Benzos xanax withdrawal?...

[budsnbars712]

So I made many of threads on here with much useful information was given in return. I currently take xanax for about three years, and want to quit the drug soon (besides the point, will soon ask for specific taper schedule for my SPECIFIC situation). I take anywhere from 2.5mg(more often)-5mg(verrry rare) everyday. I wake up every morning dreading life as I suffer from depression and the benzo use the day before makes it worse. So I suffer from rebound anxiety in the morning, so bad that I used to vomit from thinking about the day coming up....

Now in the morning, sometimes I will take .5-1 mg about a half hour after I wake up to try and counter-act the rebound anxiety. It does not really seem to work. Now it is 11:30 a.m, and I seem to start feeling normal now. I took 1 mg this morning and it did not do anything for my "mentality" as I still looked at life like shit.

People always tell me because I am addicted or atleast dependent to xanax that my brain is re-wired. At this point I believe it because I have been on it for three full years. I am always miserable for the first few hours of the day (90 percent of the time). But once a certain point in the day passes, I seem to get out of the slump a little bit...Now I am not sure if it is because I am starting to build up that xanax at this point in my system from the day or because I just am able to handle life as I wake up to reality more and more....This is where my question comes in. If I take say 2 mg's or 3 mg's as soon as I wake up, will that get me on that level that I am on at about midday right away? Instead of having to wait for those first couple of miserable hours to pass? Will this fix it? Is it withdrawal that makes these first couple hours miserable for me or just the depression? If interested, check out my other threads as they explain alot about my background/situation and the way I think/cope....Thanks for the input!

 

[orgone]

If you are trying to taper off xanax you could request to switch to a benzo with a long half-life such as valium on clonazepam? If you take 3mg of xanax when you wake up you are going to knock out your anxiety but how is that going to help you taper? If you really need the xanax as a breakthrough medication you should still try to find another long lasting benzo to augment it. It's much easier to taper with the long lasting variants.

 

[bdomihizayka]

It definitely sounds like tolerance withdrawal. I have to agree with orgone; if you don't switch to Valium or Klonopin, you will probably never successfully get off of benzos. Switch to an equivalent of them and then start tapering SLOW.

I personally know people taking higher doses for longer periods who successfully got their normal self back, please don't be discouraged....the brain DOES heal... just no gaba drugs, including alcohol, for at least a year after your last dose in my opinion.

Look up the Ashton Manuel. It will tell you everything you need to know!

 

[ShaunG]

I used to wake up with anxiety so bad my arms would shake in the morning for no apparent reason. I had to get out of bed and go for a mile run every morning and it got rid of the anxiety. i too am on a daily low dose of xanax - .5-1mg for 2.5 years. I am going to taper down and off too. Exercise, eating good, and maybe some clonidine (script from doc) is a good start. I also agree with the poster above that said to switch to a longer lasting benzo. Taper as far as you can on xanax and then switch to similar dose in valium. This is what my brother did. Also, keep busy as fuck. Create a schedule for your day if you have to. Keeping your brain busy minimizes the chance of anxiety/overthinking. Good luck.

 

[morphonorconic]

I've quit a 10mg a day alprazolam habit in the past, and recently I found myself back to taking 1-1.5mg a day, and made myself ween off completely. I had increased my dose gradually last semester due to a stressful workload, and found myself wondering why I still felt so anxious with a new, less stressful schedule. I realized what I should have seen all along; it was purely rebound anxiety, a manifestation of alprazolam deficit.

It's not easy, but it can be done. Consider that every time you dose, you are generating a bill of anxiety which must be paid later. The less you take, the smaller the bill becomes. Do whatever it takes to ween off and get through the anxiety which accompanies reduction in dose. You'll find that most if not all of the anxiety you are sufferring from disappears once you have eliminated the drug from your system.

If you are unable to taper and quit on your own, devise a taper schedule with your doctor and perhaps consider a long-acting benzo like diazepam, as metioned above.

 

[budsnbars712]

I plan to ask for valium or klonpin for taper when the time comes....but you're right. If I wake up and take a high dose to counter-act the rebound anxiety, I will just be taking more and more as time goes on. For right now, I am not messing with my dosage and I am going to take as much as I feel needed at that time because I am going on vacation next week and don't want to have a mental breakdown (close to having one about once a month). I am completely using xanax as an escape, but at this point I am already dependent so why fight it by taking less than my brain needs to stay hardwired. I have been keeping it pretty steady and low since I have made this thread a few days ago. I have been taking .5mg in the morning, not really enough as I still have withdrawal side effects (restless leg, constantly tapping, overthink MORE than I have ever before....to the point where I walk awkward because I think about how I am walking.) I guess this is the best I can do until I start to wean. Then I start to think "fuck it, If i am going to wean soon anyway, why put myself thru minor withdrawal right now when I am STILL ON THE DRUG!!! Might as well take as much as I need, instead of dealing with minor withdrawal everyday.

 

[Kid Amine]

Benzo w/d is no fun at all. I was prescribed 20mg valium for years. Got arrested, and fearing a long jail sentence, quit them cold turkey (better in my bed on my terms than in a jail, right?). Took me about six weeks to feel right again.

btw, I am not a "morning person", I can work evening and graveyard shift no problem, but getting up at 6am for some reason, I hate it. HATE IT. you may not be a morning person either, it could have nothing to do with your xanax. Start tapering, I have been prescribed xanax too, 0.25mg 3x a day, changed doctors who would no longer prescribe it for me or anything else to ease w/d - fkn bitch. Anyway, you can taper from it. Switching to another benzo for w/d purposes is not a good idea imo, you are just prolonging the inevitable.

 

[budsnbars712]

Eh, I originally worked the 4-midnight shift, and was even more miserable as I thought about what I am missing out on. I now realize that ALL of this is because of the withdrawal. I took .5 this morning like i said in the last post, and it didnt do a damn thing. I popped another 1 mg so 1.5 and now its 2:00 and I feel like god. Confidence, talking clearly to people I deal with, excited, ready for life.......

I have had anxiety my whole life, the withdrawal of xanax for me is more a "normal" feeling(which is totally fucked up) as those are the feelings I naturally feel my whole life (overthinking/shaky/TOO self aware/no self esteem). Now I am on enough to take all that weight off my shoulders. I never am sure If I am withdrawing, because that is my natural feeling anyway.....I now realize its withdrawal on top of it all

 

[budsnbars712]

Or maybe its more than that, because I have taken many full bars before and did not feel anything like this....All i do know Is I feel incredible right now and now that I think about it, I have the same amount in my system as I would on a normal day that I feel like shit. It has to be my surroundings or my outlook or something.....