Anyone ever been taken off Xanax/Benzodiazepines?

landodewd
landodewd Posts: 43 Member
in Motivation and Support
I have been off my bi polar and depression meds for a little over a year, that went very well. I am currently in the process of withdrawing from my xanax. It is a nightmare I have never had a withdrawl so bad. I was put on it without them telling me how dangerous and addictive it is. I told them I am changing my lifestyle and want all the meds gone. I exercise daily and eat healthy with a few exceptions. Anyone ever been taken off anxiety medication? How did you cope with it? The doctors want to put me on other meds to take me off them and just want to shove more pills down my throat. I just want to beat this and move on with my life. Thanks for ANY advice you can give.

Replies

  • phred_52
    phred_52 Posts: 189 Member
    Been on klonopin since 2005, along with other meds for BP and Depression. I, not doc, took myself of 2 meds, just looking at Zyprexa would add weight it seemed. Zoloft wasn't the most pleasant going off. Wanted to see, or maybe I was nuts, but took myself of klono's for a month or so....never do that again. Doc replaced Zyprexa with another for BP med which helps a bunch, and the K's for anxiety.

    I'm happy you are able to function well etc. going off the meds. As for dropping Xanax, like Klono, my side effects went about a month at most, if I had to guess. I reckon if you're ok with, or over anxiety issues, good luck stopping. Like they say, we're all different, so your experience sounds like it was/is worse than mine. As for coping, well my anxiety was so bad, I could hardly leave the house.

    "I was put on it without them telling me how dangerous and addictive it is"....nice doc, not. I don't find my K's dangerous, well if ya abuse maybe. I don't know about addictive, more like headache pill that let you function right.

    Sorry I got carried away. Wish ya the best.
  • EmilyJackCO
    EmilyJackCO Posts: 621 Member
    I have been off my bi polar and depression meds for a little over a year, that went very well. I am currently in the process of withdrawing from my xanax. It is a nightmare I have never had a withdrawl so bad. I was put on it without them telling me how dangerous and addictive it is. I told them I am changing my lifestyle and want all the meds gone. I exercise daily and eat healthy with a few exceptions. Anyone ever been taken off anxiety medication? How did you cope with it? The doctors want to put me on other meds to take me off them and just want to shove more pills down my throat. I just want to beat this and move on with my life. Thanks for ANY advice you can give.

    I only take them in the event of panic or anxiety attacks. I take 1/2 of a .5mg pill.... so a very low dosage, because I know it can be dangerous. I have never taken them on a regular basis to avoid that. I would say that if you are not involved with a counselor or therapist of some sort, it's worth looking into. It kept me sober and sane when going through the last year of tragedy.

    I did slide heavily into depression for the first time in 6 years, and I thought it was going to kill me. I tried going back to Lexapro which I had taken to treat anxiety-induced hives over 90% of my body, and it made things 10x worse. I quit taking them cold turkey after 3 weeks of multiple breakdowns a day. At that point, I was taking the Xanax maybe twice a day, but I didn't suffer the addiction.

    Allow me to add to this that I had substance issues with one thing or another and always alcohol for more than 15 years, so I have terribly addictive traits - so I am very very very careful with any medication that I have to take regularly. I also have had severe insomnia since I was a child. I take Doxepin or Amitryptilene (sp) depending on my resistance to them. So far, 2+ years in, I haven't developed a resistance to the Doxepin. They are both low dosage old-school antidepressants which are used for the treatment of insomnia. My old doctor prescribed me Klonopin, and I changed docs immediately, because she knew about my predisposure to addiction. That being said - I can go nights without taking the medication and still sleep, but not reliably. I have been working a lot of all-nighters (am on one now) and haven't suffered any negative issues, and I haven't taken it in 3 days...

