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

[[Bl...]]

Help.  Went to see psychiatrist today. I though I can find support on tapering Xanex.  But he said I will never get of Xanex because it highly addictive and now I have to switch to Klonopin.  We wants me to start at 1  mg tonight.    So disappointed and heart broken

 

Hi Vika,

What an incredible statement made by this psychiatrist.

Of course you can get off the medication!

Your Xanax dose is 0.5 mg? 

and he wants you to switch to Klonopin instead of tapering off the .5?

 

Others will chime in here to support you.

Do not let one ridiculous statement leave you hopeless.

 

 

Sending you a huge hug, Vika

 

 

 

Many of us have tapered directly off Xanax without crossing over to another longer acting Benzo like Klonipin. I am one of them. The support I got was from this group, not a psychiatrist. You can do this Vika!

 

Blue

[[...]]

I am so grateful I found BB.  You guys are incredible.  I need your advice how to taper Crüe rest of the .25. I don't want to jeopardize my recovery.  My daughter is going to have a baby at the end of September. Her husband is in the navy and is going to be gone during that time.  They also have a toddler.  I aM afraid I will not be able to help if my withdrawal will last that long.  I understand that no one can predict what is going to happen in the future.  However I need all your brain.  My Plan was to stay on .25 for 7-10 days and than cut it to .125.    Should I go slower.  I so afraid if I prolong cutting I will getting more addicted.  It's like being on Xanex for one month and tapering for two.  I also don't want to get those rebound withdraws many month from my last taper.  My mind is racing.  I just can't make a decision

[[Bl...]]

What worked for me was dividing a .25 mg Xanax into fourths so that each piece was .0625 mgs. Can you do that Vika instead of cutting .125 mgs?

 

Blue

 

 

[[ga...]]

Vika, That is a HUGE cut your are considering. Generally people only cut 10% of their dose at a  time. Some can go that fast, but I could not. Even if you are still tapering your Xanax when the baby arrives, is that bad? Have you considered micro-tapering? That is when you make a tiny cut every day instead of a larger cut every 2 weeks. I mean really tiny. The idea is the withdrawal is much gentler that way and you can go on with your daily life. There is a thread for support for that. I have joined it because I am going to try it. Here is a link to the thread.

 

http://www.benzobuddies.org/forum/index.php?topic=135284.0;topicseen

 

By the way, I was completely hooked on Xanax and tolerant after only one month at .5mg. My idiot psych nurse then upped the dose 3 times. My primary figured out what was going on and insisted I switch to a psychiatrist. Lucky for me he is anti-benzo and put a stop to that and helped me start to taper. I have a much higher amount to taper because of that idiot nurse. You are way ahead of me! I wish so much I had stopped at .5mg.

[[...]]

What worked for me was dividing a .25 mg Xanax into fourths so that each piece was .0625 mgs. Can you do that Vika instead of cutting .125 mgs?

 

Blue

.    I have .5 mg    Going to see my primary dr next week  I will ask him to prescribe. .25. 

[[...]]

@VIKA- I can't stress how important it is to cut small amounts, like .0625 at a time. It is unnecessary to have to suffer from bigger cuts like you have experienced. Be patient with yourself and go easy. You WON'T become more addicted while you are cutting back your dose, you are becoming LESS addicted as you are cutting and taking less Xanax and your brain is healing and adjusting to decreased amounts. This drug is not like any other drug out there. It's harsh. Take good care 

[[...]]

Help.  Went to see psychiatrist today. I though I can find support on tapering Xanex.  But he said I will never get of Xanex because it highly addictive and now I have to switch to Klonopin.  We wants me to start at 1  mg tonight.    So disappointed and heart broken

.   

 

So he wants you to switch over to klonopin and taper from that?  I sort of understand his reasoning considering klonopin has a much longer half-life than Xanax and switching to a longer lasting benzo is often recommended, but considering your short term use, I'm not sure it's really necessary.

 

Pound for pound, klonopin and Xanax are usually considered equal (1mg of Xanax = 1mg of klonopin).  How are you feeling on .25 of Xanax?  If symptoms are manageable, I definitely wouldn't updose to 1mg of klonopin.  How much Xanax do you have left?  Enough to finish your currently planned taper (I'm not outright saying you should disobey your doctor, I'm just saying...)?

