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

[[Be...]]

who "just told you everything youre doing is wrong"...?b

[[la...]]

Lacey23. I know you're worried about your taper and want to know what to do and understand it all. I wish I was able to give you some great answers and on a less foggy day I might be of some actual help minus taper numbers. There are some well knowledged articulate people here. With it being Xmas the board and forums are at a crawl but you will get some answers 

 

Appreciate it.

 

I think what I'm going to do is just stick with my current cut so far @ .75mg for another 10 days or so, talk to my Dr, and try and listen to what my body says.  Also, I think it may be a good idea to not read a ton of horror stories on this forum, lol.

 

Then from there, hopefully, all is well, and take it slower with the rest of the taper. 

 

Really don't have any idea what to do with the interdose withdrawal thing though.  I'm not really feeling it now.  But, I'm scared it may come back in a couple days.  I'm not sure if i should switch to 3x a day of .25mg or just keep on taking .75mg at night.

 

Hi Steve,

 

Welcome! Just wanted to introduce myself. I look forward to connecting with you more here. I am recovering post taper. I cut at a rate of .25mg at the beginning and it slammed me. For whatever it is worth, my 2 cents is to take 1mg minus .0625mg so take, .9375mg tonight. Best to you, whatever your decision is!

 

Warmly,

 

Hopeful Girl

Thanks

 

Just out of curiosity, when did it 'slam' you? 

 

I don't know what to think here.  I've been doing .75mg for the last 3 nights.  I've been sleeping a little lighter, but also sleeping for like 9 hours a night no problem. Pulse is still normal rate, but I can kind of feel my pulse which is odd.  Don't think I have any extra anxiety yet though. 

[[Be...]]

Sounds all good and normal thus far Steve

[[mr...]]

Hi all.

 

Merry Christmas to you, friends

 

It's been...withdrawal here, what can I say?  I'm 76% free now and three days into my holding period...feeling rough.  Had some faster heart rates last night, which left me fairly keyed up and unable to sleep soundly last night.  I am now at work and quite tired, and feeling higher bouts of anxiety than I usually do.  It's the type that makes you squirm in your chair with discomfort, almost like anticipatory of something.  Bleh, me no likey   I s'pose I wasn't expecting this at this low of a dose, and at such a steady pace as I've taken things.  I was thinking I'd slither off my benzo, smooth sailing, with no hangups.  Not saying that won't happen yet, of course   It's just when the waves hit, they hit H. A. R. D.

 

Looking forward to being healed and normal again soon.  Just gotta keep moving forward one day at a time!  Thanks for being here with me friends   Hope your 12/26 is lovely and lively!

[[la...]]

Sounds all good and normal thus far Steve

 

Good to hear.  Just kind of hoping it doesn't come on too strong in the next few days.

 

Just out of curiosity. Do you guys think the majority of people have as hard of time with benzo WD as the people on this forum do?  It seems like Dr's/pharmacists tend to do quicker tapers than most people here do.  Surely some people must do fine with quick tapers, or DR's wouldn't do it, right? 

[[ho...]]

Lacey23. I know you're worried about your taper and want to know what to do and understand it all. I wish I was able to give you some great answers and on a less foggy day I might be of some actual help minus taper numbers. There are some well knowledged articulate people here. With it being Xmas the board and forums are at a crawl but you will get some answers 

 

Appreciate it.

 

I think what I'm going to do is just stick with my current cut so far @ .75mg for another 10 days or so, talk to my Dr, and try and listen to what my body says.  Also, I think it may be a good idea to not read a ton of horror stories on this forum, lol.

 

Then from there, hopefully, all is well, and take it slower with the rest of the taper. 

 

Really don't have any idea what to do with the interdose withdrawal thing though.  I'm not really feeling it now.  But, I'm scared it may come back in a couple days.  I'm not sure if i should switch to 3x a day of .25mg or just keep on taking .75mg at night.

 

Hi Steve,

 

Welcome! Just wanted to introduce myself. I look forward to connecting with you more here. I am recovering post taper. I cut at a rate of .25mg at the beginning and it slammed me. For whatever it is worth, my 2 cents is to take 1mg minus .0625mg so take, .9375mg tonight. Best to you, whatever your decision is!

