New Member - Planning first Xanax taper attempt

[[on...]]

Hi everyone,

 

I'm one of those in the group that was prescribed Xanax (.25mg 3 times a day) and slowly developed a tolerance and found myself at 1mg 3 times a day before I knew it. I was also prescribed ambien (10mg) to be taken each night. I received my first scripts approximately 7 months ago. The prescriptions came from work related stress that compounded over a long period of time. Working up to 20 hours a day , multiple days in a row due to strict deadlines took its toll. I would also find myself not sleeping for three days in a row and my blood pressure would spike up to around 170/120. I have struggled with insomnia almost all of my life and have taken ambien on and off (currently on).

I've been out travelling for work the past 2 months and it took me once of running out of meds to realize I don't want xanax to be a part of my life anymore. Currently, 1.5mg appears to be the minimum I can get by on and maintain some form of comfort. Being on the road is going to make this difficult. Let me just say that I really dislike staying in hotels and have a hard time sleeping anywhere but my own bed.

My job is the current cause of my stress, anxiety and insomnia. I would much rather be a park ranger or farmer than an engineer.

So with that being said, I have browsed these forums prior to posting this message and am definitely glad I was directed to this site. Currently I have (65) .5mg xanax and I really wish this to be my last script. I want to do this right the first time so I'll be talking to my doctor about tapering once I make it back home and make an appointment. Unfortunately I don't know when that will be. In the mean time I'll continue reading these forums and working on quartering my pills gradually.

 

Wish you all well in your own recovery.

 

 

[[St...]]

Hi onmywayhome

 

We can help you taper from xanax and offer you support along the way, glad you found us. You say you feel stable at 1.5mg a day? It may benefit you to ask you doctor to switch you to Valium or Klonopin as they last longer than xanax and easier to taper from. You sound ready to be done with this,many here are tapering so you're not alone.

 

Welcome to BenzoBuddies

[[Gr...]]

Hi onmywayhome,

 

I received such warm welcomes to BB's when I first came here in March. And, thought I'd take a minute to welcome someone new to the forum as people did for me. Star and other admins here are wonderful and so helpful, and there are numerous buddies on here who are going through tapering (I am one of them), and who are so supportive. The encouragement of knowing we are not alone is more than beneficial, and the support of the insights that people have from time and experience is invaluable.

 

The Ashton manual gives charts that help to determine a gradual and sane taper, and it's my understanding from reading Ashton's studies (and from everything I've heard from others) switching to Valium (diazepam, generic) than to Konopin. I am tapering Valium, after using it along with ambien and temazepam (which I discontinued first as Ashton suggests) for insomnia for several years.

 

I wish you all the best in your crossover and taper; and I know that you will find all kinds of support here for helping you in that taper.

 

Peace and blessings,

 

Grace Seeker~

[[on...]]

Hi star,

 

I greatly appreciate the support. I use the term comfort loosely when it comes to my 1.5mg. I have a little inter-dose withdrawal but I am doing my best to push through and not give in. I will ask my doctor about switching to valium or klonipin once I get back in town from work. I've thought about trying to see a doctor in the town I'm in now to see if they would assist in the switch but I'm not sure that would work. This is a pretty small town.

 

Thank you for the welcome!

Hi onmywayhome,

 

I received such warm welcomes to BB's when I first came here in March. And, thought I'd take a minute to welcome someone new to the forum as people did for me. Star and other admins here are wonderful and so helpful, and there are numerous buddies on here who are going through tapering (I am one of them), and who are so supportive. The encouragement of knowing we are not alone is more than beneficial, and the support of the insights that people have from time and experience is invaluable.

 

The Ashton manual gives charts that help to determine a gradual and sane taper, and it's my understanding from reading Ashton's studies (and from everything I've heard from others) switching to Valium (diazepam, generic) than to Konopin. I am tapering Valium, after using it along with ambien and temazepam (which I discontinued first as Ashton suggests) for insomnia for several years.

 

I wish you all the best in your crossover and taper; and I know that you will find all kinds of support here for helping you in that taper.

 

Peace and blessings,

 

Grace Seeker~

 

Thank you Grace Seeker. I will refer to the Aston manual as you suggested and try to get an idea of what my ideal taper should be. The warm welcome means a lot and I wish you well.

[Guest [Si...]]

onmywayhome,

 

Welcoming you to BenzoBuddies.

 

I crossed from Klonopin to Valium.

 

It does help with Inter-dose withdrawal.

 

I wish you luck with your doctor.

 

Here is a link to the Ashton Manual-

 

http://www.benzo.org.uk/manual/index.htm

 

You will find it very informative, if you have any questions, just ask.

 

Sigma.