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Xanax and klonopin detox question

Old 01-18-2011, 07:58 AM
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Xanax and klonopin detox question

Alright, So I'm 22 and have been using benzos off and on for about a year. Although, I've been steadily taking them more frequently. The last six days I've been on a binge of taking somewhere around 8 to 10 mg a day and have drank every one of those days. Yesterday I took 8 mg of Xanax and didn't feel a thing. The most I've went without taking benzos in the last year is probably about a week and never detoxed. I just assume this is because I usually don't take them everyday. I'm tired of using these as a crutch and want to quit completely. I'm just wondering if I will detox and if so how bad will it be? Also I just started taking Prozac, which I'm guessing doesn't really have anything to do with this... just throwing it out there. If someone could give me a few answers I would really appreciate it. Going to college and abusing xanax isn't a great combination.
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Old 01-18-2011, 08:11 AM
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By the way, this is my first time on here. Surprised I haven't got a somekind of response back yet. Let me know if I'm doing something wrong. I never get on blogs or forums
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Old 01-18-2011, 08:20 AM
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Hi Joplin, welcome to SR

You should really get a doctor to help you plan a detox / withdrawal schedule. Please don't do it on your own, benzo withdrawal can be extremely dangerous, and especially so if it's combined with binge drinking. A doctor should be able to help you taper off these meds safely.

Keep us posted, take care of yourself.
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Old 01-18-2011, 08:44 AM
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Trafic on the threads varies alot. I use to look to see how many people "looked" at my thread, and how many posted....use to take all that and get my self worked up.

It can be hard when you really want help and no one answers right away. But it's the nature of threads so just give it time. I read your thread but don't know anything to help with the klonoopin xanax question

Sometimes checking in the chat room can get you some support faster, but you may not happen to have people with your specific expereince there at that moment. But just making the human contact and being able to talk a bit can help.

Let us know what your dr. says
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Old 01-18-2011, 09:55 AM
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You need to see a Dr.no offence but if you think you took 8 mg of xanax and it didnt effect you your wrong.You may think it didnt but I'll bet the people around you dont agree.When I was taking Klonipin I always thought it didnt effect me and nobody knew but they did. Please see a Dr and make a plan cause if you dont you could have a seizure and could have permenent damage.
Please dont take this as me talking down to.I am you and I care
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Old 01-18-2011, 10:11 AM
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good to see you on here. but yes you need to see a dr. bc with benzos you need to be tappered off. you could have seizures etc. Happened to my sisiter and she almost lost her life. i dont want to scare you, but you really need to see a dr for this withdrawl its nothing to mess around with. I know that is the last thing you want to do. But you NEED to. best of luck. you can do this
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Old 01-18-2011, 01:51 PM
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Many years ago I withdrew from Xanax, up in the 10-12mg range. I stopped abruptly and suffered a seizure. I didn't know. You should see a MD and stick to a weaning plan. That is one drug I'll never do again.
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Old 01-18-2011, 02:08 PM
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Benzo withdrawal is absolutely the worst detox and withdrawal you can go through. Many say it is in fact the worst and longest lasting of any commonly abused drug. As for my opinion, it comes from a 20 year knock down, drink all day every day, almost dead at one point alcoholic. For me to say that is no small thing, because I've suffered plenty from serious alcohol withdrawal.

Someone else said it in another thread and I completely agree; every other withdrawal I've faced has been rainbows, kitties, and skittles (paraphrased) compared to my benzo withdrawal.

My advice? Get to a doctor that specializes in addiction, and wean off these things, and do it very slowly. If I hadn't been oblivious to this drug and done just that, it would have saved me a series of life threatening, scary a$$ seizures, the resulting 70+ stitches in my head, nor the 10 day hospital stay where the staff thought I might be certifiably insane.

But seriously, of anything in this world that you should stop binging on right now, the benzo class stuff is it. Even after I came off these things I spent around 5 months, yes, 5 MONTHS thinking I was insane, the ground was soup, e.t.c... It was 5 months of hell on earth, literally.

Don't go cold turkey if you've been hitting these things alot for an extended period, it is truly dangerous.

Here's some links to a few threads on Benzo issues...

Booze and Tranquilizers

Sober Day 5 and Life Sucks Right Now
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Old 01-18-2011, 03:31 PM
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I'm with binder..

I came of 10mg xanax, a few other benzos and a stupid drinking. I stopped them all on the same day, nothing comes even close to what happened.


I had over 150 symptoms at once, from hallucinations to a seizure on day 7

Now at 5.5 months off I still have 20 symptoms remaining.

The most annoying being a 5.5 month long migraine


I have cold turkeyed huge amounts of cocaine, meth and opium in the past and would gladly do each one again 5 times instead of this benzo withdrawal. My doctor was dumb enough to think that once the drug was out of my body the symptoms would stop, lol just like when you pull a knife out the bleeding stops......

So yes, it was terrible, have you seen the movie "Jacob's Ladder" with all the deleted scenes, it was like that mixed with the hell scenes from "event horizon" whilst being on PCP and acid. Frightening and well just frightening, everything else is certainly bunny rabbits dancing on a rainbow compared to it.


