help me

[xtothez]

I have been taking pain pills and xanax for about ten years,i did it because it help me relax.i am up to 5 to 9 pills a day both.I am tring to stop,i have lost everything in my life that i love,Family,freinds and my girlfreind.i don't know what to do.I have slowed down but it the want and the withdraws are killing me.Plus i got to deal with the stress everyday.I need help bad,i hope and pray this is a wake up call.but how do i stop this,how long do u withdrawl .Please some one help me.

[FLaddict]

you cannot stop taking xanax cold turkey.. its very dangerous.. there is a high risk of seizures and even death. you really should contact a doctor or addiction specialist that can help you taper off of these. stopping both opiates and xanax cold turkey is even more of a risk.. opiate withdrawl itself is not normally dangerous but combining it with xanax withdrawl and the odds go up. Withdrawl from pain pills usualy is at its worst for 5-7 days with peroids of lethargy and depression for weeks after that, also insomnia.

[marcatj]

hi... i really encourage you to take the next step.  you have lost enough... you do not have to lose anymore.

as Fladdict said, the xanax is the tough one, and you would need some medical advice i believe.  as for the pain pills, MANY of us have come off of them.  it is dificult, but NOT undoable.  and life without them is like night and day.

this does not have to be your destiny.  we can help you get off the pain pills if you are ready. there are things to help with the withdrawals, to make them less miserable.

please don't give up hope.  there have been many in the same postion you are in, who are now living clean, sober and very happy lives.

when you are in it, you see no way out.  but there is a way out... i promise you.

let us know what we can do to help.

it can be done.  and you deserve to be happy....

with luv,
mj

[xtothez]

thanks for the advise,but i don't know how to go about talking to a doctor.You it was alot easier to talk too.what do u suggest i should do,some people say i sould go to rehab.But i want to stay so i can work,and try to beat this monster at home.today the withdrawals are bad i got shakes,sweats and all the rest of the same withdrawals everybody had talked about in here.what i am asking i guess can i beat this at home if i find a doctor to help me or should i go to rehab.I think i can do this at home but it is harder then i thought.If u can please give me somemore suggestion.

[road2recovery]

if you can go to rehab that is the best thing..Just check them all out first..DO NOT stop the xanax completly...The w/d's from bezo's are worst then opiates...you can c/t the pain pills( by the way what kind and mg) try to get some clonodine(presribled)...
This is not easy, but one thing at a time
welcome to the forum
r2r

[Marce4]

I agree, you are taking a few different things and the benzo's you really have to be careful....rehab really may be the best thing for you....I know you don't want that due to work, but if there is anyway you can....take this time and help yourself.  Welcome and please keep posting.
Marcie

[FLaddict]

Yes Rehab would be the best option. However with the right doctor you can beat this at home. Do you have health insurance??  Or access to health care some way. Look online or in the phone book for addiction specialists in your area. You can find someone to taper you off the xanax anc maybe give you something to help you get off the pain pills.
We are here for support to help you stay strong and fight this thing. I promise you it gets better. I have been off of pills for over 3 months. YOu will feel better.. this feeling is only temporary.
XOXO
Stephanie

[Spacemonkey]

I have suffered for years from chronic anxiety attacks (thankfully the combination of Cymbalta and Lamictal keep the dogs at bay) and for a long while I took either Xanax, Valium, or Atavan.  I finally got sick of taking Xanax about 18mo ago (i had already switched from Valium and Atavan to Xanax) and went cold turkey off it.... This was a really, really stupid thing to do and it was SUPER HARD to get through the 1st week thanks to the withdrawl.

As a point of personal comparison, I stopped taking pain killers 8 weeks ago and yes, the narcotic addiction was tough to get over and I'm still a bit sick, jittery, and weak, but it gets a little better each day and the physical cravings are few and far between.  But compared to what I had to endure when I quit taking 8-10 Xanax / day, painkillers were a walk in the park!!!!  Getting off Xanax MESSED ME UP BAD!  Thankfully, I had some muscle relaxers (zanaflex) and I took ~1/2 a tab of that every 5-7 hours during those first absolutely TERRIBLE days. It kept my muscles from twitching so bad that I couldn't hold a pencil.  I'm not sure if muscle relaxers were a good idea or a potential disaster. I should have talked to a doctor before doing this.

I do not envy your situation at all. Benzo's are seriously hard to quit and you should NEVER pull the stunt that I did and just "quit cold".  I now realize that I could have died from any number of things while the WD was going on.

Good luck and God Bless your process to stop taking tranq's. You'll be suprised at how agile your brain becomes once it's actually AWAKE most of the time :o)   I'm not going to lie and say that it's easy because it's the toughest thing you'll ever be glad you did.  

[xtothez]

Thanks all of you,i feel better just talking to you'll.I am going to try to do this at home,I just worry about the xanax,i have had sezsurie in the past when i have tried to stop before but i didn't from what but i do now,so i am tring to find a doctor and all i do is just pray.I'll i can do is take one day at a time,so thanks and if you have any more suggestion.I'll take all the help I can get.

[road2recovery]

I totally agree..ia m 22 days off opiates, it is not easy, but much easier then when i came off of a strong benzo..It was pure h e l l ...and i wish i had found this forum first...Because i did it on my own and did not i could catch a seizure which i think i was pretty close..
xt--Be very carefull , since you have already had a seizure...One day at a time...Please get a doctor to help you off of the xanax..
r2r

[Spooked]

If you can, please find a way into a rehab facility. You definitely need some form of medical stabilization on your way down. Do not try this on your own. Best of luck.

