Shown: posts 1 to 6 of 6. This is the beginning of the thread.
Posted by Mojo on April 21, 2000, at 20:59:33
Hi, I am currently taking 1.25 mg of Xanax per night. It was initially prescribed for panic disorder/generalized anxiety. I have been taking it for 21/2 years. My doctor just recently retired and has left me hanging. I have scrambled around trying to find another doctor and have an appointment with a psyc in May. I really want to get off this Xanax but the withdrawl syndrom is terrible! My heart palpitates, and I get daily "body jerks" as if someone came up behind me and said "BOO!". Butterflies in the stomach follow. This is almost an exact re-accurance of the origional symptoms that I needed to go on the medication in the first place but I know it is from trying to taper off the Xanax. I have been going down .25 mg a week. Apparently this is just too fast for me. Has anyone else had to taper off this medication? I don't want to be on it forever. Any input would be appreciated. I realize there is a risk of seziure so I have slowed down the tapering because of the "startle reflex" I am experiencing. Mojo
Posted by michael on April 22, 2000, at 3:17:23
In reply to Xanax withdrawl, posted by Mojo on April 21, 2000, at 20:59:33
> Hi, I am currently taking 1.25 mg of Xanax per night. It was initially prescribed for panic disorder/generalized anxiety. I have been taking it for 21/2 years. My doctor just recently retired and has left me hanging. I have scrambled around trying to find another doctor and have an appointment with a psyc in May. I really want to get off this Xanax but the withdrawl syndrom is terrible! My heart palpitates, and I get daily "body jerks" as if someone came up behind me and said "BOO!". Butterflies in the stomach follow. This is almost an exact re-accurance of the origional symptoms that I needed to go on the medication in the first place but I know it is from trying to taper off the Xanax. I have been going down .25 mg a week. Apparently this is just too fast for me. Has anyone else had to taper off this medication? I don't want to be on it forever. Any input would be appreciated. I realize there is a risk of seziure so I have slowed down the tapering because of the "startle reflex" I am experiencing. Mojo
I don't have any personal experience w/this sort of thing, but I've read that trying to switch to a benzo w/a longer half life might help(lorazepam/diazepam?), in terms of being able to wean yourself off of it... Hopefully you'll get a more complete response from someone else...
Posted by JohnL on April 22, 2000, at 6:07:07
In reply to Xanax withdrawl, posted by Mojo on April 21, 2000, at 20:59:33
> Hi, I am currently taking 1.25 mg of Xanax per night. It was initially prescribed for panic disorder/generalized anxiety. I have been taking it for 21/2 years. My doctor just recently retired and has left me hanging. I have scrambled around trying to find another doctor and have an appointment with a psyc in May. I really want to get off this Xanax but the withdrawl syndrom is terrible! My heart palpitates, and I get daily "body jerks" as if someone came up behind me and said "BOO!". Butterflies in the stomach follow. This is almost an exact re-accurance of the origional symptoms that I needed to go on the medication in the first place but I know it is from trying to taper off the Xanax. I have been going down .25 mg a week. Apparently this is just too fast for me. Has anyone else had to taper off this medication? I don't want to be on it forever. Any input would be appreciated. I realize there is a risk of seziure so I have slowed down the tapering because of the "startle reflex" I am experiencing. Mojo
Mojo,
I sure feel for you. It sounds like a very difficult process.On the bright side however, 1.25mg is very low. Usually addiction concern isn't an issue except with higher doses than that. But it is likely the long time period you've been taking it is causing the difficulty getting off. As a sidenote, isn't it amazing what a difference of .25mg can make? I've always been fascinated that such tiny increments of certain drugs can make such a profound difference, either during treatment or in trying to discontinue.
Anyway, here's an option that could help. Until you see the new doc, decrease your dose only by an amount you can tolerate. Perhaps .125mg a week. Just hang in there and do the best you can until you see the new doc.
Then at your appointment request a short-term small-dose trial of an antipsychotic like either Stelazine or Zyprexa. My own doc uses these interchangably for the exact same symptoms that Xanax is prescribed for. You will likely retain the calmness and mellowness you need and be able to withdraw from the Xanax without the body jerks, boo, butterflies in the stomach, etc. A tiny dose of an antipsychotic can work wonders, and is interchangeable with Xanax for the exact same symptoms, yet with no addiction. And with small doses, longterm side effects are practically nill. Hope this helps.