But that's just my experience, I've had people flippantly tell me they have taken "handfuls" of benzos for "years and years" and they have stopped without problem.


I hope you are one of them.


You should probably read the Ashton manual regarding benzo withdrawal, it is the most widely known resource:

benzo.org.uk : Benzodiazepines: How They Work & How to Withdraw, Prof C H Ashton DM, FRCP, 2002


and for an idea of symptoms, duration of withdrawal and other factors that SOME people experience there is a great survey here

Survey Contents Jun 2007



The more information you have your disposal the better equipped you are to deal with whatever comes your way.

Good luck

MHH
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Old 01-18-2011, 03:31 PM
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good advice.
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Old 01-18-2011, 08:10 PM
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@Myheadhurts, that's exactly what I did. Stopped it all at once because I ran out of pills. Just figured it was a good time to stop everything and clean myself up. What a stupid mistake. My seizures started at around 36 hours after I stopped.

Something else I forgot to mention about benzo withdrawal: Most people get whacked out on these things begin using them to find relief from anxiety, or from insomnia. The ironic (read: evil) thing about benzos is that when you stop taking them cold turkey, the problem of anxiety and insomnia comes back fast, only it's at least 1 000 000 worse. It's the reverse of the pills intended effect, multiplied exponentially.

In the first 2 months of coming off Xanax and Stilnox (Ambien) I can count the number of days I slept on one hand. Seriously. One stretch was 11 days without a wink of sleep, and most other days I'd get maybe 15 minutes before having some of the worst psychotic dreams one can experience. With that little sleep I had many days of audio hallucinations and a few visual as well. (Room swelling, floor waving)

And anxiety? I thought I had bad anxiety before, but when I stopped taking my benzos that anxiety turned into straight up paranoia, agoraphobia, mania, e.t.c... which lasted for most of the 5 months. The anxiety I felt before taking them would have been welcome relief from what was happening to my mind after stopping. And it lasted a bloody long time, enough that I thought about eating a bullet more than once just to make it stop. Eventually I had enough and started drinking again just to feel normal. That withdrawal was the impetus for my downward spiral into heavy and hopeless alcoholism.

It's funny because when I first started on Xanax and Stilnox (Ambien) I thought I had found a miracle cure. The abuse started the moment those little magic pills made me calm and confident, serene and happy. Told my wife that I wished we had a Xanax tree in the back yard so I could just take them for the rest of my life. If I was prescribed Xanax now I'd likely punch the doctor in the face just on general principal. That class of meds needs to be dealt with in extremely responsible fashion. In fact I'd love to see a statistic regarding how many people have attempted suicide trying to withdraw from benzos, because I know it has to be a very high number. I seriously wanted to die plenty of times, and had I access to a hand gun then, I seriously think I may have topped myself.

Just thought that was important to mention this stuff, because I cannot stress enough how important it is to wean down slowly from these things. Cold turkey is a disaster waiting to happen.
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Old 01-18-2011, 09:31 PM
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Originally Posted by myheadhurts View Post
I'm with binder..

I came of 10mg xanax, a few other benzos and a stupid drinking. I stopped them all on the same day, nothing comes even close to what happened.


I had over 150 symptoms at once, from hallucinations to a seizure on day 7

Now at 5.5 months off I still have 20 symptoms remaining.

The most annoying being a 5.5 month long migraine


I have cold turkeyed huge amounts of cocaine, meth and opium in the past and would gladly do each one again 5 times instead of this benzo withdrawal. My doctor was dumb enough to think that once the drug was out of my body the symptoms would stop, lol just like when you pull a knife out the bleeding stops......

So yes, it was terrible, have you seen the movie "Jacob's Ladder" with all the deleted scenes, it was like that mixed with the hell scenes from "event horizon" whilst being on PCP and acid. Frightening and well just frightening, everything else is certainly bunny rabbits dancing on a rainbow compared to it.


But that's just my experience, I've had people flippantly tell me they have taken "handfuls" of benzos for "years and years" and they have stopped without problem.


I hope you are one of them.


You should probably read the Ashton manual regarding benzo withdrawal, it is the most widely known resource:

benzo.org.uk : Benzodiazepines: How They Work & How to Withdraw, Prof C H Ashton DM, FRCP, 2002


and for an idea of symptoms, duration of withdrawal and other factors that SOME people experience there is a great survey here

Survey Contents Jun 2007



The more information you have your disposal the better equipped you are to deal with whatever comes your way.