 

Warmly,

 

Hopeful Girl

Thanks

 

Just out of curiosity, when did it 'slam' you? 

 

I don't know what to think here.  I've been doing .75mg for the last 3 nights.  I've been sleeping a little lighter, but also sleeping for like 9 hours a night no problem. Pulse is still normal rate, but I can kind of feel my pulse which is odd.  Don't think I have any extra anxiety yet though.

 

Hi. I always felt minor w/d symptoms for the first 3-7 days after making the large drops (.25mg) then I would go ahead and cut again (this was all pre finding benzo buddies and understanding all this like I do now) however, the cumulative effects of these big drops hit me and hit me hard...I'd say it was about after 1 month of cutting this way that it hit. I became bed ridden and couldn't work or hardly walk for that matter for quite awhile...several months. It is important to remember that not everyone has this experience. All the people who just stop taking it aren't on here. Anyway, unfortunately you won't know until you do it and like me, the cumulative effects can add up and once that damage is done there is nothing to reverse it. So, I believe it is always better to err on the side of caution as nothing really bad can happen there from my perspective. Trust me, you don't want to go through what I did and what I am currently going through if you can help it at all!

 

Keep asking questions! 

 

Hopefulgirl

[[ho...]]

Hi all.

 

Merry Christmas to you, friends

 

It's been...withdrawal here, what can I say?  I'm 76% free now and three days into my holding period...feeling rough.  Had some faster heart rates last night, which left me fairly keyed up and unable to sleep soundly last night.  I am now at work and quite tired, and feeling higher bouts of anxiety than I usually do.  It's the type that makes you squirm in your chair with discomfort, almost like anticipatory of something.  Bleh, me no likey   I s'pose I wasn't expecting this at this low of a dose, and at such a steady pace as I've taken things.  I was thinking I'd slither off my benzo, smooth sailing, with no hangups.  Not saying that won't happen yet, of course   It's just when the waves hit, they hit H. A. R. D.

 

Looking forward to being healed and normal again soon.  Just gotta keep moving forward one day at a time!  Thanks for being here with me friends   Hope your 12/26 is lovely and lively!

 

Hang in there, Friend! I keep thinking about something you told me when I was on that last teeny, tiny bit...you told me that being on the last little bit was so hard because it was like a dog with a bone...it was hanging on to that last bit of the drug with all of it's strength and was going to go down fighting. You are there! Your brain doesn't want this pain, your nervous system is searching for equilibrium and the lower that dose goes, the harder it has to search. It is all part of the process and you are doing it!

 

Thinking about you!

 

hopefulgirl

[[Ju...]]

Sounds all good and normal thus far Steve

 

Good to hear.  Just kind of hoping it doesn't come on too strong in the next few days.

 

Just out of curiosity. Do you guys think the majority of people have as hard of time with benzo WD as the people on this forum do?  It seems like Dr's/pharmacists tend to do quicker tapers than most people here do.  Surely some people must do fine with quick tapers, or DR's wouldn't do it, right?

We are supposed to be the minority.  That's what we hear.  I, personally believe a lot of people have problems with withdrawal that then see a doctor and are diagnosed with something else and never know it's the benzo causing the problem.  But certainly, there are many people who can stop and not suffer severe consequences.  My neighbor cold turkeyed 5mgs of Valium she had taken for many years and never missed a beat.  She obviously didn't have a problem.  Then I have another neighbor who has been taking as needed small to larger doses of Xanax for her "nerves" for over a year.  She has all of the classic benzo withdrawal symptoms related to tolerance.  She goes from doctor to doctor getting this and that checked out and does not want to believe her nerve pills could be causing the problems.  Maybe it's not the Xanax, but it certainly could be.  So yes, many people can stop without much of a problem.  Who knows why some of us have more problems than others.  Genetic variances, is what I believe.

