Long Term High Dose Xanax Effects (Page 7)

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 have something called severe essential tremors. My Dr's have tried me on every medication. Anti seizure meds, beta blockers on someone with already low blood pressure. Long acting benzos and all with adverse reactions. Xanax has been the ONLY medication that works for me and enables me to function at all. Without it, I can do nothing but tremor, burning myself, breaking things and falling. I have two glasses of red wine with my dinner quite often and never had any creepy mindless things happen. I take my medication exactly as prescribed and know my limit on wine. For me, xanax is far less a danger than the other alternatives that nearly killed me. By law I must see my Dr every 3 months and I am grateful for this drug. After reading all this crap here from people who probably abuse the drug and alcohol, I am concerned and am going to look into a liver cleanse. But for me, my tremors may spread to my internal organs or turn into parkinson's disease so for now, whatever gives me the best quality of life for however long I have as my disease progresses, I will take whatever works. For those of you abusing the drug and alcohol, the liver is a very wonderful organ and can completely regenerate itself with cessation of drugs and alcohol.

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I was one of those people who was abusing xanax but I should never have been prescribed in the first place. As I became more immune to it my doctor just kept increasing the amount and I became so depressed and kept thinking that I couldn;t live without it. It's been a year and a half off now and I feel so much better, The anxiety and depression were actually from constant withdrawel effects between doses that were increasing all the time. It's great now not having to worry about how much medication I take or if I'm going to run out or the looks and comments from pharmacists, I agree that some people who can get help on this med without building immunity time after time and who have regular dr appt every 3 mos are probably going to be ok. My dr would renew my prescriptions for a year at a time, My life revolved around this med and now I feel so much freedom being able to make plans etc without worrying about meds all the time.Glad it is helping you, just be careful that you always take as prescribed.

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Xanax is not a medicine to fool around with. I look forward to the day I can stop. One thing to make clear, a Doctor can only write up to a 6 month supply of a Benzodiazepine. Of course they can double your dose giving you extras!

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Well, that makes sense. My daughter has been abusing Xanax for a long time, taking upwards of 70-80 pills at a time. Don't know the mg dosage but even I know that's excessive...she becomes incoherent and sleepy. Even her boyfriend has had to check her for breathing...but get the same old excuses. She has anxiety...she says. Well no wonder she does. Thanks for that comment...I know if she gets off these things she'd feel so much better...not to mention the fact that she'll take just about anything she can get her hands on...latest was Neurontin...I don't get the thrill of taking downers if all you are going to do is sleep...doesn't sound like much fun to me.

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It's been a while for me to be here and I'm sorry I just read your post today. I'm so sorry for your troubles. I really feel for you and your family. I'm pretty certain my daughter has some of those same feelings as you described which is why she has such a hard time controlling it. I'm pretty sure it's like a rebound effect...you take the pills, feel good, then when you stop, start feeling anxious, panicky, nervous, can't sleep and really bad/sick so you want to keep taking them and repeat the cycle. Even though you say you have no options, I urge you to find a support group to get help...talk to your doctor or minister or someone...there may be options for you where you live. Like NA or AA, find a sponsor who you can talk to and help you get thru the hard times. Go on line and find a support group.. call rehabs and ask advice. Do not be ashamed of what has happened to you...be ashamed if you do nothing to try to stop. You husband should also get help in understanding what is going on with you. My grandkids are at the point where they do not want to be around their mother and she blames either me or her location (she moved to the city across the river from us and blames that as the reason her daughter doesn't want to stay with her) totally avoiding the reality of her problem. She has violent outbursts now which is another reason her daughter doesn't want to be around her...she doesn't trust her mother to follow thru with anything she says she's going to do or to pick her up from school or other places and then what condition she's in. She doesn't ask her to go to school meetings, she asks me. And I resent it totally but I do it because I love my granddaughter, but the resentment comes from me already having raised my kids. It's supposed to be my time...You don't want your kids to be like that. I have to admit that I don't know what you mean when you say bars...all I know is that when my daughter gets her hands on xanax, she takes upwards of 40, 70, 80 pills in one day...she is not using them thru an Rx...she will trade suboxone for them or steal them...then there are the other drugs she can get because the BF sells them. For some reason, he has been able to control himself and I've only seen him either very hyper and only one time like her...nodding off in my car! That's what I don't understand...if you take so much that you are falling asleep, what is the appeal? I believe there is an underlying issue which she is hiding from but has not gotten help dealing with but I could be wrong, could just be because she likes it. They have liquid G in the house, Adderal, neurontin, suboxone and many others..and she'll take anything by the handful. I've talked to her many times. The BF has talked to her but he never follows thru with the help she really needs. He's not very supportive. Needless to say I have no use for him. I haven't spoken to her for weeks now because I know she's used some xanax and neurontin and I don't want to deal with it. It's energy draining on those of us who have to deal with it. Not sure if you know that or not...aside from the obvious issues with it. I never know what condition she is in and I have made the decision to not say anything more to her or the BF, it only ends in an argument. When I offer help, she sees an enemy. She can't continue with using if I mention it all the time to her..so I avoid her. I don't want her around my friends who have known her all her life. I go camping a lot and I refuse to invite her with us for all those same reasons. My daughter is almost 40 yo! I have lived with this at least for 10 maybe 15 years...you are young. You can get help...you don't want this life of people avoiding you and the only friends you have are other drug addicts with no ambition or jobs or energy or money or anything in life but the drugs. She has lost everything...her apartment, her furniture, clothes, kids toys, etc thru these past years of drug use...her and her husband both had a problem and stole, shoplifted, pawned, moved in and took advantage of her brother, forged checks, legal issues, car impounded, DUIs, jail...etc. The sad thing is that she finished nursing school and had a nursing degree at one time. She actually made it thru the school under enormous pressure from the idiot husband but she did it. But lost her license...she'll never get it back because of what she needs to do...stop drugs, probably prove she has gone to rehab...At this point in my life, I've gotten to the point where she either will get professional help, ask me to help her with that which I've offered many times before or I'm going to get a phone call from a hospital...I'm resigned to the fact that she could very well die of her drug use. Sad thing tho...she has a 2 yo...her 17 yo stays in his room or is never home. 15 yo lives with me and visits her rarely which she then gets tortured by her mother as to why she's not over there...
When people talk about legalizing drugs this is what I deal with and think...are you insane? Then again, yep you have a right to abuse your body and do whatever you want to it...drugs, drinking, risky behavior, etc...that's your right. And that's fine as long as you don't expect your families to stand by and just watch. There are many people who function well while taking the drugs, good for them but in the long run what are they doing to their bodies? Liver function will be hell by the time they reach a certain age...hope they survive it. Then you have the people who obviously do not function well...one look and you can tell they are high. That's my daughter. She cannot function...she can't keep her family together, can't keep a job, can't keep her friends, nothing. and it's a very sad life...when she could have so much. Don't be like her, don't miss out on your kids lives and missing the milestones in their lives..school, dances, BF/GF, sports, graduation...my daughter has missed a lot in her kids lives...and it's a sad thing.
I am rambling and probably sounding like a nut to you...I'm just trying to encourage you to find help. Don't let it destroy your life like it has my daughters...and her kids lives. So I'll stop and wish you well and hope you have found some help in the past few months. Maybe you can keep me posted as to how things are going for you. I hope you find an answer...prayers to you.

