Dakotagirl

I had been using alprazolam for anxiety and insomnia for 24 years, in conjunction with a variety of antidepressants over time.  At one point during my career, I took high doses throughout the day almost every day.  For the past several years in retirement, use has slowly diminished to .5 mg Xanax daily at bedtime. At my annual physical last fall, my Dr encouraged me to discontinue Xanax entirely.  After trips were completed for the year, I stopped taking Xanax completely around Thanksgiving.  My Dr suggested using Welbutrin and Trazadone instead of the Xanax.  I had a bad reaction: tears. irritability, body discomfort and insomnia.  Welbutrin and Trazadone discontinued, and at Dr suggestion, tried Ambien. Worse reaction.  Currently taking nothing, since Dec. 4th.  Struggling with being emotional, crying, irritability, inability to get much done, muscles aches and weakness.  Also poor brain function in terms of memory, processing, reading.  All of this seems to be in waves with some better periods and some worse periods.  I am looking for suggestions to ease symptoms as well as suggestions to cope with the symptoms.  In addition, reassurance that I am making progress is needed.  I am fearful about permanent brain dysfunction. I have a one month followup with my Dr tomorrow morning.

Hi dakotagirl and welcome to the forum.

 

Your story is a familiar one to me.  Let me write this introductory post to you and then I'll write another one with some ideas for you.

 

I think you'll probably want to post in Cold Turkey, Detox and Rapid Withdrawal to get the best support for what's going on.

 

There's a ton of information on benzo withdrawal in the Ashton Manual which you can read if you click this link.

 

Please include your benzodiazepine information in your posts.  To make that easier by adding it to each post automatically, you can go up to Profile, choose Forum Profile, write the information in the text box and click Change Profile.

 

Take care,

Challis 

I had been using alprazolam for anxiety and insomnia for 24 years, in conjunction with a variety of antidepressants over time.  At one point during my career, I took high doses throughout the day almost every day.  For the past several years in retirement, use has slowly diminished to .5 mg Xanax daily at bedtime. At my annual physical last fall, my Dr encouraged me to discontinue Xanax entirely.  After trips were completed for the year, I stopped taking Xanax completely around Thanksgiving.  My Dr suggested using Welbutrin and Trazadone instead of the Xanax.  I had a bad reaction: tears. irritability, body discomfort and insomnia.  Welbutrin and Trazadone discontinued, and at Dr suggestion, tried Ambien. Worse reaction.  Currently taking nothing, since Dec. 4th.  Struggling with being emotional, crying, irritability, inability to get much done, muscles aches and weakness.  Also poor brain function in terms of memory, processing, reading.  All of this seems to be in waves with some better periods and some worse periods.  I am looking for suggestions to ease symptoms as well as suggestions to cope with the symptoms.  In addition, reassurance that I am making progress is needed.  I am fearful about permanent brain dysfunction. I have a one month followup with my Dr tomorrow morning.

 

I took Alprazolam, too, for about ten years or so, so I think I have some insight into how you're feeling.  If you stopped taking Xanax suddenly, even at .5mg, it's very likely you're going through a cold turkey withdrawal.  .5mg doesn't sound like much and often doctors will advise their patients to just stop taking it because they feel it's a low dose.  It's not a low dose if one's been taking that dose for a long time.  The lowest doses tend to be the most difficult part of tapering off.  Even though I tapered from 2mg to .25 over nine months time, when I tried to stop abruptly at .25 I developed severe withdrawal symptoms over the next three days. 

 

Welbutrin and Trazadone won't cover benzodiazepine withdrawal.  Nothing will, except another benzodiazepine.  Ambien works similarly to benzodiazepines but it is not a benzodiazepine.

 

In my opinion you are best off continuing to deal with your symptoms, but others on the forum may suggest you reinstate and taper slowly.  After nearly a month I would personally not do that.

 

All they symptoms you describe are classic benzo withdrawal symptoms.  They are temporary... you will get better, you are not permanently damaged.  You'll be okay.

 

I would click the link to the Ashton Manual and skim through it and perhaps print it for your doctor so he/she can have an idea what's going on.  Your blood pressure and heart rate are likely elevated. but other tests your doctor has done have just as likely come back fine.

 

 

Here's a piece of writing I really like as far as coping:

 

Recovery Tips [nobbc]http://www.psychmedaware.org/recovery_tips.html[/nobbc]

 

1. Recovery from being an accidental addict to benzodiazepines is serious business. It takes time for the central nervous system to heal and for neurotransmitters to stop being sensitive. None of us had the faintest idea that this kind of situation lay in front of us. So we are dealing with shock at what has happened as well as the real physical and mental/emotional symptoms of withdrawal.

