Does tapering get more difficult the closer you are to jumping?

[[Do...]]

Hi I have been tapering Xanax since November 22. I started off at 1.25 mg most nights and am now at .25 mg a night, looking to step down to .125 mg on July 10th and then hopefully will jump on August 13th. Have any of you found that as you got lower in your doses that the mental aspect was very difficult? Probably the worst experience I’ve had so far in tapering was when I cut 25% instead of cutting 12% like I am now, however the mental effects have been pretty tough. I’m sleeping ok some nights but I frequently feel hopeless, scared and depressed. I even have held about 6 weeks instead of 4 like I had with previous cuts and I’m still crying daily. Is this typical when you are so close to the end of tapering?

[[Br...]]

Tapering often becomes more challenging as you get closer to the end.  Some members find it helps to slow the taper down toward the end, making smaller cuts and/or holding longer.  Added to this is that tapering Xanax is particularly challenging because it is short acting.  Your cuts have been larger than we generally recommend. We typically suggest tapering with cuts of no more that 10% every couple of weeks.  This is just a general guideline but we find that making cuts larger than is more likely to lead to difficult symptoms.  The best approach we've found is to let your taper be guided by your symptoms, that is, to slow down with smaller cuts and longer holds.

[[ke...]]

The last bit is the hardest. Hang tough and good like. Tale it slow if you need to.

 

[[mi...]]

Forget about dates or finish line. Hold or go slow but try not to put much attention into it. I had to updose when got very low. Every cut creates a big impact on the receptors. I wouldn't continue if I don't feel stable enough.

[[Bo...]]

Some have to slow the lower they get. I was one of them and actually have been doing better than last year, and some friends I have made have had some symptoms leave towards lower part of taper and some new ones. Just a rollercoaster but if you’re functioning keep doing what you can. If you notice lots of new symptoms and severity of kind of base symptoms increasing, sometimes that’s a sign to slow things down a bit. If it’s up and down, keep trying your rate as you can tolerate.

 

Also just so you know Xanax being fast acting can be helpful to split dose throughout day to help even out the med in the bloodstream. Are you taking one dose only? If so, you might benefit from splitting that amount into 3 or 4 doses spread out every 6-8hrs if you notice symptoms becoming really hard before your scheduled dose time. You might already know all this but if not, wanted to bring up! Might also go lower than jumping off at .125mg bc that’s still a decent dose of xanax. If you can get to .06mg or .05mg at least that probably will make for a better landing. Just some thoughts and I am sure you’ve thought all this out!

 

Hugs and good job getting lower!