Benzos Realized today that I've become dependent on Xanax :( Need help

[JackieChan]

Kinda can't believe I'm making this post

Quick background: About 8-9 years ago I began to experience extreme anxiety when I went off to college, had a panic attack, went to the ER etc. Saw my doctor and was diagnosed with depression, tried a few SSRI's and eventually ended up on 150mg Effexor which seemed to completely eliminate my symptoms with little to no side effects, and a Xanax prescription for acute anxiety, 60 x 0.5mg per month.
So I've had this Xanax prescription for 8-9 years and have had zero problems with abuse, dependency etc., in fact sometimes I'd go several months before I'd need a refill.

More recently, however, I began to take it more frequently as it seemed to help me concentrate in class, and in addition I have been dabbling with 2-fma, the effects of which are great but it causes me to increase my Xanax usage somewhat substantially in order to help me sleep, etc.

I can't say for sure how long I've been taking Xanax everyday, but I'd say over the past 3-4 months I've been taking 1-2mg/day, and probably up to 3mg the last few weeks. I did begin experiencing withdrawal symptoms when I wouldn't take it, but I didn't recognize them as withdrawal symptoms, I thought perhaps it was low blood sugar, a lingering effect from 2-fma, or something like that. From reading how much other people take, I felt that the amount I was taking too small to really get dependent on, but apparently I was wrong.

I ran out of my prescription today and it was too early for a refill (or so I thought) and tried to just go without it, and felt increasingly worse as the day went on, until the point where I was honestly considering going to the hospital. Felt extremely panicky, muscle tension/headache, felt like things weren't real... classic benzo withdrawal symptoms. Not knowing what else to do, I called the pharmacy and figured I'd try to get an early refill, and surprisingly they gave me one. After taking 1.25mg I now feel completely fine.

I have never had any dependency issues before, and the "hardest" drug I've ever done is probably pot, LOL... in other words, this is quite a surprise and a bit scary for me. It seems that although it hasn't been an issue for 7-8 years, the recent increase in dosage has pushed me into dependency.
Now I obviously I need to stop being dependent, and would really like to just go back to how I was using it before (rarely, for acute anxiety only), so I'll need to taper down. I'd rather not bring my doctor into the equation and think I can do it on my own, so switching to a longer acting benzo isn't an option.

My questions are:
1) Would using something like Tagamet to potentiate the Xanax and make it last longer be a good idea in order to help me taper down?
2) Could using Etizolam help to reduce dependency on xanax? Ie., alternate them, or try to use it instead of xanax? Or are they totally cross-tolerant?

Any suggestions are greatly appreciated,
Thanks.

 

[orgone]

All benzos are cross tolerant. If you are trying to taper you should look for a benzo with a long half life such as diazepam or clonazepam. Those are ideal. Make sure that you equate the dose of either one to your xanax dose. Clonazepam is mg for mg with alprazolam but obviously diazepam would require a lot more.

 

[FlawedByDesign]

1)Yeah tagament can be helpful when tapering with short acting benzos as it increases the half life giving you more time in between doses before you feel w/ds. If I was taking 1mg 3 times a day I would take 400mgs of tagament an hour before my first pill and do my best not to take another pill until bed time with another dose of tagament before hand to keep w/ds at bay until morning.

If you can successfully drop the 3rd mg I would try to stick with 1mg/tagament in the morning and one at bed time for about a week. I would then drop .5mgs every four days. .5 from the nightly dose first and then .5 from the morning dose until Im down to .5mg twice a day. I would've probably been alright to jump off there but I opted to take .25mg twice a day for 4 days. This may be too rapid of a taper for some depending on the extent of ones dependency but it worked out ok for me. I must also mention that excessive use of tagament is known to cause strange side effects such as man boobs and several other things I cant remember. I was not aware of this at the time and took 800mgs every day for about a month. Although I did not experience any side effects it would probably be wise to save the tagament for the last 1-2 weeks of your taper

2)Xanax tolerance takes months to go away IME, I doubt alternating them would do much good. I dont know if they are totally cross tolerant but after a week of using moderate amounts of xanax my etizolam tolerance seemed to have doubled. Any benzo/benzo analouges will have some cross tolerance. I think the general consensus is that thienodiazepine w/d is less severe than that of regular benzos. Switching from xanax to etiz may make things more bearable in the end but the down side is that you are prescribed xanax and do not have to worry about running out. Unless you can obtain enough etizolam (and have enough will power) to follow through with your taper you may end up in trouble

 

[AlphaMethylPhenyl]

Etizolam would just prolong the addiction.

