Terrified To Taper

[[ca...]]

Hello! I have been prescribed Xanax for about 6 years and a doctor finally told me that they are meant for short-term use and I need to stop taking them. I agreed, unaware of the dangers of long-term use and frustrated I had never been warned of physical dependence, only of their potential for addiction. I was up to 2 mg a day (had also not been warned about increasing tolerance) and was told to switch to every other day for two weeks and then stop taking them. So I did. About a week or so after cessation, I entered withdrawal. I thought I was dying, so I went back to the clinic. My doctor had been replaced by a new resident, and he reinstated me for a slower taper. After several months stabilizing at my usual dose of 2 mg, I said I was ready to start. He wanted me to start at 1.5 mg because Xanax doesn’t come in convenient doses for a taper, but I refused, claiming that the cut was too drastic. We settled on 1.75 mg, which I have been fine on for about two weeks. Now, I’m starting to feel sick again. I thought I was okay but made the mistake of going out drinking (not while the Xanax was in my system) and I haven’t recovered from that night even several days later. I feel some of the same early withdrawal symptoms as the first time: jaw pain, insomnia, nausea, sweating, feeling like I’m car sick (the last one is by far the hardest for me since my head feels like it’s spinning). I want to try to stabilize at this dose and then see if there is a way to microtaper or something, but is this too fast? My doctor is pretty clueless since he wanted me to just start guessing at making cuts myself, which seemed risky to me. I doubt he knows much about liquid titration and I’m scared to switch to another benzo and lose progress or feel sicker. My two biggest fears are losing my job due to withdrawal (which means living on the streets and no medical care) and we’ve been saving for our honeymoon for three years to go in January. It’s not a huge trip but we couldn’t afford a wedding so it means the world to us. I don’t want to waste all of our savings and ruin our honeymoon because I’m sick the whole time! I didn’t think I’d have such a hard time with this. How do people taper off Xanax? I will go as slow as I need, but what if my doctor switches again and the new one insists I go cold turkey? I want to be free of this albatross but I don’t know what a good taper schedule is for Xanax. Someone please help! What can I ask my doctor about? He seems willing to help but uneducated about benzos. I’m so scared my whole life will end up ruined because I took medication I was prescribed!

[[Pa...]]

Hello catladyyy, Welcome.

 

I'm so very sorry to hear what you've been going through, what a nightmare.  Too many people concentrate on the addiction aspect of drugs not realizing that physical dependence is a danger as well, we don't realize we're becoming dependent until we try to stop.  I'm sure you're terribly frustrated with the fact that you don't have continuity with your physicians, it's difficult to map out a road to wellness when they keep changing on you.

 

We can help you with support and resources in order to taper safely and hopefully keep you functioning in your life, to hopefully include the wonderful honeymoon you have planned.  We have tapering resources and many people who have traveled the road you find yourself on so you've come to the right place.

 

Please have a look around and ask for help, we'll be here to guide you. General Taper Plans  might be a good place to start and of course, the Withdrawal Support (during your taper) is always good when we need help understanding what's happening to us.

 

Again catladyyy, Welcome.

 

Pamster

[[Ma...]]

Sorry to hear about your troubles. First of all let me say, you are not going to lose your job, waste your savings, and live on the streets. These are all catastrophic scenarios that I also envisioned when I started tapering Xanax. I switched to Klonopin and then Valium, which I am tapering very slowly and I still have my job 16 months later. I parted ways with 2 doctors until I found the right one and he is letting me taper at my own pace. He said on his website that he is familiar with Ashton's method and that is why I picked him. Of course, it took me some time learn about benzo withdrawal, most of it here on BB. I have not had a drink since I started tapering.

 

 

[[ca...]]

