xanax withdrawl(withdrawal)...help

i have been taking 1mg of xanax everday for the past three years. my doctor recently told me to stop taking them.... im really scared. i have heard tons of bad things about withdrawling from them. what is going to happen to me, please help me and thankyou

[Josh26]

switch to valium! that's what i did and have been clean of them for 5 days! i took 1 dose of valium of 2 10mg pills at night and then again the next night and i feel better than i did on xanax i've read on various sites to make the switch to a longer acting benzo so thats what i did.  its been 66 hours since my last valium and i was on 2 mgs a day 1.5 at night and .5 split in 2 for the day time.  

a lot of people will disagree so be careful and if u can go slower than me!

Josh

[SophieShine]

Hi and welcome to the forum:)

I can't believe your dr told you to "just" stop xanax, it's insane!!! 1mg is not a high dosage but you took it for 3 years...

Xanax is a short acting benzo and as Josh said most addiction specialist would switch you to a long acting benzo to ease up the wd's BUT not in 3 days as he suggested...Tapering off a benzo takes much more than that.

What I suggest you'd do is go see another dr, a specialist if possible, explain your situation and that you want off of them. Establish a tapering plan together and start from there.
There's a site which is the reference in the matter, here's the link: http://www.benzo.org.uk/

Please feel free to pm me if you need more info. Best of luck to you
Sophie.

[avisg]

Josh,
Its not that we disagree its that the risk of fatal seizures is very high when you CT off the benzos its an unneeded risk .
ST
I would ask your doctor to help make you are taper program as josh said it better and safer to Change over to a Long acting benzo like valium and taper down and off .If your doctor gIves you a hassle I will tell you where you can find some info to gIve him about the dangers of ACTing benzos

[LeaAnn807]

Hi!  Please don't stop it cold turkey.  If your doc will not help you taper the xanax, then go to a doc who will.  It is dangerous to just stop without tapering over a period of time!

Good luck!  You can do it!