XANAX XR, Splitting, and tapering

[[3e...]]

In conjunction with tapering, would anyone have information regarding:

1)  the method of making Alprazolam (Xanax) extended release (see background below);

2). if the tablet can be split, [i realize the nomenclature says it cannot be crushed or chewed].

3). does anyone have any history of effects when using such a split (not crushed) tablet?

 

I read that time release methodology may vary from pill to pill. i.e. Sometimes two doses are encapsulated, sometimes the drug is embedded in a matrix, sometimes it is a membrane, sometimes it is in a gel that swells, it is a coating on the surface, etc.

 

I read that if it is a timed release coating, that the tablet should definitely not be split, but if the drug is micro encapsulated, then splitting has less of an effect.

Some XR tablets are eligible for splitting as:

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19754482

 

I realize that across the board it is said never to split any XR tablet, but I have also read that some doctors prescribe splitting the Xanax XR tablet, and I realize that the suggestion is often made to switch to Xanax IR when tapering, but if anyone has any insight to the above questions it would be appreciated.

 

[[Ju...]]

I tapered off of Xanax and I've watched many folks taper off of both regular and Xanax XR.  None of the folks cut their XR's but one and she did not recommend doing so, especially in the lower doses.  The problem with the XR's is they only come as low as .50mg.  This is far too big of a tablet to cut to make comfortable cuts. 

 

As an example, from 1.5mg to zero, I only dropped .0625mg every 8 to 14 days.  Even this tiny cut was challenging at times.  A .0625 is a quarter of a regular .25mg tablet.

 

What I would do is replace .50mgs of XR with .50mgs of the regular .25's and slowly drop down by .0625mg per taper period.  When I got to .50mg, I would go to all regular fast acting Xanax and taper by no more than .0625mg per taper period.

 

If you'd like to see my taper schedule, there is a link in my signature.  Good luck. 

[[3e...]]

Thank you, this is helpful; I had not considered the smaller incremental cuts that will likely be needed and the difficulty of doing so in a .5mg tablet.

 

[[Ju...]]

Thank you, this is helpful; I had not considered the smaller incremental cuts that will likely be needed and the difficulty of doing so in a .5mg tablet.

 

How did your spouse get from 1.5mg to 1mg?  I hope not by a .50mg reduction. 

 

When I adopted the .0625mg cut just above 1.5mg, this literally saved my taper and enabled me to taper off after 25 years of nightly Xanax use for insomnia. 

 

Most people when switching from the XR's to the regular, (for their taper cuts), must break up and spread out this .50mg chunk of their dose.  This helps the Xanax stay active in their bloodstream and combats interdose withdrawal.

 

How is your spouse doing with their taper so far?  Any symptoms?  My cuts usually hit me on days 4-5 after I did a dose reduction.  The uptick in symptoms usually lasted from 1-3 days or so.  It was only AFTER the symptoms settled back down again from the cut, that I cut again.  So I would cut anywhere from every 8 to 18 days or so.  This is called listening to your body.  We cut a tiny amount, and then wait for an uptick in symptoms, and then wait again for the symptoms to settle back down, (and this time period can vary from cut to cut), and then repeat until we hit zero.  I made 32 cuts to get free of 3mgs of Xanax.