xanax withdrawal

[Bijou]

Hi, I dont even know where to start. Ive been on 2 mg of Xanax for 15 yrs, upped to 3mg to help sleep.
I have panic attacks and anxiety. I dont have private ins so go to a MH clinic. I was doing OK I certainly didnt
complain about being on xanaz and I never abuse it. Well, last appt I get someone new, the one I was seeing for last
7 yrs quit...and she says right away she has to get me off them, its not for long term use etc. She took me off one of my doses a day which leaves my AM 1/2 pill dose and then I skip 12 one and take 1/2 pill around 3 and 7
and one whole one at bedtime. Well, to make long story short, today is Day 14 and feel so weak and dizzy I can barely function, concentrate, etc. I thought it would get easier as time went on but it seems to be getting WORSE. I havent really eaten much for 5 days, nothing sounds good. Plus I am worried about everyday things like lightning hit our house last wk, its been a nightmare. Im not sure if I can do this. Im not sure I WANT to do this. It isnt even worth getting up feeling like thi and I think when I see her next wk she plans on taking me off MORE. I am terrified
It seems like everything just keeps getting worse, we lost our a/c when lightning hit the house and it has been about 90 degrees in here. Last night I got 1 and half hrs sleep! it seemed like I was in a nightmare. And there is no support.
NONE its like: well, do it. I dont even know how Im going to make it to my appt next wk feeling like this. Has anyone else been thru this and how did you COPE? Did you feel this awful? Before this, I was on 2 mg klonopin day and I was switched to the Xan........sorry if this is long but Im just so scared. I do not have the $$ to check into a rehab I frankly just want to go back on so I can feel NORMAL and function. Im only on phase one and it cant get any worse I will jump off a bridge lol its not even worth living feeling this awful. Ive also had alot of stomach upset, like diahrhea etc which makes me dread eating. no headaches just light headed and dizzy. thanks for any support. Ive felt so alone with this. 

[imalwaysanxious]

Wow 15 years, that's a long time to be on it. I've been on it off and on. The longest I was on it was probably about a year and a half. I was taking about 1.5 mg a day, and even at that dose I had to ween myself off verrry gradually, like .25mg less every few weeks, otherwise I'd start getting those withdrawal symptoms like you are describing. My experience with xanax is the more gradual you can ween yourself off, the better. I think you should let your doctor know what's going on and ask if you can go more gradually. Some doctors are not very informed about benzo tapering I found out. When I first wanted to get off the xanax I told my doctor that I was worried about withdrawal and she told me not to worry because I wasn't on a high enough dose, so I tried going cold turkey and it was terrible. And she was a pharmacologist, you'd think she'd be smarter about those things. So anyway I ended up just weening myself off very gradually and it was a whole lot better.

I think your doctor should take into consideration the length of time that you've been on them and the dose you're at. It seems kind of harsh to take you off of them too quickly. Hopefully she will consider a more gradual tapering schedule. Best of luck. 

[Bijou]

Thanks for your reply.  I know, believe me if I had EVER know or been told how
addictive this is I wouldve never agreed to take it. They never told me.
Switching over 15 yr ago from Klonopin to xanax was a weird exp but NOTHING like this.
I am afraid to eat because I dread the stomach upset I feel. And I know Ive lost weight. I wonder if it would
help if I take about 3 ts of antacid before I eat. I am getting weak and light headed but dont know if its from
withdrawal or not eating much. I HATE this. Glad you got off it. Oh and I have like foggy brain, too. Its miserable
She said something about Buspar I dont know if shes going to add that or replace a xanaz dose with it next time

[imalwaysanxious]

Actually I'm back on it again lol! I try take less than prescribed though. I find that if I can keep it between .5mg and 1mg a day its much easier to get off of it if I want to. Switching from klonopin to xanax was probably easier for you because they are both benzos so the xanax might have helped the klonopin withdrawls. I used to get weak, lightheaded, and foggy brained if I tried to quit cold turkey or ween to quickly, so I don't know if those are withdrawls you're having but that's what happened to me. Try to eat something, and if you still feel that way then you know its probably withdrawls. From your first post I gathered that your doc made you go from 3mg to 2mg a day?? That seems like to much too soon, especially considering how long you've taken them. I'm not sure what a tapering schedule is really supposed to be like, I just know for me it worked best to go down by a quarter milligram at a time and stay there for a few weeks. I would just break them into quarters (I take the 1mg blue ones). You might do better to take an SSRI that can help anxiety too, they're not addictive (or so they say, I know some people get withdrawls when they go off of antidepressants). I'm on prozac right now and it does seem to help with the anxiety a little. Hope you feel better.

[Bijou]

I think I have gone from 3 mg a day to 2 and a half. Does that seem like alot?
But considering when I first started this and now, I am feeling WORSE.
I am really scared:( I hate anxiety and all of the messes it can get you into
I just read a long lost cousins blog I found on the net and she has same anxiety/fear probs....
geez Im thinking its genetic. I just hope I can sleep all night thanks for your support

[imalwaysanxious]

I was just reading some stuff online about benzo tapering and it sounds like it varies from person to person as far as what schedule is best for each patient. I guess that's why so many doctors use different schedules. Going from 3mg to 2.5mg doesn't sound like too much to me, but I don't know, I'm no doctor. All I know is that I was able to basically eliminate those uncomfortable withdrawl symptoms by weening really really slow. I think your best bet is to just be totally honest with your doctor, tell her how awful you're feeling, and see what she says. I think sometimes tapering schedules are adjusted based on individual patient needs. Some patients need to go slower than others. But she won't know unless you tell her.

There are a lot of ex-benzo users on this site I think which can give you some good input, but I don't know that you'll get many replies in this section of the forum. The medication and therapy section gets a lot more attention than the addiction and recovery section.

I hate anxiety too, it sucks! Its messed up my life pretty good over the years but lately it seems to be more manageable. My combination of low doses of xanax and prozac seems to be helping for now.

I hope you can get some sleep too, I take generic unisom, it seems to help me sleep and its not addictive (and it's cheap which is good for me cuz I don't have insurance either).

See ya!