Prescribed Xanax for the past 3 years, time to come off.. looking for some answers.

[AnnArbor]

First, hello everybody, I've had the account a while and occasionally read threads to keep things in perspective and love to hear the recovery stories. But, I don't judge the dark time threads as I've been there myself.. which leads to where I am at. In 2011 I kicked a pain killer addiction of about 4-5 years.. basically any pain killer in the book that I could get my hands on. Such an awful day-to-day era of my life. Anyway, when I came off the pain killers in 2011 I was prescribed Xanax from my doctor to help with the anxiety (I was honest w/him about everything and did manage to get off the pain killers for good). He prescribed me to take 1mg 3 times a day.. which now I know is a pretty high dosage, as i've read things and been told by friends.. especially everyday for the last three years. He's trying to taper me off as he said the FDA is cracking down on prescriptions of xanax and they've found it could possibly cause intestinal issues down the road? Anyway, that's all fine and good with me.. I really want to come off the xanax. BUT, I have to say.. it is so hard cutting back by even a half mg at a time, which he is allowing me to do. these benzo's are brutal.. at least with opiates, I knew the worst would pass after a week or two.. then it's a matter of staying away. This benzo controls my entire body and especially my mind.. i feel the electric shocks/shakes constantly. It's even hard to speak at times if I feel it really heavy. Usually in the early mornings.

Sorry, if this is getting a bit long winded. Anyway, I am curious of others who have been prescribed (or got it their own way) came off the drug. Is there any tips? I know some things helped a few years ago with the opiate withdrawal.. so I guess I am asking if there's something to help with this benzo taper. I've been at this for about 2 months trying to lower my dosage. Like I said, I really want to get off the xanax in the first place, but it is really hard. My doctor is saying he is doing the same w/all his patience w/xanax and I believe him.. but I think I am going to go back and see if he can prescribe me something for my nerves.. perhaps even another benzo. All I've heard is xanax is the toughest.. maybe something just a bit lighter to take on the side while I taper off xanax would be a good idea? Well, this was just a start to get the ball rolling.. please, I'd appreciate any experiences/advice. It is Saturday night and I'll probably make an appointment for sometime between this coming wed-fri. Thanks, everybody.

 

[NiceEnough]

From my own experience, it is likely to be a lot tougher to come off Xanax, which has a short half-life rather than a benzo with a longer half-life. So I would recommend you ask him about switching to diazepam and slowing tapering with that. There is some good guidance here http://www.benzo.org.uk/manual/bzcha02.htm. It will be difficult for sure, but with diazepam or a similarly long-acting benzo it should be a lot easier and smoother than xanax. There is an equivalence table here http://www.benzo.org.uk/manual/bzcha01.htm#24 so you can work out what the diazepam equivalent to your current dose is, and an example tapering schedule here http://www.benzo.org.uk/manual/bzsched.htm. Good luck with it. Look into herbal alternatives to calm your nerves, ashwangandha, kava kava, and valerian can all help in reducing anxiety. None are as effective as benzos but they don't cause the serious physical dependence so are a good alternative if you need support. I would hesitate to recommend kratom if you have had issues with opiates because it also has a dependency risk and works in a similar way to opiates, but if you were able to use it occasionally and for emergencies it might be a helpful tool to have in your arsenal. But you know yourself better than I do and whether you will be able to control your use of a drug that is also potentially very addictive. Can be ordered online. Hope this helps.

 

[AnnArbor]

NiceEnough, I appreciate the quick and helpful response. I've read through some of those links and I plan to print certain things out to highlight and show my doctor. From what I've read before I even posted this, Diazepam (Valium) is a good crutch to taper off with. It's nice to see that's the case in your post (links) as well. My doctor trusts me but I am bringing along a loved one who i speak with this about and keep up to date on how i feel with this the last two months, just for added support and so he has two people with input explaining how i feel. Thanks again, and open to anymore information from you guys.

 

[NiceEnough]

My pleasure Ann, from struggling on and off with benzos and finding it tough to avoid serious physical dependency I can totally sympathise with what you are going through. I too have come off opiates and understand that coming off benzos can be both more difficult and more dangerous, particularly with highly potent and short acting ones like alprazolam (xanax). I am now down to 25mg of valium every two to three days, and I am thinking and hoping that my addiction is mainly psychological, but I can't really be sure how many xanax, klonopin, diazepam and etizolam I have been through in the past few months as I have been living in India and it is darn easy to get them over the counter here. I can manage two to three days off them at the moment. Determined to get off through this addiction though, and get back to just using them when I really need them for anxiety, after a session with stimulants or just for a bit of fun (I find xanax and etizolam to be the most fun of the lot). The links I gave you are from a very respected UK-based site, and the author has a great deal of experience with benzo addiction and supporting safe and smooth withdrawals, so you can do a lot worse than use that site as a resource. FYI I am now on mirtazapine (remeron) to help me sleep and ease some of anxiety/depressie symptoms and am also taking ashwagandha and a range of ayurvedic herbs as I also have IBS symptoms. I can highly recommend ashwagandha as a herb for anxiety and to support mood lifting, and very safe in the right doses. If you do an internet search, there is some proper scientific research that has been done to demonstrate its efficacy and is very popular here in India for good reason. Again, good luck, it is totally worth getting out of the benzo trap, there really are few things worse. It has really screwed up my last year big time, finally getting out of it thank god.