My Doc Will Not Refill My Xanax Im Feeling Sick (Top voted first)

I was prescribed Prozac & Xanax 10 years ago by my psychiatrist for depression & severe panic attacks. He started me on 1mg 3 times a day. Around Dec 2005 he increased my daily dose to 1 mg - 4 times a day. I have been a patient of his now for 10 years where I see him every 3 months. Through the years, there has been a few times were I had to call to reschedule my appointment and a couple of times he had to do the same. He would call in my meds for the amount I would need to get me through to my next appointment. This month I had an appointment for May 27th I called to reschedule due to transportation. I do not drive now and my ride canceled on me. so, I rescheduled my app. for June 17th I then requested my meds be called in until my appointment, a 3 week supply. She said she would call me back when it was called in later that day. Not hearing anything I called back the next day to find out what was going on. I was told my doctor feels uncomfortable due to liability reasons to re-fill my medication, until I see him again in June. I asked her what about the liability to take me off medication I have been taking for 10 years? She told me to go to my primary physician to get my meds. I told her my primary care doctor will not prescribe me those medications without my medical records from this office and I just signed a medical release form a few days ago at my first appointment with this new primary doctor, so she told me to go to an urgent care if my symptoms became to uncomfortable for me to deal with!! I had enough xanax to last me until today. I took my last xanax this morning and I am already starting to feel sick, my head feels cloudy, I feel like I'm getting the flu. My heart is racing, I'm feel really anxious & closed in. Has anyone out there gone off xanax cold turkey what more should I expect? I don't understand how a doctor can prescribe medication like this for 10 years and just make you stop so suddenly it doesn't seem fair. I have lost trust in my doctor now and I don't think I can continue to be his patient anymore. I am scared and I don't know who to turn too.

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REPORT

Benzo withdrawal is serious, and 4mg daily of xanax and being forced to stop cold turkey can be absolutely devastating. This is not a "oh the person will just feel a little sick or anxious and want them, boy it'll be hard but you'll be ok." This is a seizure inducing, painful, and unbearable position to be put in, and 10 years at 4mg is possibly life threatening (although, not highly likely).

And the half-life on xanax is extremely short and the effects CAN be felt on day 1, regardless of what some idiot tells you.

you should try to get your prescription any way possible, call someone, take a cab to your doc if necessary.

the best advice i can give is work with your doctor to begin getting off xanax, it will probably take 6 months to a year if not more, but it'll be worth it in the long run. the damage you're doing to yourself 10 years in is bad enough, and if you ever get forced into another situation without your meds, you will be in serious trouble.

i hope all works out

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Your psychiatrist is unbelievably irresponsible to expect you to go cold turkey from xanax!!! You need to get help right away, withdrawal from this med is very dangerous!!

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I was on 3 2mg bars a day for 7 years. I got a DUI and had to serve 2 weeks in jail. This was the first time I had EVER not taken my prescription. Needless to say, this was the worst two weeks of my life. The jail in Lexington, KY is a non-narcotic environment and the mix between your first time in jail and detoxing off Xanax was horrible. The original question was what can you expect from detoxing, well let me tell you while it's fresh in my mind. It's been a month now and I'm still clean and still dealing with the aftershock. I first felt like I was on a bad trip for the entire stay in jail. Of course my mind was telling me that it must be because you've never been in jail, but this was not the reason. Sleeping was nonexistent, eating a rarity, tons of pressure in my eyes and back of neck. I had completely dialated pupils for a good 2 weeks which made me very sensitive to light and my audio was off as well. I went from weighing 185 to 150 in 2 weeks; keep in mind that I'm over 6 feet tall. My mind started fabricating dreams about me taking Xanax to, I think, make myself believe that it really hadn't been as long as had since I'd taken the drug last. I was breathing very deeply and typically unable to communicate with others. Approximately 1 week into the detox process I found myself starting to think that if I'd gone this long cold turkey that I would never take it again. I really don't recommend ANYONE quitting cold turkey, but being in jail and quitting at the same time is certainly a way to give yourself SHOCK treatment. I also didn't mention that I had a seizure, I think, at some point and woke up with a broken toe and bruises on my arms and legs. These injuries must have been self inflicted because I was in solitary at the time.....take it for what it's worth and consult your doctor people......good luck!

