I didn't know about water titration back then. I was on those hexagon-shaped controlled release pills....two a day. I dropped to one a day and rode out the withdrawal for three weeks. Then I closed my eyes, prayed hard, and went cold turkey. I had been on them for at least a year, maybe a year and a half. It was brutal, and I learned a lot about the scarier stuff like benzo belly, shaking chills, night sweats that felt like acid. It was a good two months before the extreme drug cravings and side effects eased up and at least six months before I felt like I really was getting my health back. The benzo belly effect had me put on 15-20 lbs in a couple weeks, as the GI tract nearly stops completely for awhile.Amy, how did you come off the Xanax? Did you use water titration?
When my psychiatrist found out that I had gone CT off a long-term benzo, he was not happy with me. But I'm stubborn that way, I guess. If you read my introductory post, you'll note that I've gone CT a number of times with different meds. Ironically, I was planning to be responsible about tapering this time, but I got screwed over by insurance and loss of both my psychiatrist (who retired) and my primary care doc (whom the state insurance that I was switched to told me I could no longer see). They shouldn't call it "health care"... They don't care. There is nothing caring about the system! (Dramatic eye roll)