Needing guidance on how to safely taper from 1.5mg Xanax

[[Mi...]]

I have been taking 1mg Xanax since about 2016. I'm currently 29 years old and am just starting to realize how dangerous of a drug I have been dependent on for years and am desperately needing help on how to get off of it. I've heard horror stories of people suffering seizures and dying from either stopping cold turkey, or tapering too quickly. I have always taken this drug responsibly and have never abused it by taking handfuls or snorting it or anything. I currently take 0.5mg in the morning, 0.5mg in the evening and 0.5mg at night. I have suffered from health anxiety for a long time, pretty much since I was in my teens. It started with irrational fears about botulism and quickly turned into irrational fears about rabies. I was able to handle those anxiety issues on my own up until 2016 when a bat landed on me while riding my motorcycle down a creek road. I got home, told my mom what happened and then she pointed out something on my jacket, which turned out to be the bat. That incident caused the most intense panic attack I've ever had, which resulted in me taking 0.25mg for the first time. I'd always been against taking Xanax because I watched different family members battle addiction growing up, but I needed something. Or so I thought. Since 2016, my fears have largely went away and now I think I'm suffering from drug-induced anxiety due to how long I've been on the Xanax. I recently stopped smoking THC after being an all day/everyday smoker since my teens. 6 days sober, cold turkey. Due to the increased anxiety from stopping the THC, I've had to up my dose from 1mg to 1.5mg and now I'm getting worried because what I'm doing is slowly letting my use spiral. It was 1mg, now it's been 1.5mg for the last week. I want off of this stuff before it gets to 2mg, 3mg, 4mg. There's days where I can take just 1mg, some days where I take just 0.5mg. But I never stay at those low doses for long due to my fear of having a seizure out of nowhere (I've never went through withdrawal so idk if seizures happen suddenly or if you get sick first and have a bit of warning before it happens). I apologize for the long question, this is my first time posting on a forum in years and I wanted to be as thorough as I could be about my situation, dosage, reason for starting and reason for wanting to quit. I'm not sure if 1.5mg is even a large dose so I apologize to anyone that I may have offended who are dealing with issues from actual large doses. I started my taper tonight by taking 0.5mg this morning, 0.5mg this evening and then I used a pill splitter to cut the other half into two halves and then took one of those halves. Thank you for taking the time to read this and I deeply, deeply appreciate any help or advice that I receive. I've had a hard time holding down jobs and have dealt with increased social anxiety recently and I'm just ready to get off of this stuff and move on with my life while I'm still relatively young. Also, I forgot to mention that I don't have my own Doctor. I'm an American, with no insurance. So finding a Doctor to help me right now isn't really financially possible.

[[Re...]]

Hello @[Mi...], welcome to BenzoBuddies, 

I approved your first post. I am happy you found us!

1 mg of Xanax since 2016 is not a short time, but many people like you recovered and tapered successfully. This is doable, but there are some things that require your attention before doing this. As I understand, you don't have a prescriber? There is no chance for you to find someone because of having no insurance?

Please read the Ashton manual. I added a link here. It is the "basics" of benzodiazepine cessation and good guidance on it.

Please try to get familiar with this website on tapering methods and general information, too.   

The recommended taper speed is 5-10% from the previous dosage every two or three weeks, this might need to be adjusted depending on your symptoms. The social phobia and other difficulties you are experiencing might be very well withdrawal symptoms, because of the relatively big cuts.

We have many many members who recovered completely and are doing just fine, you will, too.  You might want to read the Success Stories.

Please read the sources I shared with you and let us know how we can help you.