How long until this Xanax exits my system?

April 15, 2018 5:52 PM

I accidentally took 2mg instead of .2mg of Xanax 22 hours ago because I mis-read the packet. I've slept for about 19 of them and am still careening off walls and staggering around like a drunk. This is rediculous. How long until this wears off and I can function?
posted by DarlingBri to Science & Nature (9 answers total)

Best answer: The Federal Drug Administration's drug information sheet for Xanax shows that the drug's elimination half-life for a healthy adult ranges between 6.3 and 26.9 hours, with an average of about 11.2 hours.

So, 2 half lives to go from a 2mg dose to a 0.2mg dose. And then add how it takes you to metabolize a 0.2mg dose from there.
Stimulants can counter affect the effects of benzos. Caffiene pills, daytime cold medication or adhd medication if you need to function asap.
posted by OnefortheLast at 6:03 PM on April 15, 2018 [2 favorites]

Response by poster: Thank you for looking that up. My brain is not braining. Is that 12 to... More than 50 hours from the time I took it?
posted by DarlingBri at 6:14 PM on April 15, 2018

Diminishing effects but you'll still be feeling it through tomorrow. The metabolite will still be detectable in your system for 6 weeks. You'll be less sleepy tomorrow than you are today but you'll still be feeling it tomorrow.

Sorry.
posted by arnicae at 6:25 PM on April 15, 2018

Best answer: Not that I want to be the bearer of worse news, but wouldn't that be 3+ half lives to go from 2mg to 0.2mg?

(2 --> 1 --> 0.5 --> 0.25?)
posted by nobody at 6:38 PM on April 15, 2018 [9 favorites]

Based on browsing some trip reports on Erowid, it sounds like 24-36 hours for that kind of dosage.

Erowid trip reports are so strange to me and that's coming from someone who used to really enjoy that kind of experience
posted by sacrifix at 6:42 PM on April 15, 2018 [3 favorites]

Thank you nobody, my brain is also not braining so well today.
posted by OnefortheLast at 6:58 PM on April 15, 2018 [1 favorite]

Next time anything similar happens, call poison control or *any* 24-hour pharmacy. They should be able to answer your questions.
posted by steady-state strawberry at 7:06 PM on April 15, 2018 [7 favorites]

The problem with benzos in general is that when one takes too much one's brain doesn't really register it as a problem until it's already beginning to wear off. You shouldn't actually need more than about a day and a half to stop feeling it simply because your brain gets used to it very quickly. Don't be surprised if in the future you find it takes .4 or .5 mg to get the same effect you used to get from .2.

Depending on why you're taking it a different benzo may be more your speed in the sense that 2mg wouldn't be quite so disabling were you to accidentally take too much in the future. Unfortunately, one of the side effects of any of them is that you can easily forget you've taken them and take extras completely unintentionally. Finding one that has a larger delta between the effective dose for you and the dose that knocks you out or starts causing memory loss makes it less likely for such a severe overdose to happen.

My SO lost 3 weeks when she tried Xanax some years back thanks to that. Ativan is much more compatible with her.
posted by wierdo at 8:53 PM on April 15, 2018

Response by poster: Well, I posted that and went back to sleep again, and while I've woken up pretty tired, I can walk in a straight line and am no longer falling over. Thanks, Ask!
posted by DarlingBri at 11:28 PM on April 15, 2018 [25 favorites]