Over the course of about 2 weeks I decreased my dose and then stopped Xanax. It’s been 3 days and the anxiety is TERRIBLE. Terrible rebound symptoms. Last night I had a horrible panic attack and felt like my heart was going to explode. How long does it take for this to end???
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When coming off of Benzos it has to be done real slow.
I tapered off of Klonopin successfully but did it over a 2 month period.
I’ve been taking Benzos for over 20 years.
I would try again but taper down slowly over months not weeks.
Talk to your doctor about what to do exactly.
He or she should be working with you during this process.
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I second that. It took me months to come off of Clonazepam.
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I was only taking 0.5mg 3 times a day, it’s a very low dose. I consulted with my family doctor on this.
I was only taking 0.5mg Cloneazapam once a day. It still too me months to taper off it. And Cloneazapam has a longer half life too. Best of luck with whatever decision you make.
Just had a panic attack. Not a terrible one but bad enough that I had to dig in my box of medicine to find some old Temazepam that I used to take for sleep. Took one of those… It helped.
I have a doctor’s appointment tomorrow, with my family doctor, and I’m going to ask him to put me on Valium to help me come off the Xanax.
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This might not be a bad idea.
Xanax is a very difficult drug to come off of.
It has a very short Half life and is extremely addictive.
Well the American Academy of Family Physicians recommends a Valium taper to help people detox from any benzo, not just Xanax.
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@Sooner88 You are absolutely right about doing a valium taper. Here is everything you would ever need to know about benzos and withdrawal http://www.benzo.org.uk/manual/
hope you feel better, bud.
make sure you’re not in a stressful or triggering environment.
try talking with someone nearby, even a friend.
I decided to take a Xanax today. And tomorrow I will talk to my doctor and ask him for help in coming off.
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Just want to wish you good luck! I did Ativan withdrawal, which was horrible, but now im off. It will pass! I agree that going slow is the best, but I am always impatient in withdrawal, so I can understand you went too fast at first. You will come off eventually, hang on!
Just seems like it shouldn’t be so hard, I’m only taking 0.5mg three times a day.
Talked to my doctor today. He has me taking 0.5mg twice a day and 0.25 once. So basically I take my regular dosage but I cut one pill in half. He said do that for two weeks and then he’ll take me down again.
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So going down slowly on it.
Yeah this makes sense
My doctor was very concerned about seizures when I stopped Ativan–I think that was Ativan–one of them that I stopped at some point in the last 16 years. I don’t remember the time it took but it was real slow even though I wasn’t taking much. I was still pretty edgy once it was finally out of my system and some of it, I am sure, was good old anxiety and some was still withdrawals.
I hope you feel better and please be careful.
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Unfortunately benzos are terrible for withdrawing from, but it is good that you’re on Xanax and not a longer-acting drug like Ativan, that would make it alot worse. Just remember if you resist the urge to take more it will get better! It would be best to taper off slowly.
About 4 years ago, I used to take two .5 mg tabs of Xanax daily and quit cold turkey. I had HORRIBLE withdrawals. Insomnia, hallucinations obviously anxiety. I went off of it because a controlling BF made me quit cold turkey. We broke up and I went back on it. I will tell you, though, that when I had my first psychotic break, they picked me up and put me in the involuntary ward for 3 weeks. I had no Xanax and no Adderall in my possession, both of which I had been taking for years. I forgot all about them. They put me on Risperdal and Trileptal. That was my second time going cold turkey off Xanax (and Adderall). I had NO withdrawals. It is the weirdest thing. One of the many reasons I believe my delusion that my world is fake, lol. True story about the drugs and no withdrawal though. I still don’t take Xanax or Adderall. That was a year and a half ago.
I had been tinkering with my dose of xanax to find the sweet spot for sleep. Got side effects like tinnitus and started hearing music and voices again. Got stable after a while when I returned to the correct dose. Then last month the pdoc reduced my dose by half to 0.5mg because insurance wouldn’t pay for 1mg anymore. Now I have terrible ear and jaw pain.