Xanax withdrawal: Possible sife effects

[NAST Mom]

I have been tapering off Xanax.  I have been on Xanax, 2 mg to 3 mg. per day for one year.  I have slowly been tapering off.  Today is my first day off.  For the last three to four weeks I have been experiencing edema or water retention.



There is no pitting.



Is water retention a side effect of Xanax withdrawal?  I have two awful doctors and neither one will work with me so I am going off the Xanax without any monitoring by them.  They do not help me.  I have been attempting to work with them for a year.



The water retention is very uncomfortable.  It is also frightening.



I am seeing a neurologist on Tuesday (today is Friday).  Should I do anything ASAP about the edema or just wait until Tuesday.



I don't know where else to turn.



Thank you very much.

[Roger Gould, M.D.]

Sorry, this response is a little late, but no, there should be no relationship between xanax withdrawal and edema...your neurologist should start a workup for edema.

[NAST Mom]

Could a doctor answer my question please?  Is water retention a part of Xanax withdrawal?



Thank you.

[headshrinker]

One side effect of the xanax itself can be urinary hesitancy.  It is possible.  



Xanax is a sympathetic nervous system depressant.  That is, it enhances the inhibitory effect of GABA. Your sympathetic NS is responsible for your fight or flight response - basically causing excitement.  When you need to fight or flea, you don't want to think about having to urinate.  Therefore when sympathetic input is high, you don't have to go pee.



GABA inhibits sympathetic input, therefore your body is more influenced by the calming effects of the Parasympathetic Nervous System.  The PNS relaxes you allowing you to pee, amoung other things.



Now, if you take a medication for a year that calms you, your body naturally starts to think "hey, I'm too calm"  Then it naturally thinks the Sympathetic NS is slacking off & so it ramps it up to balance them out.  



When you stop the medication, the GABA enhancement ends, therefore it is not inhibiting the Symp NS anymore and the Symp NS can crank back to normal.  Problem is, it has been reset to a higher normal to balance out the chronic inhibition.  So...When you stop the med, the Symp NS is now OVER-producing and overwhelming the Parasymp NS.  If S-NS > P-NS then your back to not peeing as you should.  This will take a while to reset the S-NS back to it's original 'normal.'



NOW, That said.  Not Peeing enough is not the most common cause of swelling.  Heart problems, liver problems, kidney problems, venous insufficiency - these are more common causes of edema.  So rather than sit around wondering if it is from benzi withdrawal, you should see a doctor.



-headshrinker MD-



PS - Seizures can be a side effect of benzo withdrawal so it is best done under a doctor's supervision.

[RileyBelle]

Sorry this is incredibly late but I wanted to share one side effect that can happen days, even weeks, after withdrawaling from Xanax.  I made a similar attempt to rid myself of the meds by slowly stepping the dosage down (after taking 4mg a day for 5 years)until eventually, I was completely off Xanax. Three days later I had a seizure that has my neurologist and family doctor sending me for a battery of tests.  I am back on Xanax again and we are beginning the process of weaning me off the benzodiazepine even slower.  I was told that there were two other options to this slow process... the first being a five-day out/inpatient treatment program speciffically designed so that there is no suffering involved and all of the withdrawal symptoms are managed by a staff of medical professionals that are there to ensure your comfort.  The second option was to have yourself admitted to a hospital where you are placed on phenobarbital for 24 hours while your body completely goes through withdrawal (while you take a very long nap) and you feel no pain, bloating, aches, tremors (Benadryl is great for those hand tremors when coming down from the X) or other side effect.  Either way, I would sincerely recommend that you stay in touch with a doctor who knows how serious Xanax withdrawal can become if not treated properly.



Best of luck to you.