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this is actually to VERWON i'd like to let you know first that if you think your giving advice, WELL! your not!! i wonder if you,ve ever had anxiety let alone taken the medication at all? This lady truly needed advice and you sound cold and judgemental calling it "ADDICTIVE BAHAVIOR" well is the doctor had been giving it to her for 10 yrs then i'm guessing she has a bad case of anxiety and maybe in not soo many but definitely a few actually needs to rely on these puills to make it through each day. I know i have anxiety myself and also take medication for it,if only people could be as strong as you i guess this world would b a perfect world,but not everyone is unfortunately.

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Verwon, you are an educated wanna be smart-a**d judgemental jerk and can't see past the skin on your own nose! Unless you go through exactly what another person does (and you NEVER will because we are all different), you can't possibly understand. You are NOT God and it's not up to you what disability a person is born with...do you actually think for a second in that feeble little mind of yours that any of us asked for our disabilities?! Shame on you!

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I have been out of Xanax for a little over a month, I take 1mg 4 times daily and have been on it for the past 4 years I think. I ran out and my doctors office wont refill it until I send some financial paper work or something stupid they wont even refill it and I cant make an appointment until they get the papers in the mail. Its so stupid, I know I shouldnt care but the thought of withdrawals scares me because I have been experiencing the shaking, sweating, what feels like fever, trouble getting the right words out, headaches finally went away, I didnt quit cold turkey cuz my boyfriend had a stash of like 20 left I gave him for if I ran out. But i have cut down to 1 every other day, and I still have stomach pain all the time, nausea, shaking, stuttering, diarrhea and vision impairment at some points everything looks blurry and moving too fast. I am already skinny and think I have lost a good 10 more pounds from no appetite or just feeling sick all the time and food doesnt even taste good. I didnt know these side effects from stopping this med would be so drastic, but I have been reading everyones coments and have to say I agree. This is s***ty and who knows when this feeling will go away? Good luck everyone I dont even konw if I want to make an appt. or get a refill if that just means I would have to go through this again at some point, I like having control of my feelings and my body, not some stupid pill. But damn that pill is my life.

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Please go to the nearest ER and explain your situation. They will help you. Your doctor can get in a lot of trouble by cutting you off know the side effects of withdrawal. I have been taking Xanax for 10 years. I started after my husband died from a brian tumor at 34. a few years later I didn't want to be dependent on them to get through the day. By the way I never asked for anything to deal with his death my doctor handed my 2 prescriptions every month for prozac which i stopped and xanax. I stopped taking the Xanax one day as the hours went by I got sicker and sicker. My body ached, i was shaking, sweating, I could not think , sleep or do anything. I would have done anything for help. I couldn't get the doctor on the phone it was a weekend and I thought I could make it until Monday. The last thing I remembered was bending over to pick something up. I had a gran mal seizure that lasted over 15 minutes and I do not remember a thing. I was rushed to the ER and given anti seizure medicine and something to help withdrawal. after going home on a lower dose of Xanax i suffered 2 more seizures. My doctors decided the best thing was for me to stay on Xanax. I had severe anxiety and i tried therapy but I would almost pass out from the panic attacks. I was told I could have died. DO NO DO IT YOURSELF. GO TO ER EXPLAIN THEY WILL HELP YOU THEY HAVE TOO. GOOD LUCK

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@SoccerMom

You are almost out of the woods dear, the first month was the worst for me and within 6 weeks I was back to feeling about 90% & back to 100% in 10 weeks. I was on the same dose as you for 6 years and was forced to stop immediatly due to an accident my son had on vacation. He had to stay in a hospital for 3 weeks in the US Virgin Islands and I was not about to leave his side, xanax or not. You did the right thing by tapering off these meds with the stash of 20 your bf had. If I were you I would do some research on natural herbal alternatives that help with anxiety. They are not Xanax, but the do fill the void left by xanax for me. I have been xnax free since Decemebr 2010 now and I control my daily anxiety with the herbal meds since Feb 2011. Best of luck, reply with any questions dear. CoolGrandma

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DOCTOR BY LAW AFTER 7 YEARS ON BENZOS SHOULD HAVE REFILLED U FOR ANOTHER MONTH TILL U FOUND A DOCTOR. HES AN A**HOLE

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I've been taking 1mg 3x a day of Xanax and let me tell you it is one of the worst withdrawal's you will ever have to go through. You can not just stop taking Xanax, you need to be slowly decreased in the amounts you are taking which could be month's!!! Most likely you will wind up in the hospital because you will be getting all the sign's of withdrawal, the shakes, vomiting, diarrhea, body aches, the sweats, fever, almost like a terrible flu. Your doctor is obligated to keep you on this medication unless he want's to be responsible for you getting this ill. I don't know what kind of doctor you have but I'm appauled he would even consider doing this to you. If I were you I would march right in to his office unannounced and demand an appointment so you can get your scripts because if not you are going to be deathly ill!!!! Hope it worls out for you.

