Is sleeping twitches the symptom of post-withdrawal or tolerance of Alprazolam？

hello, everyone, it is nice to see this forum here as there is no such thing in my country. I am 33 years old and I have taken 0.4mg Alprazolam per day since 2019 Mar after I was diagnosised Panic disorder. At first my doctor ask me to take 0.4mg Alprazolam and 25mg Sertraline per day. But I stop the Sertraline because of the side effect. 5 months later I realized that I need to stop taking Alprazolam. I start to reduce 1/4 of 0.4mg, it seems ok for me but one month later I felt facial spasm when I awake in the morning, I felt strange as I never suffer this symptom in my life. I began to realize that maybe it is the symptom of withdrawal when I read the Ashton Manual. So I did not pay attention to this effect and it disappear after some time. Few weeks later I start to reduce another 1/4, 0.2mg per day, I also felt ok as it did not have any effect for my sleep. But I got lazy and tried to avoid facing it and lost the motivation to cut the dose. From 2020 Mar to 2021 Aug, I kept on taking 0.2mg per day. Untill one month ago, I felt my muscle suddenly twitched when I was in nap at noon. I was not comfortable because when I tried to sleep again, it started to twitch through my body ramdomly. Sometimes it was my arm, sometiems it was my leg, my neck, even my teeth would crash together. I was very nervious about this symptom as I was easy to have insomnia when I felt my muscle move. I went to hospital to check NMR， the result is good, and my doctor suggests I need to take back to 0.4mg Alprazolam and Duloxidine 20mg per day. I am perplexed because I don't know the reason why I will go through this, is my reduction too rapid? But when I think deeply, it it almost one year after I cut to 0.2mg per day, will the post-withdrawal happen so late? Someone say this symptom reflect anxiety so does my doctor according to her prescription. Is there anyone who suffer the same sympton as mine? Please tell me how to solve, thanks everyone to make message here.

Hello chrisacee Welcome to BenzoBuddies.

 

We are glad you are here.  Sorry this is happening to you, I am sure it will settle down, I had something similar. Withdrawal brings on many symptoms but they are temporary.  The recommended taper rate is 5-10% every 10-14 days.  It depends on how you feel, some people need to go more slowly to keep their withdrawal symptoms manageable.[/i]  You've come to a good place for information and support about benzo withdrawal and recovery.

 

Here are some links to resources

 

I suggest you check out the Ashton Manual, its a great resource for understanding the effect that benzodiazepine’s have on our body.    It provides tapering and withdrawal information and includes a list of common symptoms 

 

The Ashton Manual. 

 

You can post here to get some taper ideas: 

 

Planning Your Withdrawal (TaperPlans)

 

Post here to discuss any symptoms you might have:

 

Withdrawal Support

 

You may wish to post to this support group

 

The Xanax Club

 

If you care to add a signature (history of meds/doses etc) it will help members give you relevant advice.  Go to the top of the page and select PROFILE then choose forum profile then insert drug history into the text box and remember to click change profile

 

 

Welcome Aboard

Magrita