Benzos Mild xanax withdrawal, how long will this last?

[seeking_relief]

Hello all I hope you can assist me.

Xanax use started about a month ago with no prior use. First week was .25mg every couple of days, one dose only at night. Two weeks after that was every day, still only .25mg at night, maybe .5mg a couple nights. Decided I needed to stop and woke up the next day with a very sore back. I thought I threw out my back and took it easy. Next day after I had rapid heartbeat, jaw clenching, anxiety, depression, dissociation, memory loss, and zero attention span to name some symptoms. Never felt so awful.

Only after that day did it occur to me that it could have been the benzo withdrawal so that night when my heart started really beating fast I cut a .25mg in half and felt asleep right away and woke up feeling good so I knew it was that. I'm on the 4th day of no xanax and although I am feeling better psychologically, physically I still clench my jaw quite a bit and my heartbeat is rapid and my muscles are tense.

Would it be in my interest to take another half of a .25mg to help me taper down more or at this point can I pretty much not take it again and expect to feel better in a week or so? I also have a couple percs laying around from when I got my wisdom teeth out, would that help with some relief? I am drinking at night to relieve symptoms and get to sleep.

I am growing more and more weary as I read about the withdrawals from this awful medication. Sub-acute symptoms lasting 2 years? Fuck that.

 

[dankplantgrower]

Your dose is small enough to cut the taper out of the picture and just deal with it cold turkey. Thank god youre barely dosing .25-.5, your withdrawals should be pretty light compared to what most people deal with.

I kicked a 1-1.5mg/day habit cold turkey and the withdrawals lasted about a week, definitely didnt exceed 2. Yours should be over sooner though considering your preferred dosage.

Xanax is a fine bitch but shell get you into trouble if you play with her too long. I am quite glad you caught yourself so early on while its still manageable, serious benzo WD isnt pretty. Also I have no idea what "sub acute withdrawals" are but you most definitely dont have to worry about 2 years of anything after a single month of tiny doses. Id be surprised if you experience more than a single week of WD and even those will be very manageable.

 

[seeking_relief]

Thank you, and my heart goes out to people that have to deal with much more severe withdrawal that had no idea what they were getting into. I can't believe doctors actually prescribe this shit.

EDIT: I guess sub-acute withdrawal was incorrect terminology. I meant protracted withdrawal (or PAWS I guess) which I've read on the Wiki for Alprazolam can occur in some users. Just kinda freaked me out when I was already in a high anxiety state.

 

[dankplantgrower]

Good luck my friend and dont be afraid to utilize the percs if the going gets tough. My PM box is open if you need to unload on someone.

 

[SC_NowLiving]

Read this thread http://www.bluelight.ru/vb/threads/696635-Now-afraid-to-stop

We actually had a discussion about some of the questions you might have. I wouldn't recommend perks/painkillers unless you doing cold turkey, it's not the safest combo. Just my opinion from extended research on opiate and Benz WDs.
Long term at small dose=pretty bad WDs
Short term 1 month top <-just estimate: high dose= mild WDs

Best of luck you and as others have said your WDs shouldn't be bad, just stop now.

 

[seeking_relief]

Yeah I'm doing cold turkey, not going to take ever again.

I was feeling pretty good yesterday but posted this now because the symptoms seemed to have ramped up again. Sudden noises are making me shudder and I am very sensitive to light. More of an annoyance than anything at this point but it caused me concern and I wanted to see if it was normal for that dose. The symptoms seem to come in waves...when I had the really bad withdrawals it reminded me of a bad acid trip I had years ago.

 

[Slum Survivor]

dont drink too much... its very easy to replace benzo for alcohol. same with the percs. idk if id mess with those in your state of wanting off the xanax. u would need to understand exactly the risks involved and weigh them against the situation. is it worth the relief to risk another addiction?

not trying to preach. for me i get a weird feeling when i benzo w/d. i think mentally xanax gets u hard during w/d. although im not fully sure that the xanax would cause different w/d from any other benzo.

and yeah just like u say... u will think your fine and then it'll come in waves. almost like opiate w/d w/o the vomit and all.

exactly its just like a bad trip on psychs when u w/d real hard from benzos or opiates. i agree 100% with that. the worst is tripping while not realizing u are addicted to opiates and are w/d'ing while u trip... omg. i wanted to die. badly. whew. just be thankful your not in that!

