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

[[mr...]]

 

If someone feels shitty before they start tapering, what choice is there?  I'm curious. 

 

It sounds like he feels the same as he did before he started the tapper. He felt shitty before the tapper, and feels the same level of shitty currently.  Would it only be a problem if you felt significantly worse than before you started tapering?

 

The "poopy" feeling can multiply. Exponentially. IF you move at a pace that is faster than what your body can up-regulate your GABAa to.  Everyone's rate is different.  But better to move slower and figure out you can move faster, than to move faster and figure out you should've moved slower 

 

That is THE lone thing I try and get across to a new person starting their taper program.  Unfortunately, only about half listen.  Hopefully those that do not listen still fend well!  It was not a risk I was willing to take, however.

 

Make sense?  To each their own of course

[[Ra...]]

Oh someone please tell me it's possible to hold down a 9 - 5 job while tapering

 

Rabbit,

 

I feel like pooh, I won't kid you.

 

But I've worked 40 hours per week, week in and week out, PLUS coach people part time for weight loss and nutrition, AND I'M STILL HERE

 

Yes, you CAN work AND taper.  Breathe deeply and easily, friend

 

Just take your taper SLOOOOOOOOWLY.  Don't be dumb and race off of it.  You'll then get yourself into a pinch where you cannot work.  Look at my signature line to see my speed: my daily dose was 0.25mg per day, and I've never went faster than 10% cuts every ten days (excepting these last two cuts), and then held for ten days.  It is recommended that you do no more than 5-10% cuts no more often than 10-14 days.  So consider your daily dosage, and be sure you don't cut more than this.

 

I am a Sensitive Sally so to speak, and this is why I choose to water taper at a gradual, daily reduction to accumulate my cuts.  I also dose every six hours, in order to make up for Xanax's 6-hour half life.  This has made it possible for me to remain as functional as possible.  This last glorious cut was almost 15% reduction over ten days, and the one before that was 12-13% reduction over ten days.  This is probably why I'm hurting right now.

 

Understand that it's not ALL science and logic, but a good portion of it is friend   It don't have to be "ugly", if you're just willing to take your time with things. 

 

Okay, friend?   RELAX-- --Mrs says so! :laugh:

 

Thank you Mrs!  .25 seems like such a small amount and to have those kind of symptoms, YIKES!!!  That is totally scarey!!!!  Before you started your taper, did you take the .25 all at once just one time per day?    The reason I ask is currently I take a 1mg at 3:00pm and 2mg at 8:30pm.    I'm not quite sure how to start my reduction.  I'm EXTREMELY sensitive to physical anxiety symptoms.  I'm a little shakey already, but much more stable than I was 3 months ago, maybe due to the Seroquel. 

 

Is water titration hard?  I don't really know how to start this process.  Spread the doses out, dry cut, water titration.  I don't think my doc will let me have valium.  I haven't even talked to my doc yet to see if he'll let me do a LONG taper.

 

Is water titration hard?  I'm terrible at math.

[[Re...]]

Question from a newbie.  I was pretty tolerant at 3.0 mg.    I cut from 3.0 to 2.5 in a month and went from 2.5 to 2.1 in Dec.  I did this by dry cutting .25 mg tablets.

 

I was pretty tolerant at 3.0.  I could barely feel it anymore. 

 

Is this too fast of a pace?  Yes I feel shitty, but about the same level of shitty I felt before.

 

any input?

 

Being on the 3.0mg and going to the 2.1mg should have taken about 4 months.  But everyone is different and some can go quicker and some can go slower.  If you are feeling like shit then you are tapering too fast and you should hold until you have been stabilized for a few weeks or even a month if you can, and then slow your taper down to a more comfortable level.

 

I'm new to this.  But curious.  How is that too quick?

 

Ashton recommends 5-10% tapers every 1-2 weeks.  The rate that Jerryk is going seems to be well within that range.

