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

[[mr...]]

Hi all,

 

In answer to the tachycardia, I can whole heatedly say YES!! I've been having some bursts of this recently, along with higher anxiety & panic attacks. What a new learning experience for me to learn how to deal with them when they happen. I was put on xanax initially for a panic attack. Its time to face the fear, you know? I'm in low doses and moving very gradual, so I CAN do this

 

Life as I know it will return to normal and wonderful I'm clinging onto that belief with my claws dug in...

 

Sorry you are feeling poorly mrs.

 

Hugs

 

No worries, Babyrex.  I am quite uncomfortable when the moments hit, for sure...but you are no stranger to this in the lower doses, either, girl.  Hope you're doing better, and that things are getting better for you!

[[mr...]]

Carita dear, are you out there too?

 

You are my sensitive low-dose, micro-taper buddie ...I could use a hollar from you!  At 0.06mg and **overcoming** anxiety, panic, heartrates, etc...did you have these issues too?  Have any of them lifted for you yet?  Or lessened?  No worries if they haven't or anything...was just looking for a little encouragement "in the moment"

 

Hope all is well, girl -- love ya!

[[Ra...]]

Carita dear, are you out there too?

 

You are my sensitive low-dose, micro-taper buddie ...I could use a hollar from you!  At 0.06mg and **overcoming** anxiety, panic, heartrates, etc...did you have these issues too?  Have any of them lifted for you yet?  Or lessened?  No worries if they haven't or anything...was just looking for a little encouragement "in the moment"

 

Hope all is well, girl -- love ya!

 

 

Hi, I'm brand new here and haven't even started to taper, but want you to know I'm with ya.  I'm so scared to start my taper since my Xanax was rx'd for sleep and anxiety.    Hope things get better for you quickly 

[[Re...]]

I'm sorry u felt bad Rebel Maven! You seem quite nice I'm sorry no one (including me) responded. How are you feeling today? Who told you that you were wrong???

 

Thanks ChiMom.  I understand about not being able to able to respond. I felt good this morning but the 24 hour cycle of decline is starting so I am treating myself symptomatically.

 

I got that info on sensitivity on another forum and so I researched it and it did seem to fit.  But so does everything else.  Too much conflicting research and stories.

 

I hope you are doing well today and thanks again!

[[Re...]]

 

Mornin Rebel,

How are you today?  I have been off the site for a couple days...So, I just saw your vent

 

I was fine this morning but now the 24 hour cycle is kicking in and I am declining.

 

I don't find myself to be very well spoken like I would want to be.  I am, able to hear and recognize your frustration and that you are hurting and totally sick of it!  That I understand.  I would like to say something profound that may help you feel better; however, what I can do is listen, and offer my support.

 

I think that you are very well spoken and your listening and supporting me would be just great!  I am not just looking for the technical aspect of the drug interactions and what to do but for general support because you all have been there and it helps to hear other peoples stories.  Plus I have a great deal of experience with this and as I am a biomedical researcher I love to do research about other peoples problems and experiences and see if I can help them also.  One of the biggest things about me is That helping others helps me more than any drug or treatment.  It causes me to focus outward on someone else and not inward toward myself and feel useful even in this condition.

 

There are so many here that are AWESOME with their words...I have found them to be comforting.  I have found several here that I gravitate toward.  I think that is normal for most of us.

 

I have also.

 

I have a question for you...are you trying to come off of multiple med's?

 

No, just the Prozac right now as it is causing hypomania and I am trying to avoid going in to full blown extreme mania.

 

I will wait to hear back from you, and I hope you are feeling better at this moment.

 

Thanks so much!

 

FluterByee

[[Re...]]

Rebel, I had no idea how to reply to your post.  I wish I had it in me to be the sweet, supportive type.  I admire this about so many people here.  My brain is just wired in a technical way more so these days.  Glad that you could vent though.

 

I lean strongly toward the technical side also being a biomedical researcher and that puts a lot of people off but I understand.  I am not the very warm and fuzzy type myself.  This may have something to do with the Asperger's or it may just be my personality on or off drugs.

 

Thank you for replying.  I really enjoy your posts and find them quite informative.

[[Re...]]

Sorry to hear about you not feeling good Rebel.  In all honesty I just had no idea how to respond, and didn't feel comfortable giving advice in a situation I don't know about.

 

Thank you.  I don't always seek advice or information.  Just support would be great.

 

Thanks for replying.

[[mr...]]

Carita dear, are you out there too?

