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

[[ho...]]

I wanted to pop in and wish everyone a happy Easter! Today also happens to be my six month benzo free celebration. It's hard to believe I was a slave for over a decade and I've been free for six months. Some days it seems like a miracle. Yea!!!

 

Welcome to our little slice of the board Bob. I'm glad you're here! I have little to support my beliefs on, but if all things are equal, I think men have a slightly easier time of tapering than women. I also feel larger cuts, like the ones you've taken are better, tolerated at the top of your taper. The shorter your time taking Xanax, the easier your taper and jump. Again, just my beliefs.

 

I see you C/T from Norco. If you check my signature line, you'll see I had a Lortab taper.  Same, same. I can tell you I feel better today and have less pain than at anytime in the last ten years. It's wonderful and I know you'll be amazed at how great you feel. Hang in there!

 

I hope everyone is doing and feeling great today. 

 

Congratulations, TrueSouth! You did it! I am so proud of you. Happy 6 months!

Hopeful Girl

[[Tr...]]

Thank you HopefulGirl. The kindness, love, and support of so many here were largely responsible for my success. You were definitely one of them.

 

I wish you happiness and healing. 

[[ho...]]

Thank you HopefulGirl. The kindness, love, and support of so many here were largely responsible for my success. You were definitely one of them.

 

I wish you happiness and healing. 

 

Thank you! I am very happy and while the healing is slow, it is happening!

[[ma...]]

TrueSouth,

 

This is such good news.  I'm happy for you.

 

Mama 

[[la...]]

Bleh, I hope this fatigue gets curbed sometime soon.  It's very frustrating, and the only real withdrawal side effect I currently have that is causing me any problems. 

[[ba...]]

hi Lacey do you take another medication that helped you drop alprazolam this month? or do you take any supplements or any herbal meds to help you do it ?

i was unsuccessfull droping my meds on the 3rd day so im taking 0.0625 again a day

[[la...]]

hi Lacey do you take another medication that helped you drop alprazolam this month? or do you take any supplements or any herbal meds to help you do it ?

i was unsuccessfull droping my meds on the 3rd day so im taking 0.0625 again a day

 

I take lexapro, and was taking abilify, but my Dr. just dropped the Abilify as he thought it could be contributing towards fatigue.  So, for now, just the Lexapro.

[[Ra...]]

True South, such great news!  Thank you for your continuing posts.  It REALLY does give the rest of us hope.

 

Lacey, how bad is your fatigue?  Are you functional? 

 

Hugs,

 

Rabbit

[[Tr...]]

Thanks for all the well wishes from each of you. Seriously, if someone like me can do this, you can too! Hang in there and take care of each other. The collective knowledge and support of the members were my lifeline when things got tough. This group rocks!

 

Lacey23; Many days I feel like my energy level is really low. When I make a focused and determined effort to push myself I'm able to gain some momentum and move forward. I know it'll take some time to regain my drive, but I also know I'm slowly healing every single day. Stay positive my friend!

 

Wishing for a restful night and a symptom free day tomorrow for each of you. 

[[la...]]

True South, such great news!  Thank you for your continuing posts.  It REALLY does give the rest of us hope.

 

Lacey, how bad is your fatigue?  Are you functional? 

 

Hugs,

 

Rabbit

Depends what you mean by functional. 

 

I don't think I could work a full time job right now.  The other day while on vacation I was golfing, and had to quit after the 8th hole because I just had no energy.  My Dr said that I should try to wake up early and get moving in the morning, and take a 30 minute walk a day.  So I'm going to give that a shot.  Hopefully the combination of exersize + time healing + getting off abilify, will give me some energy.

[[Tr...]]

The important thing here is what was your score after eight holes. 

 

Our body's chemistry has been altered by benzos and needs time to correct itself. It gets better. I promise.

[[la...]]

The important thing here is what was your score after eight holes. 

 

Our body's chemistry has been altered by benzos and needs time to correct itself. It gets better. I promise.

 

Thanks TS.

 

If my score was any good I wouldn't have quit, lol.  First round of the year, I'm sure it will get better.  I got half hour of exersize in today so far, and am still ticking, so maybe this will help.

[[Ju...]]