 

Not if he is having severe withdrawal symptoms.  Then he is going to have to listen to his body and adjust accordingly.  Or tolerate the withdrawal symptoms if he can do that and remain functional.  At that rate though, the cumulative withdrawal symptoms may worsen as the cut goes on.

 

It is up to him but, the withdrawal symptoms are doing more damage and will do even more if they increase in severity.

 

If someone feels shitty before they start tapering, what choice is there?  I'm curious. 

 

It sounds like he feels the same as he did before he started the tapper. He felt shitty before the tapper, and feels the same level of shitty currently.  Would it only be a problem if you felt significantly worse than before you started tapering?

 

Yes he thinks he had reached tolerance and that is a hard time to start withdrawal.  I just hope he adjusts his taper if necessary so he does not get worse.  That would be a big problem.

 

I think he needs to do the Ashton way totally.  Not just the timing of the taper but the switch to a longer acting benzo like Valium.  Or slow down his current taper by a lot.  I don't want to scare him but I am afraid that he is going to crash hard. That is just my personal opinion based on knowledge and experience.  Coming off the short acting Xanax is going to be a bitch with out a longer acting benzo if he has reached tolerance.  It is a bitch anyway even with out tolerance due to its short half life.

 

Refresher for me....his signature:

 

Tapering from 3.0 MG Xanax...down to 2.25 in ..0625 increments.

I was not a religious man before this.

11/13. 3.0 Mg Xanax .5x6

12/4/13 2.5 mg Xanax .5. .5. .5. .5. .5

12/10/13 2.24 mg Xanax. . 5. .37. .5. .37 .5

12/27/13  2.11 mg Xanax .5 .37 .37 .37 .5. (Don't know if I can hold This)

[[Ra...]]

Oh someone please tell me it's possible to hold down a 9 - 5 job while tapering

 

Just my personal opinion is that if I were tapering while holding down a 9-5 job I'd be doing small cuts, and maybe getting an idea of when the WD symptoms come relative to the cuts and maybe trying to organize your schedule around that.  For example, if after a small cut you notice that you feel worse on the 4th and 5th day after a cut, but start getting back to normal on the 6th day after a cut then maybe you can try and aim those worse times for the weekend?

 

I know I was simply doing too much to be cutting.  Working full time while also still in school.  So, I just am focusing on school for the next few months.  But, I'm still going to try and 'aim' my bad days for days that I don't have to do something for school.  For example, if I have an exam or a presentation to do, I'll prob not do a cut 5 days before those.

 

 

 

Thank you Lacey, by small cuts, do you use a percentage of current dose or just the same flat mg cut each time?

[[Re...]]

FluterByee:  Awesome daughters indeed!

[[mr...]]

Oh someone please tell me it's possible to hold down a 9 - 5 job while tapering

 

Rabbit,

 

I feel like pooh, I won't kid you.

 

But I've worked 40 hours per week, week in and week out, PLUS coach people part time for weight loss and nutrition, AND I'M STILL HERE

 

Yes, you CAN work AND taper.  Breathe deeply and easily, friend

 

Just take your taper SLOOOOOOOOWLY.  Don't be dumb and race off of it.  You'll then get yourself into a pinch where you cannot work.  Look at my signature line to see my speed: my daily dose was 0.25mg per day, and I've never went faster than 10% cuts every ten days (excepting these last two cuts), and then held for ten days.  It is recommended that you do no more than 5-10% cuts no more often than 10-14 days.  So consider your daily dosage, and be sure you don't cut more than this.

 

I am a Sensitive Sally so to speak, and this is why I choose to water taper at a gradual, daily reduction to accumulate my cuts.  I also dose every six hours, in order to make up for Xanax's 6-hour half life.  This has made it possible for me to remain as functional as possible.  This last glorious cut was almost 15% reduction over ten days, and the one before that was 12-13% reduction over ten days.  This is probably why I'm hurting right now.

 

Understand that it's not ALL science and logic, but a good portion of it is friend   It don't have to be "ugly", if you're just willing to take your time with things. 

