tricia386
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 29623
posted
So I have been perscribed ..25 mg of xanax 3 times a day. I rarely need them during the day but I have been taking .5 to sleep the past 3 weeks just 3 weeks. sometimes up to 1 mg if I wake up again
Anyways....I had an LLMD appt yesterday w.Dr. I normally see his PA. However, he told me I am already addicted to xanax and get off of them.
He gave me a perscription for Sonata bc I wake up throughout the night.
AM I really addicted. Am i going to go through withdrawls? Do I need to taper down?
-------------------- Lyme activated in April 2010 by gardasil vaccine. DX: Lyme,Babs,Myco,Bart 11/10 Treatment Started: 3/28/11 Posts: 1752 | From Albany, NY | Registered: Dec 2010
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mojo
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posted
No way! .25 is a non dose really. Except for folks who are sensitive to meds most people need at least the .5 mg.
If you are taking a total of 1 mg in 24 hours that is not being addicted. Your body may have developed a tolerance, which means that you would have to wean off and not stop abruptly, though.
I used .5 to sleep and then .5 if I woke up for many many years and never had to increase my dose. Now I take 1mg Ativan (same as .5 Xanax) because it gets me through the entire night. And I take .5 in the afternoon of Xanax.
I've been using Ativan and Xanax for about 20 years and this is my top dose (excpet for extremely stressful days when i have SUPER stress). My husband is currently stage IV cancer or I would probably not need the .5 during the day.
For most people Benzos can be a lifesaver when used properly.
I don't know what Sonata is so I can't help you there.
Posts: 1761 | From USA | Registered: May 2006
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tricia386
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posted
So should I wean off slowly my dr. said just to stop it I have been on a total of 3 weeks. It was nice to know I had it incase I woke up I would fall back to sleep within an hour. He doesnt like them bc they are addicting.
If I dont ween off will I get withdrawl symptoms?
-------------------- Lyme activated in April 2010 by gardasil vaccine. DX: Lyme,Babs,Myco,Bart 11/10 Treatment Started: 3/28/11 Posts: 1752 | From Albany, NY | Registered: Dec 2010
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klutzo
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 5701
posted
tricia336, FWIW, I was told by a doctor once that I could just stop a drug because my dose had been so small that people taking more than twice what I took were able to just stop taking it.
I ended up going through cold turkey withdrawal HELL, with visible stomach spasms, throwing up blood and bits of stomach tissue, shaking so hard I thought my teeth would break, freezing, bloody diarrhea that would not quit, etc. for 11 hours straight, followed by 4 days in bed and 5 more days before I could eat solid food.
While recovering, I called my pharmacist, which I now realize I should have done all along, since doctor's have an appalling lack of knowledge about drugs, except for all the positive propaganda they get from drug salespeople.
The Pharmacist told me that whether or not you go through withdrawal depends primarily on genetics, and asked if any of my first degree relatives had any kind of addiction problem. When I told her both my parents had been alcoholics, she told me I should not even go off Benadryl cold turkey! She was not being serious, of course, but making her point.
I have taken .25 Xanax for 26 years, only raising my dose once, and am up to 4 tabs daily now. I have attempted very slow withdrawal 4 times, taking months to do it. I cannot even take 1/4 off of one of my daily doses without having intense withdrawal symptoms.
We are all different and you may have no problems, but why tempt fate? Having been through cold turkey withdrawal (which, once it's started, will NOT stop the symptoms if you take more of the drug), I would advise everyone to play it safe and do it very slowly. Why not err on the side of caution?
The Merck manual I have says cold turkey withdrawal from barbituates, for one example, has a 30% chance of killing you, and I felt like I was going to die while going through it.
klutzo
Posts: 1269 | From Clearwater, Florida, USA | Registered: May 2004
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tricia386
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
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posted
now I am terrified
-------------------- Lyme activated in April 2010 by gardasil vaccine. DX: Lyme,Babs,Myco,Bart 11/10 Treatment Started: 3/28/11 Posts: 1752 | From Albany, NY | Registered: Dec 2010
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posted
Interesting that Sonata was chosen. That's really for people that have trouble falling asleep rather than staying asleep. It is very short acting. Ambien CR lasts longest IMO, then Lunesta and regular Ambien. I've tried them all and prefer very very low dose Xanax--perhaps 1/4 of a 0.25 mg tab at bedtime and once more in the night. Have taken it on and off for years. No withdrawal problems for me.
Posts: 226 | From Princeton | Registered: Oct 2010
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posted
Don't worry, tricia! I think if you back off slowly you'll be fine.
And you still have it if you really need it. I don't think taking it once or twice a week is going to do any harm.
Posts: 330 | From TN | Registered: Sep 2011
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posted
Just wanted to add: my LLMD prescribed Ativan (in the same class as Xanax) pretty liberally at our last appointment.
I was really hesitant to take it but she said "remember, there are worse things than addiction."
Posts: 330 | From TN | Registered: Sep 2011
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tricia386
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posted
Im just confused if I should stop cold turkey.
-------------------- Lyme activated in April 2010 by gardasil vaccine. DX: Lyme,Babs,Myco,Bart 11/10 Treatment Started: 3/28/11 Posts: 1752 | From Albany, NY | Registered: Dec 2010
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tricia386
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
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posted
my doctor said just to stop
-------------------- Lyme activated in April 2010 by gardasil vaccine. DX: Lyme,Babs,Myco,Bart 11/10 Treatment Started: 3/28/11 Posts: 1752 | From Albany, NY | Registered: Dec 2010
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posted
I take a benzo..3 times a day. Have for almost 3 years. Started with.25 now take.o5. Still what I take is considered small dose. I know my body is tolerant and to get off would be under close care of my doc and very slow taper. If you want off ask your doc how to taper safely. Benzos...are nothing to mess with. But they have been a life saver for me.
