Long Term High Dose Xanax Effects (Page 10)

I began taking Xanax in 1982. I have been abusing it more and more over the years. I can now take 14 mg and not even tell it. I can stop taking it with no withdrawals. It's like I am immune to it. For the past two years I have been experiencing a lack of cognition, forgetfullness, and general fatigue. It does not matter if I stop the Xanax for a couple of months, I feel like the deficit is permanent. Can Xanax lead to permanent brain damage?

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I see you don't have withdrawal symptoms. . Good. Try spacing between the dosage. Unfortunately the high you've been looking for will be the first few pills you take. Adding more will not deliver that euphoric feeling. I'd suggest a long absence might do you some good. Memory loss is the major problem.. quit and you'll find that certain things come back to you. . It's amazing how you realize that you can live without the pills

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Version, if you were any kind of 'expert' you would know (as any pharmacist or psychiatrist will tell you) that cessation of alprazolam (Xanax) can be lethal, causing seizures and hallucinations. You should always warn someone of that. Just stopping especially at doses of 1.5mg/day or higher (if taken for, say, a year or more daily) is DANGEROUS. Plus, new studies link it to Alzheimer's. Any more questions?

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I know how you feel, I started using after I was bully in school and my ec husband beat me for many years, I only been on the pill 3 months and it do calm my panic attacks, plus I found the love of my life who helps me when I'm having a attack, Deep breathing, prayer and Faith

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I doubt some of the people on the Xanax threads are "professionals" as some of the information they provide in utter nonsense. If you have to tell people you are a doctor or PA or NP, you probably aren't one. Those people generally are way too busy actually practicing medicine to be on boards like this. You get your best info from someone who has been using the meds you have questions about, and who isn't a nutjob or a braggart. I'm neither, and I would be the kind of doctor Rob Lowe plays in "I'll Melt With You" if I had the degree so it is better we speak honestly. Xanax DOES have long term effects. If you are taking several 2mg bars a day for longer than a couple of months you will want to ween yourself off. If you don't want to tell your doc (and I guess I should technically advise you to) then I would do a detox like this: For 2mg 4x day, take this dose for 10 days. Reduce it to 1.5mg 3-4x (try for 3) day for 10 days. Then 1mg 3xday with a .25 at bedtime. Then .5mg 3xday, then .5mg 2xday, then .25 3xday with .25 at bedtime if needed, then .25 2xday with .25 at bedtime if needed, then half of that in AM and .25 in evening, then half 2xday, etc. Go S-L-O-W. A doc can help because it is easier to get cooperation with the right dosages instead of using a pill splitter. Any psychiatrist or even a MHNP will be happy to help you do a slow taper because if you just stop taking the medication, the first day or two you may be okay, but on Day 3 hallucinations are common. I tried to stop without a taper when I was younger and quickly had to be put back on my regular dosage. I have begun a slow taper myself, after reading that benzo's have been linked to Alzheimer's. Since none of the so-called "profesionals" mentioned this very well-known study, I doubt they were anything other than a janitor at the local hospital...if that. Don't risk it: get off benzo's NOW.

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Wean yourself off as quickly as is reasonable. There's no fire, but make a point of not taking it for more than two months.

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NO. You don't have to cancel your trip. Just take .5mg. one half hour before each flight. You won't become dependent on that very low dose occasionally, like when you're flying.

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You can't take Suboxone to get off Xanax. It's for opiate withdrawal only.

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That's your brain telling you that i take 20 valium 10 mg and i think am fine. You just try detox off them and you will be fine for 5-6 days. Then when they're completely out your system wait for the crash; not advised love. Please don't just take .25 a month. I take 2mg of diazepam a month and am on 15 now from 40. Doing well but i know the lower i get the worse i'll be, it's that bad. I could not do it last time. Benzos are worse than opiates and about the same as methamphetamine, as that's hell. Well I hope i've helped if you wanna stop.

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yes my mother over takes her Xanax ands takes colonzopam to and her kidneys are failing could the benzos e the problem

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i notice this is a very old post and i hope your ok i just noticed this post and its quite amazing as i have the exact same problem with diazepam I've been taking them first recreationally in 1988 ti 1990 im from Glasgow in Scotland but moved to London in 1992 to try get waY from our epidemic with temazepam and diazepam in Britain xanax are non existent im actually dying ti try them anyway i get all the same symptoms as you and i believe i have a bit of brain damage my speech memory and depression are all bad i could be taking 28 5 mg in one go and barely feel the difference i wouldn't take even 10 5mg as i know nothing would happen its also so hard to germ a script now Dr s won't prescribe 10 mg only 5s u start my 4 th dettox on wed 21St 4 days time so again its 20mg at a reduction of 2mg a month but as its a psych clinic Dr im going to ask for alprazalam or klonopin so maybe tbd let me know wots happening

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Yes people are "dying" to try Xanax which is only available via a 'Private Precription' in the UK

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hi jay, im jay too. you are totally right on what you are saying about the diazepam. are you British as i know nothing about xanax as i live in London and they are non existent here totally. anyway diazepam is a big enough problem on its own as you know. i too couldn't do my last detox. u done it but the difference between 2mg and zero was unbearable. i moved areas got a new Dr now who hates diazepam. He gave me 20mg a day for 2 weeks then decided to not see me and he left 1 months worth pre dated script weekly, but immediately cut me to 10 mg a day from 20. better than nothing but also left a note saying no more diazepam to be prescribed to this man so now this doctor wants me to use my methadone clinic where luckily they are willing to take me on, but detox only. so i meet this new Dr expert on wed. i had 6 yellows 5s on Friday, i got nothing but 40 ml of methadone daily until wed comes i will be ok, but i was wondering if this new dr would put me onto klonopin or ativan or xanax, as diazepam has such a bad name here? good luck with the remainder of your detox as you know it gets harder. it took me 8 months to get to zero, then it hit me. i was suicidal. this time i wont go to zero. i will again just tell them i'll kill myself, it's not my choice to detox but mate when you say you would rather die things change. try it as sad as it is you may have to try.

