missy812

19 days clean off of oxycodone and I'm struggeling with my morning anxiety. I wake up at 4am and feel awful reaching for my Xanax. I don't want to depend on pills anymore........ any advice?

istherehope999

That has happened to me many mornings, and mine is like a strong dread in addition to anxiety. It has gotten better as time goes on....I'm on day 38 without opiates and the morning dread/anxiety has been getting steadily better. So keep hanging in there and "breathe" through it when it hits. Xanax in itself is a powerful drug so I would caution against it because benzo withdrawal is, in some ways, worse than opiate withdrawal.

missy812

This is one of my concerns... but what about only using it once in the mornings? Will I become dependant enough that I have to WD? I feel so bad in the mornings and in a few days I must return to work.

istherehope999

It would depend upon how long you've been taking it, and how consistently. If you've been taking it regularly for a prolonged period of time (many months/years), dependency can be created even at small doses, and can cause withdrawals. I was on a low dose of lorazepam for a long time and had a horrible time coming off of it. Benzos cripple the brain's ability to calm itself, and I wound up not being able to sleep without a .5mg tab before bed. I had to wean myself off of that over a period of 8 weeks, cutting the pill with a pill cutter in small increments. I will never let another doctor prescribe benzos for me for any reason, they are horrid to come off of. I read that they originate from the barbiturate family.

missy812

I wonder if there are any type of herbal remedies to help... anyone??? I am not looking for an easy solution, but I must be able to function with a clear mind at work.

missy812

Also, congrats to you on being clean for 38 days.

Ollie909

Good job on 19 days. I do remember the morning anxiety. I didn't have anything to take. Just get up and keep moving. Do what you usually do. I believe all that is just in your head mostly. Carry on as if nothings wrong. Repeat and stay clean. Best to you.

missy812

Get up at 4 am!? I usually wake up for work at 5:15am so I guess that's not too different. :/ sounds great!! Ugh.

hdevil

Hey missy,
My doc prescribed me hydroxyzine pamoate 50mg to take the edge off the anxiety. I, like you want to be off all medication asap. However, being freshly clean it is nice to have something to smooth the road a little. You may want to talk to your doc about other options away from benzo's.

Hang in there

HD

LoveAffirmLive

I'll share something with you as your post resonates with me.

I was on one tablet a day for about a year after replacing a 20 year Valium addiction. My new doctor(I moved interstate) just straight out refused to write me more than one script and as I never actually needed to go to different doctors I elected to just stop. I also felt that I had no choice but to stop.

So I was thrust into an unsupervised cold turkey Xanax withdrawal and it was awful! It was unexpected as I thought that I wasn't an addict because I took only one a day. I also didn't think I was an addict because I was working, had no money problems, had friendships, was for all intents and purposes "a normal person'.

By day four, after dosing up on strong over the counter sedatives, I called the ambulance as I thought I was dying, I hallucinated and my perspective was all over the place- walls bending/ floor shifting/ sight problems/ tunnel vision, lots of shaking, lots of crying, paranoia crept in too. It was embarrassing trying to explain to the ambulance guys what was going on and they basically accused me of using them as a taxi service. Then at the hospital I felt like an addict- hard core- waiting for my 'drugs' which weren't dispensed to me anyway.

Toady as I write this I am drug free and have been for six months and can pass this story on to you. I'm not trying to scare you but I want you to know that 'just one tablet' is exactly like 'just one drink'. It's all poison at the end of the day.

I used to wonder how I would cope with the stresses of my day without a tablet and how my life would be able to carry on without the Xanax, and that's a valid fear. I can only speak with the benefit of present day feelings and that is that a lot of my 'stresses' were actually self inflicted. Some anxieties were alcohol related and some times I was just having a bad day. And most paradoxically of all- when I was taking Xanax I reckon I actually had more stresses because it seemed that my brain was processing things differently so I had lots and lots molehill into mountain stresses!

I have less anxiety these days anyway.

Sometimes I wish I had taken time off and gone into a supervised and supported facility to do my withdrawal and been told from someone who's clean that it is actually do-able.

Once you slay the dragon, you'll see that it was only a lizard anyways

Take care and do the right thing for you

Luv, LovePrayLive.

missy812

Thank you for sharing your story LovePrayLive. That does scare me. Which maybe I need.
I hate the way I feel in the mornings. But if I continue to lean on pills I'll become dependant. I also have to be able to function at work!!

I think I'll try to find a non-benzo relaxent as hdevil suggests.

thank you everyone.