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

[[Ca...]]

Happy birthday Mrs....healing to you this year!

Carita

[[mr...]]

:tickedoff:I see no reason to celebrate the fact shes getting so bloody old

 

Benzy you're just a party pooper

 

 

[[ja...]]

Happy Birthday Mrs. I wish you all the best

 

Jacky

[[mr...]]

Mrs, youre a party pooper

 

What can I say?  Those dang boots have been keepin' me busy...

 

:laugh:

 

Wish me a happy birthday, BTW!! I'm 32 years young today!

 

Happy Birthday mrsalw!  32 years?  You're just a young'un!    Enjoy your special day!

 

 

Thanks Babyrex

 

Hope you're feeling better and better!!

 

Mrs.

[[Ra...]]

Mrs, Happy B-day!  I hope you're having a great big window!

 

I haven't been on the board much, but Benzy, I noticed that your post on your 'booty-call' went unanswered, what is that all about or maybe those were some posts that were removed?  That totally cracked me up! 

[[Be...]]

ya well, I followed your lead and bought me some thigh-high leather boots, now im just so busy..

[[Bl...]]

  Mrs!!!!

 

Blue

[[Fl...]]

Wish me a happy birthday, BTW!! I'm 32 years young today!

 

I couldn't find my way back here til just now....whew! I get lost sometimes. Once was lost, but now I'm found! 

 

Awwww, Mrs!! Happy 32nd birthday! Now go do some celebrating!! All weekend long, too! 

(oh to be 32 again... )

 

V,

When we finally get completely off these BENZO's were going to feel 32 again and give Lil Mrs a run for her money

 

Mrs this songs just for you...now put on ONLY those new black boots and dance like no ones watching   Love ya girl

Happy Birthday to ya 

 

http://youtu.be/P-SMJtcTBqU

 

FB

[[VC...]]

Hope everyone has a window-y kind of weekend. I'm better with a little more sleep, but could always use more. Last three days better overall than earlier in the week (when I kept sending out distress signals).

 

Preparing mentally for taper. When time permits, I'd like some info about dry cut dosing vs. liquid taper, please. I understand liquid taper - watched some videos - read a good bit. I know you use water with xanax, not milk. Leaning towards LT, ready to order supplies.

 

However, dry cut seems simpler to me but my CNS might do better on LT. So let me ask. In the case of "dry cut" how would one manage tapering my tiny daytime doses? My doses are not all equal. Won't I be right back at interdose w/d problems once I've tapered off the 0.125 doses at 10 & 4, with only my bedtime dose left at some point? 

 

Held present dose since Jan. 13th. (see tag line). Concerned about tolerance if I keep hanging here. Lots of ups and downs at times, yes, but no more middle-of-the-night autonomic surges/irregular heartbeats when I first joined BB this month. Nights are calm, and it's only when I'm stressed w/no sleep, do I get the irregular heartbeats...or if I try to do too much, or get upset or scared. These episodes seem to subside much quicker now, but there's no way I can work right now. For my CNS to simmer down, I really do need at least 6 hour sleep to make it through the day. That may not always happen.

 

PS-- will review labs next week to discuss what to do about my bio-identical hormones - already on smallest doses available. Can't do both benzo and hormone wean, I realize, but sure don't wanna wait months to start the benzo taper.

 

Would be greatly helped by your input. Once I get some responses, I'll be ready to decide and proceed.

 

Juliea?  Carlita? Hopefulgirl? Mrs? Anyone? ;-)

 

VC

 

 

 

[[mr...]]

VC,

 

If interdose is an issue, I would look to taper the doses an even percentage, rather than an even mg. So, for example, 5% from your AM dose as a first cut, then 5% from your afternoon dose as a second cut, then 5% from your PM dose as your third cut. Or something like that. This way, proportionally your doses would drop and you could maintain three doses all the way to zero. I don't know that you can do the traditional 0.0625mg dry cut method (1/4 of a 0.25mg tablet) and maintain three doses to zero. In order to do like what I suggested and still dry cut, you'd need to probably weigh your doses using a jeweler's scale.

 

With the way I do my water taper, I have my doses divided into equal mL amounts and I just remove 1mL per day and take it away from my doses as evenly as possible. I do this because I had a lot of interdose withdrawal, and I want to maintain my four doses all the way to Ground Zero (well, technically the final four mL, but you get the point ).

 

That's all I've got to say about it, chica Whatever route you choose, you'll do great with! ALL the methods work, and ALL of them have their pros and cons; its just a matter of deciding which you feel most comfortable with and what you believe will work best for you, and then running with it Go get 'em, tiger

 

Mrs.

[[Ju...]]

I'm not much help with dosing because I only dosed once per day.  From my understanding, the people who dosed multiple times per day and dry cut, always alternated which dose they cut in a round robin fashion, until each dose was eventually discontinued at the end of their tapers. 

[[VC...]]

Thanks for your responses, Mrs. and Juliea.    Okay, so I want to go the LT route.  It would be smoother for me, a long time PRN user.

 

Now, pardon my benzo brain. If I cut equal percentages from each dose, won't I still run out of daytime doses way before I'm weaned off my bedtime dose? This is where my brain is stuck. 

 

So I remove 1 ML from the entire mixture. Then divide up remaining mixture in 3 doses for that day. Hmmm...So I guess I will pour 1/4th into each of two jars, and the remaining 1/2 (larger) dose for bedtime? God help me. I never did like math. 

 

 

 

[[Tr...]]

