xanax WITHDRAWALS kill people

[Shawna99]

I recently stopped taking huge doses of xanax not knowing the effects of my addiction. I am absolutely apalled at what I have experienced in the last 6 weeks clean. Is there anyone else who personally knows about almost dying from QUITING and not taking????????

[Jay Dean]

Shawna, I know you will get a varied opinion on this subject. I was diagnosed with Panic attack and GAD about ten years ago. I was put on .5 milligrams Xanax, three times a day for a total of 1.5 a day. I never had to up my dose and never got high from it, and it did change my life. About two years ago, I wanted to get off of that and try something not as strong. I asked the DR. to put me on Valium because of its long half life, Now with all the research  I did, most people said to do a slow crossover, I just stopped the Xanax that day and went straight to 20 milligrams of Xanax a day, With no Ill side effects. I am now on 7.5 milligrams a day, and will propably go down to 5 and just stay there, as it helps my GAD great. But I once stopped like you did and felt very uncomfortable, Tottaly different feelings than opiate WDs. I dont know what amount youre on, but you need to go slow with your taper, do not stop suddenly. It takes time. Some might say that switching to Valium is not the way to do it, that is just what I did and it worked just fine, as it has with many. We are all different. Im not trying to quit the Valium, just get down to a modest 5 milligrams, to control my GAD. I have actually gone two days without taking any and I had no problems because of the long half life. Go slow, and again please dont try and stop CT. I dont know why you are taking them, if it is for legitimate reasons, a DR. should help you out. Ive read other peoples posts on Benzos, so you should get more responses. There are people out there who take them as I do for a reason, and as I said it has no buzz effect on me, and I never have to increase, It was my decision to quit the xanax which is propably the most powerful benzo along with Klonopin, and go to something milder and at a lower dose for my disorder. Hang in there , youve gone 6 weeks but Benzos can take many months and up to a year to recover from depending on amount used and time taken.   God Bless                    Jay Dean

[Jay Dean]

Sorry Shawna, I just read my response to you, and realized I made a mistake. I went from the Xanax to 20 Milligrams of Valium, not Xanax as I stated above. That is what the Dr. thought was an equivalent of what I was taking of X.  If I was to have taken 20 milligrams of xanax, I wouldnt have propable woken up. I just wanted to clear that up.                                     Jay Dean

[R039]

I have been totally abusing my prescription of 2 mg xanax. I went through 75 pills in a week. Now I am out and am stopping cold turkey tonight. No joke! (150mg) I really pray to god I am going to survive. I am scared to sleep. Xanax withdrawals are like Freddy Cougar to me. They only start to really hit me when I make that transition into sleep. I get auditory hallucinations like women crying and I see geometric shapes and figures. Mind you this is only when I am going through the transition of wakefulness and sleep. It is very scary. Before when I was younger used to abuse xanax I didn't know what it was and almost thought it was cool almost like tripping but now I realize these are like lucid seizures (not grand mal) but still not cool. Mind you I have a very high seizure threshold and I am very healthy otherwise. Xanax withdrawals are a beast. (Sandoz gives me the worst withdrawals GG249) The green ones Dava S 90 3 and Purepac R039 don't give me the terrible withdrawals but those darn GG249 just throw me through a loop. Never mix brands either. The worst withdrawals I ever had was when I got a rainbow pack of the Greenstone G3722, Purepac R039 Sandoz GG249 and Dava S 90 3 and just mixed them. I literally did not sleep for 2 days to avoid the withdrawals of just a ten pack in 2 days. My friend said he was hallucinating as well. Wish me luck.  I lost my car, my girlfriend as well as many other friends to xanax. Anyone with an addictive personality should stay away. I took my first xanax pill when I was 12 and the addiction slowly crept up on me. I am now 24 and I can just relapse out of the blue. Plus I have post traumatic stress so that really doeswn't help. I just don't want to end up like DJ AM. Although I am not a big fan of uppers since I do have anxiety. Sorry for the long post and rant but I am kinda freaking out. No withdrawal signs yet but I haven't tried to sleep yet.