Getting off Xanax - finally

[fearfactor]

I know you guys may think my problem isn't really serious because I am only taking 1.25 mgs of Xanax a day.  But, for me getting off it is terrifying.  I have had anxiety my whole life, since I was a little kid.  I was emotionally abused by my female relatives growing up and was always terrified because they would physically fight around me, my life was never stable, etc.  I started having panic attacks when I was 11.  I started Xanax back in 2004 because I was going through lots of stress, intense panic and worrying I was dying because I had heart palpitations.  Well, it was like wonder drug, it stopped my panic and made me feel all better.  I stopped it cold turkey in 2004, when I didn't know you couldn't do that.  I wound up in the hospital with horrible panic, my heart beating so fast I couldn't count it, and hot flashes going throughout my body that caused me to pour sweat.  It was so horrible.  I am getting off Xanax now because I have lost my health insurance and my doctor doesn't want to keep prescribing it for me because I can't come in for an office visit to see her.  Well, I only have 15 pills and I guess I have to withdraw on just that few if I can't find another doctor to give me some to wean down on.  I am so scared...I have already started reducing the doses and I have blinding headaches and my panic attacks are really bad, but I have been just trying to ride it out.  My body is very sensitive to medication so I guess I became very addicted to even that small amount, and having taken it for so long.  I am scared and wonder how long the withdrawal will go on...like the awful feelings I'm having. I don't want to have to be at some doctor's mercy so I'd rather just be off the drug and not have to worry about getting to the pharmacy, etc.  I am just so afraid.  I know other people out there have been through much worse, but I just need to know someone is there right now.

[no more]

There is no way I could ever think it was not easy to get off of Xanax.  I was taking .50mg for about 3 years.  I loved that drug.  The problem is that after a while I needed more and more.  i know it's not easy.

[htp115]

i believe there is a law in effect regarding Xanax. if your doctor has been prescribing it to you, by law, they have to ween you off of it. they can not just STOP prescribing it to you. unlike opiate w/d's, stopping xanax cold turkey can be life threating. you can go into siezures if you stop c/t. please talk to your doctor again regarding this. i know you are on the lowest dose, but considering the length of time you've been on it, i wouldnt feel safe stopping it c/t.

[anjel75]

I have been through some withdraws in my life with pain meds and such and I have also had them with Xanax. I took 2 mgs a day. Not much, huh? Yeah right! Those wd's were much harder than pain killers! It has been 5 years and I still don't sleep like I used to before this med! It has gotten better, but still not as good. I didn't have anxiety or anything like that, that is not why I was on them. I have tension headaches. So, I didn't have the panic as you describe but my sleep! Hah! My sleep sucks! Go off as slowly as you can. Find a med that will work for sleep. If you can sleep, you may do well. All of me depends on my sleep!

[htp115]

i also had a friend taking xanax, and she stopped c/t (from about 10mg a day) and i watched her go into a full blown siezure, we had to rush her to the ER. so i know first hand stopping xanax c/t can be life threating. i dont mean to scare you, i just want you to be fully informed. please let me know what happens

[ovmd99]

I take Klonopin 5 - 10mg, as needed for panic attacks.  If I don't have my medication I end up in the ER with a panic attack.  Mind you, I only use it 1 - 2 times a month, if that.  Last Wednesday my husband drove me to the fire station because I didn't think I would make it to the hospital.  I had ran out of Klonopin, another doctor called in a refill.  Anyhow, Thursday I went to my doctor and told her everything about the painkillers.  The first thing she did was take me off Klonopin, said she didn't want me to trade one addiction for another.  She instead put me on hydroxine said that it's not addictive.  Whatever??  Hope it works!!!  I googled it, and don't feel very confident about it.  My whole point is that she said, which I didn't know, if you use Klonopin or Xanax daily and go off it CT you will go into seizure - SO BE CAREFUL!

[fearfactor]

Thank God...I have found a doctor who I used to see who said he will see me in his office and work with me on a payment plan for the office visit to prescribe me enough to wean off on.  I am still scared of the withdrawal but at least I will be able to wean down and not go off too abruptly.  I hope I can sleep...that time I went off .5 mg cold turkey was hell - I was shaking, couldn't get to sleep that whole night and had to go to the ER at about 4 in the morning when I realized something was really wrong, it wasn't just normal anxiety.  I didn't know you couldn't c/t off Xanax.  Hopefully withdrawal won't be so bad now.

[htp115]

i'm so HAPPY to hear you found a doctor who will help you. it still amazes me how doctors will rx you medication and not fully inform us of the risks. as with xanax, i think going into seizures from stopping c/t is something anyone being rx xanax should know!!!!! at least a dr. will be helping you now and it may be hard, but you will at least be safe

[anjel75]

I went ct off of Xanax. I didn't have a seizure nor a threat of one. I think that if I would have, I would have felt better because someone would have helped at that point. I was taking more daily than 1.5 and I had been taking it for 3-4 years. Its not an easy feat! Of course, I was taking it to prevent tension headaches. Not for anxiety or anything. I really hope you do well and sleep better. The sleep part is what killed me! I did end up getting some sleep with some Phenagran and I could also sleep when I 1/16th a... i am coming up blank on the name. Its a psychotropic, kind of like Risperdal. Anyhow, I couldn't dare take the whole, or half or forth, or eighth of this med due to it being strong! It wasn't the same kind of sleep, but it was sleep!

[fearfactor]

I know, I am not knocking doctors, but they can be really "unmerciful" sometimes even though they are supposed to be there to help you!  I understand they have to make money, but I just wanted enough to wean off on, she could have just called in enough for that!  It's not like I'm drug-seeking or anything, in fact I wish I'd never taken this drug if I had known how bad it would be getting off!  My main reason to get off is to not be dependent on a doctor anymore - I can't tell you the times I have panicked about refills not being called in, the pharmacy being closed, etc.  I want to be free from that.

[anjel75]

I feel ya! I was on the phone everyday when they stopped the refills trying to get some answers from someone. The doc, the other doc he sent me to, the pharmacy, everyone! Serroquell was the drug I was talking about. How you like that memeory lapse that I never had until Xanax!?

[slowlybetter]

Thought you might want to know (I read you did find a doctor to work with you) that a lot of doctors will give you a price break if you are on a cash basis only.  Typically it is a 30% discount.  That is what they usually have to take off the top when they accept insurance.  Insurances negotiate prices with doctors and hospitals all of the time.  A lot of people don't realize that they can do that.  The good thing is you are on a low dose of Xanax.  Do you think you should get off of it since you do suffer from anxiety so severely?

Have you ever tried any herbal supplements for anxiety?  I wouldn't take them at the same time as the Xanax but you might try them after you are completely off of the Xanax.  You would want to get an item recommended from someone who is educated in the area of natural medicine.  My chiropractor is great and has recommended some really helpful items.  Unfortunately I couldn't take the one he recommended for anxiety since I was already on Xanax for muscle spasms.  I don't have anxiety problems per se but I do have a pretty "high tense" demeanor.  I have just always been like that.  

I hope all goes well and I am so glad that you have found a doctor that will work with you.  That is wonderful.  You sound like you probably don't have an addictive personality so although it will probably be hard, it will be easier than if you had that type of personality.  The support here is great.

[fearfactor]

I am going to try some natural remedies after I'm off the Xanax.  I am thinking of going to a Chinese herbalist to get some recommendations.  I want to go completely med-free and try to live as "naturally" as I can without pharmaceuticals.  I am not saying I'll never take Xanax again but I hope it won't be a daily thing anymore.  I will probably always keep a couple around just to get me through a bad panic attack.