Hello again!  I just wanted to check in and let anyone who's interested know how I am doing.  the roomie who allowed me a .5 xanax a day decided this would run him short so he stopped.  This put me into a pickle as it made me have to take more Tranxene than prescribed to match the equivalent of benzos I should have been taking.  NOW I am short on the Tranxene and trying to stretch them as far as I can.  i do not see the Dr until May 5th and have just a few days of Tranxene left.  i know sometimes we all have to,do what we have to,do and am therefore teying to think of a way to tell him (via phone as there are NO appts until,the 5th) that I totally screwed up.  I AM CONFIDENT NOW THAT HIS 7.5 Tranxene 3 x a day will,likely hold me but I am afraid of even approaching him with this and THAT is causing great anxiety as I am afraid he will simoly say no and cut me off completely.  We'll see about that tomorrow as I have thus far chickened out on calling him.  I guess I am asking for advice...should I actually lie to him about somehow screwing up or be honest and tell him why I am short.  I realize no one can tell me what to do, I am just reaching out there for thoughts on this.  ALSO, I have to say I think the loooong half life of Tranxene was very helpful in getting rid of the xanax (yep it's gone and I doubt I would take one again if someone layed a 1000 of them at my feet.). Anyway, that is my current quandry.  PS: I HAVE cut back on the Tranxene a bit since I got the prescription filled last but will surely run out before I can get it filled again (on then5th). I mention this because I am actually feeling pretty decent and attribute that to the lesser amount of Tranxene...so if anyone is,interested or wondering, the Tranxene, so far, has been a GREAT alternative to,the xanax and not nearly as demanding with proper use; probably because of it's quite long half life. 

[[Ra...]]

TrueSouth, thank you for continuing to support those of us still tapering 

 

Lacey, bummer you can't do a full time job yet.  It will come.  I either work full time or none, so I have to plan very carefully.  Sounds like you're doing pretty good though if you can golf.  Fatigue is a big one. 

 

Wanna - well, I'd say your decision on whether to tell your doc or not depends greatly on your relationship with him.  I've always been totally honest with mine as I want his total trust.  It's going to be a judgement call on your part.  If he's been your doc for a long time, he might be sympathetic to your plight, however if you're fairly new to him/her, he/she might not be so forgiving.  I wish you luck.  I sure hope you don't run out of your benzo.  That would NOT be good!  Glad to hear your reductions are going well.

 

V - my dear, where are you?  Hugs sweetie  :smitten:

[[VC...]]

Hey Rabbit, I'm here, tapering right along - slow as a slug  Hope you're doing okay.

I'll be back...on my way to bed. 

 

Blessings to everyone 

VC

 

[[Ra...]]

Look at you go V :yippee:   You are kicking butt!  Good for you, keep it up girlfriend! How are your symptoms?  Are they much different than before you were tapering?

 

Love,

 

Rabbit

[[VC...]]

Look at you go V :yippee:   You are kicking butt!  Good for you, keep it up girlfriend! How are your symptoms?  Are they much different than before you were tapering?

 

Love,

Rabbit

 

Thanks, Rabbit, you make me smile. Didn't think I was making much progress but seems I'm inching along okay - even had a good 4-day stretch with sleep. But my Epsom salts bath and magnesium are crucial for my well-being. As long as I can sleep 6 hrs, I keep tapering. Still having adrenaline/BP surges...but not any worse...just trying to rest more and working on the mind/body connection stuff to help chill out and reduce anxiety/stress. But this micro-taper (so far) is pretty do-able.

 

Hugs,

V 

[[Ra...]]

Hi V - that is great news you are sleeping 6 hours    What progress!  Do you think it's the magnesium that's really helping?  How much do you take, what kind and when?

 

I'm so glad the adrenaline surges are no worse.  Hopefully they will get better as you taper. I'm so proud of you for beginning your taper! 

 

Love,

 

Rabbit

[[VC...]]

Hi V - that is great news you are sleeping 6 hours    What progress!  Do you think it's the magnesium that's really helping?  How much do you take, what kind and when?

 

I'm so glad the adrenaline surges are no worse.  Hopefully they will get better as you taper. I'm so proud of you for beginning your taper! 

 

Love,

Rabbit

 

Thanks, Rabbit!! Today was even better. Slept 7 hrs!! Still woke up 3 times during the night but fell asleep quickly. Still easily tired, but that's adrenal stuff. At least I can stay sane if I'm sleeping.

 

I take Doctor's Best chelated mag glycinate, about 600mg elemental mag total, spread throughout the day. Each tablet is 100mg. so i take two at a time, 3 x daily. It needs a little B6 to absorb so hopefully I'm getting that from my food, plus a whole food B complex I'm taking (most days) in small amounts. (Some can't do B's because they rev up their CNS but the food based one seems okay with me).

 

I read on a health forum that the amount of magnesium we need is about 5mg per pound of body weight. I weigh about 155 right now so that would be 775mg daily for me. Maybe that's a "guestimate" for a maintenance dose - not sure. So I take 600 mg via tablets daily; use magnesium sulfate cream (60mg) on the skin, and lately have taken lots of Epsom salt baths x 20min (more mag sulfate) which relaxes and helps me sleep. For some, this would be too much. I have no idea how much magnesium my body absorbs from the Epsom salts bath water, but the idea is that our bodies will absorb what they need and excrete the rest (unless a person has kidney issues). I also make sure I'm getting plenty sea salt daily and eating potassium rich foods to balance the magnesium because if we push mag too hard, it could push our potassium and sodium down too much.

