18 months free from Xanax!

Today marks my 18 month anniversary from my jump off Xanax! I’ve had really good days and I’ve had some big waves now and again. I always would remind myself it’s never as bad as it was during my taper, but some days were trying at times. A few weeks ago It was like I turned a corner big time! I suddenly just felt so good, it’s like everything seemed so awake and I felt so alive again. I’ve felt so happy again! Something I hadn’t felt for a long time. I was doing ok at a year but then had some tough months off and on till a few weeks ago. But really I’ve had more windows than waves and I’m thankful.

 

Things I still don’t really do is eat sugar, gluten, drink alcohol, caffeine,  or take any supplements.

 

Things I’m able to do again is travel lots, shop on my own, remember and have a clear mind to make decisions, exercise again, be out in public running errands, housework, and visit with friends and family and laugh and enjoy! I also have been able to tolerate a few antibiotics I needed to have with no issues along with ibuprofen and Tylenol. I’ve had a surgery and needed anesthesia and pain pills and no issues there either.

 

I am moving on from thinking about the Xanax as often and stay very positive. It was hell on earth when I tapered and I had every symptom you could think of and I’m not going to dwell on that part anymore. Xanax took enough from me. It has lost and I have won! I would like to start to try drinking alcohol again at sone point. I’ve had a little bit a few times earlier and had no problems but I think I get in my own head and get nervous about it. If anyone has advice on incorporating that back in or has had success having a few drinks I’d be grateful for advice on how you went about it. I’m not a huge drinker but like to have a social drink when out or on vacation.

 

There is hope for you all in withdrawals or tapering. It does and will get better! We do heal! And this coming from someone who use to have to sit in the tub with epsom salt for a few hours at night and cry. I never thought I’d ever be here and yet I am. Keep up the good fight my benzo warriors! My thoughts are with you all. I hope this brings someone hope! I have so many people to thank. I’ll do that when I’m ready to write my complete success story. As always, positive vibes going out to you all!

 

 

Congratulations on this milestone!  This is such an inspirational post. You really capture so well in words how it feels as we experience healing, including the stops & starts and the glorious windows.  I agree with you that avoiding things like sugar, alcohol, caffeine, and for some, gluten & supplements, can help make the journey less harrowing. Congratulations and thank you for sharing this!

Congratulations on this milestone!  This is such an inspirational post. You really capture so well in words how it feels as we experience healing, including the stops & starts and the glorious windows.  I agree with you that avoiding things like sugar, alcohol, caffeine, and for some, gluten & supplements, can help make the journey less harrowing. Congratulations and thank you for sharing this!

 

Thank you so much! I appreciate your kind words! 

How long were u on xanax?

How long were u on xanax?

 

I was on it for a year or so.

I'm so happy for you!! You deserve this healing and you worked so hard to taper and get the xanax out of your body.

Thanks for sharing that things do get better!! Hope is so important!!

 

Congratulations on 18 months!!!💝

 

I've got such admiration and love for you!! You're such a beautiful person!! You do give me hope, thank you!!!!🥰

 

Hugs!!❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️

I'm so happy for you!! You deserve this healing and you worked so hard to taper and get the xanax out of your body.

Thanks for sharing that things do get better!! Hope is so important!!

 

Congratulations on 18 months!!!💝

 

I've got such admiration and love for you!! You're such a beautiful person!! You do give me hope, thank you!!!!🥰

 

Hugs!!❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️

 

Awwww thank you!! You have been one of my greatest blessings in this whole ordeal! Your support and love got me through many of bad days! I know you will be here in the future And boy will we celebrate you!! You are so courageous and inspiring. Your strength is amazing. Thank you for such kind words. It meant so much to me! Much love and hugs to you!! ❤️🥰❤️

I'm so happy for you!! You deserve this healing and you worked so hard to taper and get the xanax out of your body.

Thanks for sharing that things do get better!! Hope is so important!!

