XANAX Support Blog: If you're tapering Xanax/alprazolam, join in the discussion!

[[la...]]

You've really powered through your taper Lacey23. I'm impressed.

 

Others will probably disagree, but it's your taper and if you're ready, don't let a calendar rule and dictate your plan. If your body and mind say it's time, listen and act accordingly. You're inspiring!

 

Thanks TS, lol. I ended up cutting the dose down today.  Figured what you said.  My body and mind are fine, so might as well keep cutting.  I've actually been getting a little bit more energy lately.  Today instead of doing 20 minutes of cardio I did 45 minutes.  I'm thinking that, since I'm stuck doing this withdrawal stuff, might as well get into shape, so I took some 'before' pictures today, and am planning on taking some 'after' pictures when the taper is done.  Hopefully be in a good mental state once the warm weather starts up, and have a beach body to go along with it, haha. 

 

 

[[ba...]]

...Got hit with a nasty wave after I ate some Doritos last night during the Oscars.  It's finally leveling off and I'll need to pay more attention to the MSG...

Who outside our forum would believe this is even possible!? Our personal physicians? HA!

There's not much that surprises me about this poison anymore. Hope you're feeling better today.

 

Here is another one for you.  I got hit with a wave from taking an Epsom salt bath.

 

Mama2

 

Mama2,

 

It just never ends...

 

But it will!

 

[[Tr...]]

Lacey23; You sir are a fricken animal, and I mean that in a good way! 

 

By the time I reached .0625, I wasn't feeing any of the effects of the Xanax. The crumbs were so small that I was more than ready to jump. You will be too.

 

Listen to your body for the answers. You'll know when it's time to cut and when to hold.

[[ma...]]

...Got hit with a nasty wave after I ate some Doritos last night during the Oscars.  It's finally leveling off and I'll need to pay more attention to the MSG...

Who outside our forum would believe this is even possible!? Our personal physicians? HA!

There's not much that surprises me about this poison anymore. Hope you're feeling better today.

 

Here is another one for you.  I got hit with a wave from taking an Epsom salt bath.

 

Mama2

 

Mama2,

 

It just never ends...

 

But it will!

 

 

Baby,

 

After my difficult day yesterday, I read a great success story, it is called, My Personal  Story.  Be sure to read it if you haven't already.  It really gave me hope.

 

Mama

[[la...]]

Lacey23; You sir are a fricken animal, and I mean that in a good way! 

 

By the time I reached .0625, I wasn't feeing any of the effects of the Xanax. The crumbs were so small that I was more than ready to jump. You will be too.

 

Listen to your body for the answers. You'll know when it's time to cut and when to hold.

Thanks TS.  I gotta say, the encouragement you've been giving around here has been very helpful.  Really appreciate it. 

[[Ra...]]

True south and Lacey,  you are both inspiring to me.  I will most likely start my taper this weekend.  A little (actually a lot) nervous not knowing how my body will react.  I will cut .0625mg from my whopping 3mg dose.  I'm hoping to make this same cut every 2 weeks.  Hopefully starting out at this high dose and decreasing by these small increments, my brain will have plenty of time to heal so when I get to the lower mg, the body and brain will be ok as it  will have had plenty of time to upregulate. At least that's my hope at this point .

[[la...]]

True south and Lacey,  you are both inspiring to me.  I will most likely start my taper this weekend.  A little (actually a lot) nervous not knowing how my body will react.  I will cut .0625mg from my whopping 3mg dose.  I'm hoping to make this same cut every 2 weeks.  Hopefully starting out at this high dose and decreasing by these small increments, my brain will have plenty of time to heal so when I get to the lower mg, the body and brain will be ok as it  will have had plenty of time to upregulate. At least that's my hope at this point .

 

Hey Rabbit, that is a very slow, and sensible taper.  Just listen to your body, and I'm sure everything will work out for you. 

