Should You Quit Xanax on a Cold Turkey Basis?

Xanax is both habit-forming and addictive. If you are using Xanax under a physician’s care and treatment, he or she will likely tell you not to stop taking Xanax cold turkey due to risks of seizure and other physical and psychological effects. If you are using Xanax recreationally and you have depleted your Xanax supply, you should be aware of these risks and seek medical treatment rather than attempting to procure Xanax from an illicit source.

Quitting Xanax

As with many other pharmaceutical substances, the severity of your cold turkey withdrawal symptoms from Xanax will be a function of the tolerance level that you have developed to the drug. If you have used Xanax for only a few weeks, you might experience some dizziness or mild disorientation and nothing more. If, on the other hand, you have used Xanax regularly over a period of several months or years, your system and metabolism have grown very accustomed to the drug. In this circumstance, if you stop feeding the drug to your system, your body and metabolism will react violently when the chemicals and reactions that your body continues to produce are no longer offset by Xanax.

Xanax Withdrawal Symptoms

You will begin to experience withdrawal symptoms within six to twelve hours after your last ingestion of Xanax. Xanax changes your body chemistry and central nervous system in ways that are very different from the changes caused by other drugs like heroin or cocaine. Physical withdrawal symptoms from those drugs might be at their worst during the first seventy-two hours after the last use of the drug. With Xanax, you might get past the first round of bad withdrawal symptoms in a day or two after your last use of Xanax, only to have those symptoms return after you begin to feel better. This rebounding of Xanax withdrawal symptoms is one of the greater dangers of cold turkey Xanax withdrawal.If your physician prescribed Xanax to treat anxiety or depression disorders and you stop taking Xanax cold turkey, then in addition to physical Xanax withdrawal symptoms, you are very prone to experiencing a severe recurrence of anxiety and depression symptoms. Those symptoms are often more severe than when you were first prescribed Xanax. You will have extreme mood swings, depressive and suicidal thoughts, panic attacks, hallucinations, and potential psychotic or violent episodes.

Recovering from Xanax Addiction

When you stop taking Xanax, the last traces of the drug will be out of your system in three or four days. Nonetheless, it can take two to three months for cessation of all withdrawal symptoms from Xanax. A medically supervised Xanax reduction program will wean you off of this drug over a period of several months. The reduction program will stretch out the duration of withdrawal, but it will be safer and more effective over the long run, with a much lower risk of relapse. Xanax is a powerful and effective drug when used under the right conditions and with proper medical supervision.

If you are using Xanax in a manner other than as prescribed by your physician, then before you stop using Xanax please call the counselors and therapists at the Last Resort Recovery Center (near Austin, Texas) at 512-360-3600 for a consultation on how to safely draw down your Xanax use. We can recommend a Xanax reduction program that minimizes or eliminates the worst withdrawal symptoms and treat any other disorders that might cause corollary problems.