 

If you're forced to switch to klonopin, in theory, it shouldn't create too much of an issue.  But if I were in your shoes and had to switch, I definitely wouldn't updose to 1mg of klonopin.  If I felt stable at .25 Xanax, I'd stay at .25 of klonopin and continue with my taper.

oh No,    He wants me start talking Klonopin    AND taper it sometimes in the future

[[bu...]]

I just wanted to say hi, and that I'm starting a pretty rapid reduction from 8mg to zero of xanax.  I'm scared about how I've been feeling.  My pdoc has retired and agreed to keep prescribing until I am xanax free.  We do not have a good relationship and she is not a nice person.  I continue to have severe anxiety.  I haven't seen her in person for almost 3 years because of my agoraphobia, which I am working on with a new psychologist who lives 3 blocks from me.  This has angered my pdoc, who has a professional rivalry with my psychologist.  (We live on an island near Seattle and it's a strange community.)  I feel like I'm caught in the crossfire and nobody is helping me with the tapering, or my concerns. 

 

When I first got the news that I would have a reduction in my xanax (after 8 years of the same refills, basically) it was in the form of a refill being authorized to the pharmacy for 30mg less per 30 days.  A 1mg per day drop.  I got an explanation a few days later via email after asking.  I tried to reduce one of my four daily doses by 1mg, and was successful for 3 days, but then I started feeling horrible.  Nightmares, shaking, headache, anxiety.  So much anxiety.  I then went back up to the full 2mg four times a day.  When I realized that I was going to run out of tablets I did the math and realized to reach my refill date I would need to cut from 8mg daily to 6mg daily (as I had not heard back from my pdoc about my problems with the tapering.) 

 

I had success for 4 days on 6mg before I got extremely dizzy/vertigo, with severe anxiety and headaches.  That was yesterday.  Dizziness is a trigger for me, so today I changed the xanax to 1.5mg four times a day - but staying at 6mg.  I had been doing 2mg every eight hours, and that was so, so, so hard. 

 

I asked my husband to email my pdoc this afternoon so that maybe we would get a response about my concerns and issues with tapering, and we got a very terse email back.  No mercy, and her mis-remembering my patient details.  At this point I don't know what to write back to her.  She called me an addict several times and it made me feel so low.  If you knew me you'd know that I'm terrified of medication and hate that I have to take xanax - or had to take xanax - and I was the one who worked so hard to reduce myself from 12mg/day as far as I could, which was 8mg/day.  I feel like such a loser, and a failure, and I'm terrified that going off of xanax is going to kill me.

 

Thanks for having this thread.  I hope some day I can be on the other side giving advice.

 

 

Edited to add:  As far as I know, when I pick up my refill on Friday it will be for 6mg/day.  2mg per day reduction from 8mg in one month seems too fast for me.

[[ga...]]

Help.  Went to see psychiatrist today. I though I can find support on tapering Xanex.  But he said I will never get of Xanex because it highly addictive and now I have to switch to Klonopin.  We wants me to start at 1  mg tonight.    So disappointed and heart broken

.   

 

So he wants you to switch over to klonopin and taper from that?  I sort of understand his reasoning considering klonopin has a much longer half-life than Xanax and switching to a longer lasting benzo is often recommended, but considering your short term use, I'm not sure it's really necessary.

 

Pound for pound, klonopin and Xanax are usually considered equal (1mg of Xanax = 1mg of klonopin).  How are you feeling on .25 of Xanax?  If symptoms are manageable, I definitely wouldn't updose to 1mg of klonopin.  How much Xanax do you have left?  Enough to finish your currently planned taper (I'm not outright saying you should disobey your doctor, I'm just saying...)?

 

If you're forced to switch to klonopin, in theory, it shouldn't create too much of an issue.  But if I were in your shoes and had to switch, I definitely wouldn't updose to 1mg of klonopin.  If I felt stable at .25 Xanax, I'd stay at .25 of klonopin and continue with my taper.

oh No,    He wants me start talking Klonopin    AND taper it sometimes in the future

 

Sorry to hear you have to switch. My doc wanted to do the same and I talked her out of it. But even if you switch, you can still taper. Give yourself a week or two after the switch for your body to get used to the change before you start to taper. Then I would highly recommend doing a micro taper. You can go as slowly as you want making micro cuts that should have less impact on your daily functioning. There is a support group for that. They have helped me a lot! Here's the thread:

 

http://www.benzobuddies.org/forum/index.php?topic=135284.0

 

Maybe your doctor would be comfortable with you doing a really slow micro taper.

