Weaning off of Xanex

[ak1219]

I have been taking .25mg of Xanex for about 2 months in the morning. I started to wean myself off because my Zoloft is starting to kick in on Friday of last week. I changed my dosage to 1/2 of a pill. I've had some withdrawal and was wondering if anyone else has had this and how long the withdrawal lasted? Also I have a big fear about the seizure thing when stopping Xanex, is there a certain dosage that you have to be taking for that to be a bigger risk?

[wishineverstarted954]

I Have Been On 2mg twice a day for a year and a half and as all of you know that really means that is what is said on the bottle, it was more like 4-5 a day on weekends and you deal with your decision is a bad way during the week, this has been a battle and finally i was able to get up the strength to tell my real doc not the one i go to for these what i had been doing and ask for his help to stop, he knew i took them but nothing like i was really taking, i am 27 and have a 1 year old daughter and wife and this drug has taken over my life, my memory is shot, i cant sleep at night, i always feel uneasy and know that this is not the person i am and had to do something to change it.  I told my doctor exactly how much i was on and what i was taking and how long and told him that i was scared to get off this because my best friend actually had a grand mal seizure a few month ago because he went wild one weekend and took 8 a day for 3 days and ran out.  So my doctor gave me a very strict instructions to get off them and a map of how t taper off, and gave me a prescription for the .5 and so far so good, the first couple days was rough and i woke up at 4 am and had to take a .5 because i felt like i was on speed or something when i suddenly woke up drenched in sweat, its 1 day at a time and i work for a law firm and deal with angry people and a lot of stress every day and that makes this worse. I am taking this day by day and the one thing i will tell anyone who reads this is to get off of this now and dont start if you are thinking of it, i was put on it for anxiety disorder but it has caused my anxiety to jump to levels i have never thought were even possible i feel like i have cheated my daughter out of her father for the 1st year of her life, although i have always been their i feel like it was a shell of me and i have hard times remembering the details. i beg you if you have gotten sucked in like i was to get the help and get out, dont loose your sanity for a relaxing feeling or some anxiety, it can be dealt with in better ways than a pill that changes the way your brain should work and you need those feelings to separate xanax world and reality.

[Joyinlife_Hoping]

New to form, I've been on Xanax for about 7years, I started because I had very mild anxiety, and I havent really figured out till, recently maybe because of withdrawing from people, and things like my dad dying,tramatized me, that is when I started using them, I was a Lively person before alot of things happened in my life, then i started being fear of people,leaving house,scared of talking to people and etc..well, I think one part to recovery is to firgure out why you started taking them to begin with? but I didn't figure out why till now. I didn't go to a doc. at first, it was actually a so called friend that enouraged me to take one of hers,BIGGEST mistake I made, I'm sure I would have got over my anxeity with time..Well, I started numbing my self from the death of my dad, and also the fear of dying like he did.plus other things..started getting my meds from her,then through doc. then they cut my off, then went to a phsycotrist. The tried to give me other meds, every to weeks, but nothing worked, i think i was just addicted to them already. so finally they ok'd it. now that I have become closer to God, I dont want to keep taking this med. I also was a smoker for 14yrs, never was able to quite, till of course,God :) and a lovely thing called Nicoderm cq..Now I thought smoking was the hardest thing to quite. boy,I was wrong, I also, was scared because I stopped having my period for 1 yr and 1/2 due to xanax! I was at first taking 2mg-3mg a day, last few years I have reduced,to 1.5mg a day,sometimes .5/day to none for a day or two,then i feel the withdraws and i take the meds and mg my body needs. It is a Long, process, I dont take other meds to relieve the withdraw. God, is my doctor, in helping me quite. I think that by the time Im done off completly, it will be half the time I used it for the 7yrs,so probably 3-3.5years to correctly wean off. without putting myself through terrible withdraw periods, and the after period of 6month-1year to fully feel recovered from the time of completly weaning off.xanax.

[Blueraccoon]

How are you doing? I saw your post and I am in the same boat how did you get off the Xanax?


blueraccoon

[ladybugs33]

This is a popular thread, so I thought I'd put the entries from another thread here to help people out there who feel overwhelmed. I have been off of xanax for a little over a year, and I feel so much better. I believe the xanax was worsening my anxiety symptoms over time from tolerance and then withdrawal. It does get better. Below are posts from over a year ago about my experience. I wish there were more personal experiences on the web, so people would know what it's like. Before reading, my advice is to have a doctor monitor you throughout the process, be honest with yourself, and keep a daily journal to track successes and set-backs. Reward yourself for each day you get through and remind yourself you are going to feel much better in a few months (or even sooner depending on how slow you want to taper off the medication).  Also, do not read entries from people who tell are saying that xanax is not addictive. It's an absurd statement. Xanax is a highly addictive medication due to the short half-life, quick entry into the bloodstream, and the potency of the drug. The withdrawal can make you feel crazy, but knowing this ahead of time, you can prepare yourself and get through it. Good luck.

