Posted by maxx44 on November 19, 2003, at 20:17:43
In reply to Re: Xanax Withdrawal » dms777smd, posted by KayLen on November 18, 2003, at 0:21:23
way back in '86 i had my 1st acute panic attack. it came with most symptoms of heart attack--jaw, left-arm pain, extremeties turning blue and cold--wild ekg, elevated cholesterol--i was thrown in cardiac icu until my enzyme report showed negative. both my shrink and gp told me it was panic and strongly advised avoiding meds as drs. were having big trouble 'recovering' clients from the benzodiazapine family---which do stop panic.
i started drinking. it seemed to work, but problems arose. i relocated and entered a laguna beach clinic where i became the subject of a phd candidate's thesis on 'entrepreneurial burn-out'. she was not a dr., but worked under one's supervision. she wanted me on xanax vs. alcohol and it was done. i was on 1mg for the year it took to complete her work. then i moved to san diego, and found their clinic would script no benzo--so i went off, cold-turkey. after a week of no sleep i was given a small quantity of mellaril to restore sleep function. afterwords, i was panic-free for years--no alcohol. then 'disabling panic' hit me again. i was dxed 'chronic progressive panic person' and put on librium, 40mg/day. 3 years later i became concerned with the emotional 'dulling' and just quit. days later all hell broke loose. my old drs. were correct. while rarely, some people may use this drug family and have no major problem stopping, i feel the dose must be low, and usage intermittent. for long-term users a slow taper-down, as noted by dr. heather ashton, seems the only safe way out. you may wish to review her protocol for withdrawal on-line. i'm not a dr., but from my experience and those of many i've met, it's one rough ride---not to be taken lightly. best wishes
poster:maxx44
thread:266
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20031116/msgs/281438.html