 

[seeking_relief]

I'm not I only had a couple of beers. And I miscalculated I am actually on Day 7 of no xanax. Is it cause for concern that I am still feeling effects or is that normal? I feel OK now but I know if I drink some coffee I'll start to feel anxious and my heart will beat fast. Last night I became very lightheaded and felt weird...my heart was also beating like crazy. When will I be back to 100%?

 

[Bromide]

It shouldn't last longer than about 2 weeks, most likely less.

 

[MagickalKat777]

I'm not I only had a couple of beers. And I miscalculated I am actually on Day 7 of no xanax. Is it cause for concern that I am still feeling effects or is that normal? I feel OK now but I know if I drink some coffee I'll start to feel anxious and my heart will beat fast. Last night I became very lightheaded and felt weird...my heart was also beating like crazy. When will I be back to 100%?

Drinking certainly isn't helping the withdrawal. Both Xanax and alcohol are GABA-A agonists and alcohol actually depletes GABA levels and increases glutamate levels which is even worse than what benzos do so any amount of alcohol is going to draw out the misery from the Xanax. You have to abstain from all GABAergic substances while you are recovering or it will draw it out.

It is definitely a good thing that you caught it early, it sounds like you would be one of the extremely over-sensitive individuals when it comes to benzo withdrawal. At such a low dose, most people don't have any withdrawals from a month of use, especially since it wasn't even used every day in that period.

Best of luck, benzo withdrawals suck and Xanax withdrawal is intense because of how short of a half-life it has - everything hits you at once - but you should be on the mend in a few days so just stick with it!

 

[stray cat]

Honestly man, I think you're worrying too much about this, possibly scaring yourself into thinking you have symptoms of benzo withdrawal. Doses of .25-.5 are pretty much the lowest you can go, and a month is really not that long. Reading all the horror stories online might be doing more harm than good. Benzo dependence totally blows, and it is certainly something to be wary of---i know, i was prescribed 3 mg a day for five years and came off that and iv h habit at the same time--but really, at your level and duration, you should not even be worried about 2 years of symptoms or anything like that. you will probably get some rebound anxiety, some sleeplessness, any anxiety you had previously will seem more pronounced... but i really think you will be fine.

 

[Gratuitous Grace]

seeking_relief ... give yourself the greatest gift anyone could possibly give you right now, and find it in you to just stick this out. You caught yourself before you went over the cliff with this stuff. You don't have a mountain to climb like the rest of us who *didn't* catch ourselves in time. (I'm going into my 14th year of fighting with Benzos.) You just have to hold on at the top. It may not be pleasant ... but wow, would I trade places with you! Good luck!!!

 

[MagickalKat777]

I took 0,5-1mg for 5 months every night, occasionally a little bit more, then tapered for 10-15 days and then finally quit, but withdrawal symptoms still hit me. This might be due to my previous benzo abuse which went on and off for almost 7 years so I guess my receptors might be more sensitive, I think it's called kindling, although I've never had any serious withdrawals prior to this because even when I abused benzos I always took long breaks. First two week were the worst with horrible panic attacks, GI issues and muscle twitching but after two weeks it gradually improved. I thought to abstain for 3-4 months and then use again but only occasionally, like once a week or once in two weeks. However, I read on wikipedia that withdrawal symptoms can lie dormant for as long as two years and can be reactivated with a single pill if one previously withdrew. Do you guys think this is true or just too exaggerated, anyone has any experience with this phenomenon?

Once you've abused benzos, your brain always remembers that state and any usage can trigger withdrawal. I would imagine that it has to do with the brain remembering what suddenly happened when the benzos appeared and compensating for it immediately rather than doing it over time but that's just a theory. Benzo withdrawal is something that still isn't totally understood, especially what happens when taking them after being abstinent for a long period of time when the brain appears to have recovered normal functioning of GAT, GAD, etc.

