Couple of questions

I have unsuccessfully tried to quit Xanax twice, now I updosed to .5mg 3 times a day, I notice now when I take the second .5 mg I start to get really wicked symptoms. It's been less than 2 weeks since I updosed but I really think that it is making me feel worse. My questions are, could an updose make you feel worse? and am I okay to go ahead and go back to 1mg a day without tapering? I also have a question about crossing over to another benzo. Could that make me feel better right away or is there cross-tolerance?, and if I do switch to say Valium can I do it overnight? or is it a gradual process? My last question is, can an ssri help you through the tapering and withdrawal process?

I have unsuccessfully tried to quit Xanax twice, now I updosed to .5mg 3 times a day, I notice now when I take the second .5 mg I start to get really wicked symptoms. It's been less than 2 weeks since I updosed but I really think that it is making me feel worse. My questions are, could an updose make you feel worse? and am I okay to go ahead and go back to 1mg a day without tapering? I also have a question about crossing over to another benzo. Could that make me feel better right away or is there cross-tolerance?, and if I do switch to say Valium can I do it overnight? or is it a gradual process? My last question is, can an ssri help you through the tapering and withdrawal process?

 

Hi:

 

An updose can make you feel worse if you're paradoxical to the medication. It's OK to updose without tapering until you get stable. But if you're paradoxical, then the updose will make you worse. Were you paradoxical to xanax before you updosed? If not, then the updosing will make you more stable.

 

Yes, I suppose you can switch to valiium right away if you want. You may feel  withdrawal symtpoms if you go directly to valium as xanax is a much stronger benzo. Personally, I am switching from klonopin to valium slowly for this reason. But I am on a much higher dose of benzos than you are, so a direct switch would make my withdrawal very unpleasant. Switching over to valium will not make you stable overnight. Especially with a longer acting drug like valium, it takes a while for it to get into your bloodstream, For me, it takes a week. For others, it takes longer. I an allergic to SSRis, so I don't know much more than I have read here on BB. From what I know, an SSRi does not make withdrawal easier. But I'm far from an expert, so don't quote me on this. Betsy

I wasn't paradoxical, I was fine for a couple of months until a few days ago. It all just happened at once.

jasondi64: I start to get really wicked symptoms.

I have unsuccessfully tried to quit Xanax twice.

 

What are those symptoms exactly?

 

How did you come off the Xanax the last two times?

 

It sounds like you are kindling because you have done this twice before and you are currently tapering too fast.  You may have to reinstate higher, maybe even more than 1mg to stop the symptoms which appear paradoxical but are not, and do a correct slower microtaper with longer holds than you have been doing.

To me it look like tolerance. I switched to diazepam from clonazepam which has a longer half life than xanax, but not that long anyway, without problem and in the time the Ashton schedule indicates. I think it's the best thing to try if tapering xanax gets hard.

jasondi64: I start to get really wicked symptoms.

I have unsuccessfully tried to quit Xanax twice.

 

What are those symptoms exactly?

 

How did you come off the Xanax the last two times?

 

It sounds like you are kindling because you have done this twice before and you are currently tapering too fast.  You may have to reinstate higher, maybe even more than 1mg to stop the symptoms which appear paradoxical but are not, and do a correct slower microtaper with longer holds than you have been doing.

 

 

In my signature I have how I came off. My symptoms are cramping in my left leg, massive adrenaline burst anxiety attack, shaking, heart beating out of control. I'm going to see my doctor on thursday I don't know if I should ask to switch to Valium or a higher dose of Xanax. I'm taking 1.5mg a day right now. Out the blue I'm completely out of control.

My symptoms are cramping in my left leg, massive adrenaline burst anxiety attack, shaking, heart beating out of control. I'm going to see my doctor on thursday I don't know if I should ask to switch to Valium or a higher dose of Xanax. I'm taking 1.5mg a day right now. Out the blue I'm completely out of control.

 

Sounds like Xanax rebound anxiety.  If you want off Xanax then a switch to Valium and a very slow microtaper with long holds would be what I would do personally.

My symptoms are cramping in my left leg, massive adrenaline burst anxiety attack, shaking, heart beating out of control. I'm going to see my doctor on thursday I don't know if I should ask to switch to Valium or a higher dose of Xanax. I'm taking 1.5mg a day right now. Out the blue I'm completely out of control.

 

Sounds like Xanax rebound anxiety.  If you want off Xanax then a switch to Valium and a very slow microtaper with long holds would be what I would do personally.

 

Can I just switch right away to Valium with no problems? The other guy in this thread hinted at the possibility of some withdrawal from switching.

My symptoms are cramping in my left leg, massive adrenaline burst anxiety attack, shaking, heart beating out of control. I'm going to see my doctor on thursday I don't know if I should ask to switch to Valium or a higher dose of Xanax. I'm taking 1.5mg a day right now. Out the blue I'm completely out of control.

 

Sounds like Xanax rebound anxiety.  If you want off Xanax then a switch to Valium and a very slow microtaper with long holds would be what I would do personally.

 

Can I just switch right away to Valium with no problems? The other guy in this thread hinted at the possibility of some withdrawal from switching.

 

You can't just switch from one drug to the other.  You will have to take some of each at the same time until you are transfered over to Valium completely.

 

Have you read Ashton?

 

http://www.benzo.org.uk/manual/

 

 

Thank you I read the manual and I think I will try to convince my doctor to switch me over to Valium. I didn't take the middle dose today and I didn't have an episode. I think because I had been taking it twice a day for basically years, that my body had gotten used to that schedule and when I tried to start taking it 3 times a day instead of twice my body rejected it, atleast that's the theory I'm going with now. We will see what happens in the upcoming days, I have my fingers crossed.