I don’t know how to just switch doctors, TBH. They are all residents that cycle around the clinic. The one I have doesn’t seem to know much, and I’m scared if I come across as difficult and demanding that he will throw up his hands and tell me to detox inpatient, which I can’t afford (would also lose my job) and seems unfair. I don’t want to be labeled an addict when I have NO desire to be on these. I only want to be off them and not sick while stopping. I’m sure a lot of the fear is rebound anxiety, and I’ve noticed that I feel mostly okay until about 6 hours before my scheduled dose, so it seems like the interdose withdrawal is really getting me. But if I ask to switch to something longer-acting and he is not educated on it, the doctor may think I’m drug-seeking. My biggest fear is that when he leaves the clinic (my first resident doctor already did, so I’m with him now) that the next may say I have to cold turkey or something, and that would be unbearable. I only went from 2 to 1.75 mg two weeks ago and I’m sitting here with my head spinning trying not to vomit. But when I take my dose in a few hours, I know I’ll feel all better for a while. How do I approach him and not seem too demanding about this? I also have an obscure (at least to traditional doctors) digestive condition I’ve been begging him to help me with, so he’s probably so sick of me. All I want is to be well and advocate for myself! My wife is supportive but doesn’t truly understand my fear of how sick this can make me. And at the same time I’m so angry that I was never told this could happen! That I was kept on this for so long! That I could be mislabeled an addict when really it’s just a physical dependency. I’m trying to stay strong but all of these emotions and symptoms are terrible. After cutting a dose, does the withdrawal eventually subside until you cut again? He said we can go at my pace, which is good. But I may want to hold at this dose until after my honeymoon in January. Is that too long? I feel utterly lost. Maybe I’ll ask for diazepam but all the conversions seem like guesses. Thanks for letting me vent 😭

[[ca...]]

How are people getting all these tiny doses? My doctor said for Xanax it only comes in increments of 0.25. That’s a big cut every time! But I also can’t travel with some kind of liquid chemistry set and I’m bound to mess it up. I feel so hopeless. Do I need to be a chemist to figure all of this out!?

[[Ol...]]

Hi Catlady,

I was in your exact position, and I switched over to Valium, it has a longer half life so you don't get the interdose withdrawals. My doctor also did not know much about tapering but was willing to work with me, I printed out the Ashton Manual and brought it into the office with me. In the manual, she lays out exactly how to switch over from Xanax to Valium and how to taper from Valium from there. If your doctor is open to helping you, hopefully he will read through this with you.

https://www.benzo.org.uk/manual/

 

[[Ma...]]

Two things, print the Ashton Manual for free off google, take to your Dr.  Be prepared, she believed in slower tapers......

 

Also, go to home page and scroll down to Titration section, post a question on help in making plan to taper your xanax slowly, several people on here really good helping with doing the math and making the plan

 

Good luck!!    Mary 💜💜💜

[[ca...]]

Thanks! I almost emailed him the Ashton Manual but I have to be careful because he already thinks I’m being difficult about this. I pushed back when he wanted me to cut from 2 mg to 1.5 mg because I thought it was too much too fast. I mentioned the Ashton Manual but he wasn’t aware of it. I’m afraid if I start acting like I know more than him, he will give up on me. I’m so terrified too because he will be gone in 6 months and I will have a 3rd doctor to go through this with! Can I dry cut the pills on my own? Like with his knowledge? How is that exact? I’m scared to switch benzos too and don’t know how he’d react to me asking him for all of this. I get very anxious around doctors because they seem to think I’m difficult when I ask for what I need. What if he isn’t receptive? Will I be stuck sick?

[[Li...]]

Re: your question about making small reductions in dose, if you are in the U.S., I believe there is an FDA-approved oral solution for Xanax.

[[ca...]]

How do you get the oral solution? My doctor said it only comes in .25 mg but I am in the US. Liquid would work better!

[[Ol...]]

I believe to get the liquid you would have to go to a compounding pharmacy, or make the solution on your own. There are many groups here on Benzo Buddies that can help you figure out how to do a Daily liquid micro taper. It can be a bit confusing at first, to  be sure. I just dry cut my valium, it's not 100% accurate but gets the job done. With the 2mg pills I can get down to .25 pretty accurately.

 

[[Li...]]

You’ll want to confirm availability with your pharmacist (if your pharmacist tells you s/he can’t get it, check with other pharmacies — different pharmacies use different suppliers/distributors).

 

In the interim, you can view the drug label and drug information for one of the manufacturers at DailyMed. Here’s how:

 

(1) Go to: https://dailymed.nlm.nih.gov/dailymed/index.cfm

(2) Enter “alprazolam” in the search box.