 

Few questions.  How is your GAD situation right now?  Are you in a pretty good spot right now mentally/physically?  Also, how are you dosing your Xanax?  Spread throughout the day, or all in one big dose at night time?  Also, is the seroquel helping with sleep?  I too was diagnosed with GAD.

[[Ra...]]

Hi Lacey,  my anxiety is under good control and I feel stable.  I also take seroquel.  In fact I didn't really become stable until I started the seroquel.  I know seroquel is not ideal but I was coming to the end if the line for options.  I have to say it did stabilize me and helps with sleep which for me is crucial.

 

I dose 1mg at 11:00am and then 2mg at 7:00pm along with my seroquel.  I'm thinking to cut from my night dose until the 2 doses are even.  Does anyone think that's a bad idea?

 

Thanks all!!

[[la...]]

Hi Lacey,  my anxiety is under good control and I feel stable.  I also take seroquel.  In fact I didn't really become stable until I started the seroquel.  I know seroquel is not ideal but I was coming to the end if the line for options.  I have to say it did stabilize me and helps with sleep which for me is crucial.

 

I dose 1mg at 11:00am and then 2mg at 7:00pm along with my seroquel.  I'm thinking to cut from my night dose until the 2 doses are even.  Does anyone think that's a bad idea?

 

Thanks all!!

 

Good to hear that you are in a good spot right now Rabbit.  I had trouble at first untill I was able to stabalize in a good spot.  I'll tell you some things about my journey that may be helpful to you as we both have GAD and took a larger dose at night.

 

If you look at my sig I was having a struggle reducing doses during December, and January.  My doctor said that it would be easier to come off the benzo if the underlying GAD was treated with an SSRI, so we increased the dose of my SSRI, and since then I have had a lot easier time reducing my doses.  SSRI's aren't for everyone, and they may not be for you, but I beleive it has been a crucial factor in my personal taper journey.

 

Additionally, my doctor prescribed 12.5mg of seroquel to help sleep at nights while going through this.  It's a small dose, but between seroquel, and a bit of melatonin I have had no troubles sleeping while tapering some pretty big chunks of my night time dose.  So, I believe this has been crucial for my taper as well.  Sleep is important to help heal imho, so I think the seroquel could help you too. 

 

Personally, I was taking 1mg at night for quite a while to help sleep, and then later added some smaller .25mg doses 2x a day to help stabalize.  I also focused on reducing the night time dose first for the most part.  My feelings towards it were that my most annoying WD side effect (when I was having trouble with my reductions in December/January) was anxiety, and Xanax only has a short half life, so it wasn't really helping my anxiety by the time I woke up anyways.  The only real benefit my night time dose had was to help sleep.  But, since I was taking seroquel + melatonin I didn't have many problems sleeping anyways.  So, I attacked the night time dose pretty aggressively with good success.  I still sleep fine, and haven't had really much anxiety during the day. 

 

I would suggest (like TrueSouth said) listening to your body, and not revolving everything around a calender, or pre-determined schedule.  After a few reductions you should get an idea of how the reductions effect you, and if they effect you.  Once you are familiar with this, the dose reductions may become easier as there is less being scared of the 'uknown'.  If you are listening to your body you may need to hold a little longer at times, or you may be able to move a little faster with your taper.   

 

If you have any questions feel free to ask.

[[ho...]]

Hi VC,

 

