Taking Xanax for 5 Years?
Question by vinn51: Taking Xanax for 5 Years?
I am a 29 year old male and overall I am in good health. I have a very big problem in my life and have been struggling with addiction to xanax for almost 5 full years at a very high dose. It all started when I went to a psychiatrist when I was 25. I went to the doctor because I was feeling anxiety and was stressed about family stuff. The doc immediately put me on Xanax and I felt much better almost right away. That was 5 years ago and I have been on xanax ever since. Like most people I slowly figured out the more I would take the better or higher I would feel. I absolutely loved the stuff, but never would have imagined what I was getting myself into. A year after starting xanax I was still going to the same doc and my dosage was 4mg a day. I of course would take more at times, maybe reaching 5 or 6 mg a day. Like I said before, I loved the stuff and felt it was the best medication in the world. Sometime after my 26th b-day I had run out a couple of days before seeing my doc to get my re-fill. On the second day of not taking my xanax I had a violent seizure and woke up in the hospital. It was explained to me by the doctors in the hospital that I experienced a withdrawal seizure from running out of xanax. I could not believe what I was hearing. I never had a seizure in my life not to mention ever being admitted into a hospital. I was given a couple of xanax to make it to my next doctor’s appointment. When I seen my doctor after experiencing the seizure he told me it was a normal withdrawal reaction from running out of xanax and upped my does to 6mg a day and told me to be careful. I remember feeling scared at the time, but was glad I now had 90 xanax a month. My usage continued for another year all the while living a normal life. I was in a great relationship, had a great job, apartment, a car, and everything seemed ok. By the time I was 27 I was still taking xanax every day at 6mg everyday sometimes taking more, but for the most part followed my doctor’s orders of 6mg a day. As time continued I finally realized that I could not take this stuff for ever and started to talk to my doctor about coming of xanax all together. My doctor came up with a dapper down schedule. I was going to come off 2mg a month, and finally stop. After attempting the dapper I realized how **cked I was. It was so difficult I could not do it. I was now close to the age of 28 and was not able to even dapper down 1mg a month without experiencing horrible withdrawal symptoms. My doctor had suggested detox since I was on such a high dose for years and already had a withdrawal seizure. I knew that detox was the only way for me because I could not stop on my own and wanted around the clock medical care while coming off xanax. I was admitted to detox and started to dapper off 8mg of xanax. The doctors in the detox were shocked about how long and how high my daily dose of xanax was. I was warned that I was in for a rough detox and had to be strong. I agreed to my treatment plan and was admitted as an inpatient and the dapper began. It was the most horrible, terrifying, unfortable, sicking feeling I ever felt by my fifth day in detox. Every day I would come down a dose, and it was so terrifying. After being in detox for 20 days I was finally given my last dose of xanax in the morning. On my 22nd day in the detox and after being off xanax for two full days I had another seizure in the middle of the hallway. I was rushed to ER and admitted into the hospital’s neurology department. A specialist came to see me and said he was surprised that I had a withdrawal seizure after being detoxed for 20 days. He ran a series of round the clock tests with 28 wires attached to my head for two days. All tests came back with no abnormalities, and I was released from the hospital. That night I had another seizure and was rushed back to the hospital and was put back on xanax to stop the seizures. Now I was terrified of losing my life and didn’t care if I had to take xanax as long as I would not have any seizures. I went back to my doctor with all the paper work and documentation from the hospital about my detox experience, how long it took me to dapper down, and the resulting seizure. He put me back on xanax at 6mg a day. That was almost a year ago. I am now 29 and see my doctor every month and still take 6mg of xanax everyday. Has anyone ever heard of a case as sever as mine? I am so hooked on this stuff my body simply won’t let go. I mean I can’t take this stuff for ever. It’s already been almost 5 years on xanax and it almost killed me twice just trying to stop, Are there any medical professionals out there that can offer me some advice. My life depends on all the input I can get..
Best answer:
Answer by onlymatch4u
Your story is not an isolated one, unfortunately. You need to work with a real doctor to slowly wean off that garbage. Bite the bullet and realize that your health is worth more than the value that has been set by that psychiatrist (make believe doctor).
Once you are off the garbage, you should see a Certified Nutritional Therapist and allow them to test you and get you on the road to good health instead of the “Make Believe Health” you have been subjected too for 5 years.
good luck to you
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