a 17-18 year old 20-30mg of xanax a day and help him taper off that?
Especially a publicly funded one that would be free. Would they pay for that amount daily? Seems unlikely to me.
[ 07 May 2002: Message edited by: supanoid ]

 

[Wombat]

I am sorry to say it, but this may come down to
paying the price for a long hard drug binge.He will escape from this with alot of discomfort at the bare mimimum.
For every action, there is an opposite and equal reaction.I think this applies to getting high as well, except you don't get the opposite reaction as long as you can manage to keep it up.. but when you can't. . .
edit:And also, since you say anything is available, get him switched to Klonopin or Librium< the Klonopin can be substituted at an equal dosing regamin- if he was taking 12mg Xanax a day, give him 12 of Klonopin instead>, which has a much much longer halflife, and is subsequently easier to come off of, trust me on this, I have been through this benzo withdrawal shit before.
Also, some Vistaril will help with the inevitable shakes and other symptoms.AND there is a benzo withdrawal FAQ in the FAQ forum.Read it, it's very helpfull.
http://www.bluelight.ru/cgi/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic&f=32&t=000036
[ 07 May 2002: Message edited by: Wombat ]

 

[Brock]

30mgs of xanax daily?
Seek professional help. Most docs will see the severity of his situation and attempt to start him on a taper down program.
At this point in time, do not substitute anything in place of xanax, period. High-dose xanax addicts are often unresponsive to other benzos. Once his addiction is under control other benzos and compounding therapy may prove beneficial, but for now it could kill him.
Get help, fast. Self-detox from 30mg xanax by a 17-18 year old is not a wise move.
Good luck, hope your friend makes it through.

 

[superbabydoc]

fairnymph had some good advice, although I would suggest he taper more slowly, reducing his dose only once a week by 0.5 to 1mg, then he will barely notice the difference. This will minimise the chance of withdrawl symptoms.
Your friend will need to be fairly disciplined to do this, and will need to either write down how much he takes a day in order to keep track, or should perhaps get a dosett box/pill reminder box, which you fill at the start of the week. He would be better off doing this under medical supervision, but I see your point about that being unlikely.

 

[PhreeX]

Moving to the dark side... in Other Drugs we say that some benzos a day keeps anxiety away ..