Our conversation was getting really long so I thought I wouldn't quote it. To be honest, mine was a bumpy ride the entire time. I never really "stabilized." It was more like bad and less bad.  I cut when it was less bad. I do have a few suggestions for sleep. My go to place is first of all, deep breathing exercises. I practice the 4-7-8 breath at bedtime and anytime I wake up in the night. I think there were many nights and days that I breathed my way through withdrawal. Practiced daily it has an intensely calming effect on the CNS. Google the 4-7-8 breath by Dr Andrew Weil for instructions. Second, I use a lot of hypnosis, meditation and guided visualization. My favorite for sleep is from a guy named Dr. Steven Gurgevich. His website is www.healingwithhypnosis.com I actually flew to Tucson and saw him in person once. I have a lot of his CDs and frequently was able to sleep with his deep sleep hypnosis. I have found that done once or twice these things don't do much. However, done daily over a month they cumulatively make a huge difference. I listen every night and for the first couple of months did it twice per day. It is time consuming and a bit of work but it helps a lot and is drug free! I also used Inositol and Glycine during my acute w/d and noticed my sleep was better with these. They are a powder you add to your water and drink. Both are great for anxiety and the adrenaline surges. Also, I found that taurine didn't help me sleep per se but it does help my heart rhythm significantly and therefor I sleep much better. Like many others Magnesium has helped tremendously as has vitamin C. I also get IV infusions of mega doses of vitamin C (25,000 mg at a time) and big doses of Magnesium through IV and I sleep so much better with those. I hope these help even a little!

 

Hang in there,

 

HG

[[Tr...]]

After a lengthy reply to Lacey23 and Rabbit11, my tablet died before I could post it and I lost it. 

 

I hope everyone is doing well tonight. Take it easy on yourselves.

[[ba...]]

After a lengthy reply to Lacey23 and Rabbit11, my tablet died before I could post it and I lost it. 

 

I hope everyone is doing well tonight. Take it easy on yourselves.

 

TS,

 

I hate that!    damn tablets!

 

Rabbit and Lacey,

 

Glad you two are feeling stable.  I've been getting some bad waves but they are so much shorter now, and they rarely scare me anymore.  Healing feels wonderful, so stay the course my friends. 

 

[[Tr...]]

Lacey23; Thanks.

No one is under any obligation to stick around and help the new crop of people who come here looking for advise and support. I received the benefit of having many good and caring people help and cheer me on during my taper and jump. I feel like I need to give something back.

 

I've got a life outside of this forum and I could find a million reasons not to hang around post jump. When people need your help and appreciate a few kind words, well... It's hard to stay away.

 

Hope you're feeling well today!

[[Tr...]]

Mama2; I didn't want to say anything prematurely, but I'm happy to report the pain that had settled in my right knee during my taper and remained there post jump has largely disappeared. I continue to heal and I haven't felt this good in many months. Yea!

 

Hang in there! Better days are ahead. 

[[ma...]]

TrueSouth,

 

Your healing is so encouraging.  I jumped about a month before you.  I'm among the more mature crowd, so it might take me longer to heal, but I know I will heal in time.

 

I thank you for sticking around.

 

Mama

 

 

[[Tr...]]

I had a brief bout with depression that hit me hard a couple of weeks ago. Like most of my other waves post jump, healing seems to follow soon after I get hit with extreme nastiness. They say don't give up five minutes before the miracle happens, and that's 'kinda what happened here. I've had leg or ankle pain since day three of my taper, and it really wears on you after so many months.

 

Several days after my jump, I started getting sweats at night. They vanished after about a month, but seem to have returned after the knee pain left. It's weird but so are many of our withdrawal symptoms. It's annoying, but not much more than that. I'll take it over the leg stuff any day, and I know all these silly little symptoms will completely disappear permanently in the near future.

 

The crazy part is I was rarely taking more than one single .5mg dose per day. It's hard to believe Xanax is so powerful, but I attribute my lingering symptoms to a decade of use. Maybe it has something to do with age? I think younger people and men have an easier time. So many mysteries!

 

Hope all my buddies have a symptom free and enjoyable weekend!

[[Pe...]]

Ok, So I'm back and scared to death..I need help, support, and I feel like a complete idiot.  In Dec. I ramped up my 1 mg of X to 2 mg..Then got the bad health news. I ramped up to 3- 1 mg X a day for about a month. Then in Mid Jan.I ramped up to 4 mg a day. Well, problem is , is that I miscalculated on the amount of .25 tabs I had, plus my regular 1 mg prescription. A week ago I

discovered I was going to run short,so I ramped down to .75 once a day. I did this until I had my regular script filled yesterday. I know that I'm in full blown 4 alarm withdrawals. I'm taking .5 MG 4 times a day, plus my regular dosage of Klonopin ( 1 mg) 4 X a day. I think I had read before that I could substitute Klonopin for X? If so..How do I do it ? And will it relieve the withdrawal symptoms?

