[lou_lou]

this has been done by many people I know, usually depression meds - medication used for anxiety -etc. Parkinson's medications, etc. unless you have an extreme reaction to any medicine in which case you need to call 911 or get to a hospital ASAP...
you cant taper off alcohol if you are addicted to it unless you have the correct kind of help...
these drugs we take day in and day out- that are prescribed by neurologist/psychiatrist etc. are dangerous,
BENZODIAZEPINES of which I have taken for the last 7 years, would actually kill me -if I stopped them suddenly...

________________________________
here is one woman's story...
I vividly remember the horror of the Klonopin withdrawal. It was nearly impossible to fall asleep for about a week after each reduction even though each decrease was only 1/8th of a tablet. Electric pokes with epicenters in my brain radiated through my arms into my fingertips. Walls, floors, and trees waved like laundry on the line. Seriously, no fun at all.

About 8 months after getting off of Klonopin, I wanted the Xanax out of my body, too. This time, however, I wasn’t going down the same road. I downloaded the Ashton Manual and read it cover to cover.


I am one of those unfortunate people who became both tolerant to and physically (and psychologically) dependent on Xanax. I have read that not everyone becomes tolerant to the effects of benzos (except for the somnolence if you’re a chronic user), but everyone does become physically dependent to some degree after as little as two weeks of regular use. This means you may not have to increase your dose significantly over the years (unless you’re taking it for insomnia), but you must always taper off of benzos very, very slowly. Also, a great percentage of people will have protracted withdrawal symptoms that can last years. Nice drug, huh?

In my case, it seemed I couldn’t take it often enough to quell the inter-dose withdrawals. I was in an (almost) constant state of agitation, anger, depression, and anxiety. And the headaches! Geez. It never failed that about two hours after taking the pill, I’d be shaking, anxious, and irritable again. I tried to wait until my next dose, but most times I couldn’t tolerate the suffering. Of course at that time I didn’t realize the pain may be the medication wearing off; I assumed I was extremely unstable and potentially very mentally damaged. Not surprisingly my psychiatrists made the same assumptions.



To think I had been taking this drug for four years already at the time this advertisement. And what anxiety disorder is not associated with depression?

People close to me easily saw the correlation between the benzos and my foul moods. It took me longer to see the obvious. But, soon after I realized the adverse side effects of the drug outweighed its fleeting sense of relief (and false sense of security), I decided to taper off of it for good this time around.

I had tried many times before to stop the benzos by following the withdrawal schedules of my psychiatrists. For 99% of benzo users, the “gold standard” for tapering off of these drugs is way too fast. Doctors will even go as far as to say that the withdrawal effects experienced by their patients aren’t withdrawal effects at all. They continue to invalidate their patients’ symptoms despite thousands of cases that prove otherwise. In fact, withdrawal symptoms are often misidentified as other underlying mental disorders that require prescriptions for antidepressants, anti-psychotics, and mood stabilizers.

So, back to the Xanax. Inevitably, I wound up taking an extra two or three Xanax pills a day. I couldn’t even leave the house without my pills. If I ever forgot them at home, no matter how late I was, I would turn around and get them. Most days, I had a single tablet in my pocket, or in my sock if I had no pockets. I even perfected a technique of storing a pill in my panties! The idea of not having a readily available pill while in public was terrifying enough to trigger a full blown panic attack.

This proves to me I had a huge psychological dependence on Xanax. But, rightly so, no? The regular inter-dose withdrawal symptoms coupled with a stressful event would result in an even bigger anticipatory anxiety. Who wants that? Who has time to go through the horrible withdrawal symptoms when a pill works magic as an instant fix?

But, I did quit Xanax by crossing over to Valium. Here’s how it worked.

I approached my internist in September 2006. I showed her the Ashton Manual and told her I wanted to get off benzodiazepines. She didn’t see the logic in ever getting off the benzos considering my “condition,” but she did understand the reasoning behind crossing over to Valium.

That’s when I started the five-week crossover, although I went especially slowly and turned five weeks into about nine weeks.

I used to “officially” take 0.5 mg of Xanax three times a day. So, I started slowly replacing one dose of Xanax with an equivalent amount of Valium. Now, I am not sure how Dr. Ashton has devised her “Benzodiazepine Equivalence Table,” but the premise is that Valium (its active metabolite) has a half life around 200 hours. Compare this to Xanax’s half life of 6-12 hours. You can understand why it’s desirable to be on a longer acting benzo if avoidance of withdrawal effects is of primary concern.

Once I had my evening dose converted to Valium, I started on the morning and afternoon doses. Eventually, after about 2.5 months, I was totally on Valium. I remember the last day I “officially” took Xanax — November 27, 2006. What a great day!