(3) When the new page appears, look for:

 

ALPRAZOLAM solution, concentrate

NDC Code(s): 0054-3068-44

Packager: West-Ward Pharmaceuticals Corp.

 

The above is a 1mg/1mL oral solution.  Using a 1mL oral syringe with graduations to 0.01mL (these are also referred to as tuberculin syringes), you could measure doses as small as 0.01mL or 0.01mg.  It also may be possible to further dilute this solution with water to achieve a lower concentration solution (e.g. 0.1mg/1mL).  However, before doing this, you should definitely ask your pharmacist if adding additional water to this particular formulation would be safe.

 

It also looks like scored 0.25mg orally disintegrating tablets are available.  Are the 0.25mg regular tablets your pdoc mentioned scored?  Scoring would allow you to cut the tablets in 1/2 to get to 0.125mg.

 

I hope this helps.  Please let us know what you find out!

[[ne...]]

2 others have suggested you switch to klonopin or better yet valium.LISTEN TO THEM!  this is the best way and less horrible  I quit klonopin and while it took 4 months -it wasn't so bad as I expected. withdrawl from zanax is much worse.  I know you situation seems helpless but you have to take control of this and stay the course. it takes days for klonopin withdrawls to set in and only hrs for zanax. which would you prefer?

[[re...]]

Hello! I have been prescribed Xanax for about 6 years and a doctor finally told me that they are meant for short-term use and I need to stop taking them. I agreed, unaware of the dangers of long-term use and frustrated I had never been warned of physical dependence, only of their potential for addiction. I was up to 2 mg a day (had also not been warned about increasing tolerance) and was told to switch to every other day for two weeks and then stop taking them. So I did. About a week or so after cessation, I entered withdrawal. I thought I was dying, so I went back to the clinic. My doctor had been replaced by a new resident, and he reinstated me for a slower taper. After several months stabilizing at my usual dose of 2 mg, I said I was ready to start. He wanted me to start at 1.5 mg because Xanax doesn’t come in convenient doses for a taper, but I refused, claiming that the cut was too drastic. We settled on 1.75 mg, which I have been fine on for about two weeks. Now, I’m starting to feel sick again. I thought I was okay but made the mistake of going out drinking (not while the Xanax was in my system) and I haven’t recovered from that night even several days later. I feel some of the same early withdrawal symptoms as the first time: jaw pain, insomnia, nausea, sweating, feeling like I’m car sick (the last one is by far the hardest for me since my head feels like it’s spinning). I want to try to stabilize at this dose and then see if there is a way to microtaper or something, but is this too fast? My doctor is pretty clueless since he wanted me to just start guessing at making cuts myself, which seemed risky to me. I doubt he knows much about liquid titration and I’m scared to switch to another benzo and lose progress or feel sicker. My two biggest fears are losing my job due to withdrawal (which means living on the streets and no medical care) and we’ve been saving for our honeymoon for three years to go in January. It’s not a huge trip but we couldn’t afford a wedding so it means the world to us. I don’t want to waste all of our savings and ruin our honeymoon because I’m sick the whole time! I didn’t think I’d have such a hard time with this. How do people taper off Xanax? I will go as slow as I need, but what if my doctor switches again and the new one insists I go cold turkey? I want to be free of this albatross but I don’t know what a good taper schedule is for Xanax. Someone please help! What can I ask my doctor about? He seems willing to help but uneducated about benzos. I’m so scared my whole life will end up ruined because I took medication I was prescribed!

 

Hi there,

 

I have not been on this forum for a LONG time, but it was a godsend for me. I was on 4MG of ativan and my life was just a mess. I went through every known physical and mental side effect and withdrawls that benzo brings on. I was lucky to find this site, I did not start my taper in the right fashion and it eventually took quite a while for tapering. Each day was hard, my limbs, face were messed up. My head was a mess, I had lots of bad energy as well. As I followed my taper, each step to a lower dose was harder and harder. I stuck it out and eventually because I had faith in myself I was able to be benzo free. This site cares about its members and just stay with your taper. It's hard to taper or it can be, but it pays off when we finish it

 

I am rooting for you and all the members here

[[CH...]]

Also, no drinking. Ever....