 

[downerman79]

Once you've abused benzos, your brain always remembers that state and any usage can trigger withdrawal. I would imagine that it has to do with the brain remembering what suddenly happened when the benzos appeared and compensating for it immediately rather than doing it over time but that's just a theory. Benzo withdrawal is something that still isn't totally understood, especially what happens when taking them after being abstinent for a long period of time when the brain appears to have recovered normal functioning of GAT, GAD, etc.

Possible, but I don't think that happens after minor, low dose withdrawals. Maybe after severe protracted high dose withdrawals. I went trough minor withdrawals before and my tolerance eventually went back to baseline and stayed there until I started increasing my intake again. However, last time when I took a one month break, my tolerance was not back to baseline, although it was lowered significantly. I think I just need to abstain for 3-4 months and hopefully my tolerance will be at the baseline again. This time I'll stick to occasional low doses only, if it's possible to achieve the baseline again. If not, I'll probably quit benzos altogether because it's just pointless if you're unable to experience the full effects.

 

[MagickalKat777]

Possible, but I don't think that happens after minor, low dose withdrawals. Maybe after severe protracted high dose withdrawals. I went trough minor withdrawals before and my tolerance eventually went back to baseline and stayed there until I started increasing my intake again. However, last time when I took a one month break, my tolerance was not back to baseline, although it was lowered significantly. I think I just need to abstain for 3-4 months and hopefully my tolerance will be at the baseline again. This time I'll stick to occasional low doses only, if it's possible to achieve the baseline again. If not, I'll probably quit benzos altogether because it's just pointless if you're unable to experience the full effects.

7 years off and on is not a short period of time. If you don't allow the brain to recover, the damage is cumulative. Start a low dose of an NMDA antagonist - it will give GAT a chance to latch on to the free glutamate since it doesn't have anywhere to go and convert it to GABA. I've used Delsym (other sources of DXM just plain don't work) and memantine for it. 10mL twice a day for Delsym, 30-40mg/day for memantine. Others have used MXE but MXE develops a tolerance quickly which doesn't seem to be a problem with Delsym and memantine. I wouldn't be able to do my taper at all if it wasn't for my Delsym every day keeping withdrawal side effects under control. Obviously the usual interactions with DXM apply but you shouldn't be doing any drugs when you're trying to restore GABA functioning to normal anyway so I have been sober for a month and a half.

 

[MagickalKat777]

Yes, I've used low dose dxm before (15 mg) for 4-5 days in an attempt to lower my tolerance, although I haven't noticed much difference. Actually I decided to stay away from everything for a while. My withdrawals were not really that terrible, it was really unpleasant at the moments but all in all I was able to function normally, A panic attack would hit me from time to time, tinnitus, paresthesia amd insomnia, but it was not unbearable because my doses were low, so I thought about trying 0,5 mg of Xanax around new year and see how it goes, and then take another 3-4 months break. I figure there can't be much damage from one little pill because my usage was not excessive. It's been a month now since I took my last benzo and I feel much better, most of the WDs are now gone. Are you planing to completely stay off benzos, or just to take a long break?

Once I'm off of them, I'm going to do my damnedest to stay off of them. Even just using them as prescribed they've flipped my life upside down. My GABA is so down-regulated that in addition to the panic attacks that started me on them in the first place, i now have developed full blown agoraphobia and constant anxiety care of GAD and I'm starting to develop signs of neuropathy - all of those are GABA-mediated and my hope is that by a slow (its going VERY slow at this point - 1.25mg every other week with an initial starting dose of 20mg, I was holding at 15mg until today where I have decided to make a 2.5mg cut that I'll hold for two weeks at least) and deliberate taper (I'm even keeping a log of what time I took it, how much I took, and a rough estimate of how much Delsym I'm taking with it (the cup only has doses for 2.5mL, 5mL, and 10mL - right now I'm trying to stay around 4-5mL twice a day and it seems to be working, we'll see how the dose cut goes, 50-60mg of DXM a day may not be enough, most use 60-120mg a day, but that's why I have plenty), I can get off of the stuff with no PAWS, reverse the new conditions (Dr. Ashton said that its quite common for conditions that developed while on benzos to reverse themselves coming off) and I'm ensuring that by being consistent with bombarding NMDA so glutamate never has a chance to take over.

