Fentanyl pills jump in US, threatening lives What Congress is doing

With Xanax, the effects of drug withdrawal can be severe and even dangerous, so detox is often a gradual process, especially if it had been used in high doses and/or for a prolonged period of time. For example, to reduce the risk of seizures, the Xanax dose is gradually tapered over weeks under medical supervision. Many providers feel pressurized by their patients to continue prescribing as they try to wean them off benzodiazepines, and more-so with alprazolam, given the positive subjective drug effects. Alprazolam should not be prescribed at a higher dose than is US FDA-recommended, and providers should consider discontinuation if patients are requesting higher doses, as it may signal therapeutic tolerance and/or misuse. Many people who became addicted to the drug live in recovery after completing a rehabilitation or teletherapy program and now live a healthier life, free from Xanax abuse.

How to reduce the risk of using Xanax again

If a person notices signs of SUD in themselves or others, they should speak with a doctor. A doctor can help a person determine the best https://ecosoberhouse.com/ course of treatment for them. A person should seek immediate medical help if they experience any serious side effects when taking Xanax.

Your Guide to Xanax Withdrawal Symptoms and Treatment Options

The drugs can make people pass out or breathe at a dangerously slow rate. They want relief from social anxiety, and Xanax helps them wind down. Others desire a loose, goofy feeling that’s similar to how people feel when they get drunk. This article will discuss how Xanax works, the side effects, the signs of Xanax addiction, withdrawal symptoms, and how to find treatment. They say drugs fill a void, or at least that’s what my therapist thinks.

VITAMINS & SUPPLEMENTS CENTER

• By the end of your taper, you might be cutting pills into halves or quarters.
• Since its start in November 2010, StreetRx has been very helpful in tracking the street prices of drugs in many areas, which is very useful for monitoring public health and analyzing policy.
• Overcoming an addiction to Xanax isn’t easy, but people do it every day.
• About 2.1% of adults abused benzodiazepines during that same period.

Some people may be better suited for a harm reduction approach, in which the taper leads to a maintenance dose rather than abstinence. The key to achieving this goal is to follow the tapering schedule to the very end. By the end of your taper, you might be cutting pills into halves or quarters. Protracted withdrawal is a prolonged withdrawal experience marked by waves of mild psychological symptoms that come and go over the course of several months. They can give you a schedule of when and how to reduce your dosage.

Xanax Overdose

This condition causes changes in mood and cognition for weeks or months following withdrawal from Xanax or another drug. If you or a loved one struggle with Xanax use, help is available. Often, insurance companies provide partial or full coverage for mental health and substance use disorder services.

Common side effects

You may notice changes in mood, behavior, appearance, or performance at work xanax addiction or school, but many of these can be attributed to other factors as well.

What to expect from detox

• One of the most effective ways to relieve Xanax withdrawal symptoms is to slowly taper your Xanax dose.
• Switching from short-acting Xanax to its longer-acting cousin Valium will make it easier for you to quit.
• Doctors prescribe the medication to treat anxiety, depression, panic disorders and phobias.
• In a 12-month period ending August 2022, 107,000 people died from fentanyl-related overdose deaths, data shows.
• Tapering means taking progressively smaller doses over the course of several weeks.

Most prescribers with experience in addiction medicine consider alprazolam to have high misuse liability, especially when prescribed to individuals with a history of some type of substance use disorder (Griffiths and Wolf, 1990). CDC prescription death rate data reveal that between 2003 and 2009, alprazolam had the highest death rate increase of all benzodiazepines and second highest overall at 234%, compared with 168% for benzodiazepines as a class (CDC, 2011). Carbamazepine is also known to enhance catecholamine function and therefore may improve symptoms of sleep disturbance, anxiety, and mood instability, which are common in withdrawal. This explains its positive effects in general for the treatment of benzodiazepine withdrawal syndrome.

The Body on Drugs

• Dependence turns into addiction when a person keeps taking the drug despite negative consequences.
• Many people take Xanax with a doctor’s prescription, but the most common way to take the drug recreationally is by obtaining the drug from someone who has a prescription.
• National Library of Medicine, Xanax is addictive if it is used over a prolonged period of time.
• About 75 percent of deadly benzodiazepine overdoses involve opioids, according to a 2015 study in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine.

Even if a person tries to stop taking Xanax, the fear of withdrawal and rebound can be so strong that the adverse consequences of stopping seem to outweigh the benefits. Xanax addiction is specifically part of a subcategory of substance use disorder known as sedative, hypnotic, or anxiolytic use disorder. And, as you develop tolerance to the drug (this can happen with any dose), the duration of its therapeutic effects becomes shorter, while the feeling of “comedown” leading to the withdrawal comes quicker. Once you’ve stopped taking Xanax or other benzodiazepines, there’s no additional medication to take.