 

Okay, friend?   RELAX-- --Mrs says so! :laugh:

 

Thank you Mrs!  .25 seems like such a small amount and to have those kind of symptoms, YIKES!!!  That is totally scarey!!!!  Before you started your taper, did you take the .25 all at once just one time per day?    The reason I ask is currently I take a 1mg at 3:00pm and 2mg at 8:30pm.    I'm not quite sure how to start my reduction.  I'm EXTREMELY sensitive to physical anxiety symptoms.  I'm a little shakey already, but much more stable than I was 3 months ago, maybe due to the Seroquel. 

 

Is water titration hard?  I don't really know how to start this process.  Spread the doses out, dry cut, water titration.  I don't think my doc will let me have valium.  I haven't even talked to my doc yet to see if he'll let me do a LONG taper.

 

Is water titration hard?  I'm terrible at math.

 

I took mine "PRN" or as needed for three years prior to my taper. I believe this is the reason I am so sensitive now, because "as needed" kinda acts like a series of mini-coldturkeys and reinstates. I don't find water titration hard at all, but math is my strong suite

[[la...]]

I think I'm starting to (hopefully) be noticing a trend.  Of course I've only done 1 cut so far, so maybe it's nothing.  This whole process makes you very aware of every little thing your body is feeling though.

 

I did my first cut on the night of the 23rd. 3 days later I started noticing heart palpitations, and kind of a whole body palpitation but still didn't really have anxiety.  The 4th day I got hit with anxiety, and the palpitations persisted. Today is the 5th day, and I have less anxiety, and while the palpitations are still there, but I think it's starting to reduce in severity.  Hopefully this is a trend, and everything will continue to reduce in severity over the next few days before I do my next cut.

 

I think what scares me the most is the 'unknown'. If I can see some kind of pattern where I feel symptom 'x' on day 'y', then I think I'll feel better about this whole thing.

 

 

 

If someone feels shitty before they start tapering, what choice is there?  I'm curious. 

 

It sounds like he feels the same as he did before he started the tapper. He felt shitty before the tapper, and feels the same level of shitty currently.  Would it only be a problem if you felt significantly worse than before you started tapering?

 

The "poopy" feeling can multiply. Exponentially. IF you move at a pace that is faster than what your body can up-regulate your GABAa to.  Everyone's rate is different.  But better to move slower and figure out you can move faster, than to move faster and figure out you should've moved slower 

 

That is THE lone thing I try and get across to a new person starting their taper program.  Unfortunately, only about half listen.  Hopefully those that do not listen still fend well!  It was not a risk I was willing to take, however.

 

Make sense?  To each their own of course

 

Yep.  Makes sense.  I was just curious because it didn't sounds like Jerry was feeling any worse, but started his taper from a point of tolerance.  I too did that.

 

 

[[Je...]]

Let me clairify.  I became tolerant on x for sleep and had daytime agitation after 10 years.  I was only on 3.0 for a month as I had to figure out the daytime dose I needed to hold it together.

 

Daytime X makes me feel like shit because it's a roller coaster ride.

depressed then wired all in 4 hours.

 

I think in part my addiction is psychological as opposed to physical.

 

I can't tell the difference between .5 xanax and .37, so why not lower the dose every few weeks.

 

Let's face it everyone is different. 

 

 

 

So if spreading out the dose increases its efficacy then do I need to make a cut?  I'm not trying to go off of it just yet but trying to reduce the symptoms of interdose withdrawal from the Xanax or the trazodone.

 

If 0.5mg of Xanax can make me this stoned have I even reached tolerance?  This might mean it is the trazodone causing the interdose withdrawal, not the Xanax.

 

 

Being on the 3.0mg and going to the 2.1mg should have taken about 4 months.  But everyone is different and some can go quicker and some can go slower.  If you are feeling like shit then you are tapering too fast and you should hold until you have been stabilized for a few weeks or even a month if you can, and then slow your taper down to a more comfortable level.

 

I'm new to this.  But curious.  How is that too quick?