My working theory on it is that by uncompetitive blocking of NMDA I can have enough free glutamate in my brain for my low levels of glutamate decarboxylase to have plenty to turn into GABA and accelerate the healing as opposed to all of that glutamate causing excessive firing. I'm watching my dose though because of the myriad of other receptors DXM targets. I don't want to end up with high blood pressure for one.

I can tell you that so far it seems to be working pretty well. I haven't even had insomnia this whole time and as a bonus, DXM made me quit smoking cold turkey after being on it for a week and alcohol as well which is impressive considering that right before I started all of this, I was stuck in tolerance withdrawal and didn't want to go up in my Valium dose - so I was drinking a handle of everclear every 2-3 days.

 

[Not Again]

Read this thread http://www.bluelight.ru/vb/threads/696635-Now-afraid-to-stop

We actually had a discussion about some of the questions you might have. I wouldn't recommend perks/painkillers unless you doing cold turkey, it's not the safest combo. Just my opinion from extended research on opiate and Benz WDs.
Long term at small dose=pretty bad WDs
Short term 1 month top <-just estimate: high dose= mild WDs

Best of luck you and as others have said your WDs shouldn't be bad, just stop now.

My thread quoted here. I wanted to say that.I was lucky that I didn't notice any ill effects when I didn't take it. However I'm also on opiates and I think that helps. The DR gave me ultracet ( on top of oxy) and I haven't found a good use except for that it makes me tired. So I take one 37.5 mg at night and I'm out.

 

[RTrain]

I am surprised you have any w/d from 3 weeks of basically the smallest dose Rx'd being taken only once a day, with only 2 of those weeks being non stop. If there is w/d it'd be a bit of rebound anxiety and should pass within a week. You must have a predisposition for physical dependence to them. I seventh or eighth the advice to stop using them now. I know its not comftorable, but it can get much, much worse.

 

[Dunno]

Pretty sure I asked this years and years ago, but is it possible to reverse tolerance with dxm while still taking a benzo?
If so, would memantine be a better option?

 

[MagickalKat777]

Pretty sure I asked this years and years ago, but is it possible to reverse tolerance with dxm while still taking a benzo?
If so, would memantine be a better option?

I have experience with both.

Memantine is useless for benzo tolerance unless you abstain completely, which I couldn't risk so I didn't use it for that purpose for long - it worked great for tolerance to alcohol, amphetamines, and tryptamines though.

DXM allows you to taper quickly and manages the physical side effects quite well. I've only ever used Delsym for this purpose - between 5 and 15mL twice a day but according to my taper journal, I seem to have the best results with 4-6mL twice a day as far as managing the withdrawal without compounding any of the side effects of Delsym (high blood pressure, elevated pulse, etc).

As a side-benefit DXM killed all cravings for alcohol and cigarettes within a week. I went from a handle of Everclear 95% every 2-3 days and a pack of cigarettes a day to zero on both practically overnight and I've remained abstinent to this day (my taper started at 20mg of Diaz on 9/14 and I'm now down to 12.5mg a day with minimal side effects and the ones I did have early on were purely the alcohol withdrawal effects).

I should note that without DXM, I couldn't even make it past 7 days with a 1.25mg cut. I have been in tolerance withdrawal with the Valium for the past year and a half or so and its been miserable. The Delsym takes it right away and stops me from drug seeking behavior.

Another nice benefit is that I don't even need my trazodone to go to sleep anymore - I get tired and fall asleep on my own and I don't have nightmares anymore like I got from the trazodone. On top of that, the serotonin properties have made it an effective antidepressant.

As for my benzo history, my tolerance reached 8.5mg a day with Xanax before it stopped working altogether, 4mg with Klonopin before it stopped working, and at the peak I was at 60mg of Valium.

If you look around online, you can find the 5 ounce bottles of Delsym for under 12 bucks which makes it a lot more cost effective than 17 plus tax.