I’m trying to get off of Xanax after taking it daily for about nine years. I have never abused this medication, and I was taking about .75mg a day eight months ago before I started to taper. It really didn’t seem like I was taking that much, and I thought this would be easier…but I have been through absolute hell during this process. Xanax metabolizes so quickly that I had to break up pills into fragments and take them throughout the day just to function at work. I have started developing what I believe were withdrawal symptoms a couple months ago, such as pulsatile tinnitus in my ears, a vibrating feeling throughout my body, and flashes in my vision. I also had three or four panic attack episodes about two months ago and one landed me in the emergency room because I had head pressure and thought I was having a seizure. I stayed the course and continued tapering, and then I was down to taking .125 mg of Xanax a day about three weeks ago. I have steadily stayed on that dose because I feel crappy. So basically, there are very few benzos in my system now. It’s a struggle to continue functioning at work but I’m doing it. I finally caved and contacted my doctor yesterday, and I asked to switch to Valium instead of Xanax because I heard that the withdrawal symptoms aren’t so bad while you’re on that. So now, I am switching over to Valium and I am taking about 1.25 mg of Valium a day, which really isn’t much of anything. I feel like I am riding out absolute hell and I am barely hanging on. I’m almost afraid to lower my dose anymore or to get off of this drug because I’m afraid that the withdrawals will get worse. Have I already gone through the worst of this and will it get better, or will it get worse? How long can I expect to continue feeling so horribly?