Xanax Withdrawal

[lmalito]

Hi Everyone - I originally had posted to get some advice on Xanax addiction out of fear that my boyfriend was addicted and I appreciate all of the advice. I am very concerned right now and so I am calling on yall again. My boyfriend is in jail sitting out some warrants and was pretty heavy on taking handlebars (2mg) everyday...more than 1 a day...at the very least on a good day he would end up taking only 2 but for the most part enjoyed taking several. I tried to warn him of all the symptoms of the withdrawal that he could be facing by going into jail and having to go cold turkey...he didnt listen of course b/c he didnt see that he had a problem. Well last night we got some really scary news...since he is in County he is able to call collect and he got a hold of one of his parents good friends (his parents phone company SWB doesnt accept collect calls for some reason down here) but anyways he told them that they needed to contact us to let us know that he had a seizure!!! Apparently he is doing ok...they are monitoring his blood...and when they brought him in they said his sugar count was very low and his white blood cell count was really low too!!! It was like my worst nightmare...luckily someone found him though and they called for help and they got him somewhere either the hospital or infirmary...I just thank God someone found him at this point. My question to anyone out there who has gone through these withdrawals is...if you have one seizure is it likely for you to have more or is it just a one time thing?? What kind of damage does it do to the brain or his body for that matter?? His mom is going to go see him today since she had the day off so I will know more hopefully by this afternoon...at least I will know that he is indeed ok! In the meantime I will be doing research here at work on seizures and withdrawals and you guys always have such great advice so I would appreciate any that you can give me! Please keep him in your prayers...I wish he was home so that I could be there with him through all of this...I hate that he has to do this alone!!

[jam338]

hi, sorry about your situation. Xanax is a short half-life drug in the benzodiazepine family. Guidelines suggest that to lessen the risks of detox from Xanax and to lessen its harsh WDs a person is wise to do a bridge taper by switcing from a short half life benzo to a longer half life drug, like Valium, and then do a very slow taper over several months. Switching to a a longer half life and a very slow taper blunts the sharp dropoff of short half life benzodiazepines that slam a person into intense WDs and presents risks like those your b/f unfortunately experienced.

You may want to review threads on Benzodiazepine aka Benzos or BZDs. To learn more information, Professor Heather Ashton in the United Kingdom has published on line free regarding her extensive research and published work regarding benzodiazepine, particularly THE ASHTON MANUAL. The bridge tapering guidelines are included. Just type her name and The Ashton Manual into Google and it should take you to it. Good luck.

[lmalito]

Thanks Jam338...I had heard about her before from you so I have already been looking at her information! I wish there was a way I could have made him taper down...now its too late! His mom went to see him today and we were very lucky that someone in there was familiar with seizures b/c he knew exactly what to do with my boyfriend in order to keep him from hurting himself! My boyfriend is convinced that since the hospital mentioned something about diabetes that its from that...well we would have known he had diabetes long before this I would think and he is having a few of the symptoms of withdrawal from benzo's already. His mom said he was very shaky, of course the seizure and I am sure it is not helping where he is at with the side effect of depression or agression...I printed off a bunch of info though to send to him today...including parts of the Ashton Manual. Thank you so much for your help!

[flintrock]

I am so sorry. But I had a feeling he would do that. We talked about that, remember? if they are watching him closely, he will be fine. the seizure is one side effect from going cold turkey. If you remember, my son went back to Texas a couple weeks ago and had to dry out cold turkey for 4 days!! He was sick and miserable. He now swears he will NEVER take Xanax again. Well, we will see. the withdrawals can be bad, if you've taken them a while and it only takes a couple weeks to become addicted, that's why I say to ALL...don't ever take them...even if a doctor presscribes them.....NO< NO< NO!!!! His worst days are prob over with now. and who knows, maybe this will do it for him. that seizure could have killed him....and Yes seizures do damage to your brain. When he gets out, talk him into going to doctor and getting a complete physical, cat scan and all!!! This may be his turning point. It will take months, maybe a year for his head to clear....and some people's head never clears of they've done damage. I pray for him and hope this is his wake up call.

[lmalito]

Hey Flintrock...I was hoping I would hear from you! I am in agreeance with you...I hope this is his turning point...he told his mom today after she told him the seizure was from withdrawals that he wasnt going to do them anymore even though he feels its diabetes! I just hope he sticks to that...I printed off some info and highlighted all the important stuff that I thought pertained to him and so I just hope he reads it now! I am going to see him Friday so that will put me at ease! I was wondering if it had any type of bleeding damage to the brain...I would think so since your body is sent into convulsions...I think he should get a catscan too...I am just hoping that this is the end of the road for him with those! How is your son doing? My boyfriend puked for 5 hours straight after his seizure so maybe its finally starting to get out of his system for good! what he doesnt realize right now though is that just b/c he has been in there for 5 days he still has that stuff in his system...I read on some of the sites I went to today that withdrawals can last up to 3 months and even a year or two...of course I highlighted that! What a freaking journey thats for sure...let me know how everything is going in your situation! talk to you soon!