Passion thank you for sharing your story. I hope that others will heed the warning. Benzos are VERY dangerous. Benzodiazepines alter brain chemistry and functioning in a major way. They are HIGHLY and RAPIDLY addictive drugs and among the most difficult drugs to stop. Stopping abruptly can be very dangerous and cause a grand mall seizure; seizures like an epileptic experiences. Drinking alcohol while taking benzodiazepine is extremely dangerous and life threatening. To learn more about benzodiazepines just type the word into Google or any search engine....look for reliable formal education or government websites; they will have .edu or .gov as part of their webaddress. When I home detoxed from Xanax I was helped through the process with the tapering guidelines established by Professor Heather Ashton in the United Kingdom who has researched and published much of her work online for the public and for medical professionals. She has developed guideline recommendations for tapering from all benzodiazepines and published them in the Ashton Manual, available free online. The bottom line is that the greatest hope for success with Benzo detox is transitioning from a short half life Benzo to a longer half life Benzo and then doing a taper. It is almost impossible to do a taper with a short half life Benzo because the WDs are like hitting a concrete wall at 100 miles an hour. Tapering from a longer half life bridges and then the taper gradually lessens the impact. I achieved my Benzo detox by switching from Xanax (short half life) to Valium (long half life). My doctor seemed to virually know nothing about the process or the objective. He refused to knowingly help me get off of anything. How I managed it was deceptively using his interest to keep me on something with me agreeing to stay on something IF he would switch me from Xanax to Valium. He was befuddled, like what's the difference. I didn't even bother trying to explain it because if he figured out that the switch was an actual taper support he probably would not have agreed to do it. As it was he thought it was a way to just keep me on something. I am convinced that this doctor is just a legallized pill pusher. He knowingly kept me on this stuff too long, put me at risk, caused the dependency, and then wouldn't help when he was told there was a problem. I am not blaming him for it all....he didn't follow me home and take the cap off the bottle for me....I did that on my own. I was in serious trouble before I ever knew there were any risks and by then it was too late. Thank God for online message board support forums and that I found the work of Professor Ashton online because I had to plan and manage my own detox without medical support. I could have told my family and switched doctors where I would have likely been referred for inpatient treatment....something that for me was not an option because of my profession and my pride. I was very ashamed of what I had allowed to happen to me. I am an educated, intelligent,professional person....I felt that I should have known better. I could live with my private shame, but there was no way I was going to live with family and public exposure. For me, a discreet home detox was the ONLY alternative. Unlike the post above, OTC coping products did help me. However, what I learned was most things only work if taken in mega doses in order to be able to combat the intensity of WDs. If taken as recommended I agree that they do little. I used the OTC coping options as outlined in another thread on this Board, Vicodin Home Detox Plan, the OTC coping options are outlined on page 1 of that thread. One VERY important additional OTC supplement in a Benzo detox is the addition of Taurine which helps to protect from grand mall seizures. For me that was the scariest part of Benzo detox...I was terrified because part of the detox symptom is a feeling of a band tightening around your head....the tighter it got the more terrified I got and worried about how close I might be to an actual seizure happening. Fortunately during that period I read every online post I could find on Benzo detox where I somehow found the strength and courage to hang on and endure it. Good luck to all who are struggling with this horrible family of Benzo drugs. My heart and prayers go out to you.