 

2. Recovery is not linear, as it is with other illnesses or injuries. If we cut our hands, we can actually see the cut heal and the pain diminish over time. In benzo withdrawal we can be well one day and very sick the next. This is normal and we have to look at our healing differently.

 

3. Recovery is an individual thing, and it is difficult to predict how quickly symptoms will stop for good. People expect to be completely better after a certain period of time, and often get discouraged and depressed when they feel this time has passed and they are not completely better. Most patient support programs tell clients to anticipate 6 months to a year for recovery after a taper has ended. But some people feel better a few months after they stop taking benzos; for others it takes more than a year to feel completely better. Try not to be obsessed with how long it will take, because every day you stay off benzos, your body is healing at its own rate. If you do not follow this particular schedule, it does not mean there is something wrong or you are not healing. Even if you are feeling ill in some respects, other symptoms may disappear. Even people in difficult tapers see improvements in symptoms very early on. So don’t let these time-frames scare you. The way you feel at one month will not be how you will be feeling at three months or at six months.

 

4. It is very typical to have setbacks at different points of time (these times can vary). These setbacks can be so intense that people feel their healing hasn’t happened at all; they feel they have been taken right back to beginning. Setbacks, if they occur, are a normal part of recovery.

 

5. When people are in recovery, they have a lot of fears. One is that they will never get better. Another is that their symptoms are really what they are like — perhaps what they have always been like. Both of these fears are stimulated by benzo withdrawal. In other words they are the thought components of benzo withdrawal, just as insomnia is a physical component.

 

6. There is no way around benzo withdrawal and recovery—you have to go through it. People try all sorts of measures to try to make the pain stop, but nothing can shortcut the process. Our body and brain have their own agenda for healing, and it will take place if you simply accept it.

 

7. When you are having a bad spell, healing is still going on. People typically find that after a bad spell, symptoms improve and often go away forever. Try to remember this when times are hard.

 

8. There is no magic cure to recovery, but you can help yourself by comforting and reassuring yourself as much as possible. Read reassuring information, stay away from stress, ask your partner, family and others for reassurance, and go back to the things you did at the beginning if you are experiencing really tough symptoms.

 

9. When we start to feel better, it is very typical to try to do too much. We are grateful to be alive and we have energy for the first time in weeks or months. But this can be a dangerous time. When we do to much and take on too much too early, it re-sensitizes the nervous system. It doesn’t prevent healing in the long term, but it can make us feel discouraged. So try to pace yourself, even if you are feeling good.

 

10. You do need to respect your body during recovery, although you don’t need to make drastic changes to your lifestyle. Exercise, in any form is critical—even if you can only walk around the house or to the end of the block. Eating well and avoiding all stimulants is crucial. Regular high-protein snacks can help with the shakes and the feelings of weakness we have during withdrawal and recovery.

 

11. Recovery is all about acceptance, but this does not mean passive acceptance. Set small goals for yourself that are achievable. Try to keep exercise happening. Work at your recovery even if that means accepting you are sick—for now. You wouldn’t be hard on yourself if you were in a traffic accident and had injuries; you would work at rehab. Try to take the same attitude and approach to benzodiazepine withdrawal.

 

 

P.S. The 'waves' of symptoms are very typical in benzo withdrawal and recovery.  Your central nervous system is very sensitive to any sort of stressors and will overreact when stressed right now.

Hi! I saw your post and wanted to give some words of encouragement.  I'm not an expert by any means; however, I would suggest staying away from ambien as it is highly addictive and I would find another psychiatrist one who is helpful. I personally feel that trazadone is very helpful for sleep for me. I'm 2 months off after 10 years of benzos....I feel you are going through withdrawal as I had or sometimes have many of the symptoms as you. Did you taper off of Xanax?

This sounds like typical withdrawal....is there anyway you can get a doctor that would taper you off of Xanax. The first couple of months were the absolute worst for me. I don't think it's the Trazadone or Wellbutrin. I always find prayer very helpful, journaling, taking warm baths, and melatonin for sleep. I would highly suggest you finding a different doctor ASAP! I have brain fog as well and at times I think my brain is damaged, then I will have a window day that things are going good. You need a taper plan as you have been on this medication for way too long. Let me know how you are doing? I'm always willing to listen and try to be as helpful as possible. I do have a strong medical background as well:) I always found the ashton manual to be my bible during this ordeal...probably have read over 1,000 times. Also, reading success stories was very very helpful at me during my worst days.