Sorry to take so long to update everyone.
I've now been sober since last Tuesday.
I have confirmed with my doctor that the episode that I had on Friday was definitely the onset of DTs, which he says are usually MUCH MUCH worse with those who were taking benzos and drinking alcohol at the same time. He did applaud me though at my response of taking more Xanax than I was supposed to because he basically told me I most likely saved my own life that day. With my hypoglycemia attacking at the same time as a panic attack AND seizure activity, my system most likely would have overloaded before they could even get me to the hospital.
That said, I feel great now. I still think "hey, I want a beer" every time I drive by the bar but its no longer this tugging that feels almost like someone grabbed my steering wheel and turned it onto the Wadsworth exit.
My doctor is also particularly amazed that I took 8 Xanax in one day (1mg of extended release and another 3.5mg in regular .5s) and dropped right back down to needing 4 the next day and am back to 3. He said normally the period of withdrawal is a lot longer than that and he said that's a sign I have a really healthy liver and GABA system even with all the drugs and alcohol that I've done.
Now I'm going to work on getting off the Xanax. I am going to start with a small dose of Valerian and GABA and slowly work it up while I taper off the Xanax. I think that combination could be just as effective as my Xanax is, without the negative side effects or risk of physical addiction. My doctor supports this but he wants me to be very careful about increasing the dose of Valerian, as it has been shown to have effects on the benzodiazepine receptors about equivalent to Valium.
I'm going to try it for a bit this weekend. No real risk since I'm off. He said worse case scenario, the combination knocks me out. He doesn't really think that I have any chance of ODing on the combination unless I take some really ridiculous dose of Valerian.
He wants me to start with the Valerian first and then add the GABA in very slowly because he seems to think that the GABA is going to have a profound influence on me - moreso than the Valerian.
So all in all, I feel much better. As a matter of fact, I haven't had a panic attack since that seizure incident on Friday, which is incredible, since I've suffered with them daily for as long as I can remember.
Oh and to answer the therapist question... No, I don't have one. I can't ever trust them. There's only ever been one that managed to get the true story out of me, the rest I just twirled around on my finger and made them think exactly what they wanted me to say.