[move]Wishing you a very Happy Birthday mrsalw![/move]

 

http://data2.whicdn.com/images/15332848/crazy-cake_large.gif

 

[[mr...]]

Thanks, TrueSouth!!

[[Ra...]]

Hi all Xanax Taperers, it appears that liquid Xanax is available.  If that is true, why is nobody using it for tapering those teeny tiny amounts?  It's expensive I think.  I'm going to call my pharmacy today and see if they carry it or can order it.  Because it's expensive, I was thinking of using a combo of pills and then just using the liquid to make the tiny cuts.  Any thoughts?  Thank you!

[[mr...]]

Hi all Xanax Taperers, it appears that liquid Xanax is available.  If that is true, why is nobody using it for tapering those teeny tiny amounts?  It's expensive I think.  I'm going to call my pharmacy today and see if they carry it or can order it.  Because it's expensive, I was thinking of using a combo of pills and then just using the liquid to make the tiny cuts.  Any thoughts?  Thank you!

 

I chose water b/c it was cheap and easy   And I was concerned about if there would be any difference between my dry pills and a liquid suspension, in regards to how I felt with it.  Otherwise, I'm sure it is comparable.  I do not have any experience using it, so I don't really have anything else to say regarding it   If you decide to use it, I'd love to hear your feedback regarding it

 

Take care!

[[Be...]]

its raining and cold again, snow and ice predicted.... this will not help me any at all....

atleast that last disastor missed me I guess 

[[Tr...]]

This link may help some of the new buddies struggling with deciding which taper method to use.

I'm a simple guy so I chose an easy and simple method. I dry cut all the way through. So easy, even a cave man like me could do it.

 

http://m.youtube.com/user/eztitration?feature=mhee%2F&desktop_uri=%2Fuser%2Feztitration%3Ffeature%3Dmhee%252F

[[sa...]]

Hey guys..

 

As I was taking 0.5 wake up. 0.5 night... In between I get withdrawal and hold myself .

 

So I told my doc to prescribe me 0.25 so I take them 4 times a day..every 4 hours..

 

I don't know how to taper from this.. which dose shall I start with and all that..

 

Note that I dropped about 5mg to 1mg in a day..its been 6 months now since that happened..

 

Plz help..

[[VC...]]

This link may help some of the new buddies struggling with deciding which taper method to use.

I'm a simple guy so I chose an easy and simple method. I dry cut all the way through. So easy, even a cave man like me could do it.

 

http://m.youtube.com/user/eztitration?feature=mhee%2F&desktop_uri=%2Fuser%2Feztitration%3Ffeature%3Dmhee%252F

 

Thanks TrueSouth -   I'm sure that video will help a lot of peeps (I've watched it a couple times before). I did the dry cut last year with little problem, probably 'cuz I hadn't read everyone's w/d stories!  Then again, after starting and stopping a couple times, my CNS is super sensitive now and I"m dealing with enough symptoms as it is. Wish I'd never returned to xanax as a sleep aid. Big mistake.

 

It gets hard splitting 0.5mg pills, though. How did you do it? Using 0.25?

 

If you or anyone else can help, I'm still stuck on how to handle the smaller dose reductions as they happen... whether dry cutting or LT. I didn't completely understand the answer before and need clarification. My brain needs examples written out.

 

Some say we eliminate one daytime dose at a time (eventually). Others say to pull off 1ml (if water titrating) and divide up the remaining day's doses, so everything is gently reduced at the same time?  That works great if you're taking even doses throughout the day, or one bedtime dose. But since I'm on unequal doses, nobody's clarified what happens when those two tiny ones run out? Back to interdose w/d?? I'm using the bigger xanax dose for help with sleep as long but it will lose effectiveness soon if I don't get started on this taper.

 

Any clarification would surely alleviate some anxiety. I posted a new thread under titration since this thread gets quiet sometimes...but nobody there has answered. I feel pretty rough some days, as it is. Thanks.

 

[[VC...]]

Hey guys..

 

As I was taking 0.5 wake up. 0.5 night... In between I get withdrawal and hold myself .

 

So I told my doc to prescribe me 0.25 so I take them 4 times a day..every 4 hours..

 

I don't know how to taper from this.. which dose shall I start with and all that..

 

Note that I dropped about 5mg to 1mg in a day..its been 6 months now since that happened..

 

Plz help..

 

 

Hi Sameo,

 

Since I'm one of the newbies around here, I don't feel qualified to offer suggestions. I think Juliea may have answered some of your questions on another thread before, not sure. But if you're taking 0.25mg 4 x daily, that's every 6 hours, not 4 - right? Want to encourage you to hang in there, but I'll let someone else give you specifics on tapering. You'll need to feel stabilized somewhat on your new dosing regimen (using 0.25mg) as you wait for further instructions, I'd imagine. Blessings to you....

 

VCharis

[[sa...]]

Hey guys..

 

As I was taking 0.5 wake up. 0.5 night... In between I get withdrawal and hold myself .

 

So I told my doc to prescribe me 0.25 so I take them 4 times a day..every 4 hours..

 

I don't know how to taper from this.. which dose shall I start with and all that..

 

Note that I dropped about 5mg to 1mg in a day..its been 6 months now since that happened..

 

Plz help..

 

 

Hi Sameo,

 

Since I'm one of the newbies around here, I don't feel qualified to offer suggestions. I think Juliea may have answered some of your questions on another thread before, not sure. But if you're taking 0.25mg