Next came the tough part — decreasing the Valium.

In the beginning, I dry cut. I would decrease by 1-5 mg of Valium, and hold steady until the major withdrawal effects subsided. The holding period lasted somewhere between one and three weeks. I think it helped to use both the 2.0 and 5.0 mg pills to manage the dry-cut taper.

Early on, I also followed Dr. Ashton’s recommendation to try and take just two doses per day. Soon enough I was only taking a morning and an evening dose. I’d done away with the mid-day dose. That in itself was a huge accomplishment!

I’d get hung up sometimes at a particular dose. This happened every few weeks. The advice I got about this was not to worry — it was perfectly normal. Just because I was feeling more panicky didn’t in any way confirm I absolutely required medication. Panic attacks are a guaranteed symptom of withdrawal. I just tried to ride it out, and I’m living proof it is possible! I wish I had known this fact earlier in my taper. I regularly became deeply discouraged during the first five months of withdrawal because the frequency of my panic attacks increased.

I also made the mistake of “up dosing” too often. Dr. Ashton recommends people just hold steady when they meet a rough patch. She doesn’t advise taking extra pills during withdrawal. By taking extra pills, a person just prolongs the withdrawals as he or she must retrace steps already taken. This was hard for me to comprehend, but it’s so true.

When I finally reached about 4.0 mg, my withdrawal symptoms became especially pronounced. This is when I decided the water taper was the only way to go during the last milligrams. It’s said that the final bit is the hardest, and I believe it. You have to remember there is not only the physical withdrawal, but the psychological “letting go” as well. At 4.0 mg, I panicked (literally and figuratively) at the thought of surrendering my security blanket. I had freaked out before, but not like I did at 4.0 mg.

The water titration method has been immensely helpful in me getting as far as I have. I still take a 2.0 mg pill each night, but, every morning, I dissolve one 2.0 mg Valium pill in 50 ml of water. Today, I threw out 46 ml of the drug water and drank only 4.0 ml. This is a huge accomplishment! Tomorrow, I’ll toss 48 ml, and, if all goes well, Thursday I will drink NO MORNING DRUG WATER!

Why is the Valium crossover and water taper so helpful? First, the longer half-life of Valium compared to Xanax convinced me I had enough drug on board to only take my benzos twice a day. When I first crossed over, I was taking Valium three times a day, but I still carried my Xanax around “just in case.” Eventually, I started leaving most of my Xanax pills at home. Sometimes, I’d even forget to take them with me at all. Like Dr. Ashton predicts, I just got used to not taking benzos multiple times a day. The two times a day schedule really helped me practice minimal dosing.

Second, I didn’t want to screw up all my hard work, so I really tried not to reach for a pill every time I felt panicky. Again, this took practice and faith in science. Many times I had no faith in myself, but I had faith that there was enough drug in my system to help ward off a full blown attack. I trust phamacokinetics. This one-minute-at-a-time stance also has helped me (finally!) use and reinforce other coping skills. I never put my money where my mouth was when I had a Xanax within 10 feet. Taking a Xanax was always the preferred coping technique! Today, I have a handful of non-drug skills to help me through a panic attack. It’s really empowering.

Third, I eventually started to feel so much better overall that I had the guts to start this blog and to flush my entire Xanax stash in March. It took me 6 months into my taper to finally let go of my precious drug. Yes, I have had lots of panic attacks throughout my withdrawal, but still I feel better. You have to trust me on this part. If you are like I was and you take Xanax or another benzo multiple times a day, then I wish you especially would trust me. It does get better. It gets easier, I swear.

Fourth, I am at the point now where I become slightly annoyed each morning because I have to make my drug water. Believe me, it takes some time to set up, mash the pill, dissolve it, blend it, measure it…. Enough already! I’m bored. If I knew I wouldn’t suffer because of it, I’d just toss the entire chemistry lab out the window.

I never thought I’d say it, but I’d just rather not take the drug. Period.

Posted in Klonopin, Valium, Xanax, benzodiazepine withdrawal, benzodiazepines, medication side effects, panic attacks, psychiatric medication, water taper, withdrawal

__________________

the biggest mistake this woman made was reducing her Xanax without a titration schedule, which still is very edgy with these in particular group of drugs called Benzodiazepine's
Always check with a doctor and always get a titration schedule, and do not go through this alone -

[lou_lou]

FLUSHING YOUR DRUGS!!!
These drugs are not metabolized by sewage treatment plants.
It stays, and it finds its way into our water supplies.
The EPA will give instructins for safe disposal. or return them to the pharmacy
they will dispose of them properly...

[lou_lou]

http://www.drugs.com/drug_interactions.php