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Benzos Worried about having to cold turkey xanax

EmptyProductions

Greenlighter
Joined
Jul 26, 2010
Messages
16
I've been prescribed 90 1mg xanaxs for several months now. I'm allowed to take 3mgs a day. First few months i was only taking 1-2mg tops a day. Then it started being 2-3mgs a day, but Ive had my share of bad days where i have taken over 3mgs. highest benzo dose ive ever taken was 12mg of ativan with a mg or two of xanax. Which pretty much altered my tolerance a little bit. I have experienced xanax withdrawal only once before. Symptoms experienced were sweating, constant headache, irritability, and eventually got muscle twitches. However i dosed again not too long after getting the muscle twitches the last time, so i don't know if it would have lead to a seizure.

This time im not going to be able to dose at all. Im stuck with a cold turkey. I have .5mg left with my doctors appointment being next Wednesday. Leaving me with 4-5 days of withdrawal.

Only drugs i have that could possibly help are

Trazodone
Valerian root capsules
lamotrigine(would this anticonvulsant be helpful?)
weed(not really sure if weed speeding up my heart rate would make things worse?)

My main concern is basically the risk of seizure. Any input is appreciated.
 
the trazodone might increase the risk of seizure, although im not completely possitive on that tho..
the valerian is like natures benzo so it will deff help, and with that in combo with the lamictal (lamotrigine) you should be safe from a seizure, the weed might help you in a psychological way just telling your brain that "you're taking a drug" so it could help you cope with life w/o the xanax, but it might make anxiety worse. I would say the weed is *optional*.

Also just a note on the lamictal, if you start a dose too high too quickly there is a risk that you can get a life threatening side effect, the signs are a rash on your palms, eyelids, and (yes this is weird) your lips. This can happen even if you have taken the drug before and had no problems. If you get any of those symptoms stop taking it immediately and call or see a doctor.
 
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if it gets really bad to where you think a seizure is possible you should definitely go to the ER...

if you can get your hands on some somehow, get some lyrica it would definitely lower possibility of a seizure.
 
the trazodone might increase the risk of seizure, although im not completely possitive on that tho..
the valerian is like natures benzo so it will deff help, and with that in combo with the lamictal (lamotrigine) you should be safe from a seizure, the weed might help you in a psychological way just telling your brain that "you're taking a drug" so it could help you cope with life w/o the xanax, but it might make anxiety worse. I would say the weed is *optional*.

Also just a note on the lamictal, if you start a dose too high too quickly there is a risk that you can get a life threatening side effect, the signs are a rash on your palms, eyelids, and (yes this is weird) your lips. This can happen even if you have taken the drug before and had no problems. If you get any of those symptoms stop taking it immediately and call or see a doctor.

I'm aware that valerian root acts on the GABA receptors similar to benzos. Its just ive never found them to be very effective unless a really high dose is taken(above 1350mgs, i have 450mg capsules). As for the lamictal i have no idea on what doses to take. The pills are 100mgs each and i pretty much know very little about this particular drug.

if it gets really bad to where you think a seizure is possible you should definitely go to the ER...

if you can get your hands on some somehow, get some lyrica it would definitely lower possibility of a seizure.

The ER is pretty much my plan if i feel things are getting out of control. And as far as i know i have no access to getting lyrica.
 
take 25mg lamictal for a couple days, then 50mg for a couple and then start and stay at 100mg's.
that's my advice for it, even though the starter kit for when starting lamictal has each dose for a couple weeks instead of days. but you should be fine.
 
Xanax WD is dangerous, if you are trying to get off of it its one thing. but if you plan on getting right back on it when you get your script i see no reason to go through the withdrawals. I'd call the doc and tell him you've lost your pills or they got stolen. You can only pull this once though so be smarter about your pill management.
 
If you are concerned about seizure, just go to the ER or a clinic and tell them you are about to experience benzo withdrawal. They'll probably give you just enough diazepam or chrodiazepoxide to hold you.

Good advice above with the lamotrigine and I'd avoid the trazodone... I believe it does lower the seizure threshold a little and it can definitely increase the restlessness and discomfort.

The 'muscle twitches' you're referring to are called fasciculations. These happen often and in the general population, the most common cause is magnesium deficiency. Taking good magnesium supplements will likely help relieve this symptom to some extent.

Valerian can be VERY useful, the problem is that most of the products on the market (especially the capsules) are absolute shit and will do next to nothing. If you go out and find high quality tinctures of kava kava or valerian you'll be better off as the its likely the pills you have won't do a whole lot.

I'd probably avoid the weed because it can certainly exacerbate the anxiety and discomfort. If you have like a PURE indica it may be useful because those are more sedating and have more CBD which I believe is an anticonvulsant, but if you get *any* anxiety from weed I'd probably avoid it.
 
If you are concerned about seizure, just go to the ER or a clinic and tell them you are about to experience benzo withdrawal. They'll probably give you just enough diazepam or chrodiazepoxide to hold you.

Good advice above with the lamotrigine and I'd avoid the trazodone... I believe it does lower the seizure threshold a little and it can definitely increase the restlessness and discomfort.

The 'muscle twitches' you're referring to are called fasciculations. These happen often and in the general population, the most common cause is magnesium deficiency. Taking good magnesium supplements will likely help relieve this symptom to some extent.

Valerian can be VERY useful, the problem is that most of the products on the market (especially the capsules) are absolute shit and will do next to nothing. If you go out and find high quality tinctures of kava kava or valerian you'll be better off as the its likely the pills you have won't do a whole lot.

I'd probably avoid the weed because it can certainly exacerbate the anxiety and discomfort. If you have like a PURE indica it may be useful because those are more sedating and have more CBD which I believe is an anticonvulsant, but if you get *any* anxiety from weed I'd probably avoid it.

Glad i made this thread. Didn't know trazodone could actually be a bad idea. About the Valerian you are probably right. Ive likely got some cheap and crappy capsules. I don't know where to find a high quality tincture though.

When it comes to the weed i actually do have access to pretty much any pure indica. Ive had a medical marijuana license for over a year now.
 
i would try and get in touch with your Dr. or his answering service to see if he will let you fill the script early. just be honest with him. if he is understanding he won't let you go through cold turkey, and he might even adjust your dosage to compensate........
if not it's going to get rough, but you can make it. the WD's won't start until about 36-48 hours after last dose. you might not sleep but try and get up and not lay around. and like everyone says, if the muscle twitching gets really bad don't hesitate to go to ER....unlike dope sickness where they can't give you anything to relive it, with benzo WD they'll give you what you need until you see your DR.

PS
are users responsible for patroling threads to make sure other users are following the rules or is it just moderators that do that?
 
PS
are users responsible for patroling threads to make sure other users are following the rules or is it just moderators that do that?

if you see someone breaking the rules you can report it by clicking the report button on the bottom left of their post (the exclamation mark " ! ") and tell the mods what the issue is and then they can take action if need be.
 
^thanks, hood. Also in the future if you have questions about the forum, it'd be better to either ask in the "support" forum or to PM staff about it so we don't derail threads about other topics... not a big deal, just wanted to let you know.
 
My doctor pretty much couldn't have proved it any better that he doesn't know what hes talking about. He had the nerve to say Benzos are not addicting. Then went with "ativan is less addicting than xanax" and wants me to take that.

I wasn't willing to continue going cold turkey so i picked up the fucking ativan. I'm just going to try and taper regardless the best i can until i see a new doctor, which takes 4 days. Also bought some magnesium.
 
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