Xanax Withdrawal???

[ghost8]

Hi,

I have been taking xanax for about 2mths - starting with .25mg 2x a day [I sometimes would take it 3-4x a day].
i was able to do this cause I had overlapping Rx when my doctor upped the dose to .50mg 3wks ago.
The main reason I take it is to sleep - most times I do not take in the day time and with the higher dose
I would only take 2 before bed and sometimes 1 more if I woke during the night. So I do not take for
anxiety only occasionally if I feel stressed. The reason the dose was increased cause the meds had less
effect on me within a short time. Im not one to get dependent on meds - but last night I had run out of
pills more than a week before refill and it took a real long time before I fell asleep. Today I felt bad, my legs
heavy and stiff, a bad stomach and just in kind of a fog. I know part of this is from lack of sleep but could
I be going thru withdrawal already? I would say I take avg. of 2 / .50mg tabs a day like I wrote- occasionally
3. Is this med the type where you it increasingly have to up the dose as your body adjusts to it? Is there
a better alternative? I do not take any other meds. Thank You.