 

Congratulations on 18 months!!!💝

 

I've got such admiration and love for you!! You're such a beautiful person!! You do give me hope, thank you!!!!🥰

 

Hugs!!❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️

 

Awwww thank you!! You have been one of my greatest blessings in this whole ordeal! Your support and love got me through many of bad days! I know you will be here in the future And boy will we celebrate you!! You are so courageous and inspiring. Your strength is amazing. Thank you for such kind words. It meant so much to me! Much love and hugs to you!! ❤️🥰❤️

 

You have helped me more than you will ever know too!  I am glad you feel that I helped you, that means alot to me too!  Yes, one day I will be where you are too and yes, we will celebrate. That will be a great day for sure.  I am just trying to do the best I can right now.  It is very hard and have had to add getting off the PPI as well and that is not easy either.  Not by choice.

 

Love you my friend!!  You are always in my thoughts! :smitten:

Oh yeah girl 18 months! Probably 19 now! Look at u go! Ur a wonder…. Wonder Woman 😎 💪🏾

Oh yeah girl 18 months! Probably 19 now! Look at u go! Ur a wonder…. Wonder Woman 😎 💪🏾

 

 

Oh my Shayna! My favorite wonder from down under! It is 19 now and I am feeling pretty good! Still hammer dancing! Lol 😂. I still,have some days where I can feel the symptoms sneak in but it’s so much better now. I haven’t really had much alcohol and I’m not a huge drinker but would like to be able to go back to having a social drink now and again. We are going on a trip,with my brother and his wife in 2 months and I’d like to have a drink or two. I guess I just need to try it and see, but when you finally are feeling so damn good you don’t want to rock the boat! I think it’s just a head game for me really! How are you doing? You were so amazing to me during my taper! I can’t thank you enough! We beat this dumb benzo bitch and gave it the double middle fingers! Hugs and positive vibes to you my awesome Aussie!! 

We sure did honey. I know exactly what u mean about the alcohol. I had been sober 100% until snoop dog and I had 1 light beer. I was pretty worried after I had it and started panicking I was going to have a setback so I drank some water. But nothing happened. I was totally fine. I won’t probably have it again for a while coz I didn’t really enjoy it but it’s good to know I can if I want. I won’t push it with anything stronger but that’s me, no judgment for anyone else.

 

Why don’t u try a shandy or even a glass of wine with some ice cubes so it’s watered down. I don’t think one would hurt. Give it a go honey YOLO and all that ❤️

Congratulations WW you are such an inspiration to me and so many others.  I still think of your parents praying for all of us!

:smitten:

Congratulations WW you are such an inspiration to me and so many others.  I still think of your parents praying for all of us!

:smitten:

 

Oh DD!! Thank you so much! I’ve missed you and think of you so often! You will be here one day too…. You will! I promise, and I promise what lies behind the pain of tapering is worth it! You are prayed for every single day by my parents And myself! You are on a daily prayer list! We’re all behind you! I’m sending you hugs and positive vibes what’s!!

 

Love and hugs,

WW

We sure did honey. I know exactly what u mean about the alcohol. I had been sober 100% until snoop dog and I had 1 light beer. I was pretty worried after I had it and started panicking I was going to have a setback so I drank some water. But nothing happened. I was totally fine. I won’t probably have it again for a while coz I didn’t really enjoy it but it’s good to know I can if I want. I won’t push it with anything stronger but that’s me, no judgment for anyone else.

 

Why don’t u try a shandy or even a glass of wine with some ice cubes so it’s watered down. I don’t think one would hurt. Give it a go honey YOLO and all that ❤️

 

Thanks Shayna!! You deserved a lite beer and some snoop d-o- double G! Lol You’ve got me so pumped up I’m ready to try a 40 oz. Lol 😂 I love that idea of trying sone wine in a glass with ice cubes! I just know it’ll be fine but when you’re feeling good you definitely don’t want a setback! I’ll keep ya posted!

Thanks for the pep talk! You make me feel 10 feet tall and bullet proof! 😉

Thats fabulous!  I've been on it for 23+ years and my doctor retired so I'm trying to find someone else who will prescribe it.  i'm having a really hard time.  I tried micro tapering once before and couldn't get too far due to insomnia, heart palpitations, etc.  I'm 69 and would rather not have to go thru all that since I only take .25 at night for sleep and I don't have any problems with it so would rather not have to go thru the awful withdrawals. 

