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

[[Ra...]]

Mrs, sorry I'm late with this but:

 

[move]Congratulations!![/move]

 

How are you feeling?

 

JACD - Are you talking about the physcological affect of not taking the drug?  I can totally see that being an issue with me.  We are tied to it in our mind and 'think' it's helping when really there is no therapudic dose there.  I know it worries me and I've got a long way to go.  I do think at your low dose though you have little choice but to jump, the question is when?  Maybe after a few days of feeling stable?  Good luck in whatever you choose to do.  Please keep us posted.

 

Hugs,

 

Bunny

 

Hi Blue and Challis  :smitten:

[[ho...]]

Blue,

You jumped at .03125, right?  Did you have any uptick in symptoms?

Chal 

 

Is anyone or did anyone experience the intense head and jaw pain spasms? I am in the worst pain I have been in right now! Can anyone let me know what they did to relieve this? I am prob doing all I can do but want to know if I am missing something. It's so bad I am ready to take a Vicodin and I am anti drugs! It's been 4 days now and it won't let up! It's constant!  :'(

G,

I had a 'tight band' headache 24/7 that came on low in my taper and stayed til the day after I jumped.  Did not have jaw pain but could that be from clenching?  Clenching came on late as well and I broke two teeth off at the gum.  Possibly see a dentist for a mouth guard?

I'm sorry, my friend...you're such a trooper.

 

I already where an thick orthodontic clear retainer at night that protects my teeth but it's not a mouth guard. It would not help with grinding motion or clenching motion but would protect my teeth from breaking. I don't know If I could do a mouth guard, though it is an option, bc without my retainer my teeth shift in a day. Need it every every night. Maybe the mouth guard would work as both?? I guess I need to see a dentist for that.

 

The headaches have been steady but this is new. The last few weeks the jaw spasms and head pressure are so severe. I know I am stubborn but I have had enough head CTs to last me a life time. They all think I am nuts in the ER and clinic. Been checked out many times. That's just not an option for me anymore.

 

I keep using my tens, heat sock, ice, Epsom baths, .....just over and over hoping for a break. Lots of water. There is just nothing to do but suffer.

 

G

 

Hi there,

 

I had severe jaw pain and head pressure for over a year. I tried everything you listed. I also had 9 MRI's because I didn't know at the time it was due to withdrawal. Yes...that is 9! Anyway, time heals. At 14 months off the head pressure is finally decreasing and the jaw pain and spasms are gone. I know the suffering is awful and relief seems so far away but it does get better. I also used the homeopathic, arnica. I used the tablets taken under the tongue and the gel to massage into my jaw. I also saw a dentist who used a laser therapy to relax the jaw muscles. It helped a lot but only lasted a couple of days and so I couldn't afford to keep doing it. I also went to a massage therapist who specializes in cranial massage and he would wear a glove and massage the jaw from the inside of my mouth. It was excruciating for him to even barely touch it but it did help. However, to be honest nothing made it go away and I spent a lot of money on it. It all did make it slightly better but time was the best!

Hang in there!

 

Hopeful Girl

[[ho...]]

Hey gang,

 

Just stopping by to say that I took my last dose at 9:15am yesterday morning, so today is officially my first day of BENZO FREEDOM!!

 

Stay the course   The dream is REAL!

 

Mrs.

 

"When the dream is big enough, the facts don't count because when the dream is big enough, the facts will eventually change." M. Grotewold

 

:thumbsup: Congratulations!!!! You Did It!!!!  Happy Healing, my friend!  :thumbsup:

[[lo...]]

no luck finding a doctor the only one that has seen me has told me to go into detox its the safest thing for me. :/ everything i have read detox is not safe at all

[[th...]]

I m not as excited this week bc last week was hell....but I cut today.

 

Down to .6875mg

 

G

[[lo...]]

I m not as excited this week bc last week was hell....but I cut today.

 

Down to .6875mg

 

G

 

congrats! you have been a beast about cutting. 

[[Je...]]