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Borzalmas nem értem miért írják fel leszokasásba meg nem segitenek

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Of course it can cause brain damage anything you abuse medically especially can .. I.have been taking diazepam for over 20 years

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Need a phychatrist who will prescribe meds for Anxiety been on it 8 years my Dr moved I cannot go cold turkey need phychatrist soon anyone no a good time one plz

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A psychiatrist prescribed me Xanax or alprazolam about 13 yrs ago. When she left for an office of her own, they couldn't accept my ins there so a nurse practitioner continued them, even raising them 6 months after cirrhosis diagnosis, now give me 2 weeks to work down from 1mg three times a day to 0.25 three times a day! What's up? They realize they killed my liver, now hurry get me off? I am scared out of my mind, I've had 2 suicides in family! I cry all day!

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Five years ago I had a failed suicide attempt. One day I took approximately 100 mg of Xanax and when I woke up I took approximately 30 mg more. I remember nothing after taking the first bottle, just had the empty bottles & my roommate's description to fill in the blanks. About three days later I was awake & basically normal, though I did stay awake for over five days & may have had a very slight seizure. I have had a great deal of memory loss since then. Most of it is short term stuff, but I've also lost long term memories, actual content/knowledge pieces, and have very frequent word loss where I can't bring up the words for everyday tangible objects or ideas. I've given up on recalling names - it's just luck if I'm able to do it. Adding new info & making it stick is a real challenge. My question - do you think this is related to the overdose with Xanax? It was quite some time ago, but I fear I did permanent damage. I've got a neurologist appointment in a month - it's taken a long time to get a referral from my regular doctor who has insisted this is all normal. I'm 40, and I feel confident none of this is normal at all. I'm grateful for your input.

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Re: barredfrombars (# 80)

It sounds exactly like me and my past Xanax abuse. I was taking 20 mg and more everyday for 15 years along with countless amounts of Oxycontin & 15 years of anabolic steroid abuse. I have now been off of everything for about 4 years and I can still feel the stupid in me LOL if that makes any sense. I haven't been able to keep a job for 4 years I can't remember s*** about anything I've done or anything that I do now. I'd like to speak to you personally since you're about 20 years older than me. I'm almost 40 and I still think like that 19 year old. It's been 4 years clean yet I still feel like I'm taking them daily. Is this normal? Also I quit cold turkey, it was hell. Like I said it's been 4 years and I still experience withdrawals. I know I was not supposed to stop abruptly like I did. I had to go to Medical detoxes and they couldn't even treat me. They sent me to the hospital and I came back home for 3 months disillusions and hallucinations talking to people that weren't there, not knowing what was real. It was scary as hell, not going to lie. I still get that way from time to time. I've lost everything. When I say everything, everything. I just need someone to maybe kind of guide me cuz I'm doing this alone now. It's just me. I have no kids no wife no life LOL. Do you think I've done permanent damage? From what all I've read and a couple of doctors I spoke with they said no doubt I have so that makes me feel really good you know. I mean damn that's a real encouraging thing to tell somebody who's already depressed thinking about killing themselves on a daily basis for the last 4 years.

I don't know. I just didn't picture my life like this at 38 years old. I had everything in the world my whole life. 21 playing professional baseball, doing everything right and then the steroids started to get bigger and stronger and I think that's what triggered a chemical imbalance in my brain to take my first blue football at the gym one day and I thought I had just found every answer to every question I've ever had and then came the Lortabs and everything just escalated from there to what is now turned into 20 years. The last 4 years sober but I don't feel sober. I still feel like I'm more f***ed up in the head than I was when I was on the stuff. Not going to lie, taking a Xanax here and there and if I take one bar it actually doesn't do anything for this. It's been 4 years without taking it. I recently about 5-6 months ago took about 10 mg of Xanax after not taking them for 4 years and I felt absolutely nothing and that to me seems like a big f***ing problem, like there's something bad/wrong upstairs. I know I've been rambling on. I can't sleep. I never sleep. I've lost 40 lbs over this last 4 years but a lot of that has to do with not taking steroids in 5 years or going to the gym in seven or eight years, but I used to be 205 lbs and now I'm lucky if I'm 170. I'm 5 foot 10. Any thoughts? I know this is an old post. If anyone has any advice please feel free to write back. I may be able to help you with something, who knows. Thanks.

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i had an above knee amputation, 45 years ago within 2 weeks I was getting phantom pains and have continued to have them , the pain very severe, they last two days,I have been told it has something to do with the moon, many, many years later, my husband also became an amputee. He suffered NO phantom pains. I blame the way it was wrapped

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Re: june (# 199)

The Moon June, interesting. Do you take Xanax as well, some Doctors prescribe it for pain

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