Xanax + Ambien tapering

[[De...]]

33 minutes ago, [[v...] said:

@[al...] I definitely agree with @[De...] about not taking both Ambien and Xanax at the same time. Even though they're two different class of medications, one of the possibilities that I was told about taking these meds at the same time is that both of them slow the heart rate down which can result in respiratory failure, so please don't. You're going to have to deal with some withdrawal symptoms, no matter what - all of us can be your support through those withdrawal symptoms. It's a matter of being able to overcome and tolerate those symptoms while tapering. 

Yes, 100% agreed.

[[Pa...]]

@[al...], how long have you been on the Xanax?

[[Li...]]

 

Great question @[Pa...].  I was just wondering the same thing.  

Here’s what Mark Horowitz (lead author of The Maudsley Deprescribing Guidelines) had to say about principles he considers when addressing polypharmacy in a recent interview:  

“We’ve put in two broad principles [about polypharmacy]. First is to either think about the drug that has the most harm compared to benefit, or to think about the drug that’s easiest to come off of. If someone has a very strong feeling that they want to stop one drug over another, then the person’s preference should be primary. If they’re not sure, you might look at a series of drugs and work out which might have some benefit for them or no benefit and which ones are causing the most harm. The other approach that I often take is it’s nice to be able to have a win when a patient wants to come off medications. It’s nice to choose something easy. You might choose a drug that’s easiest to come off, and that’s often the drug that’s been started most recently.”

Source:

The Maudsley Deprescribing Guidelines: An Interview with David Taylor and Mark Horowitz - August 2024

 

 

[[al...]]

7 hours ago, [[P...] said:

@[al...], how long have you been on the Xanax?

6 months on Xanax, the whole pandemic on 5 mg Ambien (issues with sleep due to caregiving to a dementia father); after being traumatized by my father's death I slowly increased Ambien to 15 mg once a night (two years ago); the use of Ambien escalated after being retraumatized by an unskilled psychotherapist (over a year ago).

[[al...]]

9 hours ago, [[D...] said:

I’d also want to stress you shouldn’t be taking Xanax and ambien together in the evening (I’m not sure if you are). These should be separated by at least 8 hours. I’m only mentioning this out of concern for your health. Typically benzos or ambien won’t kill you, but taking them together can. Trust me, I totally know how much this process sucks, I used to take them together too, until I found the right doctor who educated me on how these drugs interact with each other. Please be careful ❤️

Thank You @[De...]; I do take them together in the evening. I will stop.

[[al...]]

7 hours ago, [[L...] said:

Great question @[Pa...].  I was just wondering the same thing.  

Here’s what Mark Horowitz (lead author of The Maudsley Deprescribing Guidelines) had to say about principles he considers when addressing polypharmacy in a recent interview:  

“We’ve put in two broad principles [about polypharmacy]. First is to either think about the drug that has the most harm compared to benefit, or to think about the drug that’s easiest to come off of. If someone has a very strong feeling that they want to stop one drug over another, then the person’s preference should be primary. If they’re not sure, you might look at a series of drugs and work out which might have some benefit for them or no benefit and which ones are causing the most harm. The other approach that I often take is it’s nice to be able to have a win when a patient wants to come off medications. It’s nice to choose something easy. You might choose a drug that’s easiest to come off, and that’s often the drug that’s been started most recently.”

Source:

The Maudsley Deprescribing Guidelines: An Interview with David Taylor and Mark Horowitz - August 2024

@Libertas - if I was given any choice I would first come off Xanax, and then work on tapering Ambien. But no doctor is actually interested in my opinion.

[[al...]]

14 hours ago, [[v...] said:

Thanks @[al...]. I asked about conflicting tapering suggestions and was told that it is up to you on how you want to taper, so let me know if you want me to continue suggestions based on my own experience with the same two medications as you. Even though Xanax is a benzodiazepine and Ambien is a Z-drug, they both affect the GABA receptors similarly. My thought remains that it may be best to taper the Xanax as quickly as you can since it's lower dosage and then tackle the Ambien. 