Posts: 267 | From South | Registered: Oct 2011
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tricia386
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posted
I have only been on them 3 weeks. I wonder if thats why he said just to stop bc I havent been on that long.
I just paniced when he said I was addicted
-------------------- Lyme activated in April 2010 by gardasil vaccine. DX: Lyme,Babs,Myco,Bart 11/10 Treatment Started: 3/28/11 Posts: 1752 | From Albany, NY | Registered: Dec 2010
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posted
I take a benzo..3 times a day. Have for almost 3 years. Started with.25 now take.o5. Still what I take is considered small dose. I know my body is tolerant and to get off would be under close care of my doc and very slow taper. If you want off ask your doc how to taper safely. Benzos...are nothing to mess with. But they have been a life saver for me.
Posts: 267 | From South | Registered: Oct 2011
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randibear
Honored Contributor (10K+ posts)
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posted
oh boy on that dose i would be zonked out. course i'm one of the "sensitive can't take anything" types.
i'm only on 20 mg of elavil whenever i want to take it to sleep. sometimes i don't take it at all.
docs have wanted me to take anti=depressants but i say no.
i'd call the pharmacist and go off. i really don't want to take anything unless i absolutely have to.
3 weeks is not that long so you should be ok.
-------------------- do not look back when the only course is forward Posts: 12262 | From texas | Registered: Mar 2007
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mojo
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posted
quote:Originally posted by tricia386: So should I wean off slowly my dr. said just to stop it I have been on a total of 3 weeks. It was nice to know I had it incase I woke up I would fall back to sleep within an hour. He doesnt like them bc they are addicting.
If I dont ween off will I get withdrawl symptoms?
You'd probably just get some anxiety at this point. Your dose isn't huge and it's only been three weeks.
Are you just doing the two at night? I'd go to one for a bit see how you feel and then eventually go to none. If you get anxiety cut the pill in half and try again.
Posts: 1761 | From USA | Registered: May 2006
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posted
That is crazy. I have taken xanax on and off since my illness and have no problem getting off. Sonata will not keep you asleep only help you fall asleep and IT is habit forming. This is a nasty illness you do whatever it takes to get through it. Worry about the addiction later when you are feeling better. Also I have tried 4 antidepressants and the withdrawal from those (which didn;t help at all_)was brutal. I will go to my grave taking xanax if It helps. Sonata sounds worse to me as far a side effects.
tricia386
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Member # 29623
posted
I tried sonata last night it was terribble. See my anxiety is all about sleep. I have not been sleepingw ell for months. I have tried herbs..everything lunesta. Xanax lets me sleep for 3-4 hours straight.
All my anxiety is sleep related. And I obess over it. When night falls all I do is think about sleep and how I wont sleep. its terribble.
When I am calm or not thinking about it I sleep better. But al ot of nights I pysch myself out. Then if I do wake up I wake up in Panic.
I dont need any xanax during the day I am fine for the most part. I will take some l-theanine during the day.
ugh what to do!
-------------------- Lyme activated in April 2010 by gardasil vaccine. DX: Lyme,Babs,Myco,Bart 11/10 Treatment Started: 3/28/11 Posts: 1752 | From Albany, NY | Registered: Dec 2010
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quote:Originally posted by tricia386: I have only been on them 3 weeks. I wonder if thats why he said just to stop bc I havent been on that long.
I just paniced when he said I was addicted
- What makes him think you are addicted?? Three weeks is not very long. Just taper off.
-------------------- --Lymetutu-- Opinions, not medical advice! Posts: 96222 | From Texas | Registered: Feb 2001
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phyl6648
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Member # 28522
posted
I have taken xanax .25 /4x a day for the past 9 yrs. The drug has been very helpful and I in no way think I am addicted, dependent yes but if they help why not.
About ten years before lyme I took the same dose every day for over two years due to anxiety they were heaven sent. After two years I felt I didn't need them anymore and would forget to take them so before I knew it I wasn't taking any and didn't for years until lyme found me.
I was given xanax this second go round by my ENT for vertigo and would take them for a month at a time (same dose) and then would not take any. After lyme dx I found them helpful with my returning anxiety/ sleep/ agoraphobia and many other lyme symptoms.
I have a friend who is a Dr. of Pharmacology and she said xanax is a good drug with a bad reputation. Its cheap so a lot of doctors and pharm companies are giving it a bad name. How many have tried to go off antidepressants etc. A lot of meds are much worse than xanax..
I say if the drug helps don't worry about addiction as I did once then realized if they help why not take them..
Have been off and on them for years, no trouble stopping but we are all different .. I honestly don't see how 3 weeks of a .25 could possible cause any problems if you wanted to stop.. but why stop if they help?
I probably won't ever be off them because they have helped me a lot. I feel when I no longer need them it will be like before I will forget to take them and slowly wean myself off.
Good luck but like I said ..a small dose and only 3 weeks I don't think you have a thing to worry about..
Posts: 1058 | From VA | Registered: Oct 2010
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Hambone
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Member # 29535
posted
I was full on dependent to .25mgs of Xanax within 2 weeks of daily use. I was not able to get off them after two weeks and it took me well over 6 months to get off them and it was hell on earth. This was my experience. It truly almost killed me.
( I know some people here say that's rare, but go to a benzo forum where the same thing happened to others and see it's not that rare. )
I do not believe that with benzos there is any safe "low dose" that will keep you from being dependent. Benzos are benzos just like cocaine is cocaine. You can still get addicted to a "low dose" of cocaine.
There are a lot of people it helps, and also a lot of people it hurts, and the unfortunate thing is, you don't know which side of the fence you will end up on until you see for yourself.
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