 

[buckethed]

http://www.non-benzodiazepines.org.uk/

Point your Dr to this website; cross-titrate to Diazepam (be cautious - longer half-life and can be more sedating
in some ways, so careful driving or operating machinery and so on - ideally don't - ask your Dr for what you
can and can't do). Once on the Diazepam, make sure your are on a stable dose, then just slowly start chipping
away at the dose. Benzo withdrawals can take 1-2 weeks to fully kick in, so dont try to reduce too quickly.
Slowly but surely is the way - 9 months would be an absolute minimum after 9 years use. Good luck and PM
me if you need any more advice!

Also AVOID alcohol like the plague. Benzo withdrawal makes you crave alcohol, but alcohol worsens the benzo
tolerance very, very quickly. Take benzos rather than alcohol!

 

[JackieChan]

Etizolam would just prolong the addiction.

Not arguing, but why do you say that? The wiki article seems to imply that it is less prone to dependence.

http://www.non-benzodiazepines.org.uk/

Point your Dr to this website; cross-titrate to Diazepam (be cautious - longer half-life and can be more sedating
in some ways, so careful driving or operating machinery and so on - ideally don't - ask your Dr for what you
can and can't do). Once on the Diazepam, make sure your are on a stable dose, then just slowly start chipping
away at the dose. Benzo withdrawals can take 1-2 weeks to fully kick in, so dont try to reduce too quickly.
Slowly but surely is the way - 9 months would be an absolute minimum after 9 years use. Good luck and PM
me if you need any more advice!

Also AVOID alcohol like the plague. Benzo withdrawal makes you crave alcohol, but alcohol worsens the benzo
tolerance very, very quickly. Take benzos rather than alcohol!

Thanks for the advice.
To be clear, I've had the prescription for ~9 years, but I've only been using heavily enough to cause dependence for a few months, if that (hard to know for sure).
I've figured out a tapering plan that will take 3 weeks to go down to zero from 2.25mg/day (no Etiz); if that proves to be too quick, I'll revise it.


On another note, I'm seriously wondering if 2-fma has residual anxiety effects for some users. When I began taking it 2-3 times a week it really seemed to spur my need for Xanax, even on off days; hopefully I didn't damage anything :/
Or it could just be that the additional Xanax I'd take to sleep pushed me into dependence; either way, ultimately I think taking 2-fma is the root cause of this. Stupid decision by me to start messing with it.

 

[Pagey]

Yeah there isn't much point in trying to use etizolam to help you taper down. As was mentioned, a benzo with a longer half-life would be ideal if you can get your hands on them, like clonazepam or diazepam.
I do think your plan to get down to zero in 3 weeks is a bit too quick though. It's unlikely you're in any particular danger since you're not coming off a very high dose but you've also been on them for a very, very long time and it isn't worth the risk anyway - I understand wanting to get clean as quickly as possible but taking your time will prove to be way more worth it in the long run, not to mention less unpleasant while you do it.
If I were you I'd drop .25mg every week or so. It'll take a while but it'll definitely be safe.

Good luck, and I hope you don't feel too bad about yourself for this

 

[JackieChan]

Thanks very much, I appreciate your help and support!

I don't feel too bad about it, just shocked that it happened really. Like I said, I've used this prescription for 8-9 years responsibly with zero dependence (or much tolerance... less than a mg still hits me pretty good), and all of a sudden I'm having withdrawals... kinda can't believe it. When I started having those terrifying withdrawal symptoms the other day, I just kept telling myself that I can't believe it's gotten to this point, I didn't feel like I was abusing it at all.

I had a thought this morning... is it possible that 2-fma somehow hits GABA receptors? It's know to have anxiolytic properties, and by taking ~100mg 2-3 days a week, is it possible that it could have contributed into pushing me into dependence?

 

[Cadamec]

The physical effects of withdrawal would probably be mild. Taper slowly. I have been on similar dose for about 10 years. 1 to 2mg per day-- sometimes a 3rd mg. benadryl at night helps me sleep sometimes without having to take the xanax.

Psychologically, I panic if I run out. The fear of a panic attack sucks ass. I ran out during a particularly bad panic attack. Nurse called in a script at 5pm on a Monday. I use a 24 hour pharmacy across town. Couldn't even drive until 4:30 am the next morning and couldn't even handle the highway. Had to take city streets / frontage roads and pretend my friend was in the car telling me I was okay just to get there.

Anxiety disorder sucks. I finally started a light exercise program - walking a mile or two everyday at first. This has really helped me from increasing my xanax use. Regular exercise is supposed to help balance the brain chemistry reducing the anxiety we feel on a daily basis. I am only a month in to following what "they" have been telling me for years. I will report back and let you know how that is working for me.