Some Questions/Concerns About My Taper Plan

[[li...]]

Tomorrow will mark the fourth week of my physician devised taper plan.  She advised that I cut .25mg a week.  I began by taking around 2mg a day, occasionally more, and now am down to 1.25mg a day.  I've been experiencing persistent daily panic attacks since this process started, as well as other unpleasant withdrawal symptoms (I was actually having bad interdose withdrawal prior to even starting this process, due to the tolerance I had built up).  Tomorrow I'm supposed to go down to 1mg, but I don't know if that's viable for me, considering that I'm currently feeling very unstable, so I'm considering taking a break from the taper at my current level.  I'm suffering, but my doctor thinks I just need to ride it out. 

 

I haven't been able to figure out the best way to space my doses, I take .5mg upon waking, .5mg around 6 hours later (if I can make it that long), and .25 before bed to allow me to sleep.  The Xanax wears off very fast for me, due to my tolerance, so my functionality is compromised for most of the day because of the awful rebound anxiety I'm experiencing.  I really don't know the best way to go about this, considering I was already having withdrawal and tolerance issues before I even began tapering.  Also complicating things is the fact that I only have 1mg pills, so I'm sure I'm not getting a precise dose when it comes to measuring out .25.  Also, I often take go the sublingual route when taking my dose, my previous doctor said this was fine to do, but I don't know if this has any sort of effect on the way the medication functions, or the duration of the dose. 

 

I really would like to get on a longer lasting alternative for this process, but my doctor sees it as "Trading one dependency for another", and is adamantly opposed to the idea.  I'm thinking about trying another doctor for a second opinion, I'm just not sure who to go see.  There's a long waiting period for psychiatrists and dependency specialists, and this is an immediate issue for me. 

 

I'm hoping to get some feedback from people who have been in similar situations, because right now I'm having a very difficult time functioning normally, and am finding it difficult to meet my responsibilities in life.  Some of the issues I'm dealing with: bad rebound anxiety, a sense of depersonalization, hot/cold flashes, mental fog, constant dread, hypochondria/paranoia, digestive issues, and more.  I've had a lot of general medical tests done that indicate I'm in a normal state of health. 

 

 

[[NJ...]]

I would definitely try to get another doctor if you can. I live in U.S. and know that most primary care docs will prescribe benzos, which is how I ended up in the mess I am in. Maybe just see someone and tell them you are having problems with your current benzo, and that you feel you would benefit from a longer acting one (looks like you were on klonopin previously, maybe you can request that). I wouldn't tell them you want to taper, just see if you can get a prescription. None of the doctors I see have any idea about tapering, although they will all pretty much give me whatever I say I need.

 

[[Su...]]

She advised that I cut .25mg a week.  I began by taking around 2mg a day, occasionally more, and now am down to 1.25mg a day.  I've been experiencing persistent daily panic attacks since this process started, as well as other unpleasant withdrawal symptoms .

Hi L,

That is a very very fast withdrawal plan from a short acting benzo.    It's not surprising that you are having intense w/d sxs at the moment.  If you could find a doc who is willing to work with your schedule that would be great.  I hope you can find another provider....

 

Holding -- taking a break from the taper could be a good option -- there's a group here for long hold supporters.

 

there's lots of information on this site for methods and timing of withdrawals....

 

Good luck with this!  Wishing you well

 

[[li...]]

Thanks for the responses.  It kind of confirms what I thought, that my current taper plan is too aggressive.  I'm really struggling, and the short acting nature of the Xanax is a big factor.  I think I'm going to try to hold for the time being, but I'm going to try to see another doctor asap.  The advice about not mentioning my intentions to taper is probably good, I could honestly probably return to the doctor who originally prescribed me Xanax very liberally and ask to be switched to something longer acting.  When I went to this new doctor I basically asked for help tapering, and that's how I ended up in the situation I'm in now.