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Eddy, My Dr is VERY conscientious and only gives me 3 refills at a time after each 3 month visit. IF I were to abuse my medication, I could not get a refill, they are all dated as prescribed. I hated thinking of myself as someone who needed this type of medicine so I weaned myself off for 6 months and tried holistic herbal remedies to no avail. I finally caved in and went back on the xanax tearfully. I take 2 mg 3x per day...period... to control my essential tremors. In two years I have had only one incident where one of my daughter's friends stole some of my meds. I took the issue to my Dr and was prepared to file a police report. He laughed and said, "In two years you have never had an issue", "the excuses I hear from real drug seekers and addicts are beyond ridiculous", "I think we can let this one go but be sure to keep your meds out of reach". Well, my daughter has a friend who is a xanax psycho literally it makes her do insane things. She spent the night here a few times and I had to sleep with my meds under my mattress. Right now she is facing 15 years at least in jail for crimes she committed while taking "bars" as the younger set calls them. She is 17 and won't be out of jail until she is in her 30's. She was 4 credits away from graduating HS and it's sad. Dr's like mine are rare, psychiatrists readily prescribe xanax, some Dr's will prescribe it for 6 months to a year at a time for the kick backs from pharm companies. Those are the ones who put it in the hands of drug dealers and should lose their licenses to practice. They and the drug addicts spoil it for people like me who truly need and are responsible with the drug. My Dr also makes anyone prescribed pain medications go in for regular drug testing, since pain med junkies usually take other drugs as well. If he finds any other drugs or that they have abused their prescriptions in any way, he turns them into the law and refers them to rehab and will dismiss them as patients. In my experience, xanax is more physically addictive than psychologically. I can get so busy sometimes and forget to take a dose and a few hours later, I feel it...I am grateful for it but hate it at the same time.

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Danelle...i hope you read my replies. Im not that familiar with how this site works. I go by nina and monique just in case if you want to read them if you didnt get direct reply. Wishing you well

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My doctor did prescribe for a year at a time and if the prescription ran out I could do call in renewals without seeing him. He made it very easy to abuse. When I was going through withdrawels I found an empty bottle that said there were 7 renewals left. I went ahead and ordered another renewal, I was in bad shape, but then I talked to someone and ended up calling the pharmacy to cancel and asked them to cancel all renewals. So glad I had enough sense even in terrible withdrawels to know I didn,t want to go there again. I wouldn't recommend anyone quit cold turkey and if you are on alot even four to six weeks is too fast. A previous post mentioned that you can have hardly any withdrawels for that period and than bam! the real withdrawels start. That's what happened to me. Very Scary. Someone also recommended the Ashton Manual. Wish I had heard of this a long time ago. It is the best way ,I think,to get off Xanax. And please, I don,t want to hear from anyone who says Xanax isn't that bad. It can be for a lot of people.

