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

[[Ch...]]

  You can take the cut off either dose.  It may help more to take it off the larger dose first…up to you.

[[mr...]]

  You can take the cut off either dose.  It may help more to take it off the larger dose first…up to you.

 

To piggyback off of what Challis said too, of you have any issues with interdose withdrawal, its best to reduce your doses at an even pace, in order to ensure you keep your two doses all the way down to your final few cuts. Otherwise, if you eliminate a dose entirely, you might run into interdose issues again on your way to benzo freedom.

 

I personally take my daily dose and divide it up into four even amounts, and then dose once every six hours. I was one that had a lot of issues with interdose withdrawal, so this is why I chose to do this. I also water taper, which makes splitting doses a lot easier for me to do.

 

If two doses per day is working for you and has made you stable, I'd stay stick with it and just continue to make cuts evenly distributed between your two doses in order to maintain them as long as possible, you know? Up to you of course You'll find what works well for you

 

Mrs.

[[VC...]]

  You can take the cut off either dose.  It may help more to take it off the larger dose first…up to you.

 

To piggyback off of what Challis said too, of you have any issues with interdose withdrawal, its best to reduce your doses at an even pace, in order to ensure you keep your two doses all the way down to your final few cuts. Otherwise, if you eliminate a dose entirely, you might run into interdose issues again on your way to benzo freedom.

 

I personally take my daily dose and divide it up into four even amounts, and then dose once every six hours. I was one that had a lot of issues with interdose withdrawal, so this is why I chose to do this. I also water taper, which makes splitting doses a lot easier for me to do.

 

If two doses per day is working for you and has made you stable, I'd stay stick with it and just continue to make cuts evenly distributed between your two doses in order to maintain them as long as possible, you know? Up to you of course You'll find what works well for you

 

Mrs.

 

Hi Mrs., this is good sensible advice but raises questions for my own taper (yet to start). I'm not even taking equal doses. How would my taper work? My 10 am & 4 pm doses are 0.125 - smaller than the bedtime dose (0.5mg) and they don't do much for me. I keep hoping things will settle down more. Still have adrenaline surges all day long. I'd have to lay perfectly still and do slow breathing to get them to subside and even that doesn't last long. (it all may have flared due to a lot of emotional upset this past week, but I don't know).

 

The only time I calm down is bedtime, finally, but that's because I take progesterone 100mg AND the xanax 0.5 close together. Will be seeing about weaning off my hormones soon or maybe not if I'm yet to taper.

 

Afraid to updose but still getting those little adrenaline buzzes with BP fluctuations and irregular heartbeats. I used to just take a nightly dose.

 

Thanks!

VCharis 

[[ma...]]

thanks for the help again. Today has been awful I took .25 at 1000 am then .25 at 1 pm and .25 at 7 pm it is now 1035 and i am edgy and nervous cant calm down. I was fine a few days ago i guess this taking it at different times and different amounts is messing with me. i am ready to take more just to calm down. Any suggestions on how to get back to feeling better? and any ideas on what to do for tonight and to start of new tomorrow so sorry to keep posting. I just need to get this under control I have 3 months to get feeling better or might need a ssri which i do not want. Maybe I am not ready to ween off yet? thanks again 

[[mr...]]

Hi VC,

 

Your taper can be whatever you choose it to be. Considering your current state & sensitivity, it would probably be most wise to consider a microtaper of some sort. This can be done dry cutting, by using a jeweler's scale, or by titration, using water. There are pros and cons with both methods; the main thing to know is that they are both proven to work well, and it all comes down to personal preference

 

Regarding your different sized dosages between night and day; I don't think this is a big deal at all. I'd just make sure to reduce my doses at an even percentage (and not even mg), in order to maintain 3 doses all the way through my taper. So for example, let's say you desire to cut a total of 10% of your total daily dose as your first cut. Your daily dosage is 0.75mg, so 10% of this is 0.075mg. So this would mean you'd remove 50% of 0.075mg (0.0375mg) from your PM dose, and 25% of 0.075mg (0.01875mg) from both your 10am and 4pm doses. Does that make sense? Don't get hung up on all the math & such just yet; I just want to make sure the concept makes sense to you.

