Xanax tolerance, dependence and withdrawal

Karen's Story

Psychiatrist put me on Xanax in 1998, for anxiety over dealing with my parents going to a nursing home. He also put me on Zoloft and Zeprexa. The Xanax did help me get over the period of anxiety then, but he kept me on .5mg of Xanax at night to help me sleep, and also on 25mgs of Zoloft for the next 8 years, through 2005.
In 2006, I fell off a ladder and tore the ACL in my knee that required two surgeries and then I developed a blood clot in my leg...this led to a round of extreme nausea. Three trips to the emergency room at the hospital for the nausea led to an upper GI, a lower GI, an ultra-sound, and blood tests. Nothing was found wrong physically that could cause the nausea, so the doctor said I needed a tranquilizer (that my nausea problem was anxiety). Back to the Psychiatrist and he put me back on up to 4mgs of Xanax (tranquilizer), 50mgs of Zoloft (anti-depressant), and 10mgs of Zyprexa (anti-psychotic) a day to "break the cycle" as he explained. The drugs made me so wiped out that I reduced the Zyprexa myself down to 2.5mgs a day, but I continued on 3 to 4mgs of Xanax and 50mgs of Zoloft for the next 2 years..
During this time I had four terrible rounds of jitters and nausea that lasted each time for about 4-5 months with a short respite in between rounds.
On repeated visits to the doctor I kept telling him that I was suffering from severe nausea and jitters. His answer was “Let’s try this”. He knew that I was suffering from tolerance, dependence, and inter-dose withdrawal. He wrote scripts for 5 other drugs to help with the symptoms I was having. I took each med for several days, and didn’t like the way I felt, and quit.
Only on the last round of jitters and nausea (started March 7, 2008) did my husband get on the Internet to see if he could find out what was going on with me. He found Prof. Ashton's manual and downloaded a copy of it. It explained exactly what was happening to me with the dependence, tolerance, and withdrawal symptoms of Xanax.
I took a copy of Prof. Ashton's manual to my Psychiatrist and told him that I wanted off the medications. I showed him where Prof. Ashton changed from Xanax to Valium for tapering. I asked him what his schedule for tapering was, and his reply was that “I was an unusual case” which told me that he didn’t take people off benzos he just kept his patients on these terrible drugs. He said that he would cross me over from 4mg of Xanax to 10mgs of Valium He set up a taper schedule for the first four weeks using these parameters with a return visit to see how I was doing at the end of the four weeks (He said his total tapering schedule to get off the Xanax would be 16 weeks). Prof. Ashton's manual showed 20mgs of Valium to 1mg of Xanax, and the doctor said that was too much Valium?????"
This past 15 months have been the most difficult period in my health life. Even the fear, and surviving uterine cancer wasn’t as difficult as coming off of these terrible drugs.
I have since written to this doctor, and told him how violated I felt, and fired him. Whether he read the letter or not doesn’t bother me - I was able to get a lot of anger and frustration off my chest.
If my story can save one person from being lied to, and having to endure what I have gone through I will be happy.
These drugs and doctors need to be stopped. They don’t tell you that the drugs should only be taken for a short period of time, and not for years, and years. They are more interested in making money off of their innocent victims.
By myself I have tapered slowly off of Zoloft and Zyprexa, and I’m on the way of reducing Valium with the goal of being benzo free by December, 2009. I look forward to having my former life back, and I want this for my husband also. We want our lives back. My husband has been my biggest supporter, and without his love and support I would not be where I am today.
To those reading my story - Please learn from where I came from, and where I’m going. Don’t be quick to listen and follow what your doctor is telling you. Don’t follow in my foot steps. If you are on benzos download Prof Ashton’s manual, and take this to your doctor with the goal of becoming benzo free. They are poison. They do nothing but rob you of your life.

Karen