 

Ashton recommends 5-10% tapers every 1-2 weeks.  The rate that Jerryk is going seems to be well within that range.

 

Not if he is having severe withdrawal symptoms.  Then he is going to have to listen to his body and adjust accordingly.  Or tolerate the withdrawal symptoms if he can do that and remain functional.  At that rate though, the cumulative withdrawal symptoms may worsen as the cut goes on.

 

It is up to him but, the withdrawal symptoms are doing more damage and will do even more if they increase in severity.

 

If someone feels shitty before they start tapering, what choice is there?  I'm curious. 

 

It sounds like he feels the same as he did before he started the tapper. He felt shitty before the tapper, and feels the same level of shitty currently.  Would it only be a problem if you felt significantly worse than before you started tapering?

 

Yes he thinks he had reached tolerance and that is a hard time to start withdrawal.  I just hope he adjusts his taper if necessary so he does not get worse.  That would be a big problem.

 

I think he needs to do the Ashton way totally.  Not just the timing of the taper but the switch to a longer acting benzo like Valium.  Or slow down his current taper by a lot.  I don't want to scare him but I am afraid that he is going to crash hard. That is just my personal opinion based on knowledge and experience.  Coming off the short acting Xanax is going to be a bitch with out a longer acting benzo if he has reached tolerance.  It is a bitch anyway even with out tolerance due to its short half life.

 

Refresher for me....his signature:

 

Tapering from 3.0 MG Xanax...down to 2.25 in ..0625 increments.

I was not a religious man before this.

11/13. 3.0 Mg Xanax .5x6

12/4/13 2.5 mg Xanax .5. .5. .5. .5. .5

12/10/13 2.24 mg Xanax. . 5. .37. .5. .37 .5

12/27/13  2.11 mg Xanax .5 .37 .37 .37 .5. (Don't know if I can hold This)

[[Be...]]

thats pretty much how it went for me Steve

[[la...]]

Thank you Lacey, by small cuts, do you use a percentage of current dose or just the same flat mg cut each time?

 

I've only done 1 cut, lol.  Basically what I'm doing is playing it by ear, and trying to listen to my body.  Trying to get an idea of how my first cut goes, and familiarizing myself with what WD symptoms I experience and on what days they come after my last reduction.  Then based on that information I will be figuring out how much to cut on my next ones.

 

I don't think I'll be able to do exact percentages since Xanax doesn't give you that kind of flexability.  But, 'ballpark'. 

 

I guess my 'general plan' is to do smaller cuts the lower I get.  So, maybe .125 cuts next.  Then when I get down to .5mg maybe switching to .0625mg cuts.  Of course that is all still up in the air, and subject to change based on how I feel .

[[la...]]

Yes he thinks he had reached tolerance and that is a hard time to start withdrawal.  I just hope he adjusts his taper if necessary so he does not get worse.  That would be a big problem.

 

I think he needs to do the Ashton way totally.  Not just the timing of the taper but the switch to a longer acting benzo like Valium.  Or slow down his current taper by a lot.  I don't want to scare him but I am afraid that he is going to crash hard. That is just my personal opinion based on knowledge and experience.  Coming off the short acting Xanax is going to be a bitch with out a longer acting benzo if he has reached tolerance.  It is a bitch anyway even with out tolerance due to its short half life.

 

Refresher for me....his signature:

 

Tapering from 3.0 MG Xanax...down to 2.25 in ..0625 increments.

I was not a religious man before this.

11/13. 3.0 Mg Xanax .5x6

12/4/13 2.5 mg Xanax .5. .5. .5. .5. .5

12/10/13 2.24 mg Xanax. . 5. .37. .5. .37 .5

12/27/13  2.11 mg Xanax .5 .37 .37 .37 .5. (Don't know if I can hold This)

ok cool.  I was just curious because some of what he said applied to me as well.

 

[[la...]]

