Xanax Withdrawl

[JotheMano]

Help !!!! 3 Weeks on and now need off . I was on Xanax .25 two to three times a day for about 3 weeks for anxiety over chest pain which took time to evaluate as Acid reflux, not heart related.
Since then I have resloved chect pain problem I decided to stop the pills, taking 1/2 dose less over three days. Evening of third day my body went into the shakes, spasms, nerve twitches, cloudy vision etc.
Started taking .125 every hour till about 1.00 consumed that night.
Since then I went to, .125 every five hours ( total of .50 for day till sleep )
Twitching and terrible fatigue continued, just not the spasms of body. Been taking same dosage for three days now, but no energy, poor coordination, weak, cloudy head. What did I do wrong, can I have permanent nerve, muscle damage now ? Is there any antidote to get better ? Muscle twitching and spasms very scary from head to toe icluding buttocks muscle weakness makes sitting hard. Could this all be from discontinuing the Xanax.

[Roger Gould, M.D.]

Xanax is a very hard drug to stop, but the dosage and the duration you took should not lead this kind of severe reaction. It is too extreme...I would get a check up to make sure it is not something else, and if that is negative, I would suggest going back on original dose to see if the symptoms go away, then wean yourself off the drug over a three week period.

[marcruml]

yere havin some withdrawel symptoms with panic,  stay the course, stay in bed.  give it some time

[JotheMano]

Went Cold Turkey yesterday. Today cannot focus visually, poor coordination, very poor energy, very hungry.  Will go bavk to Bed.  Spasms lasted for 1 hour on and off.  Muscle twitching still there.  Will advise tomorrow.

[ladiejl]

Ive been on Xanax for the past years as needed.  If I dont take it for a 3 days or so, nothing happens to me.  I so doubt its the Xanax.  Take some benadryl or motion sickness tabs.  These as well as other antihistamines have a calming effect that couod help relax you.  Sounds more like the flu to me and maybe you are just thinking the Xanax is taking the symptoms away.  Not like a placebo affect or anything but like when you have the flu and youll feel bad for a while and then feel better for awhile. If I were you, Id have been to the doc already. Trust me after eight years on 3 times as much as you........I can go days without it with no symptoms.

[Pyramaze]

This is my 4th day off of Xanax,quit cold turkey after 8 months taking 6-15 pills of .05mg daily weighing at 110 pounds. Is that horrible of me? I know it is, that is why I am quitiing and I myself am getting muscle twitching head to toe continusly and muscle pain on my buttocks so your not alone there. But I am really scared about this twitching. What if it never stops? And I wonder myself, if I gave myself permanent damage to my nervous system. During my 8 month course, I stopped taking Xanax for a few months, the twitching wasn't there but now I am wondering if this is going to stop because it doesn't seem like it wants to. As I am writing this, my muscles are twitching. Anybody knows anything about this? Is your twitching getting better?

[Jack Moxon]

You need to trust the VA system with the amount of dosage.  This drug isn't for just chilling out, it is a serious drug. PTSD and other (phco) drugs do work weel together is you Doctor has studied you make-up and profile long enough. It truly is a Mental Health Drug that will be needed also for our current warriors coming home.

[JotheMano]

It's been 12 days since off the Xanax, and after 8 days of little or no sleep, I finally made it through 3 nites in a row.  Some shaking tremors when wakeing in middle of nite but I fought it off and fell back to sleep till the dawn.
Daytime symtoms are chronic fatigue 5-10 minutes into any task, walking writing...Visual perception is still off as well cannot take too much light, seems that my brain or eyes will not process quietly. Also ringing in ears when laying down, most of the time. My anxiety is fine, just extremley frustrated at myself for taking this med, and going off my Vit C and multis for whole time on med as advised by Dr.  I am now back on a good multi and 3 grams of vitamin C & CO Q 10 with meals everyday.  Going to neurologist on Monday and see about the muscle weakness, twitching etc.  I will continue to update on this forum and pray that I do eventually lose the symptoms asap.  If this is from Xanax use and withdrawl, it is a crime that the patient is not informed of how serious this drug is.  Right now all I can do is pray for healing, fo rmyself and anyone else going through this.  PEACE

[Pyramaze]

Back on the board, this is my day 12 also, and finally I was able to get my natural sleep back 4 days ago but I'm still getting the muscle spasms and twitching. Comes to show you that this drug is nothing to be messed around with. I also felt how difficult it is to get my words out when I'm talking and depersonaliztion and derealization? BELEIVE IT. I feel myself back again but not completely yet so I went to my doctor today and got another prescription 30 pills so I can taper off to, also to see if this muscle twitch will go away but it's still twitching. More than ever. I wonder if it's permanant. Since I got though my worst painful withdrawal, I don't know if I should even taper off with this extra pills I have. Can anybody tell me what I should do?

[KLB32]

I have been taking Xanax occasionally over the past two years.  The dose is .25 mg and sometimes I only take 1/2 of a pill.

I may take it 3-4 times a week for a week or two depending on my anxiety levels and then not take it again for another couple of months.

I had a death in the family in January and took it a few times a week.  Around the end of January, I started getting very bizzare neurological problems like weakness in my legs, vertigo, feeling like I was going to collapse and I also got an increase in heart palpitations.  These "episodes" have continued and when they get bad, I usually take another Xanax.

I've had these weird symptoms for nearly 7 months now and all of my medical tests keep coming back fine.  I've also started to notice muscle twitching and spasms and just not feeling like myself.  My panic attacks have also increased.

Could I be suffering from Xanax withdrawal even though I take it this infrequently?