When I was in the throes of OCD last summer, my psychiatrist put on me on .5mg of Xanax daily and gradually increased the dose to 3mg a number of months ago. I am now trying to wean myself since I am feeling better, doing well in therapy, and am able to rationalize that the intrusive thoughts that come and go are nothing but stupid thoughts, not to mention we are thinking about trying for #2 at the end of the summer.
I went down to 2mg about a month ago, and didn't really notice much difference. I am now on 1.5mg and am starting to feel jittery and just generally edgy. I know that is to be expected when coming down off of a controlled substance, but it stinks! I am scared that the thoughts I had last year are going to come back...it was the worst time of my life as anyone with OCD and intrusive thoughts can attest to.
Has anyone been able to plough through the discomfort of withdrawl and successfully stop taking xanax or any other type of benzo? Just looking for a little support! Thanks!
Re: Weaning off of Xanax...support needed!
I think learning a few "Mindfulness" techniques could help. Look up a book on Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction. I took a 6 week class and it taught me the relationship between My thoughts (emotions, negative self talk, worries) and sensations in my body. By bringing awareness to your emotions and intrusive thoughts when they come, you can begin to understand what triggers them. I also found something called "The body scan" to be an easy meditation technique that can calm me down in the middle of an anxious episode (I continue to struggle with PPA and OCD). You can look up "body scans" on YouTube. I like one by LifeLightCounseling.
As for the withdrawal, I don't have any advice or suggestions, except that it's not going to be easy (duh, sorry!)