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Short tern intense Xanax withdrawal -shaun - need help immediately

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Shan0

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Joined
May 10, 2016
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20
Hi, im Shaun and personally this has been very taxing for me. I started taking xanax roughly one a week at 1mg.

Recently over the past month ive been on a path of destruction. My dose steadily increased from 1mg to 9-12mg a day for the past few weeks. It all started Saturday Watching hockey Playoffs the benzos where not working anymore so i decided special occassion my sharks are close to the stanley cup. The past month watching i would down around six beer on top of 3 3mg bars,

After may 8th i woke up feeling like i had food poisening, the works. dehydrated pissing from my ass and nauceous. Day 3 im on cold turkey, I didnt think benzo could affect my body the way it is. Ive steadily began feeling like a really bad acid trip that wont wear off. My anxiety has been so off the roof I've had doom and gloom and feeling (like the movie donnie darko) where if i fall asleep I'm going to die.

It seems to get progressively worse, so low i wanna top myself. Started to shake, hallucinate, cold , Worst Anxiety of my life. Keep having suicidal thoughts and flashbacks to previous DMT/LSD experiences. My appetite returned but I have trouble eating still. Before this i only took kratom and was hooked so i used xanax to help wean off that. I'm im fit person who workouts everyday but this is the most evil drug ive experienced. I'm at 135lbs 5'9. My cousin previously has had a seizure and woke up in the hospital for a coma. He warned me but I thought my body could take it.

With that said... Is it safe to continue cold turkey or can someone give me a taper plan. I heard .25 a day can prevent seizure. I can take the emotionally pain I'm jus concerned about falling asleep and not waking up since my breathing is shallow and i have to keep reminding myself to breathe. I've probably lost 5lbs over the course.

Im planning on enlisting in the military so medical ER visits cant be done since it would disqualify me.. The military is my dream and my current GF is giving me the emotional support but said if i didnt follow my dreams which im planning on being clean from everything. permanently. loosing her and my dreams would crush me. My brother is huffing duster causing him to yell and have zero care for anyone, he was doing meth and I'm afraid he will die soon.

I'm not ready to die. I love my GF and want to be a marine, but i need help. Never before. Like i said im just worried about my shallow breathing, going to sleep and not waking up.

Any advice or can someone give me a taper plan. I don't usually reach out to people but After I did DMT im not ready to go and caused me to stop kratom successfully. I cant do this on my own.

Im 22. sorry for the bad spelling my hands are shaking uncntrolably and my mind is racing.
 
Stopping cold turkey from 12mg a day (with added alcohol) is, as you can see simply too much and too fast. Take something to get your head back together and your body back feeling like 'normal' then start on a taper what works for you.

Benzo tolerance and addiction has the sneaky trip of creeping up on you and it's not until you want to stop that you find you have problems.

If your after a quick taper then .25 .5 shouldn't really cause you any problems with seizures but the .5 step may leave you feeling rough - a safer and easier taper would be say a .25 for a few days, then another .25 for a few days etc

Sorry to hear your going through this but it will pass, get a taper sorted out set a realistic date for when you want to be off them.

I will move your post to the sober living and recovery section so people can offer you further information.

Hang in there :)

*Edit*

Hey Sober Living,

This message was posting in NMI and instead of asking the guy to post again in another section I have moved his welcome thread. If anyone has experience with a xanax taper or can offer any assistance that would be really appreciated.

Thank you
Bear
 
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DO NOT QUIT cold turkey - the withdrawal is horrible and can be life threatening. What you are experiencing is normal. I had a 10 year run with Xanax and had to quit cold turkey in rehab, and it was a painful experience that impacted me for around 3 years total - I haven't take a benzo in 6 years and I am still healing. Do a taper to get off of them so your experience won't be nearly as painful or long as mine. He is a link to the Ashton Manual - it's a great guide for setting up a taper plan, and please go take a benzo now so you don't sieze.

http://www.benzo.org.uk/manual/

Good luck!
 
Listen: Stopping that high a dose cold turkey is incredibly dangerous. Do you have anymore left so you can take them before you see a doctor? Basically you are going to need to do this under medical care if you want to come out on the other side okay.

If you cannot go to the doctors, I highly suggest reading this:
Ashton Manual: withdrawal protocols

I highly suggest you read the entire ashton manual after you take a dose of benzos.

*edit* It is funny that the two people that have had extreme problems with benzos, came up with the same advice at the same time.
 
Bearlove said:
Stopping cold turkey from 12mg a day (with added alcohol) is, as you can see simply too much and too fast. Take something to get your head back together and your body back feeling like 'normal' then start on a taper what works for you.