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People who say that withdrawal from certain medications can not harm you just make you miserable is wrong! Fact's are when you go through withdrawal your blood pressure shoots up to dangerous levels.My daughter was in the hospital for weeks with morphine withdrawal's and for weeks her blood pressure was 250/120. They finally placed her on suboxane. She was only 38. Imagine what that would do to someone 65.

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Your doctor has no obligation to phone in perscriptions. It sounds like he'd done it in the past to hold you over for a few days. Not a few weeks. That's almost a month. Find a way to get to your doctor, bus taxi; because withdrawls from benzodiazapines are about the worst and can be dangerous. If you call the pharmacy you've always used they will often fax the doctor for a refill assuming your on your regular schedual. But zanex is not birth control. It's a serious drug. And often a doctor will insist on seeing a patient for even The Pill My advice would be to get to your doctor now, even if it's a drop-in. No ER is going to give you more than a few days worth. I hope your telling the whole story. If your doctor will prescribe you 3 weeks worth without seeing you, why even go at all? Incidentally I'm sure he gives you a couple months refills at a time. Ultimately kicking zanex is awful and I'd walk to his office if I had to. The onus is on you not your doctor to make sure you make your appointments and also the DEA is really cracking down on powerful drugs or drugs in general. They don't want people doctor shopping and getting the same prescription from several different doctors and your doctor is just covering his own a** for liability. Find a way to get to your doctor or you are going to be miserable like you never thought possible.

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i have been on them for 10 yrs . the doc uped it to 2mg at bedtime never telling me how dangerous quiting was. she moved to another town and the new doc wouldnt give me any. the 3rd and 4th day was the worst. i thought i was stroking out and had an ambulance come. my blood pressure shot up to 220 over115 in the ambulance. cole turkey is BRUTAL. i was scared out of my mind , kept hearing things. the dreams were horrible. i had seizures. i still take them im taking 2mg for 2weeks , then 1.75 mgs for 2 weeks and going down .25 each 2 weeks. i hope it works . its a living hell when you go cold turkey. i stay scared my supply will run out .terrified actually . like everyone else why do they stop giving them when theyve had u on them so long. the longest ive went without is 7 days . that was 2 yrs ago. they uped them to 2mgs after that. i admit i used them as a crutch, something bad happened i would take 1. b4 u no it your out. i truly believe if i run out for a week i will be dead. these things r awful

