xanax - can I just stop now?

[Iksfreundin]

I always write down when and how much I take xanax. I only took it twice in the past two weeks, about a week apart from one another. However, I have been taking it 2-3 times weekly for about 14 months (the last four months have been at doses less than .25 mgs each; before it was between .5 and 1 mg at a time).

Am I still okay? Or am I looking at withdrawal? How do I approach this? I don't want any more addictions - I just have been taking it after two or three days of low-level anxiety, to break it. But I don't want to always depend on it. I haven't taken it now in a few days, either. I have about 10 left in my prescription, and I don't necessarily want more...

[TryingtoGetWell]

Since you haven't been taking it regularly (daily), I think you'll be fine, but since I have had to take benzos daily for a million years as anticonvulsants, I can't speak from personal experience, only from what I've read and heard.

Hopefully people who've used it sparingly as you have will relate their experiences here!

[nicemom]

There are other people who certainly know more about this than I do but, I think you will probably be fine. I know the concerns about getting addicted and you have done the right thing by not taking it daily. I don't think the benzos affect or brains long term when taken occasionally. They are totally different types of drugs.

Good for you only taking the .25. That is a very small amount and you only took it 1-2 times a week. I think you will be fine, but again, I can not say that with 100% accuracy. I'm sure someone else will answer you that does know for sure.

Your doing such a great job weaning and getting through this!!!!

[Johnnny off Paxil]

Excuse me...... benzo withdrawal IS SERIOUS...you need to wean ans wean very carefully...... if you want I can post the article that talks about what happens to the brain , the GABA receptors and the role that plays in withdrawal.... by the way you may find it interesting that benzos affect the very same part of the brain that alcohol does and that the same GABA receptors are affected in exactly the same manner...except the half life of benzos are so short..the crash is immediate and severe.

SO be very careful.


Regards, Johnny

[rdjanis]

I don't know alot about benzo's, but from what I have read here they are pretty bad to come off of. Did you feel any affect by only taking it once per week? If you were taking it regularly I would suggest cutting it from three times per week to two etc. But if you have cut down to once per week with no effect, then maybe it is ok. I think the addiction is formed when taken daily...?

Hopefully someone else will kick in here that has had experience weening off of it.

[Dawn B.]

I doubt you are addicted to it in a way that would give you w/d. If that was the case, you would not be able to skip days taking it.
I have used it before, even daily, and I was able to just stop. It was a little tough for a few days. Everyone is different, and some get benzo addiction really bad, like SSRIs, and some don't.

[Iksfreundin]

I haven't taken it daily ever, the entire time I've been on now. Over the winter, when school was going on, I took it 4 times a week or less. Then, in the summer, I ran out and my doc wasn't giving me more, so I didn't take any for about a month or more. Then I ended up in the hospital from panic and the doc there gave some to me, and from then on I've taken them 2-3 times a week or less, taking 1/2 to 3/4 of a .25. Two weeks ago, I didn't take any for over 7 days, and took it on the eighth day, and took another 5 days later. There's no pattern to when I take it; and I don't have rebound anxiety or anything like that. Soooooo.... I don't even know HOW I would wean!! It's so random and such a small amount anyway.

[rdjanis]

I think the fact that you have not taken it regularily at all, and when you do is in small amounts, that you can just stop. To wean from the way you have been taking would be near impossible, makes no sense to me.

[Iksfreundin]

I never worried about it in the least until everyone here started talking about benzo withdrawal. Never had a problem with stopping it, never had a fear that I'd get addicted. Now it's hard for me to read here, because it's MAKING me scared!! I'm so malleable from the paxil withdrawal already! So I just wanted some opinions.

[TryingtoGetWell]

I really think the problems people have had (and I was one of them) were from regular consistent use that caused a true habituation.

From what you describe, that doesn't apply to your present use. What you've been reading about is true and important but I really don't think applies to your use.

Just for your own peace of mind, you could try reducing your use to less than what you have been taking, but like Rita said, your use has been so sporadic I don't see how to do that really, except to take it even less often each week etc. But I really don't think that's necessary. It just doesn't sound like your body is habituated to it.

If you stop using it and think you're having any problems from it during the first couple of weeks or so, they would stop immediately (within about fifteen minutes!) by taking a dose like what you've been taking occasionally recently. But bear in mind that many paxil and benzo w/d symptoms are similar (though certainly there are some distinctive differences), so chances are any problems you feel during that time would be from paxil w/d, not xanax w/d.

If that happens and you take a xanax (same dosage as you're used to) and the symptoms disappear immediately within about fifteen minutes or so, and that happens consistently, then you might suspect some physical dependence on xanax. If taking the xanax just makes you a little more relaxed in dealing with symptoms, similar to what it may be doing for you now, but the symptoms are still present, then I'd suspect the symptoms are from paxil w/d. I hope that makes sense. Please feel free to contact me if you need me to try to clarify.

[rdjanis]

Originally Posted by Iksfreundin

I never worried about it in the least until everyone here started talking about benzo withdrawal.

Benzo withdrawal is horrendous if one has been taking it daily, and especially long term. That is not the case with you.

[texgirl]

Terra, if I were you, I'd just continue using it the way you have been and not worry too much about habituation. Rita's right, I'm not sure how you'd taper anyway, since you take it so randomly now. (And in a way you've been tapering already, since you've been lowering both the dose and the frequency with which you take it.) You don't seem to have a problem stopping it, and since your use is so intermittent, it's unlikely you'd go into the kind of full-blown w/d that someone who takes it regularly would get.