Many times the symptoms of panic disorder and anxiety are caused by the chemistry of elevated dopamine. Drugs like Xanax, which work on the GABA system, do nothing to fix the elevated dopamine, but they do mask the problem very well. In your case it may be that Xanax has masked the underlying chemical problem, but not addressed it. If that is the case, a tiny dose of an antipsychotic will not only rid you of the symptoms, but correct the underlying cause as well. JohnL
Posted by JohnL2 on April 22, 2000, at 7:54:54
In reply to Re: Xanax withdrawl, posted by JohnL on April 22, 2000, at 6:07:07
I forgot to mention in my preceding post that the possibility exists that there is a GABA deficiency, and that the Xanax has been correcting it. If that is the case, then lifetime treatment with Xanax is a good thing. It will allow the rest of your days to be normal ones. Sooner or later everyone needs lifetime medication of some kind or another. Diabetes, high blood pressure, heart function, stomach acid reflux, on and on and on.
Hopefully you can get off the Xanax if that's what you want to do. But if you find it truly is helpful in correcting an underlying chemisty problem, then be thankful for it. It will allow you a normal life and should not be viewed as a crutch. Instead it should be viewed as a chemistry-correcter, or a biological malfunction fixer.
But as I mentioned in the other post, there's a likelihood that you may find benefit in a tiny dose of an antipsychotic, and not have to worry about addiction. Other drugs that correct panic/anxiety chemistry imbalances include serotonin antidepressants and anti-hypertension medications (beta blockers). But the best odds for success are with benzos or antipsychotics. If those fail, beta blockers or serotonin meds may be the magic ones. But who knows, when all is said and done, it may be the current Xanax that's the right one for you. JohnL
Posted by Snowie on April 22, 2000, at 8:57:12
In reply to Xanax withdrawl, posted by Mojo on April 21, 2000, at 20:59:33
Mojo,
You are definitely tapering off Xanax too fast (what's your hurry?!), especially since 1.25 mg. per day is a relatively low dose anyway. Here's a reply post of mine that I copied from a previous thread. I've been there and done that with Xanax, so feel free to contact me if you have any tapering questions.
Snowie
======================
I've been taking Xanax for many years, and I even tapered off it once. A year after getting off of Xanax, I got back on it simply because I preferred the quality of my life while taking it. I'm considering trying Klonopin again, which I had tried previously for only 6 months.Whatever your reasons for wanting to get off of Xanax (or any benzo for that matter), very slow tapering is the key. In addition, it is imperative to do this with your doctor's guidance.
There is a very good article on the internet about weaning off Xanax. For comfort's sake, I personally would taper even slower than recommended. I'll paste the URL address below so you can copy and paste it into your web browser.
Good luck with whatever you decide to do.
http://lexington-on-line.com/naf_xanax.html
Snowie
Posted by JudithC on April 22, 2000, at 12:32:34
In reply to Xanax withdrawl, posted by Mojo on April 21, 2000, at 20:59:33
> Hi, I am currently taking 1.25 mg of Xanax per night. It was initially prescribed for panic disorder/generalized anxiety. I have been taking it for 21/2 years. My doctor just recently retired and has left me hanging. I have scrambled around trying to find another doctor and have an appointment with a psyc in May. I really want to get off this Xanax but the withdrawl syndrom is terrible! My heart palpitates, and I get daily "body jerks" as if someone came up behind me and said "BOO!". Butterflies in the stomach follow. This is almost an exact re-accurance of the origional symptoms that I needed to go on the medication in the first place but I know it is from trying to taper off the Xanax. I have been going down .25 mg a week. Apparently this is just too fast for me. Has anyone else had to taper off this medication? I don't want to be on it forever. Any input would be appreciated. I realize there is a risk of seziure so I have slowed down the tapering because of the "startle reflex" I am experiencing. Mojo
Mojo,please listen to the other's posts regarding a slow tapering; and should you need some help, the use of Zyprexa does relieve the withdrawal symptoms. I came off of 6 milligrams of Ativan for panic/anxiety due to a medical insurance change of physicians and my "new" doctor informed me that I was taking far and away too much of the Ativan. Anyway,I did the withdrawal thing much too fast and suffered needlessly with a pounding heart,nerves jumbled and on edge to the degree that I was awake for weeks with no sleep. The long and the short of it is that I would never in a million years move that fast with a drug withdrawl again....slow is best all the way around. JudithC
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