Tapering Twice

[[oh...]]

Hi,

I'm a 50-something woman who was on Xanax for nearly 30 years.  I was diagnosed with severe panic disorder and generalized anxiety disorder in my 20's.  I was prescribed .025 mg 3 times per day/PRN and faithfully took my medication in order to function outside the home.  About 10 years ago, my then-psychiatrist prescribed 1 mg. Xanax CR 4 times per day because I was still experiencing panic attacks and having difficulty going through surgically-induced menopause.  Last year my doctor retired, which meant I had to find another psychiatrist for meds.  The first one grilled me about reasons for taking such a high dose of Xanax and wouldn't prescribe it until he received justification for that level.  I saw another doctor for a second opinion, who scared me to death!  He told me Xanax would either cause me to have early-onset Alzheimer's, or it would kill me.  He told me I needed to go to an in-patient hospital immediately to go off of it. Since I didn't like either outcome, I asked the nurse to schedule my hospital visit.  She made arrangements, and I went approximately 3 weeks later. NO ONE...and I mean, no-one told me what would happen during and after the process, nor of the taper methodology of this particular hospital, nor of my tapering options. I was on a wean with concurrent increase in supporting meds for 10 days.  Because this hospital didn't use substitution or titration methods, I experienced horrific side effects on days 9 & 10...went home with my husband...and went to the local ER, where I was admitted for another 10 days to get my body re-introduced to another benzo, Ativan, for a longer, more gentler taper.  I'm now at .5 mg of Ativan at breakfast and .5 mg at bedtime.  However, I've been going through hot flushes from 4 p.m. until 10 p.m. everyday for the past two weeks since this latest decrease.  Have I "hit the wall?"  I really want to successfully complete this taper because I don't like being at the mercy of the benzos, I love having my memory improve, and I want to experience feelings again!  But, I don't know how to deal with these flushes.  Any suggestions?  I appreciate your advice!

[[Ch...]]

Welcome to BenzoBuddies. 

 

You're doing really well, ohsusannah, to come down from 4mg of Xanax to an equivalent of .5mg of Xanax (which is roughly 1mg of Ativan).  I'm sure it hasn't been easy, particularly the cold turkey facility withdrawal.

 

I tapered from Xanax and think it's important to carefully taper down to a low dose (for me it was .0625mg) before stopping...no more than 5-10% every week or two.

 

Here are some links to pertinent boards to begin posting:

 

General Taper Plans 

Withdrawal Support 

 

 

Please take some time to Create a Signature. This will help other members understand your history so they will be better able to support you.

Go to the top of the page and select Profile, then choose Forum Profile, insert drug history/timelines into the text box and click Change Profile.

 

When you have a chance, I highly recommend that you take a look at The Ashton Manual, which is an authoritative source on what to expect during withdrawal and recovery, authored by Dr. C. Heather Ashton, who is an expert in the field. It provides a great deal of information that can be very reassuring during any stage of this process, including a list of common symptoms with helpful explanations on the reasons for their existence.

 

Challis