Please help im in love with Xanax addict and I need to understand his disease...

[addicted_to_an_addict]

First of all I would like to say thank God for forums of this nature.  I have been up all night looking up Xanax and pot addiction, poetry of addicts etc and stumbled across this.  Call me crazy and I will say your right.  But I am in love with a wonderful man whos life has been through hell and back due to his 15mg a day use of xanax(for the past 2 years) and 7-8 joint a day addiction for the past 11.  He doesn't have his teaching career due to his disease. He is having withdrawals when he wakes up from sleep because of the xanax.  Stomach pains (excruciating in his own words), diarrhea, dry mouth, paranoia, moodiness, vomitting, everything.  I have researched xanax at my work because I administer medications daily to my clients and was so surprised that Xanax can cause coma, death and even seizures.  I am scared for his life.  I have tried to understand when he says "baby, i cant quit, it hurts too much, I just have to live with it.All the pain goes away when i pop that lil pill, you just don't understand."  But I want to understand, I just don't know how to.  
Lately he has come out of his denial admitting he has a problem and admitting he needs and wants help, he is just scared toand has no insurance.  I guess I have many questions on how i can help him without being so preachy, so pushy but also not losing myself to his addiction as well.  WE are in a long distant relationship which makes it even more difficult.  
Are there any free rehab programs in Miami or near Miami? How do I deal with all my feelings without hurting him in the process?  Please help.......ty  Ren

[Claire_MHModerator]

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[nursegirl6572]

Just an FYI...this thread is very old.  Often times, most people don't read them.  If you would like input, you may want to start your own thread. You can do so by clicking on the orange "post a question" button.

Good luck!

[ritterrit]

For benzo withdrawal, I meant MELATONINE, NOT MELANINE! LOL! SORRY, gang!

[ritterrit]

I too, had to go through withdrawal of both an opiate (Percocet) AND a benzo (Xanax) at the same time. This was due to my own STUPIDITY, of "helping out" a close  friend who "ate" her meds on a regular basis, and therefore, she ran out and I "gave" her some of mine - BIG MISTAKE! She was FINE, I was in the throes of withdrawal! DUMMY ME! In any case, I still had two weeks to go to get my refills of both meds, and the withdrawal was HORRIBLE. The same "friend" recommended that until I got my refills, I take melanine, Valerian root, and LOTS of B vitamins, ALONG WITH a separate B-12 vitamin. I NEARLY got through the 2 weeks with the help of these, but DID wind up in the ER, where they gave me enough xanax to last till I could get my refill.  The benzo was MUCH tougher to "kick" than the opiate was! Tricia

[ritterrit]

I too, had to go through withdrawal of both an opiate (Percocet) AND a benzo (Xanax) at the same time. This was due to my own STUPIDITY, of "helping out" a close  friend who "ate" her meds on a regular basis, and therefore, she ran out and I "gave" her some of mine - BIG MISTAKE! She was FINE, I was in the throes of withdrawal! DUMMY ME! In any case, I still had two weeks to go to get my refills of both meds, and the withdrawal was HORRIBLE. The same "friend" recommended that until I got my refills, I take melanine, Valerian root, and LOTS of B vitamins, ALONG WITH a separate B-12 vitamin. I NEARLY got through the 2 weeks with the help of these, but DID wind up in the ER, where they gave me enough xanax to last till I could get my refill.  The benzo was MUCH tougher to "kick" than the opiate was! Tricia

[caringlover24]

My best friend abuses her xanax 50mg everyday I don't know what to d or how to help her many people especially my boyfriend doesn't like the fact that she does it around me he thinks I wil end up dow the rong path like her like she will curupd me please help me out I can't lose my best friend as a friend bcause of her addicting I. Want to help her out she is perscribe it also she suffers from sezures witch is 10 times worse give me ideas to help her out

[hopeicanhelp2]

Yes, I have researched the "coma induced detox" methods.  They induce a coma state and treat all withdrawal symptoms while you are sedated.  The process is called Anesthesia Assisted Rapid Opiate Detox (AAROD). It is being used more so in recent facilities however, you may want to check with your insurance for coverage.  I am a pharmacy tech and I know in our hospital the ICU would induce coma in addicts with Diprovan (propofol) and treat their addiction to avoid the deadly withdrawal risks.  Research, research.  Always arm yourself with knowledge for your talk with your physician.  Choose reliable sites for your research such as a medical facility or college of medicine.  Although our individual opinions are helpful, you need facts for your decision making.