Benzo tolerance and addiction has the sneaky trip of creeping up on you and it's not until you want to stop that you find you have problems.

If your after a quick taper then .25 .5 shouldn't really cause you any problems with seizures but the .5 step may leave you feeling rough - a safer and easier taper would be say a .25 for a few days, then another .25 for a few days etc

Sorry to hear your going through this but it will pass, get a taper sorted out set a realistic date for when you want to be off them.

I will move your post to the sober living and recovery section so people can offer you further information.

Hang in there :)

*Edit*

Hey Sober Living,

This message was posting in NMI and instead of asking the guy to post again in another section I have moved his welcome thread. If anyone has experience with a xanax taper or can offer any assistance that would be really appreciated.

Thank you
Bear
Click to expand...


Thanks Bear, Quick taper is the thing I'm after, I can handle with... well sometimes, but id rather quick taper my habit was only a month.
 
Ok So I took all of your advices in and starting to taper at 1.5mg which killed my anxiety and allowed me to sleep around 3 hours. It's now around 7AM PST and i woke up feeeling good, well rested even though I've been up for almost 48 hours prior then 5 mins later boom! anxiety truck hit me big time. Decided to dissolve 0.5mg under tongue and its currently starting to help. Definately taking this stride one step at a time. It's just so pathetic I've let it even get to this point because I was living a positive lifestyle until i was introduced to xanax. Once this is done i plan to flush the rest down the toilet and never look back, it's weird how drugs make you stop realize its no joke when it's really happening and your life is in danger.

I will definately be taking a look at both those manuals.
 
manboychef said:
Listen: Stopping that high a dose cold turkey is incredibly dangerous. Do you have anymore left so you can take them before you see a doctor? Basically you are going to need to do this under medical care if you want to come out on the other side okay.

If you cannot go to the doctors, I highly suggest reading this:
Ashton Manual: withdrawal protocols

I highly suggest you read the entire ashton manual after you take a dose of benzos.

*edit* It is funny that the two people that have had extreme problems with benzos, came up with the same advice at the same time.
Click to expand...


Right! my cousin even told me to be careful since he seized up and almost died. I definately have a bunch left to do a successfull taper. Ive been dissolving under my tongue for quick relief. Another thing about About if I do decide to seek medical help is that confidential?.. because I can't have that put on some kind of record where it could potentially ruin my military aspirations. Maybe putting that on hold is the best thing for me right now.
 
Moreaux said:
DO NOT QUIT cold turkey - the withdrawal is horrible and can be life threatening. What you are experiencing is normal. I had a 10 year run with Xanax and had to quit cold turkey in rehab, and it was a painful experience that impacted me for around 3 years total - I haven't take a benzo in 6 years and I am still healing. Do a taper to get off of them so your experience won't be nearly as painful or long as mine. He is a link to the Ashton Manual - it's a great guide for setting up a taper plan, and please go take a benzo now so you don't sieze.

http://www.benzo.org.uk/manual/

Good luck!
Click to expand...

Took your both your advice and took the 1.5mg and slept and took another .5 when i got up. No twitching or shallow breathing now. How long do you think My dosage and time frame would last? ive heard horror stories even with as little as 2mg habbit over my time frame. Appreciate the support.
 
Also if this taper goes through its 7-10 days I've read (since my usage was short) to piss where you wont piss possitive, of course with diet and excercise. Heard it also metabolites to fat which my body fat percentage is pretty low. opinions?
 
Good luck with the taper and don't yet try to bother thinking too much about drug testing and we are not even allowed to help regarding drug tests as it would violate Bluelight rules.

Simply just postpone your enlisting process before you get off from your habit and you have got some treatment for your anxiety problems. While on the field last thing I would have wanted is that a guy who was supposed to haul me some ammunition is shivering in fear on a fetal position as his anxiety levels just jumped over the roof. Even a boot camp will be rough for people suffering from anxiety.
 
well I'm still waiting on my wavier for a surgery so by the time that goes in I should be completely clean, but that could be next week or months down the line.

Also been using kratom and it helps with the anxiety, would this prolong the withdrawal?
 
Shan0 said:
well I'm still waiting on my wavier for a surgery so by the time that goes in I should be completely clean, but that could be next week or months down the line.

Also been using kratom and it helps with the anxiety, would this prolong the withdrawal?
Click to expand...

