Has anyone ever been on Xanax Long Term?
Question:
Its Very Hard To withdrawal from this medicine. Do you People Think Rehab is a good idea for detoxing Xanax out of your system for good. Xanax Helps My General Anxitey, But im way to long with this medicine. so i say to you people here have you been on this medicine long time?
Answers:
This I think is the best way to withdraw from the drug. Make sure you stay in close ties with your doctor while you do this. Also, during and even after you fully withdraw from the drug, you might want to look into something called Cognitive Behavior Therapy. It is very helpful in ''curing'' anxiety and depression in over 95% of people. Now re: xanax. If you are taking 2mg now, the first step is to lower the dose gradually. Go for the next lowest dose possible. And this doesn't necessarally mean the next pill dose lower. If there is a pill of 1.25 mg and one of 1.5mg before you get to 2mg you may think 1.5 is the next lowest dose. Not true. If you split the 1.25 dose in half, you get 0.625mg. So 1/2 a 1.25 pill plus the 1.25 pill itself (as a whole) will equal 1.865mg of Xanax. So the next dose down you'd take is 1.865mg, not 1.5. Keep doing this little by little...
Week 1: 1.865mg (1 whole 1.25pill plus 1/2 of a 1.25pill)
Week 2: 1.5mg (1 whole 1.5pill)
Week 3: 1.25mg (1 whole 1.25pill)
Week 4: 1.125mg (1 whole .75pill plus 1/2 of a .75pill)
Week 5: 1mg (1 whole 1mg pill)
This may seem slow and tedious but this slow withdrawing helps prevent what's called withdrawel effects which can feel worse than the drugs side effects. After week 5 continue to decrease the dose every 2 weeks by .25mg:
Week 6: 0.75
Week 7: 0.5
Week 8: 0.25
At week 9 for the last 2 weeks take 0.125mg Xanax (devide the .25mg pill in half). On week 10 take the 0.125mg xanax every other day. Week 11, every 3rd day. (you'll need a calander now for this) Week 12, every 4th day. Week 13, every 5th day. After week 13, you can safely stop the drug alltogether and continue psychotherapy or just take the drug as needed.
Remember: never go it alone. If you feel that you can't go lower if you get to a dose stay on that dose longer. For ex: if you drop down to 1mg and feel more anxious, stay on the 1mg until the anxiety level decreases and then resume the schedule above...
Good luck...
Andy...
Many people have to go to rehab to get off the stuff. It is highly addictive. My mom is also addicted to it, prescribed it for anxiety as well, but she can't stop taking it. I'd recommend trying to stop it yourself by a slow wean off method monitored by your doctor. Also, you can look in to taking other benzos instead of Xanx, like Ativan. Ativan has a longer half-life, so withdrawal from it is not as bad. If you switched to Ativan, you might be able to get off of it easier. Either way, you need to be monitored by a doctor the entire time because you can have seizures attempting to come off of benzos in an incorrect way.
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