Shaky
 

On day 7 of total xanax withdrawal. I am shaky and worried. Talked to my Doctor again yesterday and he assured me that I was past the stage of concern for bad reactions, and not to worry. He said residual affects may occur for 2 weeks. I told him how much I took again as I did 3 months ago at last visit. He said what I took is hardly anything. Any thoughts on the Christmas Day to help. I am awfully nervous.

I don't know anything about Xanax withdrawal but want to welcome you to SR and wish you happy holidays. :hug:

Welcome :)

I'd get a second opinion from a doc if your concerned. Quiting cold turking in my experience can cause horrible rebound anxiety and i've always tapered.

Thank you so much Least. I feel most welcome here. I would not be without this community. Enjoy your holidays as well.:tyou

I know (if I remember rightly) you've seen at least two doctors now, but it never hurts getting another medical opinion, if you feel concerned straightshoot

I will see one Jan 9th or go to a clinic before that if necessary Dee. Twinings I had a hard time tapering half of a .25, but I did my best for almost 3 weeks. Thanks to both of you.

Straight: What dosage were you taking and for how long?

Describe your symptoms. I am no doctor, for sure, but did go cold turkey from a massive dose of Klonopin a few years ago.

Does anyone with you know what you are going through?

I took around .25 for a year, sometimes didn't take any for days, once in a blue moon I took
.25 + a half. I am a bit dizzy at times and nervous. But I do get panic attacks anyway and have learned how to deal with most of it through breathing, telling myself it's going to be alright, sniffing lavender, chamomile tea and lots of water. I get up do things, take walks, etc. The dizziness could be from a problem I am having with my ear, not sure. It's not too bad and getting better.

Oh sorry yes my Husband does and 2 close friends.

Benzo withdrawals is very, very subjective. Many folks I have read about on that dose find the first few weeks difficult. Others can quit with some mild annoyance.

Here's the good news from my limited perspective: You're doing great. I would be careful about reading the horror stories of others (like mine!) getting off benzos. For the most part, they (me) were on a far larger dose and for a much longer period.

You are going to have periods of anxiety, maybe even high anxiety, and inner-ear and balance problems are very, very common.

I think your doctor is spot on in saying you will be fine in a few weeks. And other than reinstating a benzo, there isn't really much to do other than to ride it out.

You really should pamper yourself during all of this. The walks, resting, just chilling as much as you can is the best advice I can give.

And I'm glad someone is with you to help.

When we get off a benzo, the brain is basically readjusting over a period of weeks. It takes time for our neurotransmitters to fire right without the drug.

Thanks for sharing.

Dr. that originally prescribed them started me with .05. She wanted me to take 3 times a day. Every time I saw her I told her I couldn't take that much I would be like a zombie. Then I asked her to reduce it to .025. I told her the same thing next session, can't take 3 times a day.

Thanks so much. I did read alot of horrible things, like having seizures. Dr.told me highly unlikely as I take so little. I am going to try with all my might to ride it out, I did it 20 yrs ago and I took a whole lot more then. I appreciate yourr help and concern. I love this SR place.:thanks

P.S Memphislues, I am so glad you are doing better.

I really think you will be fine. If you are like me, reading it can cause it! But that is a low dose. I'm not trying to minimize the difficulty you are feeling, but it could be a lot worse.

But you were on it for a year and from what I have and read, it just takes the brain a long time to adjust to not having the drug interfere with normal functioning.

Benzos replace the natural neurotransmitter that calms brain activity, and it takes the brain a while to relearn how to absorb that transmitter.

But you are wise to keep in touch with a doctor. I think most doctors would assume a patient can get off a small dose after a year of use with no problem, but many of us have found otherwise.

But there is really good news here. You're participating in the holiday, working, going for walks, you're doing exceptionally well.