If you prefer to go another direction, say the Ambien first, I totally understand and other members can continue to weigh in. It's ultimately up to you on which med you want to taper first. I don't want you to feel conflicted on which way you prefer to taper. Let me know! Thanks for letting me know about your withdrawal symptoms - even though the symptoms may or may not change, in my opinion, you're going to have withdrawal symptoms tapering no matter which drug it was, based on my own experience getting off of both of these medications and considerably high dosages.

@[vo...] If it was up to me I would first quit Xanax as it gives me no benefit. I have PTSD but anxiety is not my main problem (it's more like guilt and anger) so I actually feel no relief after taking Xanax. Ambien on the other hand allows me to sleep. I do think I would need to find a good psychiatrist that also takes into consideration what I think and how I feel.

[[vo...]]

2 hours ago, [[a...] said:

@[vo...] If it was up to me I would first quit Xanax as it gives me no benefit. I have PTSD but anxiety is not my main problem (it's more like guilt and anger) so I actually feel no relief after taking Xanax. Ambien on the other hand allows me to sleep. I do think I would need to find a good psychiatrist that also takes into consideration what I think and how I feel.

Happy to see you're online this morning - not sure what time of day it is in Poland. It is purely your choice on which to taper first. Just so you know, my medical chart includes PTSD, so I do understand how terrible it is to have. I have been able to work on it to the point I am somewhat ok with it now. It sounds like you aren't there yet, but with a lot of work, you will be able to get to a good place too. It's a good idea to find a good psychiatrist - do you have DBT in Poland? That's Dialectical Behavior Therapy - after 30+ therapists, I feel going through DBT twice in the last couple of years helped me most. It helped me with anxiety, depression and PTSD. Maybe you could see if they offer that in your area in addition to getting a good psychiatrist? 

Did you read @[Li...] guidance on what to consider on deciding which med to taper first? I'm going to make an open comment here, based on my own use of these two meds and your comment that Xanax isn't doing anything for you. At the moment, this is a hypothetical question. Could you quit the Xanax right now and only continue using the Ambien so you can make your entire focus on tapering the Ambien? They resulted in the same withdrawal symptoms for me and from what I read, they do the same for you - is that correct?

To reconfirm your dosage - I read 

Xanax 6 mos. 1.125mg - .375 x 3 times a day

Ambien  45mg - 15mg x 3 times a night 

How long have you been on the Ambien? I don't see that info

 

Is that correct?

 

 

Edited August 24, 2024 by [vo...]

[[al...]]

On 24/08/2024 at 12:29, [[v...] said:

Happy to see you're online this morning - not sure what time of day it is in Poland. It is purely your choice on which to taper first. Just so you know, my medical chart includes PTSD, so I do understand how terrible it is to have. I have been able to work on it to the point I am somewhat ok with it now. It sounds like you aren't there yet, but with a lot of work, you will be able to get to a good place too. It's a good idea to find a good psychiatrist - do you have DBT in Poland? That's Dialectical Behavior Therapy - after 30+ therapists, I feel going through DBT twice in the last couple of years helped me most. It helped me with anxiety, depression and PTSD. Maybe you could see if they offer that in your area in addition to getting a good psychiatrist? 

Did you read @[Li...] guidance on what to consider on deciding which med to taper first? I'm going to make an open comment here, based on my own use of these two meds and your comment that Xanax isn't doing anything for you. At the moment, this is a hypothetical question. Could you quit the Xanax right now and only continue using the Ambien so you can make your entire focus on tapering the Ambien? They resulted in the same withdrawal symptoms for me and from what I read, they do the same for you - is that correct?

To reconfirm your dosage - I read 

Xanax 6 mos. 1.125mg - .375 x 3 times a day

Ambien  45mg - 15mg x 3 times a night 

How long have you been on the Ambien? I don't see that info

 

Is that correct?

Well actually I have just bought a patient book with DBT for PTSD, but there is no such therapist in the city I live. Will look for therapists online. I've been on Ambien for the whole pandemic time (5mg once a night for about 3 years); (after my father died I upped the dose to 15 mg twice a night)(a few months later after being retraumatised by a psychotherapist who knew nothing about PTSD I started using Ambien during the day as well); since then I have Ambien withrawal symptoms during the day and I am considering starting a micro daily dosing and tapering Ambien at night. I would be ready to quit Xanax. But I am afraid no doctor will give me a green light for using Ambien during the day- like in @[sh...]'s case.