[xtothez]

OK thanks but now i got another problem,i took the xanax to deal with my problems.And now that i am tring to stop all this ,i just found out my dad might pass away.And this is make it ten times harder now.thats another reason i don't want rehab i ve got to be here for my mom.so i am going to start with takeing pain pills,and go to a doc to deal with the pill problem.but yes i have had 2 seizures driving a car,so do i just worry about stopping pain pills first or try to stop both,but its getting very hard now.

[Spooked]

This might be a little harsh but:

The fact that your Mom will need you is more reason to get clean BEFORE your Dad passes away.  For a while, things are likely to be much more stressful during the "after" phase.

There will ALWAYS be a reason not to quit...and you will ALWAYS be better equipped to deal with life's difficulties once you are clean.

[Breakingfree]

I have been posting alot about my vicodin on another page and met some wonderful people and I am doing great, but I see you all have gotten off Xanax. I am 16 days clean from vicodin and feeling WONDERFUL!  I do take 1-2  (2.5 lowest dose) Xanax per day due to anxiety attacks, and also because I read it helped some with the vic w/ds. Before 16 days ago, I didn't take the Xanax everyday, only when I felt I was going to have an attack. Am I going to have a problem getting off the Xs' too? Or do I take enough? I think I only took one today. Any advice or knowledge would be helpful! ugh...I just made it through vic w/ds! Thanks guys!!!

[xtothez]

i don't know how much i can help.its hard stopping i have the same problem.but i think if your on that low of dose.just when you start feeling that you don't need vic slowly work your way of the xanax,because they are twice additive to some people.And i know nowthat they are harder to get off of.i hope it works out for you.

[Breakingfree]

Thank you so much! I made a mistake, its not 2.5 xanax dose..its .25 (lowest- white ones) I'm done with the vics. I can't go back now. It feels too good to be off of them. I had a 3 year addiction (Dr prescribed) starting with an oxy & perc mix, them 2 years of vicodin. I know I am only on day 16, but OMG... I won't go back now. The w/d was yuck! Then... after about 10-12 days you wake up & say 'mmm, I feel pretty good'. Those 2 weeks are only that...two weeks out of the rest of your life.

[marcatj]

i also just lost my father.  and all i can tell you (as a few others here who went thru the same thing) is, this is part of life, and things that we need to learn to deal with with a clear mind.

i am so, so sorry you are having to deal with this, i do know how painful it is, trust me.  but the grief will wait for you, if you do not deal with it.  it doesn't go away.  it sits, and it waits....

also remember that emotions don't kill us.  the hurt, they are uncomfortable, but they are not bottomless...

i wish you very well...
-mj

[STEVE T]

Hmmm, I will try to help in the Am

[xtothez]

Thanks  for what you said,i know its going to be hard.so i am going to take it day to day,I would like to be clean before he goes,I know I am on the right track,But I just don't want to fall off that track.I am doing better I am done to 1 pain aday instead of 8 so its working,but i say so much for the xanax.I am not taking 8 but i am still taking about 3   .5 a day i am tring to get with my doctor today i hope so i can see whats my best thing to do.Because the withdrawals are getting harder but i am make it,I am glad i found this site you'll have helped alot and i know i can beat it but its going to be the hardest thing i have ever done.Even that i know my Father don't have long,I think i know now i know i don't need pills to help me.It will be a fight but withtalking in here and work I hope i can stay busy,so i don't have time for pills.I am on day 5 of tring to stop and i have done better now then in the past 10 years.thanks again talk to you later
                                

[xtothez]

OK i got a new question,I need to eat ,but they withdrawals are bad.What did you'll do to get a appetite?

[Spacemonkey]

I ate alot of french bread and drank alot of orange juice and ginger ale (ginger ale helps the puking).  Do an on-site search for "Daniel Recipe" (is that right???).   I can't say I found the perfect remedy, but I'm still alive and pill free :o)

Good luck and keep posting!  It's much less smokey than an NA meeting :oP  And DO NOT quit cold on the Xanax!!!! The WD for Xanax is absolutely diabolical.  In my case, painkiller WD were a birthday party compared to the NIGHTMARE of Xanax WD....  I can't even LOOK at a football shaped pill without having some kind of feral reaction from that ordeal......

[xtothez]

ok thanks for the information, i can take all i can at this point.I want to know now is on the Xanax if i slow the pills i take aday,while i am tring to stop pain pills going to hurt me more then just the withdrawals.I got 5 days till I can see a doctor and I don't want then I can chew,like sezing out or hurting my body that I don't want to do.

[xtothez]

OK I need more info,the withdrawals are so bad,I am stil taking xanax not much but some.I need help to eat and help my stomach,and if you know anything else that can help please tell,3 days till i see my doc.the doc can't tell me nothing over the phone please help its fills like its killing me.I know not to stop xanax but i have nomore pain pills and don't want nomore,but the pain is so bad

[FLaddict]

Are you in pain?? Or is it the withdrawl symptoms that you are saying hurts??

As for the appetite I forced myself to eat cheerio's and bananas or crackers. I also drank vitamin water and tea. you are probably gonna have to force yourself to eat something..
I would not stop the xanax til you see and talk to the doctor.

[xtothez]

its some of both my head hurts and neck,my stomach is cramping, i fill like i am about to get sick,I have tried to eat but everytime i try i fill like getting sick.i tried a bananas but its very hard to eat.how many days does this last