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Can someone give me symptoms to worry about if I'm in withdrawal?


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I don't know if I need to taper or not, i'm an occasional .5 at night only Xanax user for many years.  The last few weeks I've been doing every day. I've done that before without a problem and went back to occasional use again (like 3-5 days a week). However someone made me aware that the severe problems I've been having could be due to dose tolerance....so i cold turkeyed and didnt' have any for three days and couldn't sleep one second, and had massive anxiety, tingling, cold shocks....that I thought was due to something else. I did get worried and took 3/4 pill yesterday morning.  I don't want to cold turkey, it could cause problems for me, but I just don't know if I'm dependent and don't want to start taking it every day in order to switch over to Valium....if I don't even have dependence.  I'm sitting here right now with a massive headache in my temples and worried I'm going to seize or something. Can you give me some insight?
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I think your body IS tolerant and somewhat addicted to the Xanax. And this is okay, it happens all the time. Going cold turkey is never a good idea but some people just have to do it that way. I sure did.

 

You have been on a low dose of Xamax. Tapering off it should be fairly easy, but you do need to know that some withdrawal symptoms may occur.

 

Your description of symptoms sounds very normal and typical to me. Withdrawal from benzos can be truly awful.

 

I think your body is trying to tell you that you ARE indeed dependant on the benzos. The human body/brain is amazing. Taking benzos even in low doeses WILL cause you to become addicted, or dependant on the drug. And getting off these drugs can be truly awful!  However, if you manage to taper off, you will find yourself slowly becoming a far more healthy, happy person. Trust what you read 0n BB. Most of it is really true and real. I would encourage you to read about what is causing all your weird symptoms. Having even a basic understanding of how benzos affect your brain will help you deal with whatever symptoms you do have.

 

You will be okay. Just taper off (or if you have to, go cold turkey) and you will learn how to cope with symptoms and you will recover from this.

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I had the same dilemma, because I used benzos a few times a week - first with Xanax (2004-2009), then with Klonopin (2017).  I stopped both with very little, if any, taper.  I really don't think anybody can know exactly what to do in cases like ours, when the doses are low and (mostly) not every day.  Sometimes I regret not tapering with Valium, sometimes I think that this would have just prolonged and/or worsened the ordeal.  I am not qualified to give advice regarding the seizures, but from what I have read on this forum I don't think that you, or I, were on doses large enough to be at risk for having them due to CT withdrawal. 
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Hey finally I found someone like me! I read your timeline...you were probably like me and didn't think you were tolerant on them.  I am subject to akathesia, by the way, which scares me to death that I could kindle something like that.....when you stopped taking the xanax did you have issues?  And thanks east coast....I just have no idea how to taper bec I don't want to start taking it every day again, and there really isn't a taper for my .5 once a night.  I looked at that taper plan, and it's no where on that. I don't want to start taking benzos three times a day when I only take them once a day! That just seems bad!
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Yes, I'm sure there are others like us.  I don't remember much about the Xanax withdrawal in which occurred in Feb. of 2009.  I managed to undergo surgery in June 2009, so I guess I wasn't too out of it.  I was benzo free after that for a few years, but I had anxiety in the summer of 2016 and took it again (not much maybe a dozen times), which resulted in kindling and depression.  The third benzo run was the worst, clonazapam in 2017, only 17 mgs in total (.5 doses on average, about 32 occasions), and I'm still paying the price six and a half months later.  Could've been worse, I know, but it's still bad.

 

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I am experiencing very similar symptoms and headaches and fatigue and I haven’t even started the tapering process.i have had insomnia for years and years and have been taking .5 Xanax and 15mg of Temazapam nightly and now am having withdrawals between dosages and I feel forced to taper but what I’m worried about most is whether I can make my trip to Europe that was planned and paid for a year ago with my husband this October. Has anyone traveled long distances while tapering?
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Thanks everyone! Pono.....how are you today? From what I've read on here I wouldn't want to be out of the country during tapering!  What are you withdrawals between dosages?
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