[[sh...]]

1 hour ago, [[a...] said:

Well actually I have just bought a patient book with DBT for PTSD, but there is no such therapist in the city I live. Will look for therapists online. I've been on Ambien for the whole pandemic time (5mg once a night for about 3 years); (after my father died I upped the dose to 15 mg twice a night)(a few months later after being retraumatised by a psychotherapist who knew nothing about PTSD I started using Ambien during the day as well); since then I have Ambien withrawal symptoms during the day and I am considering starting a micro daily dosing and tapering Ambien at night. I would be ready to quit Xanax. But I am afraid no doctor will give me a green light for using Ambien during the day- like in @[sh...]'s case.

I'd be afraid to tell my dr that I am day dosing because I would fear he would cut off my Ambien prescription completely.  I think day dosing a sleeping pill would be considered abuse. I have been micro tapering the daytime ambien and have gone from 30 mgs spread out during the day to 5 mgs yesterday in only one dose.  Probably didn't even need that dose.  This taper took me a little over 1 month.  It is totally doable.  My only symptoms right now is mild tinnitus that I can easily deal with.  Still on 31.25 mgs at night, but plan to cut that to 30 tonight.  I also take 2.5 mgs of Klonopin, so that is a real help.  As soon as I'm done with the daytime ambien (probably a couple of days from now), I'll work on getting the night dose down.  Then and only then will I start my Klonopin taper. I have done a Klonopin taper before and the Ambien one was so much harder due to short half life.  Can't your Dr. change you to a long acting Benzo?  Xanax is gonna be hard.

[[al...]]

1 hour ago, [[s...] said:

I'd be afraid to tell my dr that I am day dosing because I would fear he would cut off my Ambien prescription completely.  I think day dosing a sleeping pill would be considered abuse. I have been micro tapering the daytime ambien and have gone from 30 mgs spread out during the day to 5 mgs yesterday in only one dose.  Probably didn't even need that dose.  This taper took me a little over 1 month.  It is totally doable.  My only symptoms right now is mild tinnitus that I can easily deal with.  Still on 31.25 mgs at night, but plan to cut that to 30 tonight.  I also take 2.5 mgs of Klonopin, so that is a real help.  As soon as I'm done with the daytime ambien (probably a couple of days from now), I'll work on getting the night dose down.  Then and only then will I start my Klonopin taper. I have done a Klonopin taper before and the Ambien one was so much harder due to short half life.  Can't your Dr. change you to a long acting Benzo?  Xanax is gonna be hard.

@[sh...] and in the end did you tell your doctor about daily dosing of Ambien? I guess that the approach you take is the best possible one- small doses of Ambien during the day plus long acting benzodiazepine plus Ambien at night; I would literally dream of a doctor who would manage my case like this.

[[vo...]]

@[al...] I understand your situation. If the Xanax isn't doing anything, are you able to discontinue using it?

When I day dosed Ambien, I knew not to drive, use any type of machinery, etc. I got the same effect from that as I got from the Xanax. Since the Ambien (or Xanax) never helped me to sleep at night, it was really useless to help insomnia. it only helped me from getting Xanax w/d symptoms and calmed my nerves. Regardless though, I still needed to come off of it.

@[sh...] You're right - any doctor would probably cut you off if you told them that. I was only honest with members on BB, but not with any doctors. Personally, I'm not of the belief of substituting one benzo for another, but I don't have the same experience with taper knowledge that others do. My feeling, at least for myself was to get off these meds as quickly as possible and just deal with the withdrawal symptoms regardless of how uncomfortable they were. It worked for me but I can see on BB that isn't the case for a lot of other members.

I'm tagging @[La...] here. I'm thinking maybe she can weigh in to maybe help alicja. I'm thinking people would not like my opinion here, so I'm going to withhold it until we hear from others.

[[al...]]