Thats fabulous!  I've been on it for 23+ years and my doctor retired so I'm trying to find someone else who will prescribe it.  i'm having a really hard time.  I tried micro tapering once before and couldn't get too far due to insomnia, heart palpitations, etc.  I'm 69 and would rather not have to go thru all that since I only take .25 at night for sleep and I don't have any problems with it so would rather not have to go thru the awful withdrawals.

 

Thank you! It’s definitely a beast to get off of, and you have to make the best decision for you and your best interest. For me the medication was causing so many problems and issues that once I found out the Xanax was the culprit I wanted done with it! And Xanax is a potent drug with a very short half life! I’m glad if you do well with it. It’s crazy how we are all different and respond to medication differently. Best to you. 😊

Today marks my 18 month anniversary from my jump off Xanax! I’ve had really good days and I’ve had some big waves now and again. I always would remind myself it’s never as bad as it was during my taper, but some days were trying at times. A few weeks ago It was like I turned a corner big time! I suddenly just felt so good, it’s like everything seemed so awake and I felt so alive again. I’ve felt so happy again! Something I hadn’t felt for a long time. I was doing ok at a year but then had some tough months off and on till a few weeks ago. But really I’ve had more windows than waves and I’m thankful.

 

Things I still don’t really do is eat sugar, gluten, drink alcohol, caffeine,  or take any supplements.

 

Things I’m able to do again is travel lots, shop on my own, remember and have a clear mind to make decisions, exercise again, be out in public running errands, housework, and visit with friends and family and laugh and enjoy! I also have been able to tolerate a few antibiotics I needed to have with no issues along with ibuprofen and Tylenol. I’ve had a surgery and needed anesthesia and pain pills and no issues there either.

 

I am moving on from thinking about the Xanax as often and stay very positive. It was hell on earth when I tapered and I had every symptom you could think of and I’m not going to dwell on that part anymore. Xanax took enough from me. It has lost and I have won! I would like to start to try drinking alcohol again at sone point. I’ve had a little bit a few times earlier and had no problems but I think I get in my own head and get nervous about it. If anyone has advice on incorporating that back in or has had success having a few drinks I’d be grateful for advice on how you went about it. I’m not a huge drinker but like to have a social drink when out or on vacation.

 

There is hope for you all in withdrawals or tapering. It does and will get better! We do heal! And this coming from someone who use to have to sit in the tub with epsom salt for a few hours at night and cry. I never thought I’d ever be here and yet I am. Keep up the good fight my benzo warriors! My thoughts are with you all. I hope this brings someone hope! I have so many people to thank. I’ll do that when I’m ready to write my complete success story. As always, positive vibes going out to you all!

 

How long were you on Xanax?

Thats fabulous!  I've been on it for 23+ years and my doctor retired so I'm trying to find someone else who will prescribe it.  i'm having a really hard time.  I tried micro tapering once before and couldn't get too far due to insomnia, heart palpitations, etc.  I'm 69 and would rather not have to go thru all that since I only take .25 at night for sleep and I don't have any problems with it so would rather not have to go thru the awful withdrawals.

 

Thank you! It’s definitely a beast to get off of, and you have to make the best decision for you and your best interest. For me the medication was causing so many problems and issues that once I found out the Xanax was the culprit I wanted done with it! And Xanax is a potent drug with a very short half life! I’m glad if you do well with it. It’s crazy how we are all different and respond to medication differently. Best to you. 😊

 

I can't seem to figure out the math.  Your percentage drop by 5%, I get it, but how do you determine how many ML's to remove for a certain amount of liquid?

Thats fabulous!  I've been on it for 23+ years and my doctor retired so I'm trying to find someone else who will prescribe it.  i'm having a really hard time.  I tried micro tapering once before and couldn't get too far due to insomnia, heart palpitations, etc.  I'm 69 and would rather not have to go thru all that since I only take .25 at night for sleep and I don't have any problems with it so would rather not have to go thru the awful withdrawals.