    I feel you honey, I really do. I am hypersensitive with generalized anxiety disorder, major depression and PTSD. I take very little medication and I do so with much reluctance. The only reason I take anything for the insomnia is that I didn't sleep for almost 3 years, and it contributed to massive weight loss. I tried everything to gain back weight after illnesses and insomnia and it wasn't until I started sleeping that I started gaining. I fell all the way to 113 pounds (I'm 5'9"). The one thing that has made it possible for me to cope has been a good therapist and a good support network. You can get off of the medication, but make sure that the doctors know that that is your goal and that you want to do so safely. And if they don't support that, find one that does!
  • landodewd
    landodewd Posts: 43 Member
    Thanks I was a former alcoholic and oxy user for years and that was tough but this is ridiculous. The thing with benzos (xanax klonopin lorazapam adavan etc) is you have a high risk of death if you don't taper off them. I was on 4mg a day and never had the addiction issue. But since they started taking my doses down a half a mg every 2-3 months it has been getting worse. I know they work but I personally just want to get medications out of my life. I was a normal kid growing up and a former doctor put me on bi polar meds because I would get "angry and had mood swings" typical daily life for most people. The pills would work for a while then stop so they put me on others. Then added anti depressants because now I was depressed. Then progress was getting worse so moved me to anti psychotics. That literally drove me to the mad house for a week. Then they put me on anxiety to calm me down.
    I am doing great now and a happy person except for the anxiety. I like them but I need to learn to deal with decisions and stress on my own and since the xanax I have a hard time doing hardly anything without it. Thanks for listening phred! :happy:
  • juliek1960
    juliek1960 Posts: 37
    Hi - I would like to share my story here. I was on xanax for 9 years, maybe more I just don't remember. I have been xanax free since Dec 16, 2012 and I want to say I felt like I was in hell. All I could do is make sure I got out of bed, take care of my cats and eat as healthy as possible. So now 10 months later I've gained 35 pounds. I do not have a scale - looking at the numbers just depresses me even more - so I am going by what my clothes feel like. I am in a very sad place. I've lost so many years of my life and gained so much weight I don't know how to get my life back, well a new life back. I'm all alone and still struggling everyday with new symptoms and some old ones too. I'm having a super hard time motivating - I need to start exercising but I'm so stuck. I thought I would buy a bunch of stuff from Groupon and try something new everyday, but this hasn't worked. I bought a Julian Michaels dvd and thought I would try that - it still sits in the box. I'm very depressed and taking Nuvigil for this. I don't think it's kicked in yet. I want to start doing yoga, but I look at my body and all I want to do is cry - I'm so out of shape...I'm sorry I'm all over the place, but xanax has kicked my butt...

    I need support!!!!
  • joyride12
    joyride12 Posts: 12
    I feel for you, been there, done that. I had been on Xanax for anxiety since 2007. What I noticed with the drug was that I became resistant to them so I would have to increase my dose every year. I got to where I was on 4 mg a day. In 2011 I had what I call a traumatic event in my life. I literally could not function, seldom left my house and if I did it was because my husband forced me to go somewhere with him just to get me out. Well long story short, I called them "little blue devils" because they are just that, evil and all. I quit taking them cold turkey (Never do that!) because I felt they were not even helping my anxiety anymore anyway. The best method is to taper off of them if you can. It may take 6 months or more but is well worth the physical and mental pain of withdrawl. I was not working at the time so I just focused on getting thru one day at a time. I could not have done it if I was working because the rebound effect is horrible. I experienced breaking out in hives when I would see someone, shakes and tremors, sick to my stomach, literally 4-5 days without any sleep, teeth would literally chatter like you see in cartoons. That lasted for me about 3 months. Just so you know, quitting cold turkey on Xanax is one of two drugs out there that you can DIE from. I didn't tell my doctor I did it and he wasn't very happy with me but I still had severe depression. He put me on Vybrid. I was on that for 3 months and then I ran out because I couldn't afford them. Quitting them cold turkey was hell also. I went to a doctor and he said my depression and anxiety will never be controlled unless I continue to be on SSRI or Benzi. Oh, that was of July this year and when I was there, I was weighed and measured. Weight gain of about 30 lbs in about 3 months from taking it. So, I didn't like what he said and thought he was the one crazy, not me, for saying that I would never get better. I left his office on July 17, 2013 and I started walking a mile 4-5 days a week and started logging my food. I am not on any kind of medication at all now. I have never felt so fresh, clear head, energy and I can actually say that I LOVE life again, even on crappy days. Last month, I was released from my doctors care because he was confident that I doing better but not before he told me about how I have inspired him to get healthy (he walks 3 miles a day now). There are support groups online that you might check out. I hope everything goes well for you.

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