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He is a total moron who has obviously has NO personal experience in dealing with the hell of Xanax withdrawal. I hate people who talk out of their ass just post, I bet it is all he does all day everyday. VERNON, if you are on any medication for several years or even months and you are taken off of it YOU WILL HAVE SOME FORM OF WITHDRAWL, XANAX IS KNOW TO BE ONE OF THE WOREST AND ONE OFMOST DANGEROUS MEDICATIONS TO COME OFF OF AND IF YOU TAKE DAILY AND DO NOT ABUSE IT YOU WILL BE IN HELL THAT MAY LAST MONTHS. COMMON SENSE MAN, STOP POSTING BS RESPONSES WHEN YOU HAVE NO PERSONAL EXPERIENCE TO DRAW FROM, PLEASE. I WOULD LOVE TO SLIP YOU SOME FOR A WEEK OR SO AND STOP IT SUDDENLY, JUST TO GIVE YOU A TASTE OF THE HORRIBLE, MIND BLOWING PAIN AND THE PAIN IS THE EASY PART, IT IS HELL. EVEN IF YOU ARE TAPERED OFF OF IT YOU ARE GOING TO GO THROUGH HELL TO GET PAST IT LEAVING YOUR SYSTEM. YOU NEED TO BE PUT ON BLOOD PRESSURE MEDICATIONS AND HAVE SOMEONE TO MONITER YOU SO YOU DON'T DIE FROM A STROKE OR HEART ATTACK FROM THE STRESS OF IT, WE ARE DISCUSSING MEDICATION FOR ANXIETY HERE NOT JUST USED TO SLEEP OR WHATEVER IF A SOMEONE HAS ISSUES WITH ANXIETY AND IS TAKEN OFF IT WILL ALMOST TAKE YOU TO THE BRINK OF INSANITY BEFORE IT IS OVER. IT WILL COME IN WAVES SO WHEN YOU FEEL A LITTLE BETTER AND THINK IT IS OVER, SMACK, YOU ARE DEALING WITH THE WOREST ANXIETY OF YOUR LIFE AND NO ER WILL DO ANYTHING TO HELP, THE SHEAR FACT THAT YOU DON'T KNOW THEY WILL NOT TOUCH YOU OR GIVE ANYTHING TO HELP YOU, PROVES YOU HAVE NOT THE FIRST CLUE ABOUT THE HORROR OF THIS HAPPENING TO YOU. THEY WILL SAY SEE YOUR DOCTOR UNLESS YOU ARE HAVING A LIFE THREATING ISSUE LIKE A STOKE OR HEART ATTACK, THEY MIGHT TREAT A SEZIURE BUT IF THEY CAN AVOID IT THEY WILL AND YOU HAVE NO WAY TO GET THEM TO SEE YOU ARE IN CRISIS. I HAVE TAKEN 2, 1 mil Xanax for seven years without stopping it at all, my dr suddenly removed it when he got a call from my mother, who is a 20 year employee of the largest mental health facility in the area, she has no personal expiernce with taking Xanax but think it is the devil because of her job and SOME of her clients who abuse it but she risk my life to prove her power over me and my dr, who's last notes on my appointment and why the medication is given, says anxiety worse due to stress issues with her mother, lol and he drops me because she makes a foolish call in anger to control a 41 year old who HAS taken this responsibly for Seven years, without so much as a call to ask me about the claims made by a woman who he knows is an issue and it is in black and white in notes repeatedly. Not only that but when I first started to see him it was for auto accident, she and I are on same insurance policy, she is the primary and gets a quarterly statement of all activity on claim, know I take it and waits all this time to call....WTF?????? And worse because she will throw her job tilte around as scare tacktic to make a doctor worry that she will give them issues, he takes her word when he has no proof that she is even really my mother, this is wrong on every level and violates my privacy and almost killed me this time, she left me alone, for over a week and a half without so much as a call to see if I am alive, yeah she is soooooo worried about her child, this is frealing laughable. Nothing I do will make him budge, when it is there in my records all along and is reminded of the prior knowledge of my taking this medication because the auto claim information will ALWAYS be sent to the Primary person on the insurance, this cannot be changed, it is what happens in all auto insurance claims bottom line. This pisses me off to no end, I pay him almost $15o bucks every month CASH and she Has NEVER BEEN ACTIVE IN MY MEDICAl CARE In MY LIFE after the age of four, her mother was my caregiver and took me to every dr apt. While she worked....... I am so appalled at this I a seeing his ass and I have all I need in his notes, wow. It is wrong and should be a given that anyone could have made that call and the fact that I can't get a phone call to see if it is true or hear my side after I have NEVER asked for more or run out, said it was stolen or tried to manipulate him for more should be what he basis his chioces in my meds on, but she scared him because of her job and the fact that this could cause issues for him if she doesn't get her way. I am so shocked this is a violation of my privacy, I am freaking out because it is hard to establish trust with a doctor, it takes lots of time to see you are not just wanting it for a high, it doesn't work like that when you need it, take it daily for years and are responsible to a fault. All I can say is if she cared about my well being she would have not left me alone when she knows how dangerous this is to come off of, great mother not a call or anything. I am livid and she has distorted my dr/patient relationship and proved her ability to control me at 41, beyond my wildest dreams and I am about to shock her, because I will never allow this to happen again and I am leaving all I own, except a few sets of clothing and special items and pets. I am leaving my entire live to get away from her and I am going to be in mental hell to walk away without a word to people I love, I will never see again or even talk to because I won't have her risk my life because she is pissed off or wants to control me, I am an only child, we have been so close most of my life and now I am going to walk away alone with nothing just so I can know I am out of her reach, it is heartbreaking, sad and I am terrified. But she almost killed me, by her foolish need to control me, the funniest part is she never said a word to him about the five other HIGHLY ADDICITVE MEDICATION I WAS ON, She was in my medication bag, she saw them all. It is just the xanax, I have family history and all the reasons to be on this medication and I am worse than I have ever been with nothing left to do but leave my entire life so my health is at risk because she needs medication but thinks she is better than anyone who takes this medication, she too has no idea because she has never once taken one, however she is on four blood pressure meds and I am the only one on her side who has NEVER HAD ISSUE with blood pressure it is kind of low but my grandmother had panic attacks for years mom took her to the er or dr, or was one talking her down from one, she knows this happens to me and still risk my life, unbelievable. Vernon please don't post when you really have no clue it waste your time and the time of all who stop to read it, it is bad advise and people that are here are looking for a way to get help because they are in crisis, it is a very dangerous time in ones life, don't play with their safey with worthless information that could kill them. Thank you.