 

Thank you! It’s definitely a beast to get off of, and you have to make the best decision for you and your best interest. For me the medication was causing so many problems and issues that once I found out the Xanax was the culprit I wanted done with it! And Xanax is a potent drug with a very short half life! I’m glad if you do well with it. It’s crazy how we are all different and respond to medication differently. Best to you. 😊

 

I can't seem to figure out the math.  Your percentage drop by 5%, I get it, but how do you determine how many ML's to remove for a certain amount of liquid?

 

I was on Xanax for a year maybe a little more than that and sometimes I would take it now And again before I was told to take it daily as a muscle relaxant. And that still makes me angry when I think about it! I sometimes took .50mg because I was feeling weird And had anxiety feelings so I thought I’d try more. It was a mess. It was actually causing the problems I was feeling!

I started with 200 ml of water added to my Xanax and took out a ml each day which is a 1/2 percent basically. I split the mixture between 4 jars and dosed every six hours. 9 am, 3pm, 9pm and 3 am. Setting an alarm to go off. I would take a ml out daily until I couldn’t take the symptoms and then hold at that same dose until I was stable and then start again taking out a ml each day. So for example you start with taking 1ml out and you discard it and split the remaining 199ml between 4 jars then the next day discard 2ml out and split 198ml. So on and so forth. Sounds hard but it’s really not bad and once I got the hang of it it was easy. I had a whole chemistry set basically set up in a tray. I’d do this every single night. It’s just what worked best for me. I just picked 200ml of water, some use 100 and some use 300. It’s just what preference you have. I used a very symptom led taper so when I was feeling horrible I held till I didn’t feel as bad. I never felt great during my taper but it was tolerable. I don’t know if any of this makes sense but hopefully you get the gist of it.

Thats fabulous!  I've been on it for 23+ years and my doctor retired so I'm trying to find someone else who will prescribe it.  i'm having a really hard time.  I tried micro tapering once before and couldn't get too far due to insomnia, heart palpitations, etc.  I'm 69 and would rather not have to go thru all that since I only take .25 at night for sleep and I don't have any problems with it so would rather not have to go thru the awful withdrawals.

 

Thank you! It’s definitely a beast to get off of, and you have to make the best decision for you and your best interest. For me the medication was causing so many problems and issues that once I found out the Xanax was the culprit I wanted done with it! And Xanax is a potent drug with a very short half life! I’m glad if you do well with it. It’s crazy how we are all different and respond to medication differently. Best to you. 😊

 

I can't seem to figure out the math.  Your percentage drop by 5%, I get it, but how do you determine how many ML's to remove for a certain amount of liquid?

 

I was on Xanax for a year maybe a little more than that and sometimes I would take it now And again before I was told to take it daily as a muscle relaxant. And that still makes me angry when I think about it! I sometimes took .50mg because I was feeling weird And had anxiety feelings so I thought I’d try more. It was a mess. It was actually causing the problems I was feeling!

I started with 200 ml of water added to my Xanax and took out a ml each day which is a 1/2 percent basically. I split the mixture between 4 jars and dosed every six hours. 9 am, 3pm, 9pm and 3 am. Setting an alarm to go off. I would take a ml out daily until I couldn’t take the symptoms and then hold at that same dose until I was stable and then start again taking out a ml each day. So for example you start with taking 1ml out and you discard it and split the remaining 199ml between 4 jars then the next day discard 2ml out and split 198ml. So on and so forth. Sounds hard but it’s really not bad and once I got the hang of it it was easy. I had a whole chemistry set basically set up in a tray. I’d do this every single night. It’s just what worked best for me. I just picked 200ml of water, some use 100 and some use 300. It’s just what preference you have. I used a very symptom led taper so when I was feeling horrible I held till I didn’t feel as bad. I never felt great during my taper but it was tolerable. I don’t know if any of this makes sense but hopefully you get the gist of it.

 

Well I feel so stupid....I just can't get my head around the math.  I get that 1 ml is 1/2 percent of the 200 ml, but how do I determine how many mg's I'm at every time I pull some ml? I've been using 50 ml of water which maybe is too small an amount.