How to Help Someone Addicted to Xanax Treatment for Xanax Addiction

Their brain will also need time to recover and relearn how to function normally without Xanax. If a person starts taking Xanax to manage their anxiety, their mental condition may worsen or intensify during withdrawal. Other long-term effects that can be lifelong include dementia, permanent cognitive damage, psychosis, and memory loss.

Benzodiazepines decrease the level of excitement in the brain and have a calming and sedating effect on the user. You may also recognize something is wrong by changes in a person’s behavior, mood, appearance, or performance at school or work. These changes can be attributed to other factors, not just Xanax addiction. However, they’re telltale signs someone’s struggling with serious problems like drug abuse.

Don’t Go Through Withdrawal Alone

These drugs work to increase serotonin concentration in the brain. Common SSRIs include fluoxetine (Prozac), citalopram (Celexa), and escitalopram (Lexapro). According to a 2014 paper entitled “Abuse and misuse of antidepressants” published in Substance Abuse and Rehabilitation, most people prescribed with antidepressants don’t misuse them, and these drugs have low addictive potential. That means these medications are a safer alternative to Xanax, but the prescription is still necessary. Keep in mind the addiction treatment center is a center that provides a well-structured treatment for persons who are struggling with different substance use disorders.

• If a person experiences any serious side effects when taking Xanax, they should seek immediate medical attention.
• This can give your body time safely adjust to progressively lower doses.
• Relationships can be your saving grace when the challenges of withdrawal feel unbearable.
• Information provided by the next of kin revealed that the deceased had been taking diazepam for several years but had recently been switched to alprazolam [Xanax].

Also, if you were taking Xanax for a mental health disorder, those symptoms will typically return to be more extreme than previously. Make sure to discuss with your doctor or addiction treatment specialist any mental health conditions you’ve been previously treated for. In one study, researchers found that people who took Xanax for six weeks were more likely to experience benzodiazepine withdrawal symptoms than those who didn’t take the drug at all. Just as all other benzos, quitting Xanax requires a doctor’s oversight. They will create a detox schedule that involves slowly tapering the dosage downward over a two-week period.

Why Does Xanax Cause Withdrawal?

When detoxing from Xanax, it’s important to taper your use instead of going “cold turkey.” Abruptly stopping Xanax use increases your risk of fatal withdrawal symptoms, and it can be extremely harmful to your health. If you notice any of these signs in yourself or a loved one, it’s important to seek an addiction treatment program as soon as possible. Continuing to abuse Xanax can lead to serious, life-threatening consequences. This is due to the highly addictive nature of this class of drugs.

Yet taken in high doses or when consumed with other substances, such as alcohol, the consequences can be catastrophic. When too many tablets are consumed at once, the body can become overwhelmed. xanax addiction Sufferers may experience a return of symptoms and feel inclined to up their dose to keep them at bay. In this way, the brain becomes increasingly reliant on the drug to feel normal.

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Although people often use the two terms interchangeably, dependence and addiction are not the same. If a person experiences any serious side effects when taking Xanax, they should seek immediate medical attention. You can receive 24/7 https://ecosoberhouse.com/article/how-to-stop-alcohol-shakes-tremors/ text support right away and at your convenience. There is no obligation to enter treatment and you can opt out at any time. Withdrawal symptoms are typically at their worst two to six hours after the last dose of the medication.

• Many factors are involved, including using high doses, mixing Xanax with other drugs, and using the drug for a long period of time.
• Alprazolam is relatively more toxic than other benzodiazepines in overdose.
• If you think you need help, get in touch with Windward Way Recovery today.
• Alternative treatment options for Xanax addiction include motivational interviewing and contingency management.
• “In the beginning, benzos instantly blotted out my pain and anxiety.

In that case, you will be established on that medication over a period of time before you are tapered off of it. During this time, Xanax withdrawal symptoms will increase and the user will begin to feel additional symptoms including nausea, muscle spasms, sweating, and even tremors. When people take it for longer than recommended (or without a prescription), their chance of developing a physical dependence on the drug is much higher, which makes sense now that you know about how the drug affects the brain. When Xanax is abused it is often taken in higher doses and combined with other substances. Alcohol and opioids are the most common substances mixed with Xanax.

Do I Have a Xanax Addiction?

If you were prescribed Xanax for anxiety or panic disorder, these underlying conditions will need to be addressed – without resuming benzos. Continuing your treatment on an outpatient basis should also help get you through the post-acute withdrawal period and lower your chance of relapse. Xanax (alprazolam) is one of the most commonly prescribed benzodiazepine medications. This medication is used to treat symptoms of anxiety and panic attacks but is only intended to be used for two or three weeks at a time, as tolerance to the medication’s effects can occur quickly. Unsupervised withdrawal symptoms can permanently affect a person’s health.

Developing a dependence on Xanax can be possible even when taking small doses or with a prescription and advice from a physician. Generally speaking, the recommended daily dose of Xanax in the acute treatment of anxiety is 0.25mg to 0.5mg three times a day as advised by the U.S National Library of Medicine. The maximum daily dosage doctors recommend is 4mg a day in divided doses. However, every person is different, so they may respond to the specific amount of Xanax in a different manner. Someone can develop Xanax addiction symptoms even when taking the drug as prescribed. This also makes Xanax withdrawal physically and mentally a tough process.

The Dangers of Quitting Xanax

Long-term Xanax abuse affects the brain’s chemical systems and functions, resulting in psychological addiction. The mind will compulsively drive the user to return to the drug and use becomes the all-consuming priority in an addict’s life. While many cases of Xanax addiction occur as a result of poly-substance abuse, dependence is rising in those without prior history. While Xanax is a prescription drug and can be safe to use therapeutically, it is often consumed recreationally or in violation of a prescription. As with other prescription drugs, the potential for abuse is high.

After all, it’s much easier to remove a single low-dose Valium pill from a regimen than remove a fraction of one Xanax pill. Practicing relapse prevention and management can improve your recovery outlook in the long term. If you — or your loved one — are ready to get treatment, it may be helpful to reach out to a supportive friend or family member for support. Although an intervention may encourage your loved one to seek treatment, it can also have the opposite effect. Confrontation-style interventions may lead to shame, anger, or social withdrawal. The first step is to identify any misconceptions you might have about addiction.

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Side effects are common, but often downplayed by patients, given its rapid onset of therapeutic action and unique reinforcing properties. Common complaints reported with varying frequency by patients treated with alprazolam include sedation, fatigue, ataxia, amnesia, slurred speech, poor concentration, hypersensitivity, and irritability. If you or a loved one is struggling with dependence on or addiction to Xanax, there are effective and safe options to help get you on the road to recovery. At Oxford Treatment Center, our team of addiction treatment specialists provide evidence-based addiction-focused healthcare to get you through detox and beyond. In addition to the direct risk of seizures, the psychological withdrawal symptoms can cause a person to undertake dangerous or unusual activities to find relief from the symptoms. Extreme physical discomfort is not uncommon during withdrawal and can be uncomfortable enough that a person may start using Xanax again (or different substances) to avoid the feelings.