Kratom wont prolong the withdrawal but it has a withdrawal all its own if you take it for more than a couple weeks strait. You really need to see a psychiatrist who can set you up with a proper taper schedule and med. Xanax is a terrible med to taper with because of its short half life. The military will not find out about you seeing a shrink if you don't tell them I promise. This is not something you want to rush or not do properly. We are talking about a life threatening situation here.
 
cj said:
Kratom wont prolong the withdrawal but it has a withdrawal all its own if you take it for more than a couple weeks strait. You really need to see a psychiatrist who can set you up with a proper taper schedule and med. Xanax is a terrible med to taper with because of its short half life. The military will not find out about you seeing a shrink if you don't tell them I promise. This is not something you want to rush or not do properly. We are talking about a life threatening situation here.
Click to expand...

I'm well aware of the kratom withdrawal as i started taking the xanax to help with that withrawal, now ive traded one for another go figure.. bu I would take that kratom withdrawal anyday of the week than this benzo one.
 
Yes- Benzo withdrawal is WORSE than Kratom withdrawal!!
I think you're doing a great job.
I got off benzos and opiates with using Kratom, and it worked great for me!
Just take it easy, and take it slow.
Great job!
 
Just thought I would check to see if you made a follow up post. Glad you got the information and have set yourself up for a more realistic taper.

Take it easy with the kratom also as you don't then want to have to taper from that also.

Stay safe
Bear
 
Day 4.. Went to a PT session which made me feel great and then went to cafe with my GF. Came home and ate some good food. felt wonderful and decided to not continue taking this night just to see if i could sleep. Apparentlly fell "asleep" for an hour and woke up in a sort of Sleep paralysis delirious state. Felt like I was going insane. My brain is preventing me from entering any other stages of sleep than the first couple. "slept" earlier in the day, two hours pass quickly, only felt like i closed my eyes and opened them. Also having memory problems.. I didnt remeber if I went to a PT session on friday last week, which I apparently did according to my brother and girlfriend. Time is startng to not seem real.

So ive chosen the best thing is for me to just continue taking a very tiny dose of xanax as bear stated to prevent seizure. Then taking a high dose of kratom at night for sleep or just to calm me down which it has better than the smaller dose of xanax relief wise. Thinking about moving into a different section of the house since my room only reminds me of the drug use. Will keep pushing through. thanks to everyone who chimed in. Helps more than you know.
 
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manboychef said:
Moving to a different room, or even just rearranging your room is great idea. It is kinda like restarting your life.
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Most definately, my room is upstairs and as soon as i leave and head downstairs I start to feel a little relief, even just going outside. It sounds like a cliche hippie thing to say but I can sense bad energy in the one certain area of my home which is my room!
 
Shan0 said:
Took your both your advice and took the 1.5mg and slept and took another .5 when i got up. No twitching or shallow breathing now. How long do you think My dosage and time frame would last? ive heard horror stories even with as little as 2mg habbit over my time frame. Appreciate the support.
Click to expand...

This is a link to the taper schedule. Xanax (alprazolam) is the first one addressed. If you taper, it shouldn't be as bad as the horror stories you've heard, just go slow.

I was forced to go cold turkey, and I was one of those horror stories. As bad as it was, I survive and managed to get to the other side.

I've been reading through the rest of the comments - yes, postpone talking to the recruiter and go see a psychiatrist about a taper. You need to get diazapam as it has a longer half life. This is not something that will be finished in a week or two, so take your time and do this right. Realistically, give yourself at least year before considering the military as you don't want to go through basic training and deal with benzo PAWS - there's a good chance you wouldn't make it through.

Please do this right as you have no idea what you are in for based on your comments. This is not something you want to play around with as it can get serious fast. Please see a doctor and switch to diazapam for the taper. Please take your time with the taper, and don't make any huge life altering decisions during this time. You really want to do this correctly, or you could be setting yourself up for problems for a few years. Also during withdrawal and PAWS, try to avoid other drugs as you don't want to have an addiction to something else, and it's very easy to accidentally do that trying to get comfortable during PAWS. Will try to write more later. Good luck!
 
Here is a link for the tapering schedule I guess Moreaux intended to add but forgot:
http://www.benzo.org.uk/manual/bzsched.htm#s1

Benzo withdrawals won't be over in a week. It takes atleast months until everything starts to feel normal and you also have to deal with anxiety issues before enlisting. You simply won't get through basic training if you have anxiety problems. Trust me as I used to work as an instructor on our army and I have seen plenty of people failing due anxiety issues. Panic attacks are hazardous when using live ammunition even in training situations and some might even get suicidal thoughts after failing something in army.
 
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