Let me clairify.  I became tolerant on x for sleep and had daytime agitation after 10 years.  I was only on 3.0 for a month as I had to figure out the daytime dose I needed to hold it together.

 

Daytime X makes me feel like shit because it's a roller coaster ride.

depressed then wired all in 4 hours.

 

I think in part my addiction is psychological as opposed to physical.

 

I can't tell the difference between .5 xanax and .37, so why not lower the dose every few weeks.

 

Let's face it everyone is different. 

 

yeah, this is what happened to me as well.  Which is why I was curious about your question.  I was just taking 1mg Xanax at night for sleep.  Then all of a sudden I started feeling terrible anxiety during the day (which came after a night that I put a lot of stress on myself).  Then I tried taking some Xanax during the day, but it made me feel depressed, and fatigued, and bleh....

[[la...]]

thats pretty much how it went for me Steve

Right on Benzy.  Did you notice a difference in the sevatiry of your palpitations the longer you went from your last cut?  I'm hoping the palps can act as a kind of 'guide' to when I should be doing my next cut. 

 

Also, I asked you a question a few pages ago.  Was curious how you ended up on 2mg of Xanax at night.  Did you start at that dose, or did you keep needing to increase it over the years? 

 

[[Be...]]

Im sorry, Im trying to make heads or tails out of the last several pages to ketchup, and Im confrused as hell,,, who is this "he" that we keep talking about??? JerryK??... but JerryK is also talking about "he" and callling him JerryK???  (I think I really did get my dose F'd up last night 

 

I went from .25 to 2mgs pretty quickly, I was trying to stop some out of control pre-exsisting arrhythmias and thats just what it took, along with a few other heart meds.... and I sat at that dose for about a year... I think now I developed tolerance quickly, but I was blaming the side effects on the other heart drugs.....as I tapered I started feeling better and better,,,, they say that doesnt happen in tolerance, once you feel shitty you stay feeling shitty, but I beg to differ,,, it got better and better for me, I was sick sick sick on the full dose at the beginning of my taper, and have healed along the way....

 

with my pre-exisitng conditions under control... I can tell what heart palps are pre-exisitng, and/or withdrawal induced, they just happen differently, so,,,,about 3, 4 ,5 days into a cut Id start getting some of the withdrawal pals, then, like you said, they would lessen from that point on, I'll also have insanely crazy dreams at the same time... when the palps and the dreams stop at about the 10th day, Id give myself another 5 to7 good days before Id start the next cut, works great for me.

 

ps, yes its possible to work and taper, Ive seen lots of people on here do it....its one more wrench in the motor, but you can juggle it, just gotta be deligent....

 

[[la...]]

Im sorry, Im trying to make heads or tails out of the last several pages to ketchup, and Im confrused as hell,,, who is this "he" that we keep talking about??? JerryK??... but JerryK is also talking about "he" and callling him JerryK???  (I think I really did get my dose F'd up last night 

 

I went from .25 to 2mgs pretty quickly, I was trying to stop some out of control pre-exsisting arrhythmias and thats just what it took, along with a few other heart meds.... and I sat at that dose for about a year... I think now I developed tolerance quickly, but I was blaming the side effects on the other heart drugs.....as I tapered I started feeling better and better,,,, they say that doesnt happen in tolerance, once you feel shitty you stay feeling shitty, but I beg to differ,,, it got better and better for me, I was sick sick sick on the full dose at the beginning of my taper, and have healed along the way....

 

with my pre-exisitng conditions under control... I can tell what heart palps are pre-exisitng, and/or withdrawal induced, they just happen differently, so,,,,about 3, 4 ,5 days into a cut Id start getting some of the withdrawal pals, then, like you said, they would lessen from that point on, I'll also have insanely crazy dreams at the same time... when the palps and the dreams stop at about the 10th day, Id give myself another 5 to7 good days before Id start the next cut, works great for me.

 

ps, yes its possible to work and taper, Ive seen lots of people on here do it....its one more wrench in the motor, but you can juggle it, just gotta be deligent....