[[ga...]]

I just wanted to say hi, and that I'm starting a pretty rapid reduction from 8mg to zero of xanax.  I'm scared about how I've been feeling.  My pdoc has retired and agreed to keep prescribing until I am xanax free.  We do not have a good relationship and she is not a nice person.  I continue to have severe anxiety.  I haven't seen her in person for almost 3 years because of my agoraphobia, which I am working on with a new psychologist who lives 3 blocks from me.  This has angered my pdoc, who has a professional rivalry with my psychologist.  (We live on an island near Seattle and it's a strange community.)  I feel like I'm caught in the crossfire and nobody is helping me with the tapering, or my concerns. 

 

When I first got the news that I would have a reduction in my xanax (after 8 years of the same refills, basically) it was in the form of a refill being authorized to the pharmacy for 30mg less per 30 days.  A 1mg per day drop.  I got an explanation a few days later via email after asking.  I tried to reduce one of my four daily doses by 1mg, and was successful for 3 days, but then I started feeling horrible.  Nightmares, shaking, headache, anxiety.  So much anxiety.  I then went back up to the full 2mg four times a day.  When I realized that I was going to run out of tablets I did the math and realized to reach my refill date I would need to cut from 8mg daily to 6mg daily (as I had not heard back from my pdoc about my problems with the tapering.) 

 

I had success for 4 days on 6mg before I got extremely dizzy/vertigo, with severe anxiety and headaches.  That was yesterday.  Dizziness is a trigger for me, so today I changed the xanax to 1.5mg four times a day - but staying at 6mg.  I had been doing 2mg every eight hours, and that was so, so, so hard. 

 

I asked my husband to email my pdoc this afternoon so that maybe we would get a response about my concerns and issues with tapering, and we got a very terse email back.  No mercy, and her mis-remembering my patient details.  At this point I don't know what to write back to her.  She called me an addict several times and it made me feel so low.  If you knew me you'd know that I'm terrified of medication and hate that I have to take xanax - or had to take xanax - and I was the one who worked so hard to reduce myself from 12mg/day as far as I could, which was 8mg/day.  I feel like such a loser, and a failure, and I'm terrified that going off of xanax is going to kill me.

 

Thanks for having this thread.  I hope some day I can be on the other side giving advice.

 

 

Edited to add:  As far as I know, when I pick up my refill on Friday it will be for 6mg/day.  2mg per day reduction from 8mg in one month seems too fast for me.

 

I'm sorry to hear about this is a hard situation you're in. If I were in your shoes, I would be looking for a new doctor and making sure I did not use up my Xanax too quickly. You have a resource person, your psychologist. Tell her your situation. Perhaps he/she could direct you to a new doctor and give you the advice and support you would need to be able to go. 

 

Sadly, the symptoms you described are things most of us have gone through. Usually what happens is that, after a cut, the symptoms appear and then slowly subside. You might be helped by an e-book by Dr. Stuart Shipko called Xanax Withdrawal. He describes exactly this. He also says that some people area able to make large cuts when they are on higher doses (such as 8mg), but each person is different. The book has a lot of information about how his patients withdrew, what to expect, and how to cope.

 

Hopefully someone else will chime in here. I haven't ever been on such a high dose, myself, so can't speak from personal experience. Also, sometimes this thread is slow. You might try the general tapering support thread, also.

 

Hang in there. You will get through this! We've all been in places where we thought we wouldn't make it and somehow we did. You will, too!

[[...]]

Went to my pdr today  and ask him for  .25 mg  xanex.  He wasn't happy with me not taking lexapro he prescribed  3 weeks ago.  I told him about my psych  appointment.  He agreed that  klonopin is the same as xanax but  a bit long lasting.  He didn't  belive me that i got addicted  to xanax because it was such a small dose.    He referred me to another psych who is more into natural treatment and asked me to make sure he gets all the notes from that psych.  He told me that its foolish to think about the future and i need to take meds to feel good now.  So, i got my .25 mg xanax and tapering down to 3/4 tonight.  Please, everyone,  pray for me and wifh me luck 

[[ga...]]