28 minutes ago, [[v...] said:

@[al...] I understand your situation. If the Xanax isn't doing anything, are you able to discontinue using it?

When I day dosed Ambien, I knew not to drive, use any type of machinery, etc. I got the same effect from that as I got from the Xanax. Since the Ambien (or Xanax) never helped me to sleep at night, it was really useless to help insomnia. it only helped me from getting Xanax w/d symptoms and calmed my nerves. Regardless though, I still needed to come off of it.

@[sh...] You're right - any doctor would probably cut you off if you told them that. I was only honest with members on BB, but not with any doctors. Personally, I'm not of the belief of substituting one benzo for another, but I don't have the same experience with taper knowledge that others do. My feeling, at least for myself was to get off these meds as quickly as possible and just deal with the withdrawal symptoms regardless of how uncomfortable they were. It worked for me but I can see on BB that isn't the case for a lot of other members.

I'm tagging @[La...] here. I'm thinking maybe she can weigh in to maybe help alicja. I'm thinking people would not like my opinion here, so I'm going to withhold it until we hear from others.

@[vo...] so did you stop Xanax and day dosed Ambien instead? how did you get enough pills from the doctor? has your insomnia resolved? how far are you when it comes to tapering Ambien? in general I would be in favor of stopping Xanax, day dosing tiny doses of Ambien and taper the night Ambien; oh what a mess! and yes, I still haven't found ways to cope with PTSD symptoms but will start working DBT Skills Workbook for PTSD

[[sh...]]

2 hours ago, [[a...] said:

@[sh...] and in the end did you tell your doctor about daily dosing of Ambien? I guess that the approach you take is the best possible one- small doses of Ambien during the day plus long acting benzodiazepine plus Ambien at night; I would literally dream of a doctor who would manage my case like this.

My doctor has no idea what I'm doing.  He just keeps refilling the meds and I have to supplement the 30 pill monthly Ambien prescription with meds I buy overseas (I am a flight attendant).  I am managing my case all on my own, like most of us.

[[al...]]

6 minutes ago, [[s...] said:

My doctor has no idea what I'm doing.  He just keeps refilling the meds and I have to supplement the 30 pill monthly Ambien prescription with meds I buy overseas (I am a flight attendant).  I am managing my case all on my own, like most of us.

Thank You @[sh...]. I guess I will also have to start managing my case on my own.

[[vo...]]

19 hours ago, [[a...] said:

@[vo...] so did you stop Xanax and day dosed Ambien instead? how did you get enough pills from the doctor? has your insomnia resolved? how far are you when it comes to tapering Ambien? in general I would be in favor of stopping Xanax, day dosing tiny doses of Ambien and taper the night Ambien; oh what a mess! and yes, I still haven't found ways to cope with PTSD symptoms but will start working DBT Skills Workbook for PTSD

Yes, I stopped Xanax and day dosed Ambien.

My doctor didn't know until I told her 9 months into using Ambien that I was day dosing.

My insomnia has finally just started getting better in my 14th month. I only got 3 - 5 hours of sleep a WEEK for the first couple of months. I see it as just something we have to deal with. We won't die from the lack of sleep.

I will support you if that is what you want to do. That is exactly what I did, but I knew I needed to come off the Ambien quickly and just suck up the horrible withdrawal symptoms, no matter how uncomfortable they got and still can be.

 

[[al...]]

2 minutes ago, [[v...] said:

Yes, I stopped Xanax and day dosed Ambien.

My doctor didn't know until I told her 9 months into using Ambien that I was day dosing.

My insomnia has finally just started getting better in my 14th month. I only got 3 - 5 hours of sleep a WEEK for the first couple of months. I see it as just something we have to deal with. We won't die from the lack of sleep.

I will support you if that is what you want to do. That is exactly what I did, but I knew I needed to come off the Ambien quickly and just suck up the horrible withdrawal symptoms, no matter how uncomfortable they got and still can be.

Yes, I would appreciate your support. I am now considering quitting Xanax and daily dosing Ambien. How did you manage to have enough Ambien pills? I hate insomnia.

[[vo...]]

