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  • BDD Moderators: Keif’ Richards | negrogesic

XANAX: Withdrawal is kicking my ass

I was hooked on Xanax for 6yrs up to 10mgs or more a day. I loved Xanax. I was caught doctor shopping and the health department cut me off so I had to go cold turkey. It was a special sort of hell. I was too afraid to live and too afraid too die. I never want to go through that ever again. The insomnia, mini seizures, paranoia was intense. Like everyone else has said here your best bet is something like clomazepam and slowly taper. Don't stay on clomazepam either because the withdrawals off that can be just as bad. I'm hooked on clomazepam now and have tried to come off a couple of times and it's very hard, slow taper. Good luck.
 
If xanax ruled the world, imagine that
I'd free all my sons, I love 'em love 'em baby
Black diamonds and pearls
Could it be, if you could be mine we'd both shine
If Xanax ruled the world
Still livin' for today, in these last days and times
 
billyj said:
Been taking/abusing xanax every day for about 2 years. Have tried tapering, right down to half a pill a day and substituting valium etc. The withdrawal is SO BAD that even LOWERING the dose or changing to Valium still produces insomnia, hallucinatory anxiety, fear of impending doom, physical stiffness - the whole lot. I'm kind of worried that my best option is to weather it out and see if I can get used to lower doses and eventually phase it out altogether, but does anyone have any experience with this? I know I've earned the withdrawal from overusing, but I didn't plan on spending six months or a year trying to get off them. But the withdrawal is unbearable and at times, very frightening.
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:( Dude, I can only imagine what you're going through right now. I would never presume to know and understand your entire experience. I have, however, been through withdrawal several times, with a few different substances at play. Sedative/hypnotic withdrawal is hard. I've definitely had this conversation with folks more than once. Opioid withdrawal is a miserable experience, like a very bad flu. Withdrawal from sedative/hypnotics, including Alcohol, is closer to being in an actual living nightmare. You know something terrible is around the corner, it's going to kill you, tear you apart, eat your organs and then drag you down to hell.

Quitting Alcohol was a very hard experience for me. I was drinking ~1 liter of hard liquor a day when I was in school. I ended up going to the hospital after a few days, as I was no longer capable of caring for myself in the state I was in. You have this option too. In fact, this is what I would recommend.

You did not "earn" anything. No need to drag yourself further down my friend. We are all guilty of wanting to feel differently than we do sometimes. Eating, gambling, fucking... pick your vice. People don't always do what is best for them. Some people think murdering their wife and feeding the kids to crocodiles is a more sensible action than a divorce. People are fucked so take stock of what you have going for you.

You have made the decision to stop using. This is huge. The quest for sobriety -> contentment is arduous, interminable, painful, but above all else, the quest is personal. This is a huge mountain to climb. What really sucks is at the end, when you finally feel comfortable and you have some semblance of control, people will say "well, you should've just done that in the first place". You have to be able to find pride in yourself, otherwise it will never work. Find pride in your sobriety for now.
 
Thank you for asking, I'm fine. Now that I'm through the withdrawal, I'm struggling a bit with anxiety and depersonalisation. I had the latter before the addiction, hence the addiction, and the latter I'm guessing has come out of being out of it for five years. I had one day this week where I was keen to go back to benzos but I got through that day too. I think on balance I feel ok. Life isn't easy or easy to understand sober or not - I'm ok.
 
It will continue to get easier man. The biggest thing that you need to pay attention to if you're looking to avoid relapse would be the waxing/waning nature of sedative/hypnotic withdrawal. One day, you're gonna wake up and say "it's all over, I made it", the the next day might put you right back in hell. I know it's not extremely reassuring, but I feel like being aware of this makes it much easier in general. You have your "good days" to look forward to when you're going through one of your bad days. If someone told you you would be in withdrawal hell for literal eternity, do you think you'd have the strength to stay sober?

Keep us posted, we've got your back jack.
 
I've somewhat succesfully gotten over my poly benzo addiction last summer. I had about 2mg's clonazepams / day and drank like a fish, around 8 pints a day, some days more, some less. That's however without adding whiskey in the mix. Fun times!
Alcohol helped me numb the withdrawal for making me careless and worry free. I would strongly advise against doing that though.
Pregabalin would've been the first pick obviously although handled with care. P3ace
 
Librium works wonders during withdrawals and it’s long acting as well.

25mg a day works great.

It’s also used as well for alcohol withdrawals too.
 
Is it that Xanax or Valium be purchased with a doctor's prescription? so how did you able to have those without the prescription?
 