Went to my pdr today  and ask him for  .25 mg  xanex.  He wasn't happy with me not taking lexapro he prescribed  3 weeks ago.  I told him about my psych  appointment.  He agreed that  klonopin is the same as xanax but  a bit long lasting.  He didn't  belive me that i got addicted  to xanax because it was such a small dose.    He referred me to another psych who is more into natural treatment and asked me to make sure he gets all the notes from that psych.  He told me that its foolish to think about the future and i need to take meds to feel good now.  So, i got my .25 mg xanax and tapering down to 3/4 tonight.  Please, everyone,  pray for me and wifh me luck 

 

Glad to hear your doctor is cooperating! Good luck with your cut! 

 

 

[[Je...]]

Went to my pdr today  and ask him for  .25 mg  xanex.  He wasn't happy with me not taking lexapro he prescribed  3 weeks ago.  I told him about my psych  appointment.  He agreed that  klonopin is the same as xanax but  a bit long lasting.  He didn't  belive me that i got addicted  to xanax because it was such a small dose.    He referred me to another psych who is more into natural treatment and asked me to make sure he gets all the notes from that psych.  He told me that its foolish to think about the future and i need to take meds to feel good now.  So, i got my .25 mg xanax and tapering down to 3/4 tonight.  Please, everyone,  pray for me and wifh me luck 

Sometimes you have to tell them what they want to hear.....  Sure you are taking Lexapro....

[[ga...]]

Went to my pdr today  and ask him for  .25 mg  xanex.  He wasn't happy with me not taking lexapro he prescribed  3 weeks ago.  I told him about my psych  appointment.  He agreed that  klonopin is the same as xanax but  a bit long lasting.  He didn't  belive me that i got addicted  to xanax because it was such a small dose.    He referred me to another psych who is more into natural treatment and asked me to make sure he gets all the notes from that psych.  He told me that its foolish to think about the future and i need to take meds to feel good now.  So, i got my .25 mg xanax and tapering down to 3/4 tonight.  Please, everyone,  pray for me and wifh me luck 

Sometimes you have to tell them what they want to hear.....  Sure you are taking Lexapro....

 

Excellent! 

[Guest [Ti...]]

Is it normal in the beginning to feel dizzy and vertigo on xanax? My Dr just switched me after trying to rapid taper Valium because he  thought it would be a good idea even though my DNA test showed I don't metabolize it. I had to do all the looking up for enzymes and xanax doesn't use the enzyme I lack to break down benzos. I am sedated as hell off half a .25mg. I am also super dizzy...is this normal and will go away? I was dizzy for the past few days due to being pretty much CTed and tortured out of my mind and body..it was hellllllllll. I am trying to figure out if this is normal for x and will go away or what.

[[ga...]]

Is it normal in the beginning to feel dizzy and vertigo on xanax? My Dr just switched me after trying to rapid taper Valium because he  thought it would be a good idea even though my DNA test showed I don't metabolize it. I had to do all the looking up for enzymes and xanax doesn't use the enzyme I lack to break down benzos. I am sedated as hell off half a .25mg. I am also super dizzy...is this normal and will go away? I was dizzy for the past few days due to being pretty much CTed and tortured out of my mind and body..it was hellllllllll. I am trying to figure out if this is normal for x and will go away or what.

 

I'm sorry but I don't quite understand what you are saying about the enzyme. You lack the enzyme to metabolize valium? So your doctor switched you to Xanax? Would he consider librium? It is also long-acting. Switching from Valium to Xanax seems crazy. Xanax is very hard to taper off of.

 

I'm trying to remember back to symptoms when I started Xanax and I can't. That's what benzos do to you! But I wouldn't be surprised to hear you got weird symptoms just from the switch or also from the xanax. Seems to me that I have read a lot of posts about reactions from switching and from the benzos themselves.

 

I'm still scratching my head about switching from a slow to a fast benzo. It seems backwards unless, of course there's something the doctor is trying to treat that would use a fast benzo. Occasional use for panic attacks comes to mind. But daily use of Xanax? I wish so badly that I had not trusted that psych nurse and had never tried to use it daily for sleep. My health has been trouble after trouble since then.