1 hour ago, [[a...] said:

Yes, I would appreciate your support. I am now considering quitting Xanax and daily dosing Ambien. How did you manage to have enough Ambien pills? I hate insomnia.

I was on a much lower dosage of Ambien - 7.5mg My doctor refused to prescribe a higher dose because it is extremely taxing on the liver, as well as other organs. I hope you use this as an incentive to taper as much as you can off a much higher dosage. 

I would make a plan to get off the Xanax asap - I was on 6mg and tapered rapidly to zero. Many withdrawal symptoms started right away - I didn't know they were withdrawal symptoms at the time. I think that probably worked in my favor, as opposed to you knowing you are getting withdrawal symptoms from these meds and are trying to keep them to a minimum. I don't know how quickly you can stop the Xanax, but I hope you can eliminate this medication quickly so you only have to focus on the Ambien. I realize you're dealing with the PTSD at the same time and I know that doesn't make it easy to do, but you need to. Keep working on other coping skills for the PTSD - medication really isn't the answer (for any of us). You still have your Ambien that does help you, until you can begin tapering off of it. First thing is to make a plan to stop the Xanax.

Regarding the insomnia - that was my first symptom from withdrawal. I only got 3 -5 hours a WEEK. It seems almost all of us have that so just accept the fact that you will have this for however long it lasts in withdrawal. Don't "not" taper because of it. I don't believe it's avoidable. The Ambien never helped me to sleep - I get the feeling it's not helping you sleep either. Is that correct? It only helped me with the withdrawal symptoms from Xanax. I just started sleeping better now, in my 14th month.

Edited August 26, 2024 by [vo...]

[[vo...]]

Do you work @[al...]?

[[al...]]

2 hours ago, [[v...] said:

Do you work @[al...]?

I work online from home- needed to  change my job due to panic attacks I got after I got PTSD 

[[La...]]

Hello Alicia Vol and Shotsy.  I hope you all are doing well. Vol once again I’m proud of you for touching it out and being Ambien free. I see  you are doing much better. And I’m not surprised because as I told you, Ambien was causing many of your WD problems. So the sooner you get off the better but you have to be willing to do the work. Way to got! Having said that…..Alicia your case is NOT too big for you to tackle BUT you’re going to have to be willing to suffer the WD for a little while as you reduce. Good news is that it is doable. I’m not sure what dose of the Ambien or Xanax you’re on but most buddies taper the Ambien first because of its very short half life. It renders WD symptoms during the day as you know that’s true because you’re experiencing that already. The way too success is to have a doable plan that you can safely handle. Forget about not having symptoms or they’re uncomfortable because you will have them and they are uncomfortable. This sucks but it’s a normal reaction to coming off. More good news is your body and brain knows how to go back to a normal state to correct this. Your job when coming off is to allow your brain the stress free peaceful space and time to do the work. I would suggest you get yourself a good list of coping tools to implement as you taper that would be ideal to include a strict sleep routine. Do the routine whether it works at first or not…go to bed each night at the same time after you pamper yourself with a soothing bath and relaxing music ( a weighted blanket helps). Also wake up at the same time each morning. Plan your day with periods of resting. Distract yourself with things you enjoy or are soothing. Personally soothing instrumental music without words, especially nature sounds or water sounds was my go to when it was rough. Feed your brain positivity everyday all day! Remember how awful you might feel is temporary. Ok now that’s out of the way….your taper plan…..