 

Thanks again.  Appreciate the constant advice dude. Glad to hear that you are feeling better and better.

 

I think my 'hope' is that I can notice some WD sfx like this that allow me to know where my body is in the gaba recuperation process.  I think, if I do experience heightened palps on days 3-5 that gradually decline from 5-10, it will help reassure me/provide evidence that "this is just the drug doing this thing, it is only temporary, and will eventually be better". 

[[Re...]]

Benzy:  Yes, it is JerryK.

[[Be...]]

O I'm pretty sure you'll notice lol

[[Re...]]

Let me clairify.  I became tolerant on x for sleep and had daytime agitation after 10 years.  I was only on 3.0 for a month as I had to figure out the daytime dose I needed to hold it together.

 

Daytime X makes me feel like shit because it's a roller coaster ride.

depressed then wired all in 4 hours.

 

I think in part my addiction is psychological as opposed to physical.

 

I can't tell the difference between .5 xanax and .37, so why not lower the dose every few weeks.

 

Let's face it everyone is different. 

 

 

Xanax can work both as a hypnotic (sedative effect) and a stimulant (hypomanic effect) simultaneously.

 

If you continue to cut at that rate it will cumulatively catch up with you and you will experience more frequent and more intense withdrawal symptoms.

 

Coming of a short acting benzo like Xanax once you have reached tolerance will be much harder if you can't switch to a longer acting benzo.  It is already hard enough to come off of it with tolerance alone let alone by not going to a longer acting benzo like Valium.

 

If you felt like shit on the Xanax due to your reaction to it you will feel like shit from a rapid withdrawal even worse. 

 

So your choices are to suffer worse and do more damage to your brain by staying where you are at with your taper, or to suffer less and do less damage to your brain by slowing your taper way down, or to have even less suffering and damage to your brain by switching over to the Xanax/Valium cross over.

 

I understand that you want off of it RIGHT NOW!  But if you continue in this manner you may have a serious negative reaction and have to reinstate at an even higher dose of Xanax than you are currently on and be forced to taper more slowly or do the crossover. 

 

It is totally your decision but I would make that decision rather soon before it is too late.

 

 

 

[[Re...]]

lacey:  I think my 'hope' is that I can notice some WD sfx like this that allow me to know where my body is in the gaba recuperation process.  I think, if I do experience heightened palps on days 3-5 that gradually decline from 5-10, it will help reassure me/provide evidence that "this is just the drug doing this thing, it is only temporary, and will eventually be better". 

 

GABA recuperation is a moving target and fluctuates dynamically as so many factors influence this.

 

Whatever you are doing it will only be temporary, good or bad.  So just hang in there and take it slowly.

[[la...]]

O I'm pretty sure you'll notice lol

lol, I now realise that what I'm hoping for is irrational.

 

Let me change that.  I hope I feel no sfx at all.

[[la...]]

lacey:  I think my 'hope' is that I can notice some WD sfx like this that allow me to know where my body is in the gaba recuperation process.  I think, if I do experience heightened palps on days 3-5 that gradually decline from 5-10, it will help reassure me/provide evidence that "this is just the drug doing this thing, it is only temporary, and will eventually be better". 

 

GABA recuperation is a moving target and fluctuates dynamically as so many factors influence this.

 

Whatever you are doing it will only be temporary, good or bad.  So just hang in there and take it slowly.

Thanks Rebel.  It would be nice if it was a nice linear improvement, but it does sound like it isn't completely linear.

 

From what I can tell the biggest controllable factor that influences things is stress, both internal and external.  Internal stress (cold's, flu, biological problems, etc..) and external stress (anger, smoking a cigarette, coffee, drugs, loss of a loved one, etc...) .  It seems like when going through withdrawal the CNS is just teetering on the edge of going out of control because it doesn't have gaba to calm it down.  If you get too stressed out (be it from internal or external stessors) norepinephrine could spiral out of control on you in a hurry as it doesn't have sufficient gaba to reign it back in. 

