tired of this (w/response)

[Guest guest]

Dear Jan,

You said:

<<Good Evening; Here goes the short one, been on xanax for three years the

first year one mg a day, the second year 2mg a day, now the third year got down

to o.5 mg a day but tried to get off to fast and it sort of backfired, the first

withdrawal symptomn was increased b/p so had to take some clonodine, now taking

1 mg a day take o.5 first thing in the morning then just about every evening i

get a anxiety attack which is really a withdrawal event, b/p goes up and just

take some xanax and clonodine and all is well, if you are wondering yes am a

retired nurse, but getting off xanax all together is a puzzle, i don't abuse it

so it can be a good tool, some people have to take seizure drugs, diabetic drugs

and they don't worry about getting off them so why should i inherited a bad set

of nerves and xanax works so someone tell me why should i get off, the first

thing that upsets me i will be right back on them, so why go through the hell of

withdrawal, but it is all just getting to be a nuisance, guess i rambled on

enough, everyone take care jan>>

** Okay, so please tell me why you're here if you are willing to keep taking

the xanax? I'm not here to talk you out of it. I'm here to help people

withdraw and recover from the use of these drugs.

You can't take just one dose a day after having been on it more frequently.

In fact, because of the short half-life of xanax, at this point you should be

switching over to a longer acting drug like Valium or Klonopin. It is almost

impossible to get off xanax without doing this switch. Have you ever taken

another benzodiazepine?

I'm not sure why you said, " if you are wondering yes am a retired nurse... "

I can't help buty notice you're now taking clonidine regularly. This is not

the best idea in the world. While clonodine blocka alpha-adrenergic sctivity.

clonodine should be a drug of last resort used only short time in acute

withdrawal in necessary. This is because the effects it has on the adrenal

system can be irreversible. It is highly addictive, too.

Sre you just expressing reluctance to get off xanax or is it because you

don't know what to do next?

Regards,