[Guest [Ti...]]

Is it normal in the beginning to feel dizzy and vertigo on xanax? My Dr just switched me after trying to rapid taper Valium because he  thought it would be a good idea even though my DNA test showed I don't metabolize it. I had to do all the looking up for enzymes and xanax doesn't use the enzyme I lack to break down benzos. I am sedated as hell off half a .25mg. I am also super dizzy...is this normal and will go away? I was dizzy for the past few days due to being pretty much CTed and tortured out of my mind and body..it was hellllllllll. I am trying to figure out if this is normal for x and will go away or what.

 

I'm sorry but I don't quite understand what you are saying about the enzyme. You lack the enzyme to metabolize valium? So your doctor switched you to Xanax? Would he consider librium? It is also long-acting. Switching from Valium to Xanax seems crazy. Xanax is very hard to taper off of.

 

I'm trying to remember back to symptoms when I started Xanax and I can't. That's what benzos do to you! But I wouldn't be surprised to hear you got weird symptoms just from the switch or also from the xanax. Seems to me that I have read a lot of posts about reactions from switching and from the benzos themselves.

 

I'm still scratching my head about switching from a slow to a fast benzo. It seems backwards unless, of course there's something the doctor is trying to treat that would use a fast benzo. Occasional use for panic attacks comes to mind. But daily use of Xanax? I wish so badly that I had not trusted that psych nurse and had never tried to use it daily for sleep. My health has been trouble after trouble since then.

 

I tried Librium it uses the same enzyme system and has the same metabolites as Valium, it gave me the same exact reaction, so did Ativan, so did Klonopin. The thing is because my body was not metabolizing Valium properly (it stayed as Valium in my system instead of breaking down the metabolites so it was acting like a short acting benzo anyways, every time I took it I would have my heart race an hour later and get electrocuted from hell). I know a few ppl who could only tolerate Xanax and they went through every single benzo possible and they tapered off successfully, many people on here have too.

[[ga...]]

Is it normal in the beginning to feel dizzy and vertigo on xanax? My Dr just switched me after trying to rapid taper Valium because he  thought it would be a good idea even though my DNA test showed I don't metabolize it. I had to do all the looking up for enzymes and xanax doesn't use the enzyme I lack to break down benzos. I am sedated as hell off half a .25mg. I am also super dizzy...is this normal and will go away? I was dizzy for the past few days due to being pretty much CTed and tortured out of my mind and body..it was hellllllllll. I am trying to figure out if this is normal for x and will go away or what.

 

I'm sorry but I don't quite understand what you are saying about the enzyme. You lack the enzyme to metabolize valium? So your doctor switched you to Xanax? Would he consider librium? It is also long-acting. Switching from Valium to Xanax seems crazy. Xanax is very hard to taper off of.

 

I'm trying to remember back to symptoms when I started Xanax and I can't. That's what benzos do to you! But I wouldn't be surprised to hear you got weird symptoms just from the switch or also from the xanax. Seems to me that I have read a lot of posts about reactions from switching and from the benzos themselves.

 

I'm still scratching my head about switching from a slow to a fast benzo. It seems backwards unless, of course there's something the doctor is trying to treat that would use a fast benzo. Occasional use for panic attacks comes to mind. But daily use of Xanax? I wish so badly that I had not trusted that psych nurse and had never tried to use it daily for sleep. My health has been trouble after trouble since then.

 

I tried Librium it uses the same enzyme system and has the same metabolites as Valium, it gave me the same exact reaction, so did Ativan, so did Klonopin. The thing is because my body was not metabolizing Valium properly (it stayed as Valium in my system instead of breaking down the metabolites so it was acting like a short acting benzo anyways, every time I took it I would have my heart race an hour later and get electrocuted from hell). I know a few ppl who could only tolerate Xanax and they went through every single benzo possible and they tapered off successfully, many people on here have too.

 

Wow, so sorry to hear about your med problems. I get weird reactions to meds, too. I am actually a hyper-fast metabolizer of Valium, so don't want to try it. Where did you find your information on Librium? I'd be very interested in knowing how it might effect me in case I decide to switch to a slower benzo.

 

I'm not sure what's causing your current symptoms, but they could certainly be effects left over from the fast taper you just tried. Or just from the switch from one benzo to the other. Hopefully they will settle down with time. Seems like time is often the best healer for us, as annoying as that is. Hope you are feeling better soon!