I get blurred vision a lot and I'm pretty sure it's from Xanax.  Sometimes I feel blurry and disconnected when I TAKE Xanax.  Sometimes I get blurry and disconnected when it wears off.

 

Not really sure what/if there's anything I can do about this.

 

Can anyone relate to what I'm talking about?

[[va...]]

I get blurred vision a lot and I'm pretty sure it's from Xanax.  Sometimes I feel blurry and disconnected when I TAKE Xanax.  Sometimes I get blurry and disconnected when it wears off.

 

Not really sure what/if there's anything I can do about this.

 

Can anyone relate to what I'm talking about?

 

Yes, I do, but I think - for me anyway - it happens when I'm tired and not rested, or haven't slept well or enough.  Or, if I haven't eaten.

 

 

 

I m not as excited this week bc last week was hell....but I cut today.

 

Down to .6875mg

 

G

 

Good for you Grinch.  Keep the battle going. 

 

I cut today but I'm doing something weird, because I had to sit and think about how many halves and pieces of pills I need to take.  I was taking 2 .25s in the morning (.5mg) and 1 1/2 at night (.375mg).  Well, this morning I went down to 1 1/2 (.375) and tonight took my regular 1 1/2 (.375), but I'm not sure if that might be cutting too much because it's more than 10% now.  I had kind of decided to start cutting .0625.  So I think tomorrow morning I'll take 1 3/4 (.4375mg).  Am I overthinking this?  argh.

 

Namaste.  Love you guys! 

 

~K

[[ho...]]

I get blurred vision a lot and I'm pretty sure it's from Xanax.  Sometimes I feel blurry and disconnected when I TAKE Xanax.  Sometimes I get blurry and disconnected when it wears off.

 

Not really sure what/if there's anything I can do about this.

 

Can anyone relate to what I'm talking about?

 

Hi There. Yes, this was one of my main symptoms. I had several eye exams and workups. Even saw a neuro-opthamologist and all was normal. It was the Xanax for sure! As I heal and get further from my jump date it continues to happen less and less.

[[li...]]

hi,its been looooong since ive posted,dont know if any of the older buddies are still here?what do you all think?and is there a seizure risk with this current dose of 0.156mg x?currently on 0.1526mg xanax daily,usually 0.0625 at 08:30 the 0.0312mg at noon and 0.0625 at 5pm,ive cut from 0.187mg 4 days ago,is this cut ok,can i continue cutting this much at a time?not sure what dose (morning or afternoon)to cut next?as im scared the doses are to far apart.ive been on 0.187mg for two years now,tapered over a couple of months from 0.75mg,started my taper two months after basically c/t off prozac,was on both for 9 years

[[th...]]

hi,its been looooong since ive posted,dont know if any of the older buddies are still here?what do you all think?and is there a seizure risk with this current dose of 0.156mg x?currently on 0.1526mg xanax daily,usually 0.0625 at 08:30 the 0.0312mg at noon and 0.0625 at 5pm,ive cut from 0.187mg 4 days ago,is this cut ok,can i continue cutting this much at a time?not sure what dose (morning or afternoon)to cut next?as im scared the doses are to far apart.ive been on 0.187mg for two years now,tapered over a couple of months from 0.75mg,started my taper two months after basically c/t off prozac,was on both for 9 years

 

I would say there isn't a seizure risk bc you have been cutting and aren't on a high dose. Seizures are rare and usually happen with high dose ct. I am at a total of .6875 mgs a day now divided into 4 daily doses. I cut .0625mgs with each cut and I will do this all the way to 0... Jumping at .0625mgs. I cut the doses like a round robin and try to keep them as even as possible. At one point I will get to 4 doses of .0625mgs and need to cut out the doses one by one. The last few cuts with dry cut methods will end up being more than 10%. The only way around this is to do a daily taper. You are so close to the end. If it were me, I would keep cutting and get it over with. But that's me...

 

Good luck!