this is up to you. No matter the way you chose please go slow but steady. I made a rule that once I went down, I’m not allowed to go up. You can always hold for a few more days as you reduce. This is just my opinion that it sounds reasonable to me for you to taper Ambien first especially since it seems to be your main culprit of your daytime symptoms. What you have to decide is how. You mentioned that you are dosing during the day? IMO if I were you, I would push the daytime dose to night dosing only. I’d do this by using the clock… if you daytime dose at 12 noon, for example, I’d tough it out on the first day until 2 pm. When you take that dose, shave a little bit off before yo uptake it. I’d repeat that for 3 days and see how I feel. If it went well then on the 4th day, I’d take that reduced dose at 3:30. Repeat 3 days. On the 4th day, I’d take it at 4:30 but reduce a bit more. Repeat for 3 days…keep pushing the time every 3 days with reducing it a small bit on the 4th day until you are only taking a dose at night. Once you’re at that point, you can taper the rest by reducing a small amount every 10 days until you are at a tiny crumb then you quit Ambien ( jump). Give yourself a little time for your brain to adjust before tapering the Xanax. Do yourself a favor by not worrying about how much sleep you do or don’t get. That’s normal and temporary. Do yourself another favor by not constantly looking up your symptoms. Do yourself another favor and drink plenty of water and eat healthy. If I were you, I’d stay clear of large amounts of MSG, Chinese food ( soy sauce), Mexican foods and foods loaded with preservatives. Reduce or discontinue caffeine if it causes you a problem. Please know that you are unique therefore your brain’s way of healing you will be a bit unique too - as in symptoms and waves and windows. Someone else’s experience is theirs, not yours. Be careful of reading horror stories. Stay positive and know you’re not alone and strong! It’s highly unlikely that you’ll find a benzo wise doctor who knows this should be done low and very slow. I wish you the best! You’ve got this!
hugs 🤗  

[[al...]]

25 minutes ago, [[L...] said:

Hello Alicia Vol and Shotsy.  I hope you all are doing well. Vol once again I’m proud of you for touching it out and being Ambien free. I see  you are doing much better. And I’m not surprised because as I told you, Ambien was causing many of your WD problems. So the sooner you get off the better but you have to be willing to do the work. Way to got! Having said that…..Alicia your case is NOT too big for you to tackle BUT you’re going to have to be willing to suffer the WD for a little while as you reduce. Good news is that it is doable. I’m not sure what dose of the Ambien or Xanax you’re on but most buddies taper the Ambien first because of its very short half life. It renders WD symptoms during the day as you know that’s true because you’re experiencing that already. The way too success is to have a doable plan that you can safely handle. Forget about not having symptoms or they’re uncomfortable because you will have them and they are uncomfortable. This sucks but it’s a normal reaction to coming off. More good news is your body and brain knows how to go back to a normal state to correct this. Your job when coming off is to allow your brain the stress free peaceful space and time to do the work. I would suggest you get yourself a good list of coping tools to implement as you taper that would be ideal to include a strict sleep routine. Do the routine whether it works at first or not…go to bed each night at the same time after you pamper yourself with a soothing bath and relaxing music ( a weighted blanket helps). Also wake up at the same time each morning. Plan your day with periods of resting. Distract yourself with things you enjoy or are soothing. Personally soothing instrumental music without words, especially nature sounds or water sounds was my go to when it was rough. Feed your brain positivity everyday all day! Remember how awful you might feel is temporary. Ok now that’s out of the way….your taper plan…..

this is up to you. No matter the way you chose please go slow but steady. I made a rule that once I went down, I’m not allowed to go up. You can always hold for a few more days as you reduce. This is just my opinion that it sounds reasonable to me for you to taper Ambien first especially since it seems to be your main culprit of your daytime symptoms. What you have to decide is how. You mentioned that you are dosing during the day? IMO if I were you, I would push the daytime dose to night dosing only. I’d do this by using the clock… if you daytime dose at 12 noon, for example, I’d tough it out on the first day until 2 pm. When you take that dose, shave a little bit off before yo uptake it. I’d repeat that for 3 days and see how I feel. If it went well then on the 4th day, I’d take that reduced dose at 3:30. Repeat 3 days. On the 4th day, I’d take it at 4:30 but reduce a bit more. Repeat for 3 days…keep pushing the time every 3 days with reducing it a small bit on the 4th day until you are only taking a dose at night. Once you’re at that point, you can taper the rest by reducing a small amount every 10 days until you are at a tiny crumb then you quit Ambien ( jump). Give yourself a little time for your brain to adjust before tapering the Xanax. Do yourself a favor by not worrying about how much sleep you do or don’t get. That’s normal and temporary. Do yourself another favor by not constantly looking up your symptoms. Do yourself another favor and drink plenty of water and eat healthy. If I were you, I’d stay clear of large amounts of MSG, Chinese food ( soy sauce), Mexican foods and foods loaded with preservatives. Reduce or discontinue caffeine if it causes you a problem. Please know that you are unique therefore your brain’s way of healing you will be a bit unique too - as in symptoms and waves and windows. Someone else’s experience is theirs, not yours. Be careful of reading horror stories. Stay positive and know you’re not alone and strong! It’s highly unlikely that you’ll find a benzo wise doctor who knows this should be done low and very slow. I wish you the best! You’ve got this!
hugs 🤗  

