Hi everyone. I am new to the site. I found it while searching for an online support group for my bout with my detox from xanax. It has been 4 months since I began and am down from 2mgs a day to .25mgs every 12hrs.I have been on them for almost 5 years to treat anxiety and panic disorder. I did not have a clue it would be so hard to come off of. This really sucks, the headachs, lightheadness and just feeling not myself. Sad part about all of this is thes effects could last up to 2 years after I am done with the detox. I get scared for no reason I also become anxious and cry uncontrollably all for no reason (well they say it is part of the withdrawls) I just want it all to go away. Anyone ever did a detox from xanax? anyone have any info on how to calm down? I am lost.
Thanks for reading this. I am happy to be part of this group.
Hello, I am also a newbie to this site. I took xanax when I was in high school, and was at a very high dose, so I know what you mean about the withdrawls. I felt very spacey, dizzy, headaches, but I think the derealization was the worst. Most of the meds in the benzo family have very bad withdrawls. You just have to take it one day at a time. Don't focus on how long they are going to last! That only seemed to make mine worse. Just focus on what's going on in the present. Keep calm and just accept the way you feel. Don't fight it- that's the best advice I received. Remember that you are not going to feel like this forever! Your brain and body just have to get used to being off the medication, just like it had to get used to you being on it. Trust in your body. It knows what to do to heal itself! We are here to support you! I hope you feel better soon!!!
Hi lostandalone1, I do hope you are under a doctor's care while weaning off Xanax because it can be deadly especially if you stop it cold turkey. A person can suffer bad withdrawal from most any prescription med that is taken for a while. It can take some time to go through the withdrawal process. But if you hang in there and take it a day at a time, it will get better. Keep us posted on how you are doing. We are here for you. ((((hugs))))
I was on xanax for 10-15 years and the dr told me it is by far the hardest drug to get off of. I did get off it but needed inpatient to get off it b/c of the dangers of doing it on your own. Please talk to your md about it. I was also told that xanax rewires your brain in such a way that it does permanent damage and to counteract it you have to be on anti-depressents for a long time afterward. But take heart…I have walked in your shoes and I applaud you trying to get off this drug. Don’t kick yourself for not being able to just get off of it…you really do need medical intervention…and there’s a whole world for you to participate in. Good luck!!
Hi there. I am new here. I can relate all too well. I detoxed off clonazepam and zanax both a little over a year ago. It is pure hell to come off these drugs. I did it in a hospital and was there for one month. I was on benzos for 13 years. I had night sweats for months, tingling all over my body, ringing in my ears, etc. I would not wish that on anyone. I still take a low dose of valium 5mg, twice a day. I don't feel like I can totally go off them. I do still feel the long term side effects from long term use. My short term memory is so bad. I find it hard to focus on anything, and my moods are all over the place. I really don't think I will ever feel like I did before I started taking these drugs. I don't think I will ever totally be off them.
I so know how you feel. I, too, am on valium twice a day b/c it's just too brutal to be totally off the benzos. My memory is equally as bad...people talk about something and I am just lost as to what they are talking about b/c the xanax really screwed up my head. I still get the nightsweats too...and have problems focusing at times. With all that said, I think we are all doing pretty well and credit us for at least getting off the xanax. I guess the price we pay is the fact that, for the rest of our lives, we will probably need medication in order to function.
If you don’t mind me asking, what is the dose of valium that you take? And do you find that it helps much?I only can take 5mg twice a day. Or like today, I took double that even though I know I shouldn’t. It just seems like such a low dose to me. My doctor says my tolerance to medications is high because of my history with medications. I also take buspar, hydroxyzine, and I am supposed to be taking risperidone, but I have gained so much weight from it. I stopped taking that one two days ago. So far I seem to be doing ok without it. I feel like I am permanently brain damaged from years of taking benzos. I don’t know if that will ever go away. Because it has been over a year, and I still don’t feel normal.