[[Be...]]

no, we are the minority, the majority could/can taper faster with just typical withdrawals you would expect.

actually, I thnk I could had done the general taper the Drs suggest, I chose to do the Ashton slow taper because of my heart arrhythmias, they were out of controld 2 years back, which is why I went on benzos in the first place, and tapering slower like this has helped to not rile them back up. If I did the fast taper I might had reved them back up to the out of control point and this would had all been for nothing. I could personally put up with some anxiety, depression, panic and such....I have that pre-benzo anyway, but I sure as hell didnt want to kick the heart arrhythmias back up...

 

so far so good..

[[Be...]]

of course, the members here that are going slow and experiencing the horrific crazy side effects, I just dont know what to think about that..

hate it for them, but I havent experienced anything like that.... just what you would normally expect from drug withdrawal....

[[ma...]]

Mrs,

 

 

I'm glad that when I was having a difficult time I booked marked the old Xanax blog.  So now I have all that good advice to refer back to. 

 

Mama 

[[mr...]]

Hi all.

 

Merry Christmas to you, friends

 

It's been...withdrawal here, what can I say?  I'm 76% free now and three days into my holding period...feeling rough.  Had some faster heart rates last night, which left me fairly keyed up and unable to sleep soundly last night.  I am now at work and quite tired, and feeling higher bouts of anxiety than I usually do.  It's the type that makes you squirm in your chair with discomfort, almost like anticipatory of something.  Bleh, me no likey   I s'pose I wasn't expecting this at this low of a dose, and at such a steady pace as I've taken things.  I was thinking I'd slither off my benzo, smooth sailing, with no hangups.  Not saying that won't happen yet, of course   It's just when the waves hit, they hit H. A. R. D.

 

Looking forward to being healed and normal again soon.  Just gotta keep moving forward one day at a time!  Thanks for being here with me friends   Hope your 12/26 is lovely and lively!

 

Hang in there, Friend! I keep thinking about something you told me when I was on that last teeny, tiny bit...you told me that being on the last little bit was so hard because it was like a dog with a bone...it was hanging on to that last bit of the drug with all of it's strength and was going to go down fighting. You are there! Your brain doesn't want this pain, your nervous system is searching for equilibrium and the lower that dose goes, the harder it has to search. It is all part of the process and you are doing it!

 

Thinking about you!

 

hopefulgirl

 

Thanks Hopeful I'm hanging on, laying low, and riding it out I was in survival mode the year before last, when I was in tolerance and didn't know it. This last year I had been able to get out of merely just surviving and back into living a bit. Recent events have me back in survival mode again, which caught me off guard is all. I wasn't expecting to be is all I be aiiiiight

 

Benzy, regarding us low-dose users who deal with awful symptoms, I have a theory...

 

Those who have used the drug mostly "PRN" are coincidentally also those who have been prescribed low doses. I personally believe that PRN (as needed, in laymen's terms) acts like several series of mini 'cold-turkies' and 'reinstatements', which lead to a certain amount of kindling that occurs within us. This is all IMO of course, and there are no rules of thumb regarding this process of course. This is just based on my observations of myself and other buddies on here like me

 

Thanks for the swarms of support; I really needed it today!!

[[la...]]

Hmmm...  So maybe it's just a vocal minority then?

 

When I started researching how to get off benzo's I could hardly find a single 'good' story.  Everything was horror stories all over the internet. 

 

I suppose maybe people that have an easy time with benzo WD probably don't spend their time posting about it online.  They probably just go on with their lives.

 

I know I take 5mg of lexapro for depression, and don't really think about it.  Just go on my life 'depression free', and don't bother posting about it on the internet.  But, if you search through the internet you are sure to find a bunch of posts from people that lexapro didn't work for, cursing it's name, and saying all SSRI's are evil, etc.. etc... A vocal group.

 

Maybe it's a similar phenomenon?

[[So...]]

Hi all.

 

Merry Christmas to you, friends

 

It's been...withdrawal here, what can I say?  I'm 76% free now and three days into my holding period...feeling rough.  Had some faster heart rates last night, which left me fairly keyed up and unable to sleep soundly last night.  I am now at work and quite tired, and feeling higher bouts of anxiety than I usually do.  It's the type that makes you squirm in your chair with discomfort, almost like anticipatory of something.  Bleh, me no likey   I s'pose I wasn't expecting this at this low of a dose, and at such a steady pace as I've taken things.  I was thinking I'd slither off my benzo, smooth sailing, with no hangups.  Not saying that won't happen yet, of course   It's just when the waves hit, they hit H. A. R. D.