I'd also be sure to keep a few slivers on hand until you reach 0 mg of Paxil. You can worry about quitting the Xanax completely then if you feel ready to.

[scotty]

The key is to find something other than the xanax to handle the anxiety. Changing that behavior of reaching for the xanax is going to give you the freedom to put it aside. I don't believe that addiction is a problem with the way you're using it. BUT breaking that pattern is going to be key for stopping it altogether.

[ssailor]

I have taken it on and off for a couple years now. The past few months since I have been depressed more I find myself taking 1mg twice a day however I have not taken it in over a week now and I have been fine. I have never had trouble taking it and stopping it. I was worried this time because I have been taking it almost every day for months but I have not had a problem this week.

[scotty]

SS, 2 mg a day of xanax is ALOT of xanax. Be careful!

[ssailor]

Laurie,

I know I had got adjusted to the high dose everyday because before that much would have knocked me out but now I can take that much and function ok but it was not helping the depression it did help with some of the anxiety. I think it is a shame when I can stop the xanax but I still cant stop the paxil.

Originally Posted by ssailor

I have taken it on and off for a couple years now. The past few months since I have been depressed more I find myself taking 1mg twice a day however I have not taken it in over a week now and I have been fine. I have never had trouble taking it and stopping it. I was worried this time because I have been taking it almost every day for months but I have not had a problem this week.

being 'okay' one week after c/t'ing a benzo that you took for months does not mean you are out of the woods. IF you have sustained adaptations to the GABA receptors, it just means it hasn't "hit" yet. Benzos work on a threshold principle. Go back on and taper slowly. Better to be safe than very sorry. I don't think many on here belong to the benzo boards or have gone through a benzo taper or a benzo c/t like I have (3 times was a charm). I know this isn't a popular opinion here...but people really don't know what they are playing with in regards to the benzos. I think sometimes a single dose is worth the risk of a paradoxical reaction in the case of medical procedures, etc. Other than that, it's just not worth it. I personally will never touch them again. It's not about "addiction" it's about dependency, whether or not the benzo has produced the semi-permanent changes in an attempt to adapt to the presence of the drug. We are all different. That could happen in the matter of "as needed" dosing or consistent daily dosing. You just don't know for sure. This w/d is a miserable and horrible thing to go through....I know why a lot of people on here think they can't do it without the benzo and take it in pure innocense and ignorance (esp. not knowing just how much worse it could be), just wanting to make it through the a/d taper. It's just not worth the risk esp. since everyone on here has built dependency to the ssri's. More than likely, the dependency will be built with the other drugs. As much as I wish I could spare all ofyou what I and other have endured from benzos, I know it is your choice.

Emmy

[TryingtoGetWell]

What Emmy says is very true. With both benzo and paxil w/d's, I felt fine for about a couple of weeks, then it hit me like a cement wall. Why some people feel effects sooner (often while still tapering) and others, like myself, don't feel any w/d or even feel better while tapering and at first when totally off, then have horrible w/d, I don't know. Clearly different individual responses, just as we have dramatically different responses to being on the meds.

So I completely agree with Emmy that you should be careful for some time after being off the benzos, ssailor. You may be one of those lucky ones who can just go off with no problem, but even if that was the case in the past, that has changed with some people. I'm NOT trying to scare you, just to suggest you be aware that any possible delayed symptoms may be from going off the med even if they take a couple of weeks or more to appear, and then going back on and doing a very slow taper is what you'd need to do.

But for T (Iksfreundin) this shouldn't apply, since you were only using it sporadically, and as texgirl pointed out, actually even already did a sort of slow taper already given your infrequent and irregular use of the xanax.

[lov4k9s]

Originally Posted by Johnnny off Paxil

Excuse me...... benzo withdrawal IS SERIOUS...you need to wean ans wean very carefully...... if you want I can post the article that talks about what happens to the brain , the GABA receptors and the role that plays in withdrawal.... by the way you may find it interesting that benzos affect the very same part of the brain that alcohol does and that the same GABA receptors are affected in exactly the same manner...except the half life of benzos are so short..the crash is immediate and severe.

SO be very careful.


Regards, Johnny

Johnny~

I would be interested in reading the article re: GABA receptors.

[Amaya's Nana]

Terra - I don't think you have to worry about stopping the xanax abruptly. You've been taking a very, very small amount and not on a consistent basis. What Scotty said is true. You have to break the habit of that little bit of xanax when you feel like you can't take it anymore. You're smart.......I know you've come a long way and that's what's important. I don't believe you're dependent in a physical sense.

[Scott]

doing a small taper (cutting down the amount you take when you would normally take it) may help break you of the psychological addiction.. it's very powerful with benzos.. i carried my xanax bottle around with me even after i had been off over a year until i lost the bottle.

[Lilly]

Its hard to say Terra. Just you saying you had to stop and ended up in the hospital for panic made me wonder about it. And I think you questioning says it all. Why not just find a way to deal with stuff other than drugs like the others have said and go slowly off them.

Lilly

[csnyder002]

I take Xanax every night- before bedtime. It's my "chill pill" and I sleep like a rock most nights. I have been doing this for a while now, forgot how long--where as in the past, I only used it as needed which was very little. When the Paxil pooped out- that's when I began taking more xanax, and every now and then- I take it for severe anxiety control. I am clearly in the "habit" of taking it every night, and frankly- I look forward to it. But, in your case, I don't think you need to worry too much- it doesn't sound like it's habitual for you. You will be fine. And I agree with others responses on finding ways to cope with your anxiety besides using the little pill. That's what I'm currently trying to do, while tapering Paxil as well. Good luck- and not to worry.

Carrie