paxil & Xanax

I just went in patient for 20mg Paxil & 2mg Xanax if have taken for 10 years. The DR told me my system is drug free. I'm 2 days out of my 28 day progarm. They got me off both in the 1st 8 days & gave me other meds. My nervous system is now shaky. My Dr said it was cravings and nothing else. Anyone know how long this lasts. Would regular sauna use help?  Thanx & God Bless  Jim

[avisg]

They took you off xanax in 28 days after 10 years I could see how you would be very shaky .That is a very quick taper normally they do slow taper with a longer acting benzo .I am not sure if the sauna will help or not but if it helps you feel better then go for it .Have u looked into recovery care to help with the mental part of this ?

[gymiemac]

Thanx..Actually I was off in 8 days. My nervous system isn't at ease. I was looking for feedback on long this might last and what works to calm your nerves. I have been in recovery for years at Celebrate recovery, have a sponsor and working the steps. I have no issues with the spiritual side. God bless you father. Be there for him as he was for you and don't forget the power of prayer. We were supposed to loose my brother 8 years ago & he is doing just fine.......Thanx & God Bless Jim

[ladywithtime]

perhaps it has something to do with coming home from your program? i too went into an institution/rehab to help me detox from percs and xanax and while i felt good in the program, when i came home i had a very hard time. i was back to the place of my opiate/benzo comfort. it felt really, really strange to be in my surroundings STRAIGHT!

i'm so glad that you recognize the power of Prayer, because i believe this will help you get over your *unease*. keep Praying and talk with your sponser and i'm sure within the next week or so you will start to feel better. Good Bless, brother.

[gymiemac]

Thanx

[ekalrag]

I was taking xanax for a while, round about 5mg a day I suppose, although some days it was less, I had to go to a treatment centre, and was there 7 weeks, I had the worst withdrawal I have ever had. I have come off opiates and they are nothing compared to benzos.
I just think it's really dangerous coming off benzos, credit to anyone who can do it in the community, but I certainly can't. These tablets should be banned. I last had benzos on July 4th, and I still don't feel right.
Sorry this is a bleak message, but people should know how harmful alprazolam is.
My best wishes.

[my_mayberry]

well it doesn't need to be that horrible...longer tapers with a long acting benzo can really help side-step most of the really bad withdrawal.

in any event, you're already off, so there's not much that can help. the way benzo's work can't be substituted in any way except with time so your mind can get back to functioning normally. you should read a few books on benzo withdrawal.  one really good one is "The Benzo Book" by Jack Hobson-Dupont.

why did you go off paxil? i mean.....that is also going to cause discontinuation effects. paxil is a very difficult SSRI to come off of. i can't remember if it is also an SNRI, but either way, it can be very hard to discontinue. my concern for you would be that you've got off the xanax, but if you also discontinue the paxil, then whatever symptoms you had to begin with will snowball and land you right back on both.

anytime we are on SSRI's for a long time, we should discontinue them very slowly. I made this mistake.....i stopped taking mine all at once thinking i was all better because i hadn't had any problems in a while and i wanted to be drug free. i was great for about a month, but then i bombed....and it wasn't pretty. i'm back on zoloft (although i was able to discontinue another antidepressent)....and i'm feeling much better. however, when i crashed, i ended up needing to take xanax. thats not such a big deal for me, because i've only ever been physically dependent on them....not psychologically....but still, it isn't worth the trouble to mess with benzo's if you don't have to. i would have been better off to have either very SLOWLY reduced my zoloft dose to see what would happen or to have not bother with it at all and left it the way it was.

anyway, best of luck! if you start to have problems, i'd talk to your dr about going back on the paxil at least and then just deal with one drug at a time. you'll have a hard enough time with the xanax withdrawal.

[donewitis]

What do you mean..longer acting benzo?

[my_mayberry]

each benzo has a different half-life. this is how long the drug stays in your system. the shorter the half-life, the harder it is to withdrawal. the longer (like valium), the easier it is to withdrawal...for most people, anyway.