 

Looking forward to being healed and normal again soon.  Just gotta keep moving forward one day at a time!  Thanks for being here with me friends   Hope your 12/26 is lovely and lively!

 

Hang in there, Friend! I keep thinking about something you told me when I was on that last teeny, tiny bit...you told me that being on the last little bit was so hard because it was like a dog with a bone...it was hanging on to that last bit of the drug with all of it's strength and was going to go down fighting. You are there! Your brain doesn't want this pain, your nervous system is searching for equilibrium and the lower that dose goes, the harder it has to search. It is all part of the process and you are doing it!

 

Thinking about you!

 

hopefulgirl

 

Thanks Hopeful I'm hanging on, laying low, and riding it out I was in survival mode the year before last, when I was in tolerance and didn't know it. This last year I had been able to get out of merely just surviving and back into living a bit. Recent events have me back in survival mode again, which caught me off guard is all. I wasn't expecting to be is all I be aiiiiight

 

Benzy, regarding us low-dose users who deal with awful symptoms, I have a theory...

 

Those who have used the drug mostly "PRN" are coincidentally also those who have been prescribed low doses. I personally believe that PRN (as needed, in laymen's terms) acts like several series of mini 'cold-turkies' and 'reinstatements', which lead to a certain amount of kindling that occurs within us. This is all IMO of course, and there are no rules of thumb regarding this process of course. This is just based on my observations of myself and other buddies on here like me

 

Thanks for the swarms of support; I really needed it today!!

 

So, I am probably up poop creek, without a paddle!!

 

I only took the .50 Xanax at night. So, I did many little mini c/t's during that time.

 

And, now I stupidly reinstated to a different benzo that I am taking on a regular basis.

 

Yep, I am in big trouble!!

 

Denise 

[[mr...]]

Hi all.

 

Merry Christmas to you, friends

 

It's been...withdrawal here, what can I say?  I'm 76% free now and three days into my holding period...feeling rough.  Had some faster heart rates last night, which left me fairly keyed up and unable to sleep soundly last night.  I am now at work and quite tired, and feeling higher bouts of anxiety than I usually do.  It's the type that makes you squirm in your chair with discomfort, almost like anticipatory of something.  Bleh, me no likey   I s'pose I wasn't expecting this at this low of a dose, and at such a steady pace as I've taken things.  I was thinking I'd slither off my benzo, smooth sailing, with no hangups.  Not saying that won't happen yet, of course   It's just when the waves hit, they hit H. A. R. D.

 

Looking forward to being healed and normal again soon.  Just gotta keep moving forward one day at a time!  Thanks for being here with me friends   Hope your 12/26 is lovely and lively!

 

Hang in there, Friend! I keep thinking about something you told me when I was on that last teeny, tiny bit...you told me that being on the last little bit was so hard because it was like a dog with a bone...it was hanging on to that last bit of the drug with all of it's strength and was going to go down fighting. You are there! Your brain doesn't want this pain, your nervous system is searching for equilibrium and the lower that dose goes, the harder it has to search. It is all part of the process and you are doing it!

 

Thinking about you!

 

hopefulgirl

 

Thanks Hopeful I'm hanging on, laying low, and riding it out I was in survival mode the year before last, when I was in tolerance and didn't know it. This last year I had been able to get out of merely just surviving and back into living a bit. Recent events have me back in survival mode again, which caught me off guard is all. I wasn't expecting to be is all I be aiiiiight

 

Benzy, regarding us low-dose users who deal with awful symptoms, I have a theory...

 

Those who have used the drug mostly "PRN" are coincidentally also those who have been prescribed low doses. I personally believe that PRN (as needed, in laymen's terms) acts like several series of mini 'cold-turkies' and 'reinstatements', which lead to a certain amount of kindling that occurs within us. This is all IMO of course, and there are no rules of thumb regarding this process of course. This is just based on my observations of myself and other buddies on here like me

 

Thanks for the swarms of support; I really needed it today!!