 

G

[[lo...]]

hey so I found a doctor that hopefully (please send me luck) will work with me on a taper, i have been talking to a doctor on healthtap who founf me this doctor he called her and did this for me as and he has been so supportive and I think after the new year after the craziness of holidays I am going to try and cross over to klonopin and then taper. I will know more after seeing the doctor tomorrow I am excited to start my taper again. I really don't want to do a cross over. I would like to come off the xanax but becaue of being on them 13 years and at my max dose being 10mgs a day the doctor thats been helping me with my plan to be benzo free thinks the cross over is safer.

 

anyone else had a doctor suggest this?

[[th...]]

hey so I found a doctor that hopefully (please send me luck) will work with me on a taper, i have been talking to a doctor on healthtap who founf me this doctor he called her and did this for me as and he has been so supportive and I think after the new year after the craziness of holidays I am going to try and cross over to klonopin and then taper. I will know more after seeing the doctor tomorrow I am excited to start my taper again. I really don't want to do a cross over. I would like to come off the xanax but becaue of being on them 13 years and at my max dose being 10mgs a day the doctor thats been helping me with my plan to be benzo free thinks the cross over is safer.

 

anyone else had a doctor suggest this?

 

Many people cross over to Valium or klonopin bc they are longer acting and seem to be better to come off of. As long as the cross over takes time and they just don't rip you off the Xanax and put you on K it could work. Although, personally if I was going to cross over I would not cross over to K, but do a V cross over instead. If you cross over too fast you aren't given enough time to adjust to the K and wd from Xanax can still happen. Just be sure the dr knows what they are doing if you cross over. I would ask on the board about the cross over before doing it so you can get an idea of what works.

 

G

[[va...]]

hey so I found a doctor that hopefully (please send me luck) will work with me on a taper, i have been talking to a doctor on healthtap who founf me this doctor he called her and did this for me as and he has been so supportive and I think after the new year after the craziness of holidays I am going to try and cross over to klonopin and then taper. I will know more after seeing the doctor tomorrow I am excited to start my taper again. I really don't want to do a cross over. I would like to come off the xanax but becaue of being on them 13 years and at my max dose being 10mgs a day the doctor thats been helping me with my plan to be benzo free thinks the cross over is safer.

 

anyone else had a doctor suggest this?

 

Personally, I wouldn't cross over unless it was absolutely necessary.  Crossing over takes more time, and many people who cross over end up with worse problems than those who taper from their original drug.  If I end up having to cross over, however, I would CO to valium and not klonopin.  I think people have more problems tapering off K than they do V.  At least that's how it appears from what I've read. 

 

Whatever you decide to do, I hope it works out for you. 

 

Namaste.

 

~K

[[Je...]]

I get blurred vision a lot and I'm pretty sure it's from Xanax.  Sometimes I feel blurry and disconnected when I TAKE Xanax.  Sometimes I get blurry and disconnected when it wears off.

 

Not really sure what/if there's anything I can do about this.

 

Can anyone relate to what I'm talking about?

 

Hi There. Yes, this was one of my main symptoms. I had several eye exams and workups. Even saw a neuro-opthamologist and all was normal. It was the Xanax for sure! As I heal and get further from my jump date it continues to happen less and less.

 

Thanks!

[[Fr...]]

Hi, everyone:

 

I was on Xanax for 3 months, including my taper. I have been off for almost 3 months now. I experience these weird headache type things that are hard to describe. It isn't extremely painful but it is pretty consistent and mostly linger in my brows and forehead. It intensifies when I am staring at a screen for a long time, stressed (i.e. doing homework, or trying to solve a problem at work, decision making). It seems to give me this nauseous, sick feeling at times as well and is mostly apparent in the morning when I wake up. I often wake up with a more intense version of this headache in the middle of the night, coupled with my insomnia, and I also have extremely vivid dreams, yet it feels like I am not sleeping sometimes and that I'm just trapped in these weird, vivid thoughts. It seems to also coincide with poor short term memory -- I easily forget what I am doing or looking for.  Anyway, am I in tune with anyone else's symptoms or is there something wrong with my head? haha. I have been back and forth with wether this is withdrawal or not. Thanks for your help, everyone. This forum has definitely been a blessing.