 

You are my sensitive low-dose, micro-taper buddie ...I could use a hollar from you!  At 0.06mg and **overcoming** anxiety, panic, heartrates, etc...did you have these issues too?  Have any of them lifted for you yet?  Or lessened?  No worries if they haven't or anything...was just looking for a little encouragement "in the moment"

 

Hope all is well, girl -- love ya!

 

 

Hi, I'm brand new here and haven't even started to taper, but want you to know I'm with ya.  I'm so scared to start my taper since my Xanax was rx'd for sleep and anxiety.    Hope things get better for you quickly 

 

Hi Rabbit,

 

Thanks for the shout-out!  I want you to know, it DOES get better   I've been tapering over a year, and taking things slow.  My entire taper has been a steady progression of feeling better and better, friend.  I don't want you to think that it gets worse during taper   The only reason why it's a bit hairy for me right now is because I'm in the low doses, and my percentage of cuts are now bigger than 10% every 10-14 days   It's a point in taper that we all have to cross over eventually, in order to get med-free   Many have NO issues with it, and for a small few it gets a little worse before getting better...I may just be one of those peoples   Not to worry, it is all temporary!!  Healing is-a comin', friend

 

Thanks again for the shout out

[[Re...]]

dress em up baby dress em up, thats my  motto too, ugly people need luv too

 

Yes we do!

 

Everyone: Here is a link to put a face to my name if you are interested.

 

http://s1287.photobucket.com/user/classyladyindenver/library/Me%202011?sort=4&page=1

 

Thanks

[[Re...]]

"Rabbit11" and "mikeoaks":  Benzy is doing a great job advising you.  I just wanted to know that I am available to help you any time so feel free to ask me any questions either on this thread or by PM.  I am a biomedical researcher and love researching.  Especially because helping other people helps me greatly.

 

Hope you both are having a good day.

[[Al...]]

Hello Fellow Xanax tapers. I just joined BB tonight. I have been tapering Xanax for about 10 months form 1.5 mg once a day and am down to .03125 mg a day. i will be doing a cut in a few days and will be down to .25 mg once a day.

 

So far I have done pretty well with the typical up's and down's of withdrawals. I have gone through the physical and mental stuff, but have managed to keep working full time and living life the best I can. I feel I have done well on the taper and my doctors agrees. I have been doing 0625 cuts every 2 weeks all the way to where I am now.

'

I have seemed to finally hit some sort of wall or something here and need some advice or just opinions of what you all think i'm going through presently. I have gotten the opinion of 3 doctors , (my G.P. and ER doc and an urgent care doc) lol.

 

Last Friday night i ate at A Chinese Buffet. Now I have not been one to have a lot of symptoms from foods I have eaten all through my taper. So anyways I ate at the buffet. That night i began to feel terrible.  Bad body aches and pains, (nerve and muscle), just terrible. Then by the next day I got lots of depression and mental stuff and the a bad belly and diarrhea !! (sorry) . Thus got worse over the next few days. Now normally when i get symptoms i get busy with something and it goes away, however these symptoms were not going away. Yesterday i began to get a fever and lower abdominal pain and a burning pain in my lower abdomen. I called my doctor and he could not see me and he told me to go to the urgent care.

 

Going back a few days after 5 days of this i went to the E R and they said I had a virus and maybe some was withdrawals, thats it. So last night I went to the Urgent care. He said I had a bladder infection and he suspected a possible bacterial infection in another part fo my abdomen maybe the colon. He said some symptoms may be withdrawals and even maybe some a virus but he doubts its a virus. He said the fever and diarrhea are NOT withdrawals so it has to be an infection and he put me on Keflex. I took one last night and just took my 2nd one for today.. I felt a but better this afternoon but kind of bad this evening.

 

SO I finally am at the end of this post and i'm wondering what do any of you think is really going on with me ?? do you agree wiht the doctor or do any of you think ti is ALL withdrawals sorry for such a long post but I wanted to give you all the whole story so you can best respond to me. Thank you in advance for any replies.  almost free

[[Ch...]]

Hi and welcome again! 

 

Is that .3, not .03?  Since your next cut is to .25, I'm guessing so.  If so, you're getting down to the lower numbers and nearing the end of your taper.

 

This is when we need to slow down.  If you're at .3 or thereabouts, you may want to make the next reductions only .0625 off your dose (recommended 10% of your current dose)  in order to continue to stay functional. 

 

Possibly MSG at the buffet set off some symptoms and you may also have something else going on if you have a fever… benzo withdrawal is not known for fevers to my knowledge.