Thank You @[La...]; I am scared like hell of the withdrawal symptoms, especially insomnia. It is hard to give my mind stress free space due to PTSD but I will do my best. Thank You for Your support. 

[[al...]]

2 hours ago, [[v...] said:

I was on a much lower dosage of Ambien - 7.5mg My doctor refused to prescribe a higher dose because it is extremely taxing on the liver, as well as other organs. I hope you use this as an incentive to taper as much as you can off a much higher dosage. 

I would make a plan to get off the Xanax asap - I was on 6mg and tapered rapidly to zero. Many withdrawal symptoms started right away - I didn't know they were withdrawal symptoms at the time. I think that probably worked in my favor, as opposed to you knowing you are getting withdrawal symptoms from these meds and are trying to keep them to a minimum. I don't know how quickly you can stop the Xanax, but I hope you can eliminate this medication quickly so you only have to focus on the Ambien. I realize you're dealing with the PTSD at the same time and I know that doesn't make it easy to do, but you need to. Keep working on other coping skills for the PTSD - medication really isn't the answer (for any of us). You still have your Ambien that does help you, until you can begin tapering off of it. First thing is to make a plan to stop the Xanax.

Regarding the insomnia - that was my first symptom from withdrawal. I only got 3 -5 hours a WEEK. It seems almost all of us have that so just accept the fact that you will have this for however long it lasts in withdrawal. Don't "not" taper because of it. I don't believe it's avoidable. The Ambien never helped me to sleep - I get the feeling it's not helping you sleep either. Is that correct? It only helped me with the withdrawal symptoms from Xanax. I just started sleeping better now, in my 14th month.

Thank You. Ambien does help me sleep but because I had to increase the dose. 7.5 or 10 mg don't help me sleep anymore. Were you working when having the worst insomnia?

[[vo...]]

1 hour ago, [[L...] said:

 I’m not sure what dose of the Ambien or Xanax you’re on but most buddies taper the Ambien first because of its very short half life.

@[La...] She's on 

Xanax 6 mos. 1.125mg - .375 x 3 times a day

Ambien  45mg - 15mg x 3 times a night

 

This is why I thought logically it best to taper the xanax first and I felt you could weigh in about the taper based on the dosage. I realize about the problem with day dosing - I wouldn't have agreed with @[al...], except that her ambien dosage is so high. I was able to stay in control of the day dosing, although I don't know alicj's strength given that her PTSD is probably way worse than mine, and she's also working - this is a tough place for her to be in. What are your thoughts based on this?

 

[[vo...]]

1 hour ago, [[a...] said:

Thank You. Ambien does help me sleep but because I had to increase the dose. 7.5 or 10 mg don't help me sleep anymore. Were you working when having the worst insomnia?

I'm sure even 10mg wouldn't help you sleep since your body is acclimated to 45mg. I don't work so I can't imagine what it would be like to work, taper and go through the withdrawal symptoms. Is your work from home schedule flexible? 

You mentioned that your doctor might do what I would call a "rapid taper" come September - do I remember that correctly? If so, it's another reason I'm hopeful you can start working on your taper independently before you meet with the doctor - at least on the xanax. And cut maybe 10% off each dose you take of the ambien? I don't know how difficult that would be for you. As I mentioned, as well as @[La...], you WILL have withdrawal symptoms regardless.

I know that when I talked to @[sh...], they still hadn't returned to work and were worried about what the symptoms would be like - if I remember correctly it wasn't too bad because work actually created the distraction they needed to keep w/d symptoms at bay. How do your symptoms feel when you're trying to work?