 

If you're having difficulty stabilizing where you're at currently with dosage and daily schedule, there are two options to consider in order to stabilize: one is to updose more to see if you can stabilize at a higher dose for a little bit before tapering, or two is to consider crossing over to valium, a benzo with a much longer half-life. Crossing over is something I'd personally keep as a last resort, which won't be difficult, LOL You'd need to wait until you establish primary care with a regular physician before considering crossing over. I can't say this enough, VC, but I want you to make decisions for yourself, and not because its what I said or what I do, okay? Knowing that, I will give you my opinion on your current situation, and what I think I'd do if I were in your shoes. I believe I'd updose to 1mg per day -- 0.25mg at 10am & 4pm, and then 0.5mg at bedtime -- for one day at least, to see if I felt any better/any relief AT ALL. If I did, then I'd seriously consider starting my taper at 1mg per day. And if I decided to start my taper at 1mg, I'd probably sit at 1mg per day for no more than 7-10 days before starting my taper -- just to ensure that I didn't reach tolerance to that dose. Make sense?

 

I have a spreadsheet I've created for my own taper that autocalculates all the math and dosage reductions for me, so that all I have to do each day is check-mark the row I'm on, and reduce by the amount it tells me to. I can format it to fit your starting doses, dosing schedule, and daily reductions and send it to you when you're ready to start and you've decided which route you're going to go (water taper or dry-cut), and how much you're going to reduce by each time, etc

 

Hope all this helps you some Take some time to let things marinate, and then let me know if you have any other questions

 

Mrs.

[[...]]

Now that I've stabilized my dosing for more than a week now, what will be a good time to begin the taper?

[[Be...]]

blah day,,,slept all day, all night, buncha blah members and crap on here(elsewhere on the site), so I stayed offline.....havent done any more cutting either, so blah there too... fixing to run outta pills, so I guess that will take care of that... blah...

 

blah...

[[VC...]]

 

Regarding your different sized dosages between night and day; I don't think this is a big deal at all. I'd just make sure to reduce my doses at an even percentage (and not even mg), in order to maintain 3 doses all the way through my taper. So for example, let's say you desire to cut a total of 10% of your total daily dose as your first cut. Your daily dosage is 0.75mg, so 10% of this is 0.075mg. So this would mean you'd remove 50% of 0.075mg (0.0375mg) from your PM dose, and 25% of 0.075mg (0.01875mg) from both your 10am and 4pm doses. Does that make sense? Don't get hung up on all the math & such just yet; I just want to make sure the concept makes sense to you.

 

If you're having difficulty stabilizing where you're at currently with dosage and daily schedule, there are two options to consider in order to stabilize: one is to updose more to see if you can stabilize at a higher dose for a little bit before tapering, or two is to consider crossing over to valium, a benzo with a much longer half-life. Crossing over is something I'd personally keep as a last resort, which won't be difficult, LOL You'd need to wait until you establish primary care with a regular physician before considering crossing over. I can't say this enough, VC, but I want you to make decisions for yourself, and not because its what I said or what I do, okay? Knowing that, I will give you my opinion on your current situation, and what I think I'd do if I were in your shoes. I believe I'd updose to 1mg per day -- 0.25mg at 10am & 4pm, and then 0.5mg at bedtime -- for one day at least, to see if I felt any better/any relief AT ALL. If I did, then I'd seriously consider starting my taper at 1mg per day. And if I decided to start my taper at 1mg, I'd probably sit at 1mg per day for no more than 7-10 days before starting my taper -- just to ensure that I didn't reach tolerance to that dose. Make sense?

 

I have a spreadsheet I've created for my own taper that autocalculates all the math and dosage reductions for me, so that all I have to do each day is check-mark the row I'm on, and reduce by the amount it tells me to. I can format it to fit your starting doses, dosing schedule, and daily reductions and send it to you when you're ready to start and you've decided which route you're going to go (water taper or dry-cut), and how much you're going to reduce by each time, etc

 

Hope all this helps you some Take some time to let things marinate, and then let me know if you have any other questions

 

Mrs.