 

[Guest [Ti...]]

Is it normal in the beginning to feel dizzy and vertigo on xanax? My Dr just switched me after trying to rapid taper Valium because he  thought it would be a good idea even though my DNA test showed I don't metabolize it. I had to do all the looking up for enzymes and xanax doesn't use the enzyme I lack to break down benzos. I am sedated as hell off half a .25mg. I am also super dizzy...is this normal and will go away? I was dizzy for the past few days due to being pretty much CTed and tortured out of my mind and body..it was hellllllllll. I am trying to figure out if this is normal for x and will go away or what.

 

I'm sorry but I don't quite understand what you are saying about the enzyme. You lack the enzyme to metabolize valium? So your doctor switched you to Xanax? Would he consider librium? It is also long-acting. Switching from Valium to Xanax seems crazy. Xanax is very hard to taper off of.

 

I'm trying to remember back to symptoms when I started Xanax and I can't. That's what benzos do to you! But I wouldn't be surprised to hear you got weird symptoms just from the switch or also from the xanax. Seems to me that I have read a lot of posts about reactions from switching and from the benzos themselves.

 

I'm still scratching my head about switching from a slow to a fast benzo. It seems backwards unless, of course there's something the doctor is trying to treat that would use a fast benzo. Occasional use for panic attacks comes to mind. But daily use of Xanax? I wish so badly that I had not trusted that psych nurse and had never tried to use it daily for sleep. My health has been trouble after trouble since then.

 

I tried Librium it uses the same enzyme system and has the same metabolites as Valium, it gave me the same exact reaction, so did Ativan, so did Klonopin. The thing is because my body was not metabolizing Valium properly (it stayed as Valium in my system instead of breaking down the metabolites so it was acting like a short acting benzo anyways, every time I took it I would have my heart race an hour later and get electrocuted from hell). I know a few ppl who could only tolerate Xanax and they went through every single benzo possible and they tapered off successfully, many people on here have too.

 

Wow, so sorry to hear about your med problems. I get weird reactions to meds, too. I am actually a hyper-fast metabolizer of Valium, so don't want to try it. Where did you find your information on Librium? I'd be very interested in knowing how it might effect me in case I decide to switch to a slower benzo.

 

I'm not sure what's causing your current symptoms, but they could certainly be effects left over from the fast taper you just tried. Or just from the switch from one benzo to the other. Hopefully they will settle down with time. Seems like time is often the best healer for us, as annoying as that is. Hope you are feeling better soon!

 

Here is info on Librium thank you for the kind words - http://www.mayomedicallaboratories.com/test-info/drug-book/benzodiazepines.html

[[Ra...]]

So like some days it's hard for me to sit still. Feels like my legs are burning or cold or something. Is this normal? 

[[ga...]]

I get the burning legs, too and the urge to walk and walk. So I walk and walk. It helps.

[[th...]]

So like some days it's hard for me to sit still. Feels like my legs are burning or cold or something. Is this normal? 

 

Yes, this is one of my most excruciating syx right now at 5 ms off. It is the worst between 9pm-9am. Yep, at night. Called akasithia (spelling?). The urge to move and may have pain and burning too. I do. It does help to move around and walk or just stay active in anyway you can. But at night it's harder so I end up stretching my legs a lot in bed. I prob should just get up and walk or do some stairs bc I can't sleep when it's bad. I am not sure how long it lasts but for me it didn't start till after my jump. So I am hoping it goes soon. Oh, being in a cool pool and swimming gives me a lot of relief too. If I had a pool in my backyard I most definitely would be jumping in in the middle of the night!

 

Hang in there! This will pass 

 

Grinch

[[Ra...]]

@Gardener99 @TheGrinch1 Thanks for the replies! The feeling is making me insane.

[[ga...]]

@Gardener99 @TheGrinch1 Thanks for the replies! The feeling is making me insane.

 

My burning symptoms have improved recently. Hope yours do, too!

[[Ra...]]

@Gardener99 @TheGrinch1 Thanks for the replies! The feeling is making me insane.

 

My burning symptoms have improved recently. Hope yours do, too!

 

Good to hear! Yeah, right now i get pain when sitting : /