 

So far my sx's are, panic attacks that last until I can get through them by doing deep breathing exercises, tremors, really bad upset stomach, feeling like I'm walking on a moving ship, I'm staying in bed a lot for fear that when I get up I'll have another panic attack. Anyone that has used the substitution method  with Klonopin I could really use some help here.

 

                                  Thanks ,                                          A Verry shaky and scared PepsiMoon

PS: I only get 45- 1 mg pills of Xanax and 90- .25 pills per month. So I cannot go back to my regular 4 mg dosage then taper down. I'll run short again by the last week of the month.

 

 

[[Ch...]]

Hi PepsiMoon-

I went back and read some of your previous posts.  I know now you are dealing with a lot of health issues.  I'm very sorry for that.

 

I can't help but think, however, that the Benzos cannot be helping with your other health issues when you add on the symptoms we are all aware of when addicted to Benzos.

 

Is tapering off completely out of the question for you? 

[[Pe...]]

Hi Chazin, Thanks for your reply. Yes,I'm planning a slow taper of .0625 after I stabilize from the drastic cut I've made to my 'X' I'm hoping that someone on the board can help me with substituting Klonopin for the Xanax I'm missing to make my withdrawal a little more tolerable. In fact, I think that had I not been on Klonopin 4 X a day and 30 MG of Remeron I would be going though a lot worse that I am now.

 

                                                                                                                                    Peace, PepsiMoon

[[Ch...]]

Thanks, PepsiMoon.  I went back and read even more of your prior posts so I know now you have been engaged in quite a battle.

 

I wish I could give you the advice that you need....but I just don't know the answer about Klonopin.  I was a straight up Xanax user and then went off rapidly.

 

I hope the best for you.

[[Tr...]]

Wow Chazin! Thats amazing!

 

If I'm reading your signature line correctly you cut from 1mg of Xanax to zero in seven days?! I know many others would greatly benefit from hearing about your rapid taper experience in the days and weeks ahead.

 

Congratulations on a successful rapid taper and jump.

[[Pe...]]

I agree, Man that's a hella fast taper! I don't know how you did it but congrats!! In retrospect, I see that I was only on the last 1 mg 'updose' (which put me at 4 mg a day) for about 2 weeks

so I'm thinking that I might not go though such a bad time withdrawing from the last 'updose as much as the 'updose' before that, which put me at 3 mg for about a month. I'll continue to take my klonopin as I regularly do, and my .5 mg of xanax 4  times day, Do my deep breathing exercises when the panic and anxiety hit. Once I start to stabilize, and start to feel better, I'm definitely going to start a taper of .0625 every two weeks.

What I'm experiencing at the present isn't fun.

 

 

 

 

                                                                                                                                  Lord help me through this,  PepsiMoon

[[Ch...]]

Thanks, TrueSouth and PepsiMoon.

 

It took more desperation than courage to taper that quickly.

 

It wasn't long before I began to taper that I learned the Xanax was at least partially responsible for the horrible depression I was going through.  I could hardly get out of bed.  I slept a lot and while I did not want to do anything proactively to end my life I did wish my heart would just quit beating.

 

When I started in February researching "Xanax" and "Addiction" and "Withdrawal" -after seeing a psychologist who raised concerns about the amount and length of time of my Xanax use- I started reading the symptoms of Xanax addiction/withdrawal and thought "Got that, got that, got that, shit....got that....Holy Christ....got that..." 

 

I was shocked and appalled.  Last Christmas season was the most difficult period I ever remember living through.  My wife and I both agreed I needed counseling...bad.  And now to think each night I was dosing myself with what was the reason for my despair...unwittingly....I still can hardly believe it.