 

Thanks, Mrs. I've been on present schedule for about 11 days now...will see how today goes. Hard to tell if genuine emotional upset to real events are keeping my autonomic system from settling down, if it it's just haywire due to benzo, but before I joined BB, I was not taking this much xanax. I'm trying to think for myself and make my own decisions, but as you know it's really hard when you feel like every decision might be a mistake (beno brain and hypothyroid). I am still stressed out over not having a good doctor to guide me. Ready to taper - doesn't look like I'm gonna sleep well no matter what I do. But I might updose - just scared.

[[Ka...]]

blah day,,,slept all day, all night, buncha blah members and crap on here(elsewhere on the site), so I stayed offline.....havent done any more cutting either, so blah there too... fixing to run outta pills, so I guess that will take care of that... blah...

 

blah...

 

Hi Benzy,

 

Consider yourself lucky.  You can sleep, whilst most of us cannot.  You are almost done, whereas a lot of bb's are just starting or in the middle, with a lot of issues.

 

Probably the big cuts you made all the way down are catching up - will take some time.

 

I c/t about a year ago and now am too sensitive.  Just reduced 4 mL, (from 600 mLs total, reduced 1 mL per day) and it set me back - head pressure, fatigue, body pain, etc.  So, am waiting until I become somewhat normal.  After a week from the cuts, feeling "okay" now.

 

You may consider lowering your final cut gradually.

 

Hope the blahs go away soon........you have been such a good help to us all - stay with us buddy.

 

Kantu   

 

[[Fl...]]

  You can take the cut off either dose.  It may help more to take it off the larger dose first…up to you.

 

To piggyback off of what Challis said too, of you have any issues with interdose withdrawal, its best to reduce your doses at an even pace, in order to ensure you keep your two doses all the way down to your final few cuts. Otherwise, if you eliminate a dose entirely, you might run into interdose issues again on your way to benzo freedom.

 

I personally take my daily dose and divide it up into four even amounts, and then dose once every six hours. I was one that had a lot of issues with interdose withdrawal, so this is why I chose to do this. I also water taper, which makes splitting doses a lot easier for me to do.

 

If two doses per day is working for you and has made you stable, I'd stay stick with it and just continue to make cuts evenly distributed between your two doses in order to maintain them as long as possible, you know? Up to you of course You'll find what works well for you

 

Mrs.

 

Hi Mrs., this is good sensible advice but raises questions for my own taper (yet to start). I'm not even taking equal doses. How would my taper work? My 10 am & 4 pm doses are 0.125 - smaller than the bedtime dose (0.5mg) and they don't do much for me. I keep hoping things will settle down more. Still have adrenaline surges all day long. I'd have to lay perfectly still and do slow breathing to get them to subside and even that doesn't last long. (it all may have flared due to a lot of emotional upset this past week, but I don't know).

 

The only time I calm down is bedtime, finally, but that's because I take progesterone 100mg AND the xanax 0.5 close together. Will be seeing about weaning off my hormones soon or maybe not if I'm yet to taper.

 

Afraid to updose but still getting those little adrenaline buzzes with BP fluctuations and irregular heartbeats. I used to just take a nightly dose.

 

Thanks!

VCharis 

 

V,

Why are you wanting to wean off your hormones?

FB

[[Be...]]

dont speak too soon Kantu, Im not through yet lol...

 

WHY AM I HAVING SO MUCH PROBLEMS TAPERING THIS LAST DOSE???

It cannot be doing anything significant for me... .0625? Am I a addict or something? whats the problem?? I dont think Im a addict now, because Ive tapered and sat here with no desire to updose, ever....and I dont "feel" anything from this .0625 crumb......

but for whatever reasons I just cant make myself cut every night when I take my lingering dose....

 

BLAH!!

 

(ok, now you can continue with your advice Kantu)

[[VC...]]