 

 

Challis

[[Be...]]

my taper experience was very smooth, until I got below .25 for some reason, I have slowed down to doing a cut .0625 every 3 or 4th week now, more towards the 4 week mark...still pretty smooth tho

[[Ch...]]

Hello, I'm a newbie here, (posted this same info in the Introduction forum) have been taking Xanax 2mg at night for sleep for about 15 months.  Prior to that, I had been taking it for a couple of years on and off to sleep.  I think they were 1mg pills. 

 

Recently had a breakdown at work (severe anxiety) and haven't been working since then (Oct).  At that point (Oct) I had to add another 1mg in the afternoon to survive the anxiety. So total Xanax 3mg per day.

 

Now they've diagnosed me with bi-polar and I'm on Seroquel 100mg IR.  That's a whole other story as I think I have severe GAD, not bi-polar.

 

My doctor will want to start decreasing my Xanax soon and I'm concerned about how to do this given that my current doses are not equal and are not spaced out evenly.  He seems to think that 3 mgs isn't a large dose.  I don't know that my doctor would go for the valium crossover, although he might go for a klonopin crossover.  I think he will help me with long taper, at least I think he will.

 

My concerns are how do I do a klon crossover given that my doses are now 1mg Xanax at 3:00pm and 2mg at 8:30pm?

 

Could I conceivably keep my 3:00pm dose and nightly dose as they are currently scheduled and taper down from there or should I somehow try to even out the doses to space them more evenly during the day.  Currently I'm pretty stable with the way they are.

 

I'm scared to death to taper and I'm scared to stay on it too.  Any advice would be appreciated.  Thank you

 

Hi Rabbit11,

 

If you weren't bi-polar (or GAD) before Xanax you probably aren't now.  Xanax can cause these false diagnoses because of the tolerance and interdose withdrawals, which I'm going to make a guess is what's been going on.  We develop a tolerance to Xanax and need more in order to keep the withdrawal in check.  I'm again going to guess that's why you had to begin taking it during the day…. interdose withdrawal anxiety.

 

3mgs is a large enough dose to be very cautious about tapering correctly.  You can stay at the dosing schedule you're on and taper from those doses or you could even them out.  It's up to you and how you feel.

 

You can begin by taking probably as much as .25 from your evening dose.  .25 is less than 10% of your daily dose so it should be within the range of acceptable tapering.

 

Don't be scared.  You can do this and it's the right thing to do to get off of Xanax.  We'll help you through it.

 

Challis 

[[Al...]]

Hi and welcome again! 

 

Is that .3, not .03?  Since your next cut is to .25, I'm guessing so.  If so, you're getting down to the lower numbers and nearing the end of your taper.

 

This is when we need to slow down.  If you're at .3 or thereabouts, you may want to make the next reductions only .0625 off your dose (recommended 10% of your current dose)  in order to continue to stay functional. 

 

Possibly MSG at the buffet set off some symptoms and you may also have something else going on if you have a fever… benzo withdrawal is not known for fevers to my knowledge.

 

 

Challis

 

hello challis and thank you for your prompt response. Yes i am presently on one ,25 pill and a 0625 piece along with it so my calculations say my dose is .3125 but correct me if i'm wrong..lol. im new here and not used to all the numbers but i have been keeping track of my doses. I have cut .0625 every 2 weeks all the way to where I am now. you said my next reduction should be 0625 and that is what i have been doing all along, so should i keep that pace to the end or you think i need to go to a smaller cut ?? its pretty hard to cut that tiny piece accurately any smaller !!

[[Al...]]

Possibly MSG at the buffet set off some symptoms and you may also have something else going on if you have a fever… benzo withdrawal is not known for fevers to my knowledge.

 

yes i thought this is what had happened and possibly did start the ball rolling here. but the doctor said i had a bladder and UTI so i guess i have an infection and the fever and other stuff. its just weird it all started very quickly after that meal !!

[[Ch...]]

Nope, your calculations are dead on.  Sounds like you've been doing a perfect taper… how did you figure out you had to cut so carefully? 

If I were you, I'd keep going at this pace.  It sounds like it's working for you.

 

Challis 

[[Al...]]

my taper experience was very smooth, until I got below .25 for some reason, I have slowed down to doing a cut .0625 every 3 or 4th week now, more towards the 4 week mark...still pretty smooth tho

 

thanks Benzy for your reply. I'm glad to hear your taper has been pretty smooth for you also. I have heard some have had a very hard time. so maybe I should keep the 0625 cut the same but wait longer than 2 weeks to cut again ?? I have felt bad before at 2 weeks and did a cut and felt better !! have you had that happen to you ?? I thought since today is day 12 since my last cut I will do another cut Sunday on day 14 and maybe will begin to feel better !! so your doing better waiting longer in between cuts now ??