[londeezy239]

i am 17 years of age, female.. i am addicted to xanex and perks.. somtimes i will take A MONKEY that can be a mixture of herion or exstacy..who knows..its home made.. so..just thought i might say to those who are going threw the strugal that you are not alone..stay strong..keep your head up.. never look down..


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[avisg]

hewolve welcome This is a very old thread it you may get over looked I would start a new thread .

[HeWolf]

All post I read is MY B/F my b/f. Is there any guy out there with a G/F that uses? And how to deal with it. The xanax exspence is crazy, the meth is questable. What to do what to do.

[Babychick82]

Let me tell you my story.. My b/f was taking 100 mg. of Oxy., a prescription for Xanax that was gone as soon as he filled them, and Percuset along with Speed, and Loratabs.  I loved him more than anything in the world, but his addiction to Xanax made him drowsy and therefore he lost 2 cars, 4 jobs, and me.
The day I left, I found out I was 3 months pregnant and I didn't know. I raised our baby until she was 9 months old on my own, and then he found a Methadone clinic. He is so much better, now and we got married on Valentine's Day of '09. But, I'm not going to tell you that it's still easy. I couldn't ask for a better daddy for my baby, but he still slips up on Xanax.
He's even told me that Xanax is a prescription for disaster, but I can't understand why he still does it every other month.
You may want to convince him to go to a Methadone Clinic and see what they can do for him. It has really changed my life and his. We don't argue like we used to and life is really pleasant.
Whoever says that Methadone is bad for you, really don't know what they're talking about. If I could record my life and show you the before and after, you would definetlly agree.
But, I need to learn how to control the situation when he does take Xanax every now and then. I fly off the handle (when he's sober), just because I want him to know how bad it hurts me to see him nodding, going to sleep in his bowl of cereal, and when he does lie to me about taking it, when I already know that he did.
When he is like that, our 18 month old daughter just looks at me like what is wrong with daddy, that is Not cool with me at all.
I hope this helps you realize that you are not the only person in the world that has this problem.
Every night, I go to bed praying for the person out there who is going through the same thing as me.
Regardless; if it's a mother, grandmother, father, brother, cousin, g/f, b/f, grandfather, uncle, aunt, or a stranger in the world. God will help by bringing comfort, joy, and the fact that he is there to support you.
May God Bless You.

[amzy22]

u have to be there for him, but you also have to put your foot down. my bf was taking just as much, if not MORE xanax than your bf has been taking and it took three hospital visits, me losing my job, him almost losing his job, losing an apartment, i could go on and on.... but we love eachother! "through sickness and health." it took my bf a year of feeling like **** and suffering horrible, HORRIBLE w/ds before he realized that he didnt want to lost his life, and more importantly, he didnt want to lose me. (ive used this site to try and get help for him before...u can read more ab it if u want.)

"Its me or the drugs!?"  - u need to learn this phrase. *i dnt mean to sound demanding, but its true* i love my now fience more than anything in the world!!! but if he puts another xanax bar in his mouth, its over for our six year relationship! and he knows that!

If he wants to be with you, and you guys want to live a healthy, happy life together, he has to quit taking the xanax. its VERY important that he doesnt just quit c/t. since he taking such high doses he will have to taper off very slowly. and if you love him as much as you say you do, and if HE really wants to quit, then the two of you have to do this together. ill tell you right now, taking care of my bf through his w/ds was a full time babysitting job!

u must really love him if you are on this site looking to help him. and if he loves you as much as you love him, he will get some help. if not for himself, for you.

i live in arkansas. but when my bf went through his w/ds and ething we found a free councling clinic that was very very helpful! there's a lot of help out there!
he just has to want it!

good luck to both of you!

