Anxiety & Xanax Nightmare

    I have been suffering from anxiety for several years.  I am currently taking 25mg of Paxil.  Several months ago my psychiatrist decided to start me on .25 mg of klonopin x 4 a day.  I took this for about two weeks and it basically did absolutely nothing.  He upped the dose to .50 mg for around 2-4 more weeks, and still it did nothing.  He decided to start me on xanax at .25 mg x 4 a day.  1 month passed...it did nothing..he bumped it to 1mg...2 weeks passed...it did nothing.  Now to clarify some things...when I say it did "nothing", I mean it did nothing.  I had no relief from anxiety or panic attacks what so ever.  The "drunk" feeling that people supposidly get did not come to me at all.  I bumped up my own dose like a retard to 2mg...still it did nothing.  After about 2 weeks at 2mg 2-4 times a day..I decided that xanax was absolutely worthless for me and there is no reason to be taking it, so I stopped.  That is where the nightmare began...

     When I stopped taking them it was hell.  I became numb all over my body, could not think straight, sensitive to sound, ears ringing, one pupil larger than the other, extreme depression, and extreme anxiety.  The numbness was so bad that I could not even feel water in my mouth or feel things going down that I swallowed.  I believe that everyone is different and symptoms will vary from person to person.  I have been off of xanax for about 3-4 months and I am still slightly numb.  My pupils are pretty much back to normal and my anxiety is getting better.  The numbness is what was the most scary, and still is pretty annoying.  Hopefully it will all go away eventually.  Withdrawals differ from person to person, and you never know when you will be the "odd" case....*****!  I am just wondering if anyone else has had something similar happen to them?  A guesstimate of how long this may last?  And why did xanax have no effect on me, but destroyed me when I stopped using it?  Thanks a lot!

[greenlydia]

Hardly know where to begin with this one, and I wish someone with more pharmaceutical knowledge than me was responding to this, but I'm gonna give it a shot.
Your p-doc has you on 25mg of Paxil. He then decided to add .25mg of Klonopin qid, which you took for "about" two weeks and state it did nothing for you. It's very possible that you (and your doctor) did not give the Klonopin adequate time to reach therapeutic levels, meaning, in short, you didn't give it enough time to actually begin to help you. The dose was then increased for "around" 2-4 more weeks and you still felt no relief.
So he then decided to switch you to .25mg Xanax qid for one month and you also got no relief from this, so that dose was increased to 1mg. (I got confused here because that was the dose you were on) Do you mean he increased your dose to 1mg qid? You were on THIS dose for 2 weeks with no relief.
Since YOU are the one who introduced the word, I will concur with your "behavioral diagnosis" and say that, yes, like a "retard," you took it upon yourself to not just up your dose, but to DOUBLE it. So for approximately 2 weeks you were taking anywhere from 4-8mg of Xanax a day. That is a mighty hefty dose of Xanax. But you state that even at that wattage, you STILL got no relief. Did it cross your mind anywhere along this path that it might be wise to consult with your psychiatrist?
Since it was doing nothing for you, you just quit and now all hell has broken lose. You list a wide variety of very unpleasant feelings and sensations. Did it cross your mind at THIS nasty part of your path to consult with your p-doc?

We ARE all different in how we react to medication, but since it has been 3-4 months since you've stopped the Xanax but are still plagued with symptoms, can I ask why you still have not seen either a doctor or your p-doc?
I am not a doctor so can't say why you are having this difficulty. I can't even say for sure it has anything to do with the Xanax. I also can't say it doesn't. But a doctor could and that is who you should seek help from as soon as possible.
All told, you really weren't on the Xanax that long (four months is considered the norm) and even when you upped your dose to as much as 8mg a day, you also were not at that dosage for very long. Unless you have what I would consider an extreme hypersensitivty to Xanax, in my humble opinion, I don't think it's the Xanax causing you these problems. That is my GUESS and my OPINION ONLY! Very important to understand that!
It's also why I urge you to seek medical attention. Are you still taking Paxil? If so, that needs to be factored into the equation here.
I realize I've given you no help whatsoever and I am sorry, but I'm simply not qualified to speak to what may be going on with you.
See your doctor.
And do wish you well.
Peace
Greenlydia      
  

[Paxiled]

Google Protracted Withdrawal Syndrome.  It is not common, but is most common with benzos.  Problem is, while you were taking a high dose, you weren't on it that long, but as you say, we're all different.  My question is, why didn't the p-doc recommend upping the Paxil?  And If it isn't working, you might want to consider switching (now, don't stop the Paxil suddenly, either -- you won't like that.  You must work out a taper schedule with your psychiatrist).  Personally, when I was on Paxil, I was able to reduce my klonopin intake by half.  So my question is, is the Paxil working at all?  If not, augmenting it isn't the best approach -- you generally augment (add another med) to something that's working but just not working well enough.  

[StormBlade]

Thanks for the comments.  I forgot to mention that once these "effects" happened to me, I called the emergency room and a lady told me to take a xanax.  About 10 minutes after taking the xanax, all of the numbness disappeared.  I could taste food and I was starving!  12 hours after I stopped the xanax, all of the side effects returned and have stayed with me to a lesser degree.  I also have seen a doctor and my psychiatrist.  My psychiatrist said it was xanax withdrawals, and my doctor pretty much agreed...he seemed to be more interested with my kidney functions...even though that turned out fine.  I have not been too worried about the withdrawals since all symptoms disappeared when I previously took a xanax.  I am thinking that I may just be someone who had an opposite reaction to xanax and I don't know what to think either.  Also, my Dr. kind of looked at me like I was acting like a hypercondriac.  However, let him feel like this for a few minutes is all I have to say!  =)

Thanks for the post!

[StormBlade]

Oops, yes I am still on 25mg of Paxil...my psychiatrist knocked me down to 12.5mg, but my regular doc put me back on 25 mg when I quit xanax.  I am not seeing the psychiatrist anymore at the moment.