[[Be...]]

what symptoms on the bladder thing? are you peeing ALLLL the freaking time like I am? I peed 6 times in a row last night trying to go to bed, one after another, full bladder each time....

went to the Dr today for my rib thing (stress fractures) and ask about that, she want to test for diabetes now, makes sense I guess, but I dont have extreme thirst, and dont have any other bladder infection symptoms, or prostate symptoms,,, I told her I read a lot on here about it being a common side effect of withdrawals, she just looked at me funny over her glasses...I just looked back at her funny over mine....

[[Be...]]

I read a few people (that have the courage) push on through every 14 days and do great, even in a wave, the wave tends to lift,,,, Im just too chicken to do so, Im a weeny actually, so I wait a bit longer....if it works for you like that, keep doing it until it proves otherwise, if it does.....

[[Al...]]

Nope, your calculations are dead on.  Sounds like you've been doing a perfect taper… how did you figure out you had to cut so carefully? 

If I were you, I'd keep going at this pace.  It sounds like it's working for you.

 

Challis 

 

Challis I have a good friend who just finished tapering off Xanax and he has been a great coach for me. He used to be on here but no longer so he had all the info to give me. Also I have a great Doctor who is pretty Benzo wise and that been great for me. My friend wrote out all my cuts and doses for me and i just check it off each 2 weeks when i do a cut. !! it has been a huge help for me and to have a fellow taper there for me has been terrific. So I decided to join here and get some more input for other tapers since it seems i have come to a new place in my taper. My friend had no issues all the way down and now i  having issues and it kind of concerned me. Thank You again for your input here !!

[[Iw...]]

I wanted to join the discussion, but am not sure how this works or where the discussion is? I thought I was ready to quit at .25 per day, but in looking at everyones signatures, it looks like I am no where close. I will need some help on how to reduce the dosage. I have been cutting .50's in half to get the .25. How hard can it be just to quit after getting this dosage down so far?

 

Zanny1. I'm bumping this up for you. Someone will come along and help you out. I'm not good at taper advice and I'm having a hard time today so haven't been able to really do much.

The Blogs were confusing to me too. There's some really nice people here and at BB.

[[Al...]]

what symptoms on the bladder thing? are you peeing ALLLL the freaking time like I am? I peed 6 times in a row last night trying to go to bed, one after another, full bladder each time....

went to the Dr today for my rib thing (stress fractures) and ask about that, she want to test for diabetes now, makes sense I guess, but I dont have extreme thirst, and dont have any other bladder infection symptoms, or prostate symptoms,,, I told her I read a lot on here about it being a common side effect of withdrawals, she just looked at me funny over her glasses...I just looked back at her funny over mine....

 

Benzy I had been having kind of a pressure in my bladder and a painful bladder and felt like i had to urinate all the time however when i tried i could not go. I started having burning when i urinated 2 days ago. i also have pain in the lower part of the right side of my lower abdomen and he said he thought because of the diarrhea i possibly had a bacterial infection in my colon to ! fun huh !!

 

well since you don't have the constant thirst maybe your safe form the diabetes ! how did you get eh rib fractures ?? that must hurt like H__L !

[[Al...]]

I read a few people (that have the courage) push on through every 14 days and do great, even in a wave, the wave tends to lift,,,, Im just too chicken to do so, Im a weeny actually, so I wait a bit longer....if it works for you like that, keep doing it until it proves otherwise, if it does.....

 

Benzy I don't think anyone that is going through Benzo withdrawal is a "weeny" lol. It takes a huge amount of "Courage" to just go through this process, so your not a weeny your just being cautious ! yes I have done a cut in a wave and It did lift and I felt better. Yes We all have to do what feels the best for us I think !! Everyone knows their body the best !!

[[Ch...]]

I wanted to join the discussion, but am not sure how this works or where the discussion is? I thought I was ready to quit at .25 per day, but in looking at everyones signatures, it looks like I am no where close. I will need some help on how to reduce the dosage. I have been cutting .50's in half to get the .25. How hard can it be just to quit after getting this dosage down so far?

 

Zanny1. I'm bumping this up for you. Someone will come along and help you out. I'm not good at taper advice and I'm having a hard time today so haven't been able to really do much.

The Blogs were confusing to me too. There's some really nice people here and at BB.

 

Benzy, thank you!  I didn't see this at all and apparently no one else did either!  I'll PM Zanny1.

 

Challis