Posted by CindyL on April 26, 2016, at 16:42:17
Hello, My name is Cindy and I have been a Psych patient since the mid 1990's. During that time I have taken many different drugs for depression, anxiety and bi-polar disorder. I have been on a very high dose of Xanax 2mg x 4 times a day. That's right 8mg of Xanax a day. I have been taking this amount for approximately 8 years. I am losing big chunks of my memory and have become overweight and tired. At my last Psychiatric appt. I told my Doctor that I wanted to do a slow taper off of the Xanax. He seemed very angry about this for some reason. I told him I would like to cut 1mg a month until I was off. Well that idea didn't fly with him. This is what he gave me to taper off of 8mg of Xanax, 3mg of Clonazepam! That is in no way near the amount of Xanax I was on. I talked to my pharmacist about this and she thought it was crazy. She said that I shouldn't be alone if I were even to try this. She feared I would get very sick and have seizures. I mostly live alone as my husband travels all the time. He came home yesterday and I tried this. OMG, I went into almost full blown withdrawal within hours! I ran out of Xanax early one time and had to wait 7 days for a refill and I wound up in the ER. It was the most hellish thing I have ever been through. Doesn't this Doctor have an obligation to get my off this drug comforably and safely? Do any of you think that what he is doing is right? My pharmacist sure didn't think so. I dread going back to him and telling him his mistake. Even knowing I still have one refill of Xanax I am freaking out. I never want to experience withdrawal again. Please help a newbie! I would appreciate any comments or advice. Thanks, Cindy
poster:CindyL
thread:1088484
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20160331/msgs/1088484.html