![[dr. bob]](/dr-bob-sm.gif)
Dr. Bob is Robert Hsiung, MD,
bob@dr-bob.orgShown: posts 1 to 5 of 5. This is the beginning of the thread.
Posted by vitalsign0 on September 7, 2005, at 14:51:02
I starting seeing a new doctor who wants me to get off Xanax. I've been taking 1mg a day for about 7 years. .5mg in the morning and .5mg at night.
For the first week I only took half of the morning dose while taking the full .5mg at night. It was a little rough for 3 days, but calmed down. After a wee I was all set to cut out the morning dose completely.
It's been 5 days since doing that and I feel like complete hell. I can't sleep at night, my eyes are very sensitive to light, I'm very tense, and I feel totally out of it.
Should I wait it out? Should I go back to .25mg in the morning? Did I go too fast? Any input?
Thanks!
Posted by Sonya on September 9, 2005, at 7:31:50
In reply to Xanax withdrawal, bleh, posted by vitalsign0 on September 7, 2005, at 14:51:02
Unfortunately, I have alot of experience with Xanax withdrawal. What worked the best for me (but I still suffered somewhat) was switching from Xanax to Klonopin which is longer acting than Xanax. Then I was weaned off the Klonopin. But you should be consulting with a pdoc about the withdrawal. I sympathize with what you're going through. It is hell, but know that you WILL feel better.
Posted by tizza on September 13, 2005, at 3:26:49
In reply to Re: Xanax withdrawal, bleh, posted by Sonya on September 9, 2005, at 7:31:50
I went off xanax cold turkey about 11 years ago, I was taking between 3 to 6mg daily and I got sooooo sick. I finally got into see a benzo withdrawal expert after about 6 weeks and she wanted to put me on valium straight away. I said no and suffered for about 3 months quite severly. I took nearly a year for the withdrawals to completely go away but as I always say, everyone is different!!! Klonopin or Valium are much longer benzo's so you don't need to keep dosing so much, but I heard that because of the chemical structure of xanax is so different, you can only use xanax to withdraw from xanax. I don't know how true this is but maybe you could do some google searches about it. Good luck and I know what you are going through!!!!
Posted by ButterflyHigh on September 20, 2005, at 0:44:59
In reply to Re: Xanax withdrawal, bleh, posted by tizza on September 13, 2005, at 3:26:49
I detoxed off of Xanax on July 2 with a Serax comedown, inpatient. That went well, however, when I finally rid my body of the benzos (temporarily - I take little Ativan and am weaning off of it currently), I sufferred post acute withdrawals something fierce. it was very uncomfortable but I feel great, and better each day. My sense of smell has really come back. At first, I was sensitive to every scent, it was odd to say the least, after the detox, I came home and flushed the Xanax down the hopper and haven't touched one since. What scared me the most was an hallucination/out of body experience I had for the first time, at the time I thought, "If I'm going to feel like this off the drug - I best be better on the drug" -not so. I am very happy I got off Xanax as I have been on all the benzos and discontinued them without a problem, not that way with Xanax. It is difficult, in my opinion, but it is so very worth it, and one doesn't realize what exactly that benzo does until you can really feel when as it gets out of your "system"
Best to you all who are taking that route.
Posted by drjohan on August 24, 2006, at 13:37:09
In reply to Re: Xanax withdrawal, bleh, posted by tizza on September 13, 2005, at 3:26:49
Wow, well I hope this post is not to old for me to comment in but sounds like you were taking way to much xanax. If you were taking up to 6mg daily then you must have gone thru terribble withdrawl. I designed a good website for a client that offers information on xanax books, if you still need some excellent reading material on xanax then see this site Xanax Discussion -
http://www.anxietybookstore.com/Xanax-Discussion.htm
Hope you have recovered by now and do not take anymore xanax!!!
This is the end of the thread.
Psycho-Babble Withdrawal | Extras | FAQ
Dr. Bob is Robert Hsiung, MD,
bob@dr-bob.org
Script revised: February 4, 2008
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/cgi-bin/pb/mget.pl
Copyright 2006-17 Robert Hsiung.
Owned and operated by Dr. Bob LLC and not the University of Chicago.