12/11/09
Hi,
I am having a lot of anxiety about coming off my xanax xr, but it does not seem to be working anymore... I want to be completely off medications, because I'm receiving LENS neurofeedback as well as Jungian therapy, and my stress levels are low (part-time job, no significant life changes right now). Maybe in the future, if needed, I'm thinking Valium would be safer. I've been on forms of anti-anxiety medications since fourteen years old, and I wonder if it has contributed to the GAD (tight throat, racing thoughts, heart palpitations, tremor). However, I also have a history of trauma, and am hoping to resolve that with therapy. What is the best way for me to come off of the 1mg BID xanax xr (1mg in am and 1mg at 3:30pm) I've been taking for 3 months now. Prior I had been on Klonopin .5mg TID for about three years. I have already discontinued the xanax immed. release .5 mg to sleep at night (but I took it as intermittently as possible) and I've been taking benadryl 50mg (I wake up a little depressed though) to sleep which helps me a little. I just want to feel healthy, but I'm terrified of the withdrawal; I've been through other withdrawals in the past (effexor was the worst). How can I do this in a way that is safest, and what can I expect so I don't run to my regular xanax when having withdrawal? Any advice would be super appreciated. I have been given .5 mg xanax xr (90 pills) and have1mg xanax xr (34 pills) left from my previous prescription to taper at "my discretion" by my pdoc. My pdoc does not seem concerned about withdrawal, and because of the way I was switched from klonopin (.5 tid) to xanax xr (at first just 1mg q day stopping klonopin right away), I question his understanding of benzos (it was very rough). Also, since I've been on it for three months, how long should I expect to feel withdrawal symptoms after discontinuation and while titrating down. Thank you.

12/12/09 I actually started taking a .5mg this am and I've have definitely already begun to feel uncomfortable (everything seems to overstimulate me, and I had to run out of a store this afternoon). Lights and noise are aggravating, and it's weird, because I've always already been a little sensitive to lights and noise ( I get nauseated usually). It feels a little foggy and only day one. I'm trying not to catastrophize though. I will keep looking for the doc and look into the forum's you suggested. Thank you for the support. Thanks for the suggestion cornyguy, too. I think if it gets bad enough I might ask my doctor to take me the route of valium to get off. I read an article from the UK where that's what they use consistently because of the super-long half-life. I'll keep updated. I hope to be able to give people a straight answer on how long the worst of the withdrawal lasts. I know it starts to get bad around day three, but from there I haven't been able to find anything. Peace.

12/16/09 Thanks for the advice. I will keep that in mind if I start to have any stronger reactions to the withdrawel, especially when I drop the one I take in the afternoon. I'm a little anxious about that one, because night is not a good time for me. Last night I tried to sleep without taking the two benadryl, and before I knew it I had been lying awake for two hours in a half-sleep state. Very uncomfortable and weird. My mind was just going going going. So I took the benadryl, and that never fails to make me pass out, because I'm uber-sensitive to medications. I appreciate the feedback.

4/27/11 Just an update. I did make it through my tapering schedule and have been doing great. I used a notepad to track daily withdrawal symptoms and would put a little smiley face each day of the week I made it through. I took my time and tapered over three months (I believe). I tracked everyday. It was worth it. :) For anxiety, I do not need anything during the day anymore. I only take an ativan to help me sleep at night. My anxiety worsens then, naturally, and is aggravated by chronic pain I am currently trying to get help for. So, for anybody going through what I did, keep it up. You will get through it.

Today's Post: For information purposes, I took 1mg Xanax XR in the am and again in the pm. My schedule for Xanax XR Tapering: Month 1: .5mg in the am and 1mg in the pm. Month 2: I dropped to 0mg in the am and 1mg in the pm. Month 3: I dropped to 0mg in the am and .5mg in the pm. The next drop was the most difficult. I started to take the .5mg every other day. I did this for three weeks (I waited until the I felt normalish) The next step was .5 mg every three days. I did this for two weeks. Then, I just stopped. FYI: I had 0.5 mg pills I was using during this tapering schedule. You cannot cut xanax xr in half. You can cut regular xanax in half and taper more slowly.

I took a long time to come off, but I did it this way so there was less of a chance that I'd feel like I couldn't do it and have a set-back. It also allowed me to keep working. On the three days following any drop in dosage, I'd have the worst withdrawal symptoms. I'd get through those three days, and slowly things became more tolerable. I used benadryl (2 of them) at night to help me sleep. I took long, hot baths. I napped. I avoided driving, because the car made me sick. Basically, I did a lot of self-pampering when I could while still having to go to work. It was hard, but it is less hard when you realize you can do it, that other people have done it (even someone like me who had Panic Disorder and PTSD) and it will be okay in the end. Good luck, and feel free to message me if you need support.

[Julie359]

And I take it u didn't do that to urself. Just because u have had a bad time don't say people withdrawing from xanax are not suffering and who r u to determine their level of discomfort, every person is different.  Your level of compassion is just breath taking, I bet every person in this forum past and present are extremely grateful you r not their brother, father, son, husband.  Compassion and empathy costs nothing in this life and is what makes u human. Maybe being on drugs has blinkered ur humanity.  

[Toby48843]

  You know what all you people are a bunch of pansies Xanax is no where near as severe to withdraw from as narcotics The problem is that you sissies can't deal with a little anxiety. If you want to know what painful withdrawal is try getting off Methadone. Try climbing the walls for 30 days with no sleep and not feeling right in your head for 3 or 4 months and coughing it out for 6 to 8 months. You do this to yourselves.