Yes the GABA from what I have read. How long does it take do you know? My Husband says I have to stop reading the worst case examples. I feel well most of the time, I sleep quite well, amazing to me, seeing as I have bouts of insomnia in accordance with the moon I think.:) Thanks for the encouragement. I will keep on keeping on and go to the Christmas dinner with 150 others in about an hour.

We all recover differently. I would take your husband's advice and go with the flow and pamper yourself as much as you can. Reading the worst-case scenarios isn't all that healthy.

Just accept the symptoms as what they are, withdrawal, and know that you will heal and they will disappear. Sometimes quickly, sometimes slowly, we are all just different.

Congratulations on conquering this now instead of much later.

Thank you so much. At the moment I am much calmer and reflecting on what you have said. Husband knows nothing about this kind of thing, but people here do. It helps.

Well I felt so horrible when I woke up. Heart racing, shaking, and a feeling of electric cobwebs in my brain for lack of a better description. I felt like going to the hospital, very anxious. So anyway after all these days I took 1/4 of a .25. I think I have to do a taper again until I see my Doctor on the 9th. It makes me angry that I got myself to this point. Should have never started taking the things again. Needless to say that these drugs are worse than alcohol ever was to stop for me.

I think what makes quitting a benzo so damned hard is that it that they appear to be unlike other drugs in how our body detoxes from them.

For many, the severe symptoms don't occur as the drug is being eliminated from the system, like alcohol or cocaine or heroin. The symptoms occur when the drug is finally totally eliminated from the system.

For many, that appears to be about 10 days to two weeks after last ingestion.

That is why many insist on a very slow, regimented tapering system. You can find a good tapering regimen at the benzodiazepine support site from the United Kingdom. It follows the advice of a professor and doctor who is considered one of the leading benzodiazepine experts int he world, Heather Ashton.

I didn't have the luxury for following the tapering suggestions, and basically went cold turkey. I quit booze and benzos at the same time.

The first few days weren't that rough, and my alcohol detox wasn't that big of a deal. But about two weeks out from my last benzo I was a psychotic wreck, complete with seizures.

I was on a mountain of Klonopin, like 20 milligrams a day.

While you were on a relatively small dose of Xanax, you still tapered over one week or so, and that is not really a taper at all. I don't recall all of the recommendations at the benzo support site, but I believe you would have been tapering over several months, not weeks.

I think the majority of people who ask a doctor to help, especially if it is the prescribing doctor, are told what you were told: taper over a week and you will be fine.

It's recommended by many to print out the tapering regimen at the U.K. benzo site and ask your doctor to read it.

Most doctors don't have the time to read it and are probably insulted that there patient is trying to educated them about benzos, so if I were you I would ensure I had a supply of Xanax to last a few weeks and search for a doctor who buys into the extreme difficulties long-term benzo use can cause. While you were on a low dose, you were still on Xanax for a year, and that is long-term in anybody's book.

This is a recovery site, and I know the advice to ensure you have a stash of your drug doesn't seem right. Tapering alcohol is normally pretty rancid advice. I couldn't have done it. Frankly, tapering Klonopin wasn't in the cards for me either. I'm sure I wouldn't have been able to do it.

Detoxing from booze, smack, crank, crack, pot, meth is the hardest thing any addict will ever have to do. But in three to five days to a week the physical withdrawal is over when the drug is totally eliminated from our bodies and we are just left with the demons that led us to be addicted in the first place. That's hard.

But the physical withdrawal from a benzo, those first few days to a week as the drug leaves our body, isn't all that bad. It's when the drug is totally eliminated from our tissue that the hell begins. Our brain is left with no physical mechanism to process the neurotransmitter that benzos block, and the brain literally has to relearn how to absorb that neurotransmitter. So by two seeks out, we're toast.

This advice is counter-intuitive in the addiction field, most rehabs don't get it and most doctors are clueless. Still.

Not sure if your math is correct re: dosage.

These are the smallest amounts I've ever heard of. I thought the smallest amount they came in was 0.5 mg.

Just wondering and checking...