I don't mind at all. I'm taking 10mg twice a day and like you, I've been on benzos for so many years that this amount also doesn't seem like it is enough. I'm thinking about seeing if I can get switched to klonopin (b/c it lasts longer) but am afraid of symptoms of switching. My head feels foggy...I can't concentrate and it feels like my head is vibrating all the time. The only thing that "helps" is when I take more than I'm supposed to. Which works until I'm about to run out. Then I have to dose down to like 1-1 1/2 a day (I'm in that phase now...counting days til me next appointment next Monday). I just can't seem to function without them, which is scary. I think back to my 20's and I functioned fine without any meds....but once it starts it doesn't seem to end. I hope that helps and I'll let you know if I do switch to klonopin and how that works. Stay strong...it has to get better right??
It is the klonopin(clonazapam) that I was so addicted to, for 13 years or so I was on that one.It was pure hell to get off that. I am so scared of that drug now, even through all of this what I am going through I just don't think I would take it. Only because I would be on it for the rest of my life because I would never go through that again. It was that hellish to come off of for months after. I do believe that if it was not for these doctors prescribing me all of this stuff over the years that I would not be living like this. It has made my head so foggy most of the time, bad mood swings, etc. Maybe if you don't take it for long periods. I don't know, but good luck with it. Thanks.
I am just saying that I do have to blame the doctors for using me like an experiment,just over this last year alone. I came out of detox, and was put on serequel, that made me gain about 30 pounds.Then he switched it to risperidone, that was no better for me as far as weight gain. I was prescribed lyrica also for anxiety. And a couple of kinds of anti depressants. So how does anyone expect me to feel stable and normal?. I feel like I am barely functioning right now. I am on stress leave from work even. My doctor actually told me the other week because I asked him if I was on alot of medications. And he said," Yes you are right up there. Any normal person would be unconcious on this amount of medication." So that does not make me feel very good.:(
Hey...don't get down on yourself. I've had doctors tell me the same thing...that a normal person would be knocked out by all the meds I'm on but they don't work like that with me:( I was so addicted to xanax that I had to go into detox and I will NEVER take that again, so I hear what your saying about the klonopin...I'll stay on the valium...so thanks for that advice:) And yeah...I came out and they put me on wellbutrin and zyprexa for depression....valium for anxiety...restoril for sleep...so I agree that the medical community seems to be upside down. I am not working right now b/c I can't seem to get the motivation to get a job. I am fortunate to get alimony which is how I (barely) pay my bills. My moods are all over the place too...angry...anxious...crying...but never happy. Sometimes I don't have any emotions at all. I wonder all the time ike is this how I'm going to live my life? But what choice do I have? I've already done detox once and it was brutal!! So hang in there...I'm right here with you:)
Thanks everyone! I am doing soooooooooooo much better since I am off the Xanax, been off of them since July, but in order to to it ., I had to switch it with Valium 1/2 of a 5mg twice a day. It has worked since i started it. The frist thing I would do when I got up was take it, now I find myself not needing it as much and forget about it. I am slowly getting back to myself. The xanax withdrawals left me with high blood preaure so now I take BP meds as well. I blame my dr of 4 years for the xanax addiction, he did not tell me the long term effects. I was really sufering there from April till July. then my phyco dr put me on the valium, we tried Ativan at first and that was bad. The valium seems to be keeping me stable, but it is still a benzo, so I hoping to stop it as well, but doc says lets give it about 9 months, that it is not as hard to get off of as xanax. She said the xanax was causing me more anxiety than helping it I believe it. She wants me to try Zoloft but I refuse. The xanax really taught me a lesson. I still have a few bad days but not like before, I just pray and do meditation when I feel bad instead of taking an extra 1/2 of valium which she said I could. I was also told that it could take up to a year before you feel like yourself.....Hang in there it does get better in time.