[shannannay]

my boyfriend is addicted to drugss... anything from vidocin to xanax perks.... he'll take what ever he can get ... n i dont care what the **** hes been through and back if hes gonna be my boyfriend he needs to put some effort into helping himself rather than make up excuses..... his step father who raised him was an addict and then eventually had a heart attack and died at 30 of an overdose... so he was raiseed to think this sort of thing is normal.
but i my self have been taking xanax for a year now .... and i take it for anxiety provoking sit.... it def changed my personality to the person i wish i could be ... making me more confident and able to do things i can not normally do .... i try to skip days and i dont plan on this lifestyle forever ... i wasnt raised to think taking drugs to solve your problems is normal. 15 mg is way way to much .... i think you might have the numbers wrong on that ... that would mean hes taking 15 of the blue oval pills a day... i highly doubt a doctor would give him that many ...unless hes getting extra on the side...  i typically try to go into an anxiety provoking sit by taking one mg then i keep and extra mg in my pocket .... i skip days that i know i wont en counter that "thing" that i fear.... so my tolerance doesnt go up ... but after long days of taking it ... you start to forget what worried you and you dont have that fear... but most people use it as an excuse...not to help them slves and possibly bc they have depresseion and are genetically predisposed to addiction.... Oh i am a biologist and my boyfriend is a chemist...we met in college  

[Anybodybody]

Dating an addict thinking you are going to keep him from being an addict is absurd.  If you are dating him and you don't care that he's an addict, you are self-destructive.

I don't care how "in love" you are with him, this is a situation that is going nowhere good.  Believe me.

When an addict quits one addiction, he/she moves to another.  Get out of this.  Your heartbreak will heal.  Then you can fall in love with a man who loves you enough not to commit suicide.

[Thomas02]

Judging by your posts, you already know the most immediately critical information about your husband's Xanax addiction, that sudden cessation can literally kill him -- especially at, what? 15 mgs per day? That's 30 of the familiar orange .5's.

I was addicted to Xanax for two years and learned about its dangers the hard way. One thing I can tell you that's got your husband so convinced he can't live without the stuff is that the most immediate and severe Xanax WD symptom is unfocused, paralyzing fear -- anxiety is too polite a word for it.

The first step he needs to take to get off Xanax is to have his doctor switch him to whatever daily dosage of Valium he needs to feel normal and free of the "Xanax terrors." Unfortunately, many doctors in this country are shockingly ignorant about dealing with benzo addiction. You and your husband should go to Dr. Heather Ashton's web site, where you will find a treasure trove of information on safe tapering AFTER the patient has switched to a long acting benzo like Valium. Some like Klonopin, but Valium leaves the body significantly slower than Klonopin, making the tapering process virtually painless, and it's cheap as dirt. Print out the salient pages from Dr Ashton's site and take it to the doctor. That's what I did and I got no argument at all about switching. Good luck,

Thomas

[mrmichael67]

I concur with the pills being 10mg methadone from Roxane Labs.  Any pill from Roxane will have a 54 on top and another three digit number under it on one side of the pill.  The 54 identifies it as a Roxane product.  The other number identifies the medication.  Roxicet says 54 then 543 under it.  They are from Roxane also.  Most decent equivalency charts say that oxy and hydro are equipotent.  My experience says the same.  You are a candidate for methadone.  Your withdrawal is going to go beyond the "flu symptoms" that many talk about.  They also have 60 day detoxes with methadone.  That is more like it.  If you try to do it too fast, you are setting yourself up to fail.  Do it slow, do it comfortable, do it right.  I do know your money output will go down.  ***@****

[athena]

Bupropion is the same as wellbutrin,an antidepressant also used to help quit smoking.It is nothing at all like bupenorphine.I hope this helps.


pixi

[Opiate_Affair]

