Long Term High Dose Xanax Effects (Page 4)

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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For now I've pretty much given up on quitting xanax all together. I'd just like to get it down to around 4 of the 2 mg bars a day and feel comfortable. Right now I can get by on 5 without withdrawals or if it is a bad day sometimes 6. I've asked my girlfriend to help me by holding them and only giving me that amount each day and unless she leaves them out and I'm stupid and take a bunch at once it has been working that way and I feel that if I keep trying it may take a while but I will at least be able to get down to 4 bars a day. My tolerence is much higher as you know so I'm just hoping for normal days with no withdrawal. I have been on such a high dose for so long I really wouldn't mind being on it for the rest of my life as long as it does not kill me( and I don't plan on ever taking enough to come close to overdosing). Like i said in older posts I can take 5 bars at a time now and it is a waste. Now with the subs I may think I have a much worse problem than I do but I don't want to underestimate them. I used to pop opiates all of the time for a week or so then I'd stop and be sick for a few days and next time they were around I'd do the same. A few years ago I started messing with sniffing a little heroin every weekend or so. A year later I was doing the same with that as I did with the pills. I'd but 200 bucks worth, make it last 3 days and then be sick for at least 3 days until I could even get up to go to work. Soon after I was unemployed and doing it like this for around 7 months a few days a week. Once I found suboxone I found I could do the heroin then if I timed it right take the sub a day later and not be sick until I'd let it wear off then do heroin again. That cycle lasted a few months. Before I found the sub I told my girlfriend and is one of the reasons I originally stopped. This time around 2 months ago i got a bunch of subs and told myself I'm getting off of them. The first week or so I took 2mg once a day and that was enough for e to not go through withdrawl. I've cut down very slowly over these last 2 months and am down to taking only 1 mg of sub each day and feeling just as good as when I took 2. May have felt a little crummy for a few days each time I cut down a bit. I have found a batch of 10 strips now which I'm hoping will be enough to finish this off with as little withdrawal as possible. Next week I am cutting an 8 mg strip into ten peices to get down a bit more and hopefully the strip after 12 pieces from one. I want to get down to taking around .25 mg every other day before completley stopping. Does anyone have any suggestions about my plan? I'm really hope I can get through it without feeling too horrible. I work by swimming every day and take a lot of vitamins. Does anyone think I'll still have it bad if I get off how I plan? If so then what should I expect. I have someone here to make sure I don't get back on the dope and other than my xanax and pot I won't touch anything else. Let me know. Thanks

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Joe, best of luck to you.
Janet

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Joe I think you have a good plan. Let me tell you something. I've been on paxil and wellbutrin for severe depression and anxiety. I also take Xanax and I am on 4 15mg oxycodone a day. I went to my dr. And asked if I could switch to lexapro, because it's worked so well for my mom. She stopped me cold turkey from the paxil, even though I told her you just can't stop ANY medication that you've been on for yrs. She disagreed. Sure enough 4 days later I was in the er and the Dr walked in the room and said you're going through withdrawal. As soon as I got one dose in my system I was feeling so much better. So my point is, no matter what meds you take, the safest and easiest way to get off any drug is to take it slow and drop down little by little and you should be fine. Trust me I'm petrified of withdraw from the oxy and Xanax and if I ever not need them anymore, (which I doubt) I have a lot of major medical problems that's how I would do it. Also I won't tell my dr. Because I want to do it at my own speed not theirs. I hope this helped

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It does. At least you gave an idea of what im dealing with and I am very glad to hear you think my plan is good. My dr tried putting me on paxil years back and one or two others to help me get off the xanax but even after a week or two on them i actually felt much worse then ehen stopped that feeling stayed with me for weeks. Then when he swiched i went through withdrawal for another. The 3rd antidepressant i didnt take but told him it did the same. Then he finally said everyone is different and kept me on xanax. So any of those antidepressants are just as addictive as xanax i think but they push the samples on you so that when ypur hooked you gotta buy full price at pharmacy with no generic because its new. Id rather stay on the onw that i know works even though they say it is so much worse for you

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tootzie, you are the kind of person they made xanax for...your quality of life has improved and you are not abusing your medication...there is definitely better living to be had thru the right chemistry...unfortunately you are an exception as 7 out of 10 people who are prescribed a benzo will go on to abuse it at some point....u are doing yourself a huge favor by not abusing it - it's keeping your tolerance lower & even - this is how u will be able to continue taking it & getting the positive results u are getting....if at some point u do feel u are not getting the same therapeutic relief, u can certainly tell your physician this & he/she will likely titrate u up a wee bit.