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my comment is to the women withdrawling from zanex. I have been through withdrwal from zanex. It is uncomfortable and you will not sleep well, you will be shakey, and just uncomfortable. Why dont you move your appt up and not go so long without seeing him? Surely since you have been with him for 10 years you can reschedule for a sooner date. Word to the wise, dont reschedule anymore appts for a while. Docs r getting wierder and wierder all the time when it comes to these kind of meds due to all the deaths lately. You will b uncomfortable but try to keep your mind off it and stay busy..sorry this is happening to you.

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Yes,it will be hell and it will suck more than you can imagine. It is one of the most dangerous med to come off of you can have a stroke or a heartattack and even die so you need to have someone who has been through it to check on you and make sure you are ok.i would be happy to talk to you if you need someone who has been there alone, I won't ever let someone be alone, it is horrible .let me know if I can help. Please be careful and take care of yourself.

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Re: Anne (# 572)

I don't need to research things that i've experienced. Book smarts cannot compare to experiential knowledge. Scientia Potentia Est. You ask for others to "site" something but you can't even spell the word "cite" let alone cite any sources yourself. (or "ur" self as YOU would say).

Alprazolam does not cause Edema, Jaundice, or Fluid retention. Period. The initial studies on the safety and efficacy were done in the late '70s and early '80s. I see no such report of any ailment that you mention and you have yet to cite a source for those claims. Even if there were a handful of reports back then they very well could have, and likely would have, been related to other medical conditions.

Please though, show me in this excerpt where it mentions any ailment that your vast knowledge has identified; ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/8262888. Really though, enough with the absurd hypotheticals from someone sitting on the sidelines with an instruction manual on "how to play" the game.

I'm growing tired of responding to your sophomoric responses. It is my opinion that you are not a Nurse. Based upon your writing I would guess that your highest level of education would be High School. Until you can back up your claims or, at least, provide a compelling and reasonable dialogue I am done responding to you.

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THE REASON DOCTORS ARE GETTING SO SPOOKED IS BECAUSE OF THE STREET SALES AND GET THIS, BUYING THEM ONLINE WITHOUT A PRECRTION!? A LITTLE SCARY RO KNOW YOU CAN TYPE IN XANAX BARS AND PAGES OF SITES COME UP WHERE YOU CAN BUY ANY PILL U WANT, THIS IS NOT HELPING US WHO REALLY NEED THE MEDICATIONS AS I HAVE SEVERE PANIC ATTACKS, I WENT FROM SEEING MY DR, EVERY 3 MONTHS TO EVERY MONTH CAUSE THEY NO LONGER GIVE REFILLS ON THESE TYPES OF MEDS, AND WOULD NEVER CALL IN IF I MISSED AND BEEN PAINTENT FOR YEARS, ALL RULES HAS CHANGED IN DR. OFFICE, TO EVERYONE
BUT DONT GO WITHOUT YOR MEDICATION, ITS DANGEROUS,

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i've had to walk away from my entire family and start my life over because ppl think panic attacks are a joke, they are no laughing matter, its pure hell and has taken over my life, i never knew they was addictive or could have withdrawels until recently, and i have been on them for 8-9 years now, im so scared for one because i still have the panic attacks and they are so severe, two im so afraid with the number of ppl abuseing these meds. ppl like me who need it will be cut off cold turkey, i would do anything for my panic attacks to be cured and i never had to touch other xanax, its mind blowing to find out what i thought was helping me all these years could kill me its so wrong what ur mother did, i bet she wouldnt like the fill of panic if she had no way to get her life saving blood pressure medications,

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3 mg 4 ten days at this point means you will have to take the
med 4 life . find another doctor and PAY CASH.
a prescribing physician...

xanax does cause brain damage and eventually rots away your kidney liver function .
its possible to stop by tapering off but its a miserable process far worse than heroin or oxy[i had success with that but the alpraz? no way .
im terminally ill and am dyin anayway so my doc knows it will contribute to my death but it so what.
a little medical marijuana with a smaller dose helps

theres also buying the med on line as a last resort but its expensive

hope this helped

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