Xanax Withdrawal Symptoms

Xanax is a triazolobenzodiazepine that is popularly used as an anti-anxiety pill. It is highly administered for its anti-panic and anti-depressant properties. Although Xanax have proved really successful in relieving anxiety disorder, but when administered on a regular basis, it produces physiological dependence with severe withdrawal symptoms. However, Xanax withdrawal symptoms are related to both dose and duration of usage. Higher doses tend to produce more rapid physiologic addiction than lower doses. The time taken by a body to show withdrawal symptoms may vary from four to six months at dosages between 2 mg. to 4 mg. A history of addiction to Xanax can lead to addiction occur more rapidly over a shorter period of time, with more intense withdrawal symptoms.

Xanax, because of being a short-acting agent, has rapidly arriving and accelerating withdrawal symptoms producing severe Dysphoria at just about six hours from the last dose and generally hitting the highest level at approximately 24 to 72 hours after discontinuation. So, once Xanax generates the physiologic dependence, the ability of the patient to discontinue its use successfully on their own is quite low, and medical support becomes necessary in such cases.

Xanax withdrawal symptoms may include panic attack and a bereavement type of emotional instability. The nature of symptoms being internal makes the diagnosis and cure very difficult. Generally, patients find it hard to describe verbally what is occurring. More hopelessly, many of the descriptions resemble the emotional or psychiatric problem for which they originally started taking Xanax, and leaves in dilemma of taking that as withdrawal symptom. However, Xanax withdrawal symptoms can be easily detected with some of the more defining features.

The early stage of withdrawal symptoms is accompanied by a sense of anxiety and apprehension coupled with rising tremor feelings and slight bi-frontal headache. This stage rapidly progresses to feelings of panic-like anxiety with palpitations. The patient also starts feeling de-realization, along with marked startle response and increased sensory input.

With progressing withdrawal symptoms, patient gets marked disturbance of proprioception, in which he feels dizzy and erratic. One finds simple tasks, like swallowing, signing one's name, talking or even buttoning a shirt extremely difficult.

One may start crying at a sudden or may start shivering out of fear without any external event. These frequent consequences make him feel weak emotionally like bereavement & often describe painful emotions. Because of feelings of amplified sensory inputs, one may experience bizarre misinterpretations ranging from feeling one's teeth rotating in their sockets to parts of their bodies falling off.

Further advancing withdrawal symptom include illusions and hallucinations initially with patterns and geometric shapes, and then into full-formed complex visual hallucinations. Sometimes, at this stage, patients may have delusions of bodily dysfunction. One may feel as if he is having a nervous breakdown, or going crazy in an attempt to understand what is going on. With further progression, disorientation to person get replace with full delirium, and eventually withdrawal ends up at major motor seizure activity. The last triad of symptoms including hallucination, delirium and seizure are classified as major Xanax withdrawal symptoms.

However, all cases are not associated with withdrawal symptoms but most are found to have withdrawal for at least several months. It has been documented that it may take six months to two years to resolve Xanax withdrawal symptoms