Hi lostandalone1, So glad to hear from you and that you are doing better. Thanks for the update. You are right - it does get better with time. Keep hanging in there and taking it one day at a time. Keep coming back and letting us know how you are doing. ((((hugs))))
Glad that you are feeling better! And congrats to being off the xanax....people really don't get what a brutal drug that is until you are addicted to it. And don't feel bad about taking the valium. I actually some days need and take it and others I don't and guess what??? NO withdrawal..yay! Have a fantastic week:)
I think some days I feel like life in general is not that bad,something could always be worse. But I don't have very many good days like that. I guess depression is always with me in some way. I am always hoping that someday I will wake up and not want or need to take pills. I can't ever make it through my morning even. And I try to think that..hey, at least I am not on all the benzos like before. I don't feel that bad about the valium either and I think that is because I have stayed on a low dose(my doctor will not increase it). It is just that I want so bad to feel normal. More stable. I don't know from one hour to the next what kind of a mood I'm going to be in. So it makes it hard to to plan anything. So I usually don't. I always want to sleep. That is another thing that I hate about myself. I feel so weak for not wanting to deal with anything. I am on my third day of going off the risperidone and I do feel good about that. I think I will be able to lose weight because I am already not hungry. I am not used to being overweight. My doctor thinks that is causing alot of my anxiety. When I went in to detox I weighed 110 and I remember how happy I was about that. It was probably the only thing I was happy about. But it was something. And less than a year later I weighed 150.:( I think that is about what I weigh now but I can't get on a scale. I am going to give it 3 weeks and then see if being off the risperidone had made a difference. I can't tell you how excited I am to feel normal in that way at least. It is the only thing really that I can do. Something that I won't screw up.I am tired of feeling like such a failure about the weight gain. And the way I see it is that I am at least motivated about something. :)
I know how you feel. I don't go out unless I have to (even something as simple as the grocer store) and I never want to go anywhere...it just seems like too much effort. My moods are all over the place. Sometimes I'm ok...but usually I feel like crying or angry or just apathetic so I stay inside and watch tv all day. Then I get mad at myself for wasting my life. I don't know. I had the opposite reaction with the weight. I've always been petite...5'3 and normally 108. But since taking the wellbutrin for my depression, I'm now down to 96 and everything hangs on me. People always aske me if I'm sick or tell me to eat a cheeseburger. So I know what it's like to be uncomfortable with your own body....even tho I'm at the other end of the spectrum. I too tell myself that at least I am on a low dose of valium vice major amounts of xanax. And I do get tired of always counting pills...going to the Dr.s and then the pharmacy..ugh!! Maybe it will get easier as time goes by? I sure hope so. I take comfort in the fact that at least someone else knows where I am coming from so thanks for posting your progress. Hang in there:)
I am debating whether or not to tell my doctor about my depression coming back.It always does when the holidays get here. I stopped taking the risperidone last week too. I am thinking that is part of my horrible mood. But I refuse to take that pill anymore. I need to lose weight. And I have not been hungry in this last week, so that is a good sign. It makes me smile, its the only thing that does lately. I feel like a failure at everything I try and do. I am isolating myself more and more lately. That is never a good sign for me. I just sent my mother an email telling her I needed to be alone for awhile. I don't know why I do these things. Its like I get so mad at feeling so depressed that I lash out at other people. Or I want to. It ends up making me more depressed. My doctor thinks I am not used to feeling happy, so I feel like its not normal. But I don't know if that is true. Who would not want to be happy? Or feel normal? I think it is more of the fact that I feel more myself when I am depressed and it is familiar to me. Depression is a familiar feeling to me. So in a way I feel like I bring it on myself. I shut people out. But yet I hate being alone. Can anyone relate to this??
I just read that back to myself and I don't think it made much sense. I'm sorry I am having a hard time focusing lately. I am like that with my therapist. Nothing will come out the right way or I forget what I am trying to say.I hope I am making some sense to someone on here.
It makes perfect sense to me. I isolate myself by pushing everyone away and then cry b/c I'm lonely...like that makes sense?? I'm depressed around the holidays too. I just want to be left alone. Unfortunately I am about to start a part time job (yuck but gotta pay the bills) which is gonna force me to be around people and I don't like it at all. It is also forcing me to spend money on work clothes when it should be spent on other things. I really wish I could hit the lottery...move to a remote island...and just be free and alone.
1 Heart
Dont think about hitting the lottery…I am a gambling addict with false beliefs that I am destined to hit the lottery starting 20+ years ago. Try to write an autobiography and start a small business (the small business association has grants for starting or links to others who can help). Nothing may be more gratifying than using your own brain to make the money you need to pay off bills. I know if I use my ideas and add some determination I can single-handedly make enough to pay off my substantial debt. Right now I am in a big hole. Luckily I have a good loving wife and two kids that have stuck by me through my pitfalls. I am 13 days clean and starting to piece things back together. God Bless and good luck on your own personal road to recovery.