Just load yourself with a high dose of diazepam, enough to calm u down and if u take sufficient amount u will still feel diazepam next day. For me, valium produces a lot weaker wd's than alprazolam. I can take both but i try to avoid alprazolam because i am in point that 2mg is not enough and taking too much disrupts my day/nigh cycke because if i take the dose i actualy feel, i will fall asleep.

Once i loaded myself with 100mg diazepam (absolutely not save for sedative-naive people) and it worked for 3-4days and after that i had no longer physical need to take alprazolam anymore.

One thing which is bad about diazepam is that it can't completely cover up alprazolam's anxiolytic effectes but it keeps u out of wd, out of seizures and it's GRET MUSCLE RELAXANT.
 
My Dr always recommended me to switch from taking the regular Xanax and take the sustained release version of Xanax. That would be “Xanax XR” as it does not deliver the total dosage all at once, and therefore, being less addictive and results in lesser withdrawal symptoms.
 
billyj said:
Been taking/abusing xanax every day for about 2 years. Have tried tapering, right down to half a pill a day and substituting valium etc. The withdrawal is SO BAD that even LOWERING the dose or changing to Valium still produces insomnia, hallucinatory anxiety, fear of impending doom, physical stiffness - the whole lot. I'm kind of worried that my best option is to weather it out and see if I can get used to lower doses and eventually phase it out altogether, but does anyone have any experience with this? I know I've earned the withdrawal from overusing, but I didn't plan on spending six months or a year trying to get off them. But the withdrawal is unbearable and at times, very frightening.
Click to expand...

I had extreme withdrawl when I had quit completely from benzos after 13 years. Psychosis, insomnia, too much anxiety to get up and do anything and it wore off after several months. But for some reason my throat hurts whenever I eat as if my throat can't relax and just swalow whatever. Eating is still a bitch but all other problems are gone now. It is a miracle that I am still alive but who cares. It is unbearable, yes. But ask yourself, do you want to be free from this medication or do you need it anyway? I do but that is my decision. If you can find a way to live without it, I'd try it. Hell, I wouldn't even be able to post on bluelight with such anxiety from the withdrawl. Drinking beer all day helps.
 
Specified said:
If xanax ruled the world, imagine that
I'd free all my sons, I love 'em love 'em baby
Black diamonds and pearls
Could it be, if you could be mine we'd both shine
If Xanax ruled the world
Still livin' for today, in these last days and times
Click to expand...


Oh - NAS. :) i like that.

JJ
 
billyj said:
Thanks all for the advice - everything is actually going quite well. One week now since last xanax and have been taking 10mg valium twice a day. Feel good, sleeping well, looking to go down to 1 x 10mg valium soon, then taper off that into nothing. I am SO HAPPY to have the xanax out of my system, and xanax to valium taper has (so far) worked quite well for me.
Click to expand...
That's exactly the same protocol my doctor, addiction specialist, put me on. I've been on some form of benzo for over a decade. Mostly, it is/was xanax (2mg. or more. His concern, I could see it in his face, when I said something about missing a few days and taking nothing. I believe he's worried about me having a seizure. Glad you are doing well and hope your are successful!
 
Just wanted to say I had a 6+month stint with xanax that built up to 4-6mg per night, I had basically zero withdrawals doing a valium taper where I went down to 1 or 2 mg cant remember
 
I think i'll try that XR next time but they better be strong enough and not weaker because of a slower release : / Hmz....
 
I developed a dependency on Xanax myself, originally prescribed by my Doctor for severe anxiety. With benzodiazepines the body becomes dependent on them very quickly, it only takes about a month of continuous use before you are dependent. Like yourself I had been using Xanax continually for around three years and I made the huge mistake of quitting cold turkey which led to me having multiple seizures and hospital visits (in my defence I was very young and naive) in my opinion Xanax is by far the worst benzo out there as it has such a short half life and is by far one of the strongest. I had to taper of slowly over the course of a few months. I’m not going to sugar coat it, it was hell on earth! When tapering of benzodiazepines you need to use one with a long half life, diazepam/Valium or even Klonopin/Clonazepam is best for this. I would also strongly advice getting some cannabis just to take the edge of, also cannabis is great for preventing seizures. Benzodiazepines are probably one of the hardest drugs to withdraw from but it’s so worth it! I hope I have helped in some way and please feel free to message me for any advice I have a lot of experience in helping people withdraw from benzodiazepines. P.s. this is not something you can do on your own it’s best to find an outpatient rehab or even a family member to hold on to your medications.
 
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