Advice on DLMT

[[...]]

        Hi,

              I've been here awhile and I'll try to make the story as short as possible.

 

    In a nutshell, for the past 8 years, I've been the primary caregiver for my mom who has dementia......(stress, anxiety off the charts.)

 

      4 1/2 years ago, to help me sleep I unwisely got on Xanax (Alprazolam) at bedtime, 1mg for sleep then it got bumped up to 1.5 mg and that's where I'm at right now.

 

  As bad as this poison is, it actually did help me for sleeping and the general anxiety and as we all know there are many unwanted side effects that includes inter dose withdrawal, gastric issues, mood swings and the list goes on.....Soon I did the research on this stuff and realized how bad it was.

     

      I've tried a couple of dry tapers and did not succeed and always fell back because of the daily mom maintenance. But hey, it's your mom!

 

    The good news is, as much as I did not want to see this day come, mom got admitted to a long term care facility 3 weeks ago and she is thriving!...... They are doing an outstanding job with her and the staff could not believe I was going it alone taking care of her.

 

    I was getting nose bleeds just about every other day along with all the other wonderful symptoms when an opening at the best facility happened and when I was just about at my breaking point.....I even resorted to having my nose cauterized.

 

      Don't worry, I'll get to my point very shortly.

 

 

    I'm going to do a DLMT, got all the info on how to proceed from builder well over a year ago, (thanks builder!) and now it time to finally deal with this monkey on my back once and for all.

 

      Here's my question, In the first couple of hours upon awakening, I'm already having inter dose side effects, internal shaking, anxiety..........Because X is such a short acting benzo, would you recommend a dual or multi dosing schedule even though right up until now, I've taken the whole dose at bedtime?

 

    Sorry for such a long diatribe and any advice would be helpful.

 

[[Ma...]]

Hey A, it's so great your mom is thriving, I bet that took so much weight off your shoulders.  What a wonderful daughter you are.

You are doing 1.5 x right now?  I would definitely go to 2 or 3 , Since it is short acting.  You might try moving to .75 in a m and p m, give that a few weeks, see what you think,

If that doesn't work and you need more at night, or need to add a dose to get at some time during the day, as long as you stay at your normal daily dose, it's okay to move doses around to see how you do.  You will need to give them an opportunity to work.  A couple days, really isn't a chance. 

But the short version is yes you can change it.  Just go slow and arrange around how you feel.  Good luck!  Mary 💜 IMO

[[...]]

 

      Thanks Mary, yes it was like a giant weight being off my shoulders. From what I've read here, everyone is different and how you reduce can definitely be tinkered with to see what works.

      I'm either going to do a 2 or 3 dose regimen with the largest being at bedtime.

 

BTW, I'm a son not a daughter .............Anyway, thanks for the input and continued success with your taper also.

[[Ma...]]

 

      Thanks Mary, yes it was like a giant weight being off my shoulders. From what I've read here, everyone is different and how you reduce can definitely be tinkered with to see what works.

      I'm either going to do a 2 or 3 dose regimen with the largest being at bedtime.

 

BTW, I'm a son not a daughter .............Anyway, thanks for the input and continued success with your taper also.

 

Oh , sorry, you would think I would remember to look at the color of that tiny little thing . Really hope things work out.  Mary 🍀🍀🍀🍀