Stages of withdrawal

[kimzlosinit]

Are there stages to xanax withdrawal? I'm two weeks off taking xanax and still feel awful. The anxiety isn't so bad but the physical aspects of the withdrawal are terrible; heavy headed, pre-syncope, tingling, numbness, narrowed vision, surreal feelings, etc. I could have saved myself years of torment if the doctors I'd seen had only recognized that I was experiencing withdrawal while taking the xanax itself. It seemed that whenever I had a physical ache or something that was out of the ordinary, I would run to the xanax to treat it. This self-medicating led to where I am now. If I'd only known back then that all was attributed to the xanax, then perhaps I wouldn't be where I am right now. Anyway, just seeing if anyone knows if it gets progressively worse after discontinuing xanax or if I should find a light at the end of this crazed tunnel?

[kimzlosinit]

Thank you for the words of encouragement. I plan to go tomorrow. I definitely appreciate the prayers.

Kim

[IcanWithChrist]

You really need to let your doctor taper you off of    
Xanax because it could give you some bad side effects.  Take care and God bless you I will be praying for you!

[kimzlosinit]

Thanks for your sound advice; er...lecture. Seriously, I do appreciate it and if I sounded that I was complaining or placing blame, that certainly was not my intent. I think I'm just frightened. I've never had such horrible physical feelings in my life and I'm a divorced, single parent with the weight of the world upon me. I fear I won't be able to adequately support him if I feel so heavy headed that I cannot complete my commute to work. It's just devastating. Had I known from the onset the dangers of this, I would never have allowed a doctor to prescribe it to me. My onset of symptoms was back in 2005 and at the time, I didn't know what I was experiencing. I so want this out of my system and to rely on no medication. Unfortunately, my body is resisting this idea. Thanks again for your stern but effective comment.

[RubyWitch]

When you state that if the doctors had only recognized that you were experiencing withdrawl symptoms, it could have saved you "years of torment." From that, am I correct in assuming you've been on Xanax for years?
If that IS the case and you've gone off the Xanax cold turkey, I would strongly suggest you see the doctor who prescribed this med for you and discuss a taper program as soon as possible. There really is no easy and totally "painless" way to w/d from a benzo like Xanax, but there are many ways of doing it that can make it far more tolerable than what you are going through now.
If you've been on it for years and are only two weeks into your w/d, again assuming you're doing it cold turkey, you've just seen, and felt, the tip of the w/d iceberg.
There IS, most definitely, light at the end of this tunnel, but your doctor or therapist can make that tunnel far less "crazed."
Xanax is highly addictive to begin with, even when used ONLY as directed, so I'm glad to see that you are taking SOME of the responsibility for the mess you're in. I won't go so far as to say you "abused" the drug, at least not intentionally, but when you state that every ache and pain had you running for the Xanax.............you were using it for the wrong reasons. End of lecture,
See your doctor as soon as possible and get some control back in your life.
Peace
Greenlydia