Good luck

MHH
your doctor said once the benzos are out of your body you'll be fine? lol !!

that's the exact opposite of what happens. It isnt the benzos in our bodies that cause withdrawals, it's the lack of benzos, just like it;s the lack of heroin that makes a heroin addict sick when they run out, not the residual heroin left in their system.

dumb? yes indeed!
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Old 01-19-2011, 03:47 AM
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Hey, thanks a lot everyone with helping me by answering a few of my questions. I would like to inform you on just a few more things. Unfortunately, seeing a doctor isn't really an option. I'm graduating in just five months and joining the army as an officer in just about 8. I'm sure they will check my medical records and will surely frown upon having a substance abuse problem in the past. I'm just about on day number two which i've heard is one of the worst. I bought a 6 mgs worth of kpins today so basically my plan is to just take one mgs or two if things get really bad. Like I said I've went a week before without them probably about a month ago and didn't notice any physical problems. However, I do have a ridiculously high tolerance to them now (I honestly did take 8 mg of Xanax two days ago without feeling anything... No slurring or slowing down. I actually kept it hidden from my Fiance.) So I am a bit worried the next week or so will be a bitch. Does anyone know any good plans of winging off? I've got 6 mgs but if that's not enough I'm sure I could find more. I really don't want to go through a horrible detox.
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Old 01-19-2011, 03:59 AM
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Originally Posted by dreamscape View Post
your doctor said once the benzos are out of your body you'll be fine? lol !!

that's the exact opposite of what happens. It isnt the benzos in our bodies that cause withdrawals, it's the lack of benzos, just like it;s the lack of heroin that makes a heroin addict sick when they run out, not the residual heroin left in their system.

dumb? yes indeed!
It is actually because of the down regulation of GABA receptors, the length of time it takes for them to begin working properly again varies from person to person. You are right about the lack of benzos being the problem, GABA is the central nervous system's "brake", benzos take its place, when the benzo is removed the CNS has no brakes.

btw alcohol works on the exact same receptors
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Old 01-19-2011, 04:01 AM
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Originally Posted by joplin06 View Post
Hey, thanks a lot everyone with helping me by answering a few of my questions. I would like to inform you on just a few more things. Unfortunately, seeing a doctor isn't really an option. I'm graduating in just five months and joining the army as an officer in just about 8. I'm sure they will check my medical records and will surely frown upon having a substance abuse problem in the past. I'm just about on day number two which i've heard is one of the worst. I bought a 6 mgs worth of kpins today so basically my plan is to just take one mgs or two if things get really bad. Like I said I've went a week before without them probably about a month ago and didn't notice any physical problems. However, I do have a ridiculously high tolerance to them now (I honestly did take 8 mg of Xanax two days ago without feeling anything... No slurring or slowing down. I actually kept it hidden from my Fiance.) So I am a bit worried the next week or so will be a bitch. Does anyone know any good plans of winging off? I've got 6 mgs but if that's not enough I'm sure I could find more. I really don't want to go through a horrible detox.
Of course the decision is yours and I am not allowed to recommend what anyone should do but, if it were me and I were taking 8 mg of xanax, I would consult a BENZO WISE doctor about stopping the medication, stopping abruptly can end in seizure, depending on the half life of the benzo the full withdrawal might not kick in for days or a week. But that's just of it was me.
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Old 01-19-2011, 05:39 AM
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So does anyone have any ideas about winging myself off without a doctor? I understand it can be dangerous, but I really don't have another option. Also I'm not taking 8 mg of Xanax a day. I was just saying that that was the last time I did them and it won't affect me much. On average, last week it was more like was more like 4 to 6 a day. And before that it wasn't usually an everyday thing.
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Old 01-19-2011, 09:20 AM
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Hi, I'm the flippant one. We're all different so to be on the safe side see a doctor. Don't play around with this.
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Old 01-19-2011, 10:18 AM
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Fish fear the flippant one.

Been fishing lately Windy?

I did (last week) didnt catch anything though. Going again on saturday..............trout beware!
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Old 01-19-2011, 11:35 AM
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Originally Posted by joplin06 View Post
So does anyone have any ideas about winging myself off without a doctor? I understand it can be dangerous, but I really don't have another option. Also I'm not taking 8 mg of Xanax a day. I was just saying that that was the last time I did them and it won't affect me much. On average, last week it was more like was more like 4 to 6 a day. And before that it wasn't usually an everyday thing.
If you trust yourself enough and have a large enough supply to wean the dosage yourself, that's a second best. It's a poor solution IMO but it's something. Having said that there are plenty of doctors out there who will help without recording the "why's" of your treatment. I've had doctors give me medical leave from my work - obviously due to alcohol withdrawal - explained by the doctor as "lower back pain".

All you have to do is explain your situation and I can almost guarantee that a doctor who has seen a benzo withdrawal in full swing will help you as discretely as you need it. If you must take care of it on your own, read as much as possible about how the doctors who specialize in this area treat the weaning process, and try and mimic what they do with your own supply. But really bro, it can go bad quickly. That's why supervision is necessary. I would definitely seek out a doctor who can help you without hurting your record. They are out there, just ask and explain your situation.
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Old 01-19-2011, 07:11 PM
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I agree with the above. there are drs. out there who can help you out without ruining your record. bc if you do have a seizure etc and are rushed to the hosp everything will be revealed in a neg. aspect. at least if you go to the dr. you are trying to get help. prayers with you. sorry to hear your stuck in such a ****** situation.
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