Not only do they affect your judgment, but these drugs can keep you from remembering what happened. Dosing differs depending on which benzodiazepine you take, as well as things like your size, gender, and whether you’re used to taking them. How long they take to start working, and how long their effects last, can vary from drug to drug. Benzodiazepines are used recreationally for their mood-boosting effects.
- If you are using Xanax without a prescription, you can still work with a doctor to taper down your dose.
- Learn why addiction recovery is a life-long commitment and how addiction impacts families.
- If you or someone you know is struggling with Xanax addiction, seeking professional treatment and support is highly recommended.
- Tapering can help take the edge off withdrawal symptoms like tremors and nausea, though it may not prevent withdrawal symptoms entirely.
What to Do if Someone Overdoses on Xanax
Healthcare professionals can also use medication to help a person detox. Doctors may prescribe this medication to ease the symptoms of withdrawal. Having an addiction to a substance, such as Xanax or alcohol, is what experts refer to as a substance use disorder (SUD). If a person has an addiction to Xanax, they are unable to stop taking it, despite negative consequences.
- The dose may be increased depending on the response to treatment.
- Among older adults, long-term use of Xanax can also lead to cognitive issues that may resemble dementia.
- Some people will need a shorter amount of time and a lower dosage to become dependent.
- Others desire a loose, goofy feeling that’s similar to how people feel when they get drunk.
How should I store alprazolam?
The way a person behaves while living with an addiction can vary widely. You may notice changes in mood, behavior, appearance, or performance at work or school, but many of these can be attributed to other factors as well.
Signs and Symptoms
Carbamazepine is metabolized by CYP3A4, and interactions with other drugs that induce, inhibit, or compete for CYP3A4 are relatively common, which may limit its use. Head-to-head benzodiazepine comparison studies in general have been scant. Two clinical studies of participants with benzodiazepine dependence revealed a significant preference for alprazolam over diazepam in equipotent doses (Schmauss et al., 1988, 1989).
If you’ve taken benzodiazepines at high doses for an extended period, you may experience long-term withdrawal symptoms, also called post-acute withdrawal syndrome (PAWS) or protracted withdrawal. In some cases, an inpatient detox facility can be a good option. These facilities are designed to be safe places to detox under medical supervision.
Can you die from Xanax withdrawal symptoms?
But if you remove the drug all at once, your brain doesn’t have enough time to prepare, and you can develop life-threatening symptoms like seizures. However, Xanax withdrawal can lead to a seizure in some cases, and seizures can be a life threatening medical emergency. Reducing Xanax usage slowly and under medical supervision can help reduce this risk. Those with a deeply rooted substance use disorder who live in a potentially triggering environment might need to enroll in an inpatient program first and then transition to sober living housing to maintain long-term recovery. Patients undergoing inpatient Xanax rehab treatment participate in therapy and counseling in individual and group settings. These activities help people gain the skills and knowledge needed to address their physical and psychological dependence on the drug.
Medications Used to Treat Xanax Withdrawal Symptoms
If you take an intermediate-acting benzodiazepine, like alprazolam, or a long-acting benzodiazepine, like diazepam, it may take longer for withdrawal symptoms to appear. It’s incredibly important to follow your doctor’s guidance when you stop taking benzodiazepines. If you stop taking them “cold turkey,” or all at once, you may experience severe, even life threatening, withdrawal symptoms. If you take benzodiazepines infrequently, such as once a week or once every few weeks to treat panic attacks, you can take them for a longer period of time.
They could rate each problem as nonexistent, mild, moderate, severe, quite severe, or enormous. But when you start removing benzodiazepines from your system, suddenly your clogged neurons become an open freeway with no traffic lanes. All those extra chemicals flood xanax addiction your brain, and the excess activity causes symptoms like anxiety and sweating. If you’re predisposed to seizures, your risk of having a seizure may also increase during the withdrawal period.
Managing Acute Withdrawal SymptomsDuring the acute phase of withdrawal, patients may experience intense symptoms such as panic attacks, severe anxiety, and agitation. To mitigate these, healthcare providers may prescribe longer-acting benzodiazepines like diazepam or clonazepam, which help stabilize the patient while reducing the risk of severe reactions. Xanax is a benzodiazepine drug that is known for its fast onset of action, making it effective in quickly reducing anxiety and panic symptoms but it also has a high dependency risk. Additionally, when Xanax use is discontinued, a phenomenon called protracted withdrawal may occur where withdrawal symptoms are experienced for up to a year. Symptoms will be milder than acute withdrawal and they can disappear for weeks at a time and then pop back up.