[[lo...]]

I have seen alot of probs with K on here, and not so much with V. the doctor is going to I HOPE let me decide and at what pace. id like to just taper from the xanax im already and been having tolerance withdraws i mean for me i just would rather keep going then add another benzo

[[th...]]

I have seen alot of probs with K on here, and not so much with V. the doctor is going to I HOPE let me decide and at what pace. id like to just taper from the xanax im already and been having tolerance withdraws i mean for me i just would rather keep going then add another benzo

 

This is exactly why I won't cross over. I won't take the chance of getting worse. I don't trust benzos at all and I definitely don't trust one I have never taken. For me, the best option was to taper off the one I knew and my body knew. That was just my choice though.

 

Grinch

[[va...]]

Hi, everyone:

 

I was on Xanax for 3 months, including my taper. I have been off for almost 3 months now. I experience these weird headache type things that are hard to describe. It isn't extremely painful but it is pretty consistent and mostly linger in my brows and forehead. It intensifies when I am staring at a screen for a long time, stressed (i.e. doing homework, or trying to solve a problem at work, decision making). It seems to give me this nauseous, sick feeling at times as well and is mostly apparent in the morning when I wake up. I often wake up with a more intense version of this headache in the middle of the night, coupled with my insomnia, and I also have extremely vivid dreams, yet it feels like I am not sleeping sometimes and that I'm just trapped in these weird, vivid thoughts. It seems to also coincide with poor short term memory -- I easily forget what I am doing or looking for.  Anyway, am I in tune with anyone else's symptoms or is there something wrong with my head? haha. I have been back and forth with wether this is withdrawal or not. Thanks for your help, everyone. This forum has definitely been a blessing.

 

Hey Frayze,  yes, I get headaches like that sometimes.  I'm still tapering.  When I get them I take excedrine migraine and it works really fast and like a charm.  Hope this helps. 

 

Namaste.

 

~K 

 

I have seen alot of probs with K on here, and not so much with V. the doctor is going to I HOPE let me decide and at what pace. id like to just taper from the xanax im already and been having tolerance withdraws i mean for me i just would rather keep going then add another benzo

 

lost, I think everyone has interdose wd symptoms, no matter what drug they're on.  And since V has a much longer half life, it seems to me, from what I've read, that people have a lot more trouble near the end and jumping than they do off a fast acting benzo like X.  I would suggest looking around the forum for people who crossed from X to V or K, read about their symptoms and taper and what happened when they jumped.  That's how I decided not to CO.  I also didn't want the added time to CO.  I was headed to CO over to V, then I read some real horror stories, so I looked for people who had successfully tapered from X.  I found several people I consulted with and that's how I made my decision, and so far I believe it was the right one for me, as my taper has been fairly uneventful.  I can still CO later if I need to.

 

Good luck with whatever you decide. 

 

Namaste.

 

~K 

[[th...]]

Anyone have crazy head pressure and jaw pain near the lower doses that resolved reasonably once they jumped??

 

G

[[va...]]

Anyone have crazy head pressure and jaw pain near the lower doses that resolved reasonably once they jumped??

 

G

 

Hey!  I just noticed you and I are at about the same place now.  You're one cut ahead of me.    Wanna race to the end?  j/k 

 

hugs.

 

~K 

[[th...]]

Anyone have crazy head pressure and jaw pain near the lower doses that resolved reasonably once they jumped??

 

G

 

Hey!  I just noticed you and I are at about the same place now.  You're one cut ahead of me.    Wanna race to the end?  j/k 

 

hugs.

 

~K 

 

Hey ya we are!!  I cut every 7 days... The end can't come soon enough!!!

 

G

[[Je...]]

I'm just not able to cut.  the feelings of insanity are too much for me.  What do I do?

[[Je...]]

test, where is everyone?

[[Bu...]]

I'm just not able to cut.  the feelings of insanity are too much for me.  What do I do?

 

Then wait until your symptoms settle down.  Usually I was cutting every 10-14 days.  Take your time and take it slow.  Also, try smaller cuts.