 

I then researched how to get off the stuff and read where the medical community nearly unanimously agreed that long term Xanax users who take less than 4 mg of Xanax per day would most likely not have seizures if they stopped taking Xanax. 

 

The one week taper I did was also the fastest one I could find on the internet.  I did not want to prolong my taper any longer than I had to because I felt that each time I was putting a Xanax in my mouth I was continuing to poison myself.  As I've written on other threads before, I felt not unlike I would feel if there was a rat in my house.  I just wanted it out.

 

It was pretty difficult after the taper began and when I jumped free 24 days ago. I had sleepless nights, bad anxiety, upset stomach and all the symptoms others have written about here.

 

Some have implied that my withdrawal symptoms must not be as bad as others who post on Benzobuddies.  They are wrong. 

 

My withdrawal, as unpleasant as it was at first and still continues to be, was so much better than how I was feeling before I began my taper it was almost a relief to feel good, old fashioned pain and discomfort.  As weird as it sounds, it actually helped me to know I was getting better when I experienced the pain and discomfort of withdrawal. 

 

Each day I can feel I am healing a little bit.  I embrace that feeling over allowing the other symptoms to shadow every waking moment of my new found life.

 

I am highly motivated to get clean.  I cannot ever be in the place I was again while I was taking Xanax. 

 

I want to be free more than I hate the horrible way I felt and feel in withdrawal.

 

[[la...]]

Thanks, TrueSouth and PepsiMoon.

 

It took more desperation than courage to taper that quickly.

 

It wasn't long before I began to taper that I learned the Xanax was at least partially responsible for the horrible depression I was going through.  I could hardly get out of bed.  I slept a lot and while I did not want to do anything proactively to end my life I did wish my heart would just quit beating.

 

When I started in February researching "Xanax" and "Addiction" and "Withdrawal" -after seeing a psychologist who raised concerns about the amount and length of time of my Xanax use- I started reading the symptoms of Xanax addiction/withdrawal and thought "Got that, got that, got that, shit....got that....Holy Christ....got that..." 

 

I was shocked and appalled.  Last Christmas season was the most difficult period I ever remember living through.  My wife and I both agreed I needed counseling...bad.  And now to think each night I was dosing myself with what was the reason for my despair...unwittingly....I still can hardly believe it.

 

I then researched how to get off the stuff and read where the medical community nearly unanimously agreed that long term Xanax users who take less than 4 mg of Xanax per day would most likely not have seizures if they stopped taking Xanax. 

 

The one week taper I did was also the fastest one I could find on the internet.  I did not want to prolong my taper any longer than I had to because I felt that each time I was putting a Xanax in my mouth I was continuing to poison myself.  As I've written on other threads before, I felt not unlike I would feel if there was a rat in my house.  I just wanted it out.

 

It was pretty difficult after the taper began and when I jumped free 24 days ago. I had sleepless nights, bad anxiety, upset stomach and all the symptoms others have written about here.

 

Some have implied that my withdrawal symptoms must not be as bad as others who post on Benzobuddies.  They are wrong. 

 

My withdrawal, as unpleasant as it was at first and still continues to be, was so much better than how I was feeling before I began my taper it was almost a relief to feel good, old fashioned pain and discomfort.  As weird as it sounds, it actually helped me to know I was getting better when I experienced the pain and discomfort of withdrawal. 

 

Each day I can feel I am healing a little bit.  I embrace that feeling over allowing the other symptoms to shadow every waking moment of my new found life.

 

I am highly motivated to get clean.  I cannot ever be in the place I was again while I was taking Xanax. 

 

I want to be free more than I hate the horrible way I felt.

 

That is pretty remarkable that you feel better now than you did while on the xanax.  Congrats!

[[Ch...]]

Thanks, Lacey...but it does not seem that remarkable to me to feel better than I was.

 

I wouldn't wish my "Xanax'd" fueled state of mind on my worst enemy.