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Doolah, Joe, and K,
Thanks for the support. Because I lived in fear of ever going anywhere, I ended up losing all my friends. Listen, I'm a very honest person. After about my second month taking them, I did abuse them. I noticed by like the 18th day into my script they were gone. I scared the crap out of myself and quickly got a hold of the situation. It was the same with my oxycodone. I am petrified of withdraw and if I ever have to stop any of my meds I'm doing it my way, slow and a little at a time. Dr's aren't perfect and truly can't tell you what's best for you. I'm having migraines, I forget things, I sweat horribly. I've been to the gyn, she says I'm not in menopause, I go to my neurologist and he swears its hormonal. So as you can see I'm in a bad state of depression and cld use your guys friendship. Your not alone. I'm always willing to listen. Had a horrific cluster headaches, so I'm going to lay down for a bit. Talk soon!

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That was supposed to be a J not K after Joe. Sorry!

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Hi, just wanted to know when you got off the xanax, did you go through any bad withdrawals, like sezures or anything else. i want to stop cold turkey too, but im scared...please let me know what were your symptoms please...god bless...

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Im sorry this was meant for greg helin..please respond back. id appreciate it.

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I have already overdone it with the xanax but as long as I can get myself off of everything else other than a little bit of pot to relax now and then I will be happy being on 6 mg of xanax when I get down that far and thats when I will stop trying to quit, say I've won, and live the rest of my life happil.

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People on the boards say how bad it is to self medicate all of the time but the doctors seem to be the ones getting people hooked because they haven't had any first hand experience. I belive you will always get better info from the people who have went through the things we are or similar than any dr.

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ALEXIA, PLEASE! LIFE IS A GIFT. PLEASE CALL THE SUICIDAL PREVENTION HOTLINE. TALK TO A FRIEND, FAMILY, CLERGY.GET SUPPORT, YOURE NOT ALONE. GOD BLESS YOU.I've been prescribed xanax 1 mg 5 times a day for over 10 yrs now. I have severe panic disorder. I can't tolerate any of the new antidepressants, so I'm also given remeron 45 mg. My psychiatrist wanted me to take the xanax every 4 hrs as a preventative measure of preventing panic attacks. I saw her last month and told her I can't take it like that bc I need to be able to function. She cut me down to 4 a day. I take 2 when I feel panic attack building. It only helps slightly. I take 2 at bedtime. In my personal experience, I won't take more bc it doesn't work whether I take 2 or 4. I have gone 2 days without taking it at all. It scares me bc I know you can have a seizure after being on this med for so long. I guess I am addicted to this medication, never realized it until I read some posts here. I also cut the remeron in half, bc Im worried about the weight gain associated with the tricyclic antidepressants. I have bloodwork done twice a year and liver enzymes are fine. Please, use this medication with caution, and if it's taken for recreational purposes, it's russian roulette. This medication has helped me more than I realize, but I choose not to abuse it. God bless

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Tootziebear, I suffered with cluster headaches for over 30 yrs. Im a woman in my 50's. The only 2 things that ever worked was oxygen at between 8-10 liters a minute. Started it the second I felt the slightest twinge. It worked over 80% of the time, also imitrex nasal too. The oxygen was my Godsend, I don't know if you know about it. I haven't had a cluster h/a in over 5 yrs, and no one understands them unless you've suffered with them. God Bless

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My mother's cognition has been severely affected by Xanax. She cannot carry on a coherent conversation anymore except for right before the next pill is due. She "falls asleep" suddenly which causes her to drop the things in her hand (for instance, she dropped hot coffee on her lap and her laptop causing burns and ruining the computer). She does this in front of people also. One minute she is there and the next she has floated away. It is horrifying.

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OK so here we go.If I dont reply its a shame on me,It has been 5 days now without anything. Side effects for me. I have not slept more than 4 hours a night. My heart is racing during different parts of the day and more like a full chest pounding all the way to the gut of your stomach with the heart being the main area.I have over the past 2 days in the morning when I sit in my cubical got sweaty on my forehead and feel nausia, Until I take a few deep breaths and let it out.Confusion in talking or feeling like you may have "put your foot in yout mouth" or maybe "paranoid"is a side effect that happens after a few days maybe 3 for me" have run out on the weekends before a few times"or just trying to say the right words and getting stuck.Wanting to hide is what I feel now.I feel like a freak.I ruined a relationship by getting switched from Xanex to Klonopin as it made me angry and snappy. Thats why I got away from my psychiatrist and spoke with my primary care doctor and told her what I was doing. ALWAYS let your doctor tell you if its ok.I have been taking 2mg a day for 15 years. Now Klonopin" NASTY DRUG" at 1.5 a day for 4 months and balanced my Side effects" anxiety" at a high level and dropped down to 0.5 mg a day for 1 month. I wanted to know how I would feel if I stopped cold. I will tell you all that tonight I made it 5 days. Tonight I will also be taking 0.5 mg every other day like my Doctor had told me to try when Im ready. Dont be Heroe. This is no joke.LEARN TO Breath.If I did not a panic attack is sure to come"scared".I have been through them before so I know what to expect. If you have never gone through this then do not try anything.If your not friends with your doctor. You will get really close fast. Good Luck.

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I posted a reply a few months ago. Just wanted to give you an update. I was taking Xanax for 14 years and was up to 16mg a day near the end. I completely went cold turkey in a rehab setting. Went through 3 months of horrible withdrawals. It completely took over my life especially near the end. But I am now almost 14 months of the medecine. Finally moving forward. I have a couple what I think are symptoms left. The nerves in my feet still feel a little funny an slight depression but way better than having to be on that medecine. I definitely don't recommend to anyone to stop the medecine like I did, pleas see a doctor but I hope this helps someone out there still suffering. There is hope and it can be done it just takes time and it will get better!!! :)If anyone has any questions please contact me and I will give you more details on my experience...

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Xanax I miss you. But your not coming back. Klonopin made me angry. I think the reason why is that Xanax had such a strong hold of me. Increase my dosage to feel better so I may crash harder or never avoid the hold it had over me. Feeding the addiction while mildly helping my anxiety. The benefits were great at the start only to feel worse and left alone and confused. 0.5mg every other day. Im fighting back.

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Greg,
Thanks for your encouragement. You are the first person I have heard who has been on xanax for as long as I have and at a high dosage. I was getting very scared that these symptoms were permanent. But then I have thought that almost from the beginning and very slowly the symptoms have decreased in severity. I weened off in the hospital over a four week period and didnt know what I was in for. Ive been thru all over convulsions, sweats, extreme pressure in the head, even hallucinations. Now its six months later and my muscles are very contracted all over, pressure in the head is sometimes severe, insomnia etc, Also Ive become somewhat agoraphopic. Can you relate to any of this. I was just glad there was someone out there that has given some hope, Thanks

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This is for Liz I believe,

I'm happy to hear your off the Xanax!!! Great job!!! Sorry to hear it took being in a hospital for 4 weeks and then the bad withdrawels after that. But the worst is definitely over and it only gets better!!! As you know I went pretty much cold turkey after 14 years and from 16-24mg a day near the end, went into a detox for 10 or so days then BAM slapped myself into a rehab setting!!! Not recommended, went through 3 1/2 months of hard withdrawels, everything you had but without really any supervision, anyways I have no pressure in my head at all, as far as the agoraphobia well I still have a weird sense of things being surreal, not sure if you can relate to that at all, slight depression, which I think is also due to trying to rebuild my life after chaos and its hard as hell...No insomnia, in fact I sleep too much!!! Due to the depression I think. As far as muscle contraction I haven't had any since the end of my withdrawels...I hope this helps you....Take care and anymore questions from anyone I will be happy to answer....:)

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Jay I'm nearly 50.I've been taking benzos since I was 27.I took 5 Xanax bars a day or more for 11 years.I lost it all.I now take a pretty moderate dose of Klonopin,and my pcp writes them for me.I find it very unusual that ativan hit you that hard.Try the 2mg Klonopin or 10 mg Valium.Trust me,you don't want that Xanax Gorilla on your back.Regular Drs are more apt to write you these other meds.I am a phych patient since I was 27 and I have to have Klonopin to manage my anxiety and insomnia.I'm a better person since making that switch also. "barredfrombars"

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