can you have bad withdrawls from taking 1-1.5 mg of xanax a day? or are the bad withdrawls only at high doses?
i have been taking this much xanax now for about 2-3 months for panic disorder and i want to get off because it seems like now every time the meds start to wear off, i feel like a panic attack is starting so i take my next dose. i’d rather ween myself off and deal with my anxiety on my own. i have tried ssri’s and snri’s and i seem to be allergic to them so i cannot take them. i just wanna be pill free and normal again. how long can the withdrawls last on my dose and duration of taking them.
thanks for anyone’s help- god bless!
i will not stop abrubtly, i just wanted to know if the withdrawl will be that bad if i only take 1-1.5 mg per day in divided doses? i know that if someone takes like 5 mg a day will have real bad withdrawls for example.
You should never abruptly stop taking this kind of medication . You need to talk to your psychiatrist or the doctor who is prescribing it for you. He can help you wean yourself off of it without any withdrawal symptoms. You don’t want to do something that is going to cause you any pain or suffering. God Bless you to!
Comments
Comment from Kate
Time January 4, 2010 at 12:47 pm
Depending on your size, 1.5 mg a day is not exactly a low dose. Most doctors start their female patients on 0.25 or 0.5 mg, then gradually increase it if that low dose does not manage their panic symptoms.
Whenever you stop any drug that has the potential for dependence or that builds up in your system, you want to taper off slowly. So since you are taking 1.5 mg a day, you should start taking 0.25 mg less per day for a few days, then another 0.25 mg less… so on and so forth until you are down to nothing. As long as you give your body a few days to adjust to the lower dose you shouldn’t have any problems with withdrawal type symptoms.
However, your individual experience may be different from mine (I used to be on a similar dose daily for my panic disorder with agoraphobia) so you should talk to the doctor who prescribed you the Xanax and see what their opinion is.
There is a really great form of therapy out there that is especially effective in treating panic disorder (which it sounds like you have, if you haven’t already been diagnosed with it). This form of therapy is called cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) and it has been proven to be effective in 90% or more of anxiety patients covering the entire spectrum of anxiety disorders, including generalized and social anxiety, phobias, and obsessive-compulsive and panic disorders.
This particular kind of therapy analyzes the automatic negative thoughts you have that contribute to your anxiety (the fact that you are anticipating having a panic attack actually FEEDS your panic attack, for example) and the resulting anxious behaviors that arise from those thoughts. By breaking the cycle of anxious thoughts, you can actually control your behavior and stop your panic attacks.
I can tell you from personal experience that this therapy works. It’s hard and it takes a lot of time and commitment (on average 12-16 weeks of once-weekly sessions with a therapist, plus homework assignments and "exposures" you do outside of therapy) but if you are willing to put the effort into it, it will change your life. You CAN live a happy, normal life without panic attacks or medication, you just need the right kind of help. This therapy could definitely be that help for you, so I would strongly suggest you look it up and find a clinic or therapist in your area who specializes in CBT.
Good luck!
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Comment from Lila
Time January 4, 2010 at 12:03 pm
You should never abruptly stop taking this kind of medication . You need to talk to your psychiatrist or the doctor who is prescribing it for you. He can help you wean yourself off of it without any withdrawal symptoms. You don’t want to do something that is going to cause you any pain or suffering. God Bless you to!
References :