I understand the love affair with Xanax (chemical name alprazolam).  Its similar to the love affair many have with the Opiates. However, its far more dangerous to quit (cold turkey) benzodiazepines (Xanax) versus going cold turkey (abruptly stopping) an opiate habit. While stopping opiates "cold turkey" is very unpleasant, its generally not life threatening. Going "cold turkey" from a significant routine (daily) dose of xanax (a potent agent from the class of drugs known as "benzodiazepine", chemical agents that bind to and manipulate benzodiasepine receptors in the brain, much like the "lock and key" mechanism of the opiate molecule on human morphine receptors in the brain. The issue however with benzodiasepines versus opiates is the dangerous side-affects imposed by the benzodiazepine agents. The most crucial is their ability to lower the threshold for seizures.  Thus, when stopped abruptly, the body may not have time to adjust and is much more subject to seizure (that may occur due to random events). Typically, the body would be able to avoid the seizure, but if the threshold has been artificially lowered due to the affects of these drugs (benzodiasepines) then a person without a history of seizures may experience an episode of seizures, which can be very scary (and in some cases life threatening). I've seen cases where individuals have died from swallowed their tongue during such seizures.

Because of these dangers, and the high dose (15mg of alprazolam is a very high daily doze)I highly recommend you and your partner seek professional assistance with this addiction.

Good luck,
Steven

PS - I am not your doctor or a doctor for that matter. Anything I say here is my lay opinion only. It is entirely up to you to seek medical assistance. In my opinion you should seek advice from a professional addiction specialist. You can start with an MD, preferably your general practitioner if you trust him or her.  If you do not trust your doctor, you should find one you can trust!  This IS a medical issue, and in my opinion it should be treated like a disease of the mind/body, and should not be viewed as criminal. This opens up an entirely different discussion, or can of worms so to speak. That's next!

Get help!

[Rex1]

So will you accept the challenge I posted here today? I will need your help, along with all the others here as I am sure you have noticed there are newbies here evryday.

I think a firm committment of YES means a lot to anyone who accepts - otherwise it might be just another preordained taper schedule destined for failure.

Jan 1 is D-Day and I am extremely happy that you are already on your way!

Let me know - I'll post the details tommorrow morning.

Rex

[Bodymechanic]

This is day one of the detox, I started 6 hours ago.  I had to wait 24 hours after my list pill before they would give me the medication. I have no withdrawals whatsoever.  I started to feel better 10 minutes after they gave me the tablet.  I want to kick myself in the butt for not doing this 3 months ago. By that time I had failed at tapering twice. But I did not know and at that time neiter did anyone else.  The nurses tell me that if I stick with the full 5 days of detox the withdrawals will be almost or completely gone.  It seems almost too good to be true.

[Rex1]

Were all praying for you, bud.........

Rex

[Pinkit]

I just wanted to check in w/ you and see how your detox is going?  You said you were starting it yesterday w/ taking the Bup. I hope it's going good.  I'm still praying for you.  Good Luck and please post in regards to how you're doing w/ it..

[Bodymechanic]

Golden  

What you are speaking of is rapid detox.  You are sedated while you are given shots of naltraxon or an equivalant.  It is over in 24 hours. It costs about $3000.00.  The success rate, I understand is very low even for a drug treatment.  Most people still have withdrawals for several days following the treatment.  

Im Done

At 800mg a day, you can consider yourself a hard core user taking extreme doses. Methadone may be an option for you since I believe your life to be in danger. What your doctor has given you is clonidine and Welbutrin.  The clonidine is great for the part of withdrawal know as "wet symptoms" runny nose, sweats ect. It is also good for the shakes.  With a habit of the magnitude of yours it will probably be useless. The welbutin is used for smokers who want to quit.  With opiates and taken during an acute withdrawal is probably(definately) will make you worse.  

[karloff]

Its called Rapid Detox...3 hours and your drug free...only problem is your body does not want the drug but your mind does! What a kicker...2 grand for the treatment and you still want the stuff!