 

I can notice that after having a cigarette I feel worse.  Norepinephrine spikes, and I feel anxious.  Unfortunately this isn't the time to be dealing with quitting smoking.  But, there is a decent amount of stressors and stimulants that we can control until gaba sensitivity is restored to control this stress better.

[[Re...]]

lacey:  I think my 'hope' is that I can notice some WD sfx like this that allow me to know where my body is in the gaba recuperation process.  I think, if I do experience heightened palps on days 3-5 that gradually decline from 5-10, it will help reassure me/provide evidence that "this is just the drug doing this thing, it is only temporary, and will eventually be better". 

 

GABA recuperation is a moving target and fluctuates dynamically as so many factors influence this.

 

Whatever you are doing it will only be temporary, good or bad.  So just hang in there and take it slowly.

Thanks Rebel.  It would be nice if it was a nice linear improvement, but it does sound like it isn't completely linear.

 

From what I can tell the biggest controllable factor that influences things is stress, both internal and external.  Internal stress (cold's, flu, biological problems, etc..) and external stress (anger, smoking a cigarette, coffee, drugs, loss of a loved one, etc...) .  It seems like when going through withdrawal the CNS is just teetering on the edge of going out of control because it doesn't have gaba to calm it down.  If you get too stressed out (be it from internal or external stessors) norepinephrine could spiral out of control on you in a hurry as it doesn't have sufficient gaba to reign it back in. 

 

I can notice that after having a cigarette I feel worse.  Norepinephrine spikes, and I feel anxious.  Unfortunately this isn't the time to be dealing with quitting smoking.  But, there is a decent amount of stressors and stimulants that we can control until gaba sensitivity is restored to control this stress better.

 

I have countless identified triggers and of course countless unidentified triggers.  I have quite the list going but the big ones are caffeine, sugar, ANY artificial sweetener, smoking, getting stressed out, and viral/bacterial problems.

 

As you are so knowledgeable you might want to take a look at my blog:

 

http://www.benzobuddies.org/forum/index.php?topic=97888.0

 

I hope you all come follow it as well.

[[So...]]

Boy, it was a virus that really got me good in my third week of xanax c/t!!

 

This is what helped to lead to my downfall and eventual reinstatement!! It really did a number on me!!

 

I carry hand sanitizer with me everywhere!!!

 

Denise 

[[la...]]

I have countless identified triggers and of course countless unidentified triggers.  I have quite the list going but the big ones are caffeine, sugar, ANY artificial sweetener, smoking, getting stressed out, and viral/bacterial problems.

 

As you are so knowledgeable you might want to take a look at my blog:

 

http://www.benzobuddies.org/forum/index.php?topic=97888.0

 

I hope you all come follow it as well.

 

Thanks rebel. I read your OP there and will look closer when I have more time. 

 

Couple things in it that I find interesting. 

 

You mention the HPA axis.  Currently it seems my HPA is a little out of whack.  I'm hoping that getting the proper control signals in place will get my body to stop recognizing stress threats, and reinstate HPA homeostasis (increase DHEA, etc..) but this whole benzo tolerance thing that just happened put a little bit of a wrench into it.  My Dr. was using SSRI, a bit of benzo, among other things to try and reduce norepinephrine and brain inflammation.  Bleh.

 

Also, You mentioned Asperger's.  I just read a pretty interesting book on Autism for a medical anthropology class I was taking.  Was kind of surprised how compelling it was, and tought me quite a bit on the subject (at least from an anthropological standpoint).

[[ma...]]

Oh someone please tell me it's possible to hold down a 9 - 5 job while tapering

 

I certainly could not but then I could not walk either.  You are highly functional and going to do your taper correctly I hope and that should enable you to have a pretty normal life with the exception of a few breakthroughs that you may have to adjust for.

 

Lacey did an excellent job of answering you in her post.  I agree with her totally.

 

Rebel,

 

You mentioned you could not walk.  This is what I'm experiencing now.  When did it get better for you?

 

Mama