 

So, I am probably up poop creek, without a paddle!!

 

I only took the .50 Xanax at night. So, I did many little mini c/t's during that time.

 

And, now I stupidly reinstated to a different benzo that I am taking on a regular basis.

 

Yep, I am in big trouble!!

 

Denise 

 

Nope Denise, if you took it every night, around the same time of night, you're probably fine hun.  I'm talking about the truely "PRN" cases, which looks more like: 1-4x per week, absolutely no rhyme/reason/consistency to when/how it was taken, etc.  This is exactly how I took it; some days it was 1 day inbetween doses; other times it was 5-10 days inbetween doses.  For the first year, I only took it when I "needed" it i.e. felt symptomatic...so I would take it, which would sorta "reset" the GABAa receptors, and then not take it again until everything went hiatus (i.e. perpetual panic attacks, high anxiety, unable to eat, etc)...which would be like a mini-reinstate.  Over and over and over again.  Ooops   I believe those who took it more consistently have less issues coming off of it.  Not perfect, of course, but less issue.  Make sense?  Reinstating and slow tapering will probably have a little kindling going on for you, but I really don't think you're going to have major issues friend.  No sweats, okay?  Chin up! 

[[Be...]]

Ya I took Paxil for about 10 years until it backfired on me....it was way harder to get off of for me than the Xanax..they do have support websites for it.

[[Pe...]]

Hi Buddies, I mentioned the other day that I had 'Switched" around  my meds (klonopin), as to not experience interdosal withdrawals. That seems to be working fine. The only thing is,when I take my 3 am dose of 'K' I find myself laying in bed till 6 or 7 am unable to sleep. Is there any OTC I can safely take while doing my Xanax taper to help me get some sleep that wont screw with my GABA? Just woke up and very groggy/sleepy. I remember seeing the sun starting to rise as I finally drifted off to sleep. Called and rescheduled my Pill Dr. appt. Any and all suggestions are welcomed. I hope everyone had a nice holiday.

 

                                                                                      Peace, PepsiMoon

[[Iw...]]

Well, I'm in a big ole wave this am.  I had been taking aleve/naproxen.  Is that bad to take for the gaba receptors? 

 

Mama 

 

NSAIDs (Non Steroidal Anti-Inflammatory Drugs) can enhance the GABA antagonism.

 

Is aspirin ok to take? I've been dealing with a headache and some body pains. I've taken it before in taper and it seemed to help some head stuff, not anxiety and slept better.

I'm going to order some arnica gel for the body pains like some BB's mentioned.

 

Oh no!  I had read that a long time ago, but forgot.

 

Mama

[[ma...]]

Hi all.

 

Merry Christmas to you, friends

 

It's been...withdrawal here, what can I say?  I'm 76% free now and three days into my holding period...feeling rough.  Had some faster heart rates last night, which left me fairly keyed up and unable to sleep soundly last night.  I am now at work and quite tired, and feeling higher bouts of anxiety than I usually do.  It's the type that makes you squirm in your chair with discomfort, almost like anticipatory of something.  Bleh, me no likey   I s'pose I wasn't expecting this at this low of a dose, and at such a steady pace as I've taken things.  I was thinking I'd slither off my benzo, smooth sailing, with no hangups.  Not saying that won't happen yet, of course   It's just when the waves hit, they hit H. A. R. D.

 

Looking forward to being healed and normal again soon.  Just gotta keep moving forward one day at a time!  Thanks for being here with me friends   Hope your 12/26 is lovely and lively!

 

Hang in there, Friend! I keep thinking about something you told me when I was on that last teeny, tiny bit...you told me that being on the last little bit was so hard because it was like a dog with a bone...it was hanging on to that last bit of the drug with all of it's strength and was going to go down fighting. You are there! Your brain doesn't want this pain, your nervous system is searching for equilibrium and the lower that dose goes, the harder it has to search. It is all part of the process and you are doing it!

 

Thinking about you!