 

Anyway, I started slow and went slow on adding magnesium, gradually increasing to bowel tolerance over several weeks. I also get regular testing (RBC mag blood test). I can't imagine mag sulfate not helping anyone, unless they have issues with their sulphur pathways or something.

 

Glycinate and malate are good forms. Avoid mag aspartate altogether while in benzo w/d. Mag citrate seems more irritating to the bowel even though many use it and like it. I've heard we might also avoid mag taurate. Good for the heart but avoided in benzo recovery. (not sure without researching taurate myself, though). For now I'm sticking with glycinate and sulfate. Sorry I'm so wordy today. This was probably TMI..

 

Hope you're able to enjoy your weekend! Slow & steady on the taper and we'll get there!

 

Thanks for all your support! 

Hugs! 

VC

 

 

[[Ra...]]

Oh V, that is such great news!  7 hours of sleep!  So much better than you were doing.  So maybe you were just really short on magnesium.  I've only been taking about 200mg of mag glycinate in the mornings.  I've upped my Vit D to 3000 IU, 1000IU in morning and 2000IU at night. 

 

Do you take any Vit D?

 

That's not too much info at all.  I may order the Doctor's Best Mag Glycinate since that's what so many here take.

 

I'm SO happy you are sleeping    That is SO crucial to healing. Keep doing battle with that beast 

 

Love,

 

Rabbit

[[VC...]]

Oh V, that is such great news!  7 hours of sleep!  So much better than you were doing.  So maybe you were just really short on magnesium.  I've only been taking about 200mg of mag glycinate in the mornings.  I've upped my Vit D to 3000 IU, 1000IU in morning and 2000IU at night. 

 

Do you take any Vit D?

 

That's not too much info at all.  I may order the Doctor's Best Mag Glycinate since that's what so many here take.

 

I'm SO happy you are sleeping    That is SO crucial to healing. Keep doing battle with that beast 

 

Love,

Rabbit

 

Thanks, Rabbit. I guess time will tell if it's the magnesium. I was already taking it when I had insomnia before, but since stress depletes magnesium, it's a constant battle to keep my levels up. Maybe I've finally found the right consistent dose for me...

 

I stopped my vit. D last October. It actually tanked what little magnesium my body was getting at the time. You may need it, but I was told to make sure I get both tests done for vit. D (active & storage hormone) since many people are overdosing on it. There is a ratio to check between the two and seems most doctors don't look at both numbers. My wellness coach said my ratio shows me as only very slightly deficient, so right now I've opted for more sun exposure or else take cod liver oil for the A & D. According to him, if we have enough magnesium onboard, the vit. D levels will begin to increase on their own as long as we have ample sun exposure and enough cholesterol under the skin. I did not know that!

 

Another long answer - for whatever it's worth. I do think increasing magnesium sounds good. The Doctor's Best is a good absorbable type, comes highly recommended by many who have used it, and fairly economical. I just wish the tablets werent so doggone big. Don't let me sway you on vit. D, either - just sharing my experience.

 

Gosh, I hope the sleeping trend continues. Easier to battle the beast with a little sleep under the belt!   

 

hugs,

V 

[[ba...]]

i had a tough day i was taking 0.0625mg of xanax a day i had to take 0.125 today i still feel jittery :/

[[VC...]]

i had a tough day i was taking 0.0625mg of xanax a day i had to take 0.125 today i still feel jittery :/

 

I'm so sorry you had a rough day, Babyangel. Was it more stressful than usual? I hope you feel better soon. I'm not sure how fast you're cutting and holding...but I hope you can hang in there. Are you only taking the one dose?

 

VCharis 

[[ba...]]

hi miss  VCharis well each day im usually busy and occupied thruout the day on my feet well the last time i took extra higher dose i was painting and i had paint on my hands and i had to use gasoline to get it off there evan after soaps on my hands i had to updose from feeling bad , i had to updose a few times from stress i been recently stressed reading about alcohol withdrawals , it bothered me some how some are pernament that upset me because i really dislike this xanax i want to quit taking it and make this just something from a past memory

 

i recently saw how your using the water tiltation method to take you xanax?? i really need to research how to do this im getting innacurate cuts trying to cut a 0.50mg xanax pill into like 1/8 pieces to get 0.0625 thank you for your concern i hope your successfull in your tapering off

[[Ju...]]

Babyangel, how did you feel when you stopped taking Xanax at .0625 and jumped for a few days?