u/Vapor2077

Hi all — I’m 34F. Long story short, I have a prescription for alprazolam (1 mg, 15 tablets at a time). I refilled it in late March and was taking it almost daily, usually between 0.5–1.5 mg each day.
I refilled it again in late April and continued taking it the same way. By late last week, I was running low. I’m not completely out, but my last dose was this past Saturday.

Toward the end of last week, my anxiety suddenly ramped up and I’m not entirely sure why. I ended up canceling all my weekend plans because I felt so overwhelmed.

Now I’m wondering whether I might be experiencing some form of withdrawal or rebound anxiety from the alprazolam.

My main symptoms are:

•Increased anxiety that seems to fluctuate throughout the day

• Depression/low mood

• Brain fog

What makes me unsure is that I’m *not* experiencing symptoms like sweating, vomiting, tremors, etc.

Has anyone else experienced something similar after relatively short-term or moderate use? If so, how long did it take before you started feeling normal again? 😰

I feel like I do everything I can to manage my mental health without benzos. It doesn’t work.

I only have one dose of my Xanax left. I can’t refill it until the 27th.

I’m so anxious I can’t function. I don’t know what to do.

I emailed my psychiatrist, but he probably won’t get back to me until Monday. And if he does, it will be something like “try some box breathing or take a walk outside.”

I’m screwed.

Has anyone been in this situation? What did you do?

Yesterday, I took 1.5 mg of alprazolam, prescribed to me, spread out throughout the day. I took .5 mg around 11:30ish, and then sometime in the evening I took 1 mg.

I haven’t had any alprazolam today.

This morning, I got up and was laying on the couch in the living room. I stood up, and got a head rush. I feel like I’m prone to head rushes for some reason, so I’m kind of used to them. However, this one was worse. I stood up, my vision got “snowy,” I was kind of wobbly (but I never fell or anything), and I remember just wondering what was going on. I don’t know how long this lasted - 5-10 seconds? It felt like longer

By the time I stabilized, I was scared.

Last year, there was about a month where I was drinking strong kava tea every day, and I took my alprazolam if I had it. Not at the same time, but often on the same day. During the month I was doing this, I fainted three times.

The last time, I fainted and hit my head on the edge of my dresser on the way down, cutting my head. My husband saw this happen and took me to the ER. They ran some tests, did a scan, etc. and the doctor said everything looked normal - & to just stop taking my alprazolam if I’ve had kava. I haven’t touched kava since, and I haven’t fainted like that …

But my “head rush” today felt scarily similar to how I would feel right before I fainted last year.

I’ve been wanting to quit alprazolam, anyway. Might just cut way back on it.

Have these kind of “head rushes” happened to anyone else on benzos? I’m worried I’m going to faint again 😕