V,

Why are you wanting to wean off your hormones?

FB

 

Hi Fluterbyee. I may have to remain on them until I'm all tapered off the xanax. But I had read we shouldn't start BHT while on benzos. Too late  Just had labs drawn; will see what shape I'm in soon - hormone-wise. For one thing, I need to reduce monthly prescription costs. Things are tight around here and as bad as I feel already, I just dont think the hormones are really helping. On the other hand, it's not a good time to stop them abruptly when just beginning a taper plan. Hope your taper is going well so far, hon. 

[[VC...]]

dont speak too soon Kantu, Im not through yet lol...

 

WHY AM I HAVING SO MUCH PROBLEMS TAPERING THIS LAST DOSE???

It cannot be doing anything significant for me... .0625? Am I a addict or something? whats the problem?? I dont think Im a addict now, because Ive tapered and sat here with no desire to updose, ever....and I dont "feel" anything from this .0625 crumb......

but for whatever reasons I just cant make myself cut every night when I take my lingering dose....

 

BLAH!!

(ok, now you can continue with your advice Kantu)

 

Well, Benzy, you've done well with your taper and I commend you. And I don't think you're an addict at all. Could there be some psychological reason that causes us to fear letting go of that last little bit? Just wondering because I don't know. I don't see you as fearful --you're such an encouragement to us all - but I recall last year when I tapered my xanax down to crumbs, and the strange feeling I had with finally stopping. I felt almost afraid (like, what will happen?) and yet I felt GLAD (like, GOOD RIDDANCE, BENZO!). Bummer that I'm back in the same boat this year, because really, the worst w/d symptom I had was insomnia....the anxiety was not that bad one month out. Now you all have to put up with my scaredy-cat drama when I'm riding the wave. 

 

Got me a window today! Gosh, I hope it lasts awhile.

 

Ashh, did you get your question answered?

[[Ka...]]

Hi Benzy,

 

Do not worry.  Take your time for now.  Of course, do not updose.  Somehow, the courage will come and you will be free.  Your planets are not lining up correctly?  You either suffer now or when you are free, but are still healing.  Personally, as close as you are, I would take my chances with very, very minor cuts.  After all, there were days when you did not even take your dose and nothing happened!

 

Then it could be the weather?  Oh well........Benzy, you are changing me - like the other day when Mrs posted about __________.

 

Kantu

 

 

[[Be...]]

It's definitely psychological...

 

Mrs posted what??

[[Be...]]

There's no tellin what Mrs posted, I can hardly be on the same thread with that bad seed anymore 

 

I'm thinkn about moving all my $hit to the faith threads..

[[Be...]]

ps. Thank yak for the support, it means a lot.

[[Be...]]

Yak=yall

[[VC...]]

You is welcome, Benzy 

[[Fl...]]

There's no tellin what Mrs posted, I can hardly be on the same thread with that bad seed anymore 

 

I'm thinkn about moving all my $hit to the faith threads..

 

BaHaHaHa   Now, that's psychological

FB

[[Be...]]

[[mr...]]

There's no tellin what Mrs posted, I can hardly be on the same thread with that bad seed anymore 

 

Hey now...I resemble that statement...

 

 

[[Fl...]]

There's no tellin what Mrs posted, I can hardly be on the same thread with that bad seed anymore 

 

Hey now...I resemble that statement...

 

 

 

Hey,

I thought you were traveling...so, what are you doing on the site? Enjoy your weekend looking all cute and stuff

FB

[[mr...]]

We're on the road as we speak!

[[Ka...]]

Mrs posted something about riding ........

 

In any case, small steps will encourage you to get rid of X forever in your life.

 

In 6 months, we will all feel differently (better). I am surprised because after all we went through, the last bit should be a joy.  "Ride" out the wave and you will get it done - don't dwell on it.  As you know, some recover mostly during their taper and some after their taper and you are not fully healed as yet.  Let go of the past and look to the future (you might even have more cute pets to take care of).  You have so much to offer to us novices.......Any new supplements that you have added recently that could be causing you to rev up?