 

hopefulgirl

 

Thanks Hopeful I'm hanging on, laying low, and riding it out I was in survival mode the year before last, when I was in tolerance and didn't know it. This last year I had been able to get out of merely just surviving and back into living a bit. Recent events have me back in survival mode again, which caught me off guard is all. I wasn't expecting to be is all I be aiiiiight

 

Benzy, regarding us low-dose users who deal with awful symptoms, I have a theory...

 

Those who have used the drug mostly "PRN" are coincidentally also those who have been prescribed low doses. I personally believe that PRN (as needed, in laymen's terms) acts like several series of mini 'cold-turkies' and 'reinstatements', which lead to a certain amount of kindling that occurs within us. This is all IMO of course, and there are no rules of thumb regarding this process of course. This is just based on my observations of myself and other buddies on here like me

 

Thanks for the swarms of support; I really needed it today!!

 

So, I am probably up poop creek, without a paddle!!

 

I only took the .50 Xanax at night. So, I did many little mini c/t's during that time.

 

And, now I stupidly reinstated to a different benzo that I am taking on a regular basis.

 

Yep, I am in big trouble!!

 

Denise 

 

I think I'm the one up the creek, yep!

 

Mama 

 

 

[[So...]]

Nope, Mama!! I think your you are healing, and even bigger healing is headed your way!! Soon!!

 

Denise 

[[ma...]]

Thanks Denise.  I just hope it is complete.  Worries me.

 

Mama 

 

 

[[Iw...]]

Benzy, regarding us low-dose users who deal with awful symptoms, I have a theory...

 

Those who have used the drug mostly "PRN" are coincidentally also those who have been prescribed low doses. I personally believe that PRN (as needed, in laymen's terms) acts like several series of mini 'cold-turkies' and 'reinstatements', which lead to a certain amount of kindling that occurs within us. This is all IMO of course, and there are no rules of thumb regarding this process of course. This is just based on my observations of myself and other buddies on here like me

 

Thanks for the swarms of support; I really needed it today!!

 

So, I am probably up poop creek, without a paddle!!

 

I only took the .50 Xanax at night. So, I did many little mini c/t's during that time.

 

And, now I stupidly reinstated to a different benzo that I am taking on a regular basis.

 

Yep, I am in big trouble!!

 

Denise 

 

I think I'm the one up the creek, yep!

 

Mama 

That's a pretty good theory. I think that's what happened to me.

 

I hope your wave lifts soon mama2    I worry about a complete healing too.

[[Be...]]

I dunno about kindling, definitely tolerance.....I was consistent with my doses tho, so

 

That quotings so confusing I dunno who wrote what

[[Be...]]

Blue must have eloped with some Santa impersonator 

[[la...]]

Well, tonight will be my 4th night of taking .75m. 

 

Had supper with my mother, and went out briefly to subway, and the variety store.  Surprisingly I didn't really have any anxiety, but did feel kind of 'weird'.

 

I did come across a couple interesting studies.  For example

 

http://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/handle/2027.42/30929/0000?sequence=1

 

This one patients were having 3.5 (+/-2.7) anxiety attacks per week prior to 12 weeks of xanax (on an average of 4.1mg per day).  0.8 panic attacks per week on xanax.  And, 0.6 panic attacks per week 26 months later (when most patients were off xanax).

 

After the 12 weeks patients were to reduce their dosage 'no quicker than' .25mg / 2 weeks.  They were encouraged to go no quicker than they needed to.

 

78% of the patients succesfully tapered off xanax.

 

Also interesting is...

 

Our patients did report significant distress associated with dose reductions, especially in the first one to five days after each reduction, but they were taught to cognitively block the develop-

ment of this distress into full-blown panic attacks by properly attributing them to the dose reduction. They were encouraged to use their distress as an opportunity to begin to desensitize themselves to anxiety-associated somatic cues.

 

So basically, I'll probably go through some crap.  But, it is helpful to properly attribute that crap to dose reductions instead of getting worked up about the anxiety.  And, eventually I should be fine, and off this drug.  I like how they say it is an "opportunity to desensitize themselves to anxiety associated somatic cues". 

 

Kind of surprised that they did not find a link between any of this and the HPA axis.  I thought for sure they would have.