Re: Xanax Withdrawl- Cold turkey Reaction-Questions

[Guest guest]

Dear ,

Welcome to the group :-) I'm glad you found us.

You said:

<<two times in the past few months i had what i now conclude to be

xanax withdrawl symptoms. In short, avg dosage was 4 to 5 mgs/ day

plus 1 tab ambien for sleep. been using for about 3 years,

Not going to go into details about doctors and etc., but i stopped CT

(cold turkey) xanax and ambien. The first few days of CT i didn't

notice much, and started to use vicodin to help for any withdrawl

symptoms that i feared may may occur. (How stupid is that). well,

maybe after about a few days of CT i took a few too many vicodin in a

5 hour period and became violently ill for like 3 days. experienced

extreme nausea, could not eat for days, spent hours laying in tub

wrteching. also could not stand sound and lights. couldn't even watch

tv, bathe, or stand up for more than a few mins. went to ER after 3

days as i thought my reaction was to vicodin and did not have

anything to do with withdrawl from xanax and ambien. they gave me

some shots for the naesea and within a day or so i could eat a little.

a few months later went CT again with both xananx and ambien, this

time no opiates. well, had the same symptoms- naeusa, shakes, sweat,

wretching, insomnia. this time did not go to ER as i finally relaized

this was actual withdrawl, nothing to do with opiates. for about 3

days i went with practically no sleep, ate nothing, tried to drink

water and resorted to sucking ice cubes to prevent dehydration.

i have seen many movies which dealt with heroin withdrawl

(trainspotting, requiem for a dream) and always thought they were

over dramatic. i am not saying my withdrawl was that dramatic but it

was pure hell- the worst ever. i felt like a junkie. i thhought that

kind of crap happened with hard drugs like cocaine and heroin and oxy-

not xanax. it is a schedule IV drug and never imagined that it could

be so horrible.

i did not post this to ask for advice on withdrawl, as i am working

on that. i know gradual withdrawl is the method to go and there are

many options to withdrawl safely.

my question is: are these symptoms i exprienced common to sudden

withdrawl. wondering if something else could also have caused such

violent reaction. since very similar reactions happened to me two

times, i have ruled out that the vicodin had much to do with my first

experience (big assumption i know)>>

** It's classic withdrawal symptoms commonly experienced by people who

have taken drugs like these.

You said:

<<i am very curious if others who went CT experienced any similar

experiences. i never would have really thought these drugs, which are

advertised on telvision could really cause this. wanted to see if my

reaction was rare or if others may have had similar reactions.>>

** Those who go CT experience it and those who reduce the drugs too

rapidly experience it as well. In most cases, it is impossible to get away

without experiencing even some of these things no matter how slowly one

reduces dosage.

Have you read this? http://www.benzo.org.uk/stories.htm

Regards,

[Guest guest]

Dear Janet,

You said:

<<Only time i went cold turkey, i also went psychotic (happy little

psychotic but out of reality anyway and ended up in the nuthouse).

That's rather dramatic. >>

LOL, " rather dramatic " . huh? Thanks for the laugh.

Regards,

[Guest guest]

Hi ,

Welcome to the group! I'm glad you found us.

You said:

<<my question is: are these symptoms i exprienced common to sudden

withdrawl. wondering if something else could also have caused such

violent reaction. since very similar reactions happened to me two

times, i have ruled out that the vicodin had much to do with my first

experience (big assumption i know)>>

The answer (as I know you've heard by now) is YES. People experience all

these and more from going CT. I know I did. Ended up in the hospital every

time I did it....where they proceeded to give me back all the old drugs,

plus a couple more for good measure (evidently they feel uncomfortable when

psych patients still have a pulse).

<<i never would have really thought these drugs, which are

advertised on telvision could really cause this. wanted to see if my

reaction was rare or if others may have had similar reactions.>>

LOL, we were just talking about that today. Watch those tv ads for

prescription drugs more closely....when they rush through the list of

possible " side effects " in that casual, lighthearted voiceover, they say

things like " and, in some cases, DEATH. " Somehow, I don't have a lot of

faith in the FDA's commitment to monitoring this kind of advertising....

Best wishes to you in your withdrawal process. I'll be glad to offer any

support I can.

Kim