Brief Answer:
You are suffering from Benzodiazepine withdrawals and flashbacks.

Detailed Answer:
Hi!

1. Xanax is a short acting benzodiazepine drug, that is notorious for causing the sort of withdrawal like phenomena - even months after stopping it, even if were tapered, and particularly when it has been used in high doses such as 3 mg, as you have mentioned trying to use it at 3 times the dose that you were prescribed, namely 1 mg. In fact, though Xanax is a BNZ (Benzodiazepine), there is no known medical indication for a dose of 3 mg, for any reason. This is despite the fact that there is an indication for up to 100 mg of Diazepam (the 2nd BNZ discovered), in cases of severe convulsions. (status epilepticus). This is because Xanax is totally different in it's psychotropic and psychotomimetic effects as compared to other drugs of the BNZ family.

2. Withdrawal symptoms for all BNZ family drugs such as Xanax, Valium, Klonopin, and others have been studied to trouble a person for after approximately half the duration of exposure to the drug at any dose, if and only if the drug has been taken regularly and if, there is a demonstrated tolerance and dependence upon the drugs as in your case it took, 3 mg to accomplish the effects of 1 mg, This means, that for example, if a person has taken Xanax for 1 year, then the Xanax can be tapered off in 1 month, however, the withdrawal problems will last for another 5 months.

3. I would kindly ask you to question a neurologist about this fact. Or, if you are so inclined, please visit the National Library of Medicine at Pubmed on the internet, and type "BNZ withdrawal"

4. I can help you now, as we both know that these things, that you suffer from, your mysterious symptoms of tingling, headaches, dizziness and anxiety, among other symptoms form a grey area of a cluster of issues that occur with exposure to Xanax in high doses. I seriously doubt that you have migraine headaches with nystagmus, or any such serious neurological disease requiring very expensive consultations with super specialist doctors and tension provoking investigations like MRI of the Brain, (Which is very uncomfortable and expensive for most people).

5. You will definitely get better, I am sure of this, there are others, in the thousands who also have these same problems and if you visit an informative website called www.drugs.com, where you can meet people who also do go through the pain of BNZ withdrawal. Having someone to speak about this, anonymously, at your convenience on a regular basis, really helps and gets the weight of your chest.

4. You have a no fault illness that is a result of the side effects of the BNZ family of drugs. You mention having accelerated the dose of Xanax to 3 mg and certainly, this does not make you a drug abuser. It's just that Xanax is that sort of drug, so, you are not to blame for what happened because every person who uses Xanax goes through these problems more or less.

5. Try Naproxen for your headaches. If you feel dizzy, I suggest taking it easy and avoiding things like driving and operating machinery for a while. However, you can take a medicine called as cinnarizine for the dizziness. Take Naproxen for a week, my feeling is that Advil, will work better in Xanax induced headaches. This is the recommendation of the APA. It's your wish.

6. You also can do this, there are other neurologists on healthcaremagic and I will ask you to send a mail to YYYY@YYYY to Dr. XXXXXXX Panwar, a Neurophysician, who in my experience would give a second opinion and really guide you well. Just send the subject mail "ATTN Dr. XXXXXXX Panwar".

7. I really understand that anxiety on a regular basis can be harassing. You mention that you have tried Sertraline, and tapered it off. I will now, inform you that Sertraline is the worst drug that anyone can take IF they are anxious. Sertraline increases Anxiety so much, that Xanax is commonly given along with it, and that's how you got started with Xanax. Sertraline is given for Depression and OCD. You don't have this. You should have been given Paroxetine, which is theoretically the ultimate drug in the world for your problem. Practically, I would have told you to take some Escitalopram or Buspirone, which are mild, and are not addictive and do not require cocktails of other medicines.

8. And your problems are NOT due to stopping Sertraline.

9. I would be annoyed if I were you. I would question the doctor as to why I was given Sertraline, which is the LAST choice when nothing else works.

10. If you need to express yourself and your thoughts about this you can always find me on HCM. We're here to help you. I'm sure you'll get better.

11. I suggest that you try, TM - meditation, or Breathwork, or the Gym, if you can muster the effort (It's worthwhile). Don't you feel that these are better than drugs and medications after your bad experiences?

I'm always at your service. And you can ask me any doubts.

Thanks. It'll get better.

Dr. Neel Kudchadkar

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Brief Answer:
I'm sending you to a local doctor to get Tryptomer/Librium medication.

Detailed Answer:
Hi!

Let's be practical. Let's take action to get rid of your symptoms and get you going.

1. Kindly go to a doctor, and tell him these issues that you are facing, the list of which you have made, which includes, headaches, tingling/numbness, dizziness.

2. The doctor will most probably give you 2 drugs, either Naproxen/Ibuprofen combination and Cinnarizine.

3. These will help, but not to the extent to which you can feel "totally normal" and yourself. You'll get half and half of the satisfaction of the treatment.

4. If you so request, write back to me, and give me the city and town, where you stay, and I'll refer you to a certified doctor, even if you stay in the US, or are currently in foreign country. I'll see to it that the doctor is affordable, has good reviews and will be receptive to your issues.

5. I'll give you the internet link in the next answer. Click on it, and take an appointment. Next, Tell him (or her) that I feel that you need a low dose of
a medicine called as Tryptomer. In XXXXXXX this comes as a low dose tablet of
chlordiazepoxide and amytryptyline. I'm sure that the doctor will give you this, a prescription for it, and you'll be OK.

6. You can go to www.healthgrades.com (recommended) which lists thousands of doctors nationwide. However, since you've paid me for this service, I feel it's
my duty to do this for you. Meaning find the right local doctor in your town or city, someone affordable, someone understanding.

7. So, leave the tough job of doing this to me, and I do need to know just the city, where you live in, so that I can tell you where to go.

8. The conclusion of all this is simple.

- It may or may not be BZD withdrawal.
- It may or may not be Sertraline withdrawal.
- It may be a neurological or a functional illness and not the above or all three.

BUT,

Note well, that faced with the list of problems that you have, most doctors would definitely give you Chlordiazepoxide and Tryptomer combination.

- Note that you've tried almost all of the SSRI's. There is no point in trying paroxetine. It has more side effects and in the USA, it is a positively dangerous
drug, which comes with a black box warning. So, it's avoided and given when there is no choice.

- There are other medicines that can be given. However, they have severe side effects, need cocktails with other drugs, and are difficult to stop. These medicines will create more problems than they solve. I seriously doubt that, either myself or any other doctor would use some other combination.

Chlordiazepoxide and Tryptomer are really mild medicines. So, take a low dose at night, after dinner and things will be just fine. I mean to say, the entire list of problems that you claim began, after you stopped sertraline.

This makes sense. So, do this homework, send me your location, and I'll write back and tell you where to go, and which doctor to see.

Doctors publish articles. It's obvious from what they write, who will be sympathetic to your specific sort of problem.

Thanks,
Dr. Neel Kudchadkar

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