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Schedule III-V Substances


A prescription for controlled substances in Schedules III, IV, and V issued by a practitioner, may be communicated either orally, in writing, or by facsimile to the pharmacist, and may be refilled if so authorized on the prescription or by call-in.

Refills


Schedule III and IV controlled substances may be refilled if authorized on the prescription. However, the prescription may only be refilled up to five times within six months after the date on which the prescription was issued. After five refills or after six months, whichever occurs first, a new prescription is required.

DEA

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Sage, excellent post, sorry to hear about the different factors you are going through. 6 mg a day is a large dose and always be careful trying to cut down even with natural substances. Xanax has changed our Brain chemistry and is a very misunderstood drug by Doctors as evident by some of the posts here. It might be the Devil's drug?

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#118- "NOBODY DIES FROM BENZO WITHDRAWALS ALONE ?? YOU.....ARE TOTALLY WRONG !!

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Eddy, is this schedule 111-V Canadian or American and how long has it been in effect?

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Elizabeth it was 1970.

The Controlled Substances Act (CSA) was enacted into law by the Congress of the United States as Title II of the Comprehensive Drug Abuse Prevention and Control Act of 1970.[1] The CSA is the federal U.S. drug policy under which the manufacture, importation, possession, use and distribution of certain substances is regulated. The Act also served as the national implementing legislation for the Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs.

The legislation created five Schedules (classifications), with varying qualifications for a substance to be included in each. Two federal agencies, the Drug Enforcement Administration and the Food and Drug Administration, determine which substances are added to or removed from the various schedules, though the statute passed by Congress created the initial listing, and Congress has sometimes scheduled other substances through legislation such as the Hillory J. Farias and Samantha Reid Date-Rape Prevention Act of 2000, which placed gamma hydroxybutyrate in Schedule I. Classification decisions are required to be made on criteria including potential for abuse (an undefined term),[2][3] currently accepted medical use in treatment in the United States, and international treaties

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I am Canadian and it was just a few years ago that I started having to sign for my prescription as a controlled substance. Even with having to sign, the last bottle before I quit had 7 repeats on it and was for 8mg/day and I hadn't seen the Dr in months. I was weaned off in the hospital over a six week period and the nurses in the hospital couldn't believe the size of the pill bottle and that I was having such an easy time getting the amount I was.It gradually increased over a 15year period.

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8 Mg a day is a lot. How much were you raised over the years? Xanax is very misunderstood in any Country, your Doctor wasn't doing you a favor. I too would like to go through a 6 week program . Those programs are only available for the very rich and the mentally ill. If you have regular Insurance like me you choices are very limited and full of co payments. Canada sounds like a better place to be!

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Yes,we have some very expensive rehabs here too, but they are not covered,also we do not have a detox in my area, so I checked myself into a hospital and underwent the very quick weening process on the psychiatric ward, not ideal,but better than nothing. were you also on Xanax or was it something else. Over 15 years the increase was gradual but so were the consequenses and with no doctor telling me this would just end up bad, I feel deceived. I know I should accept some responsibility, but by the time I recognized the difference between the real me and me as an addict, it was too late. Had the dr just said from the beginning, this is temporary that would have been it,but he seemed to think I was doing just fine taking it forever,That's why I tell anyone prescribed this to be careful,noone told me that.

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25 years worth of Alprazolam, and I currently have more Xanax than a Safeway. I was warned when I started about its addictive properties, yet was never warned about the serious withdrawal problems. I almost called it a potential but it is almost guaranteed, you will get very sick when stopping Xanax the wrong way.

On an unrelated note I just heard that Pizza Hut is making a Poutine Pizza in Canada. Is this something you would try?

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25 years is a long time, I was 20yrs of course all those years were not too bad but when a crisis happens and the amount was increased it just stayed there. The withdrawels were bad but I went off too quick.They lasted a full six weeks after I left the hospital and I was in the hospital for 6 weeks. Have you checked out the Ashton Manual, wish I had seen this before. It sounds like the best way, you could work with your doctor on this. You won't believe how much better life is without the stupid pills. I have never tried poutine myself,but don't think gravy belongs on pizza.

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I did not realize you are 100% Xanax free now! The Ashton Manual is one of the best I understand. When my new doctor mentioned he had his own method for a withdrawal to Xanax I thought oh no... Here in the States the regular doctor gets you on them, and the specialist who can be impossible to see or pay for gets you off them. I have plenty for now, and I now know Xanax is not medicine to use more of in a crisis, after learning how deadly it can be!

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I also wanted to ask you Elizabeth about the 6 week stay in the Hospital, but its hard on this type of Forum. I was admitted as an Emergency patient, spent a Week in the Hospital almost dead, and my Insurance company wanted me out after day two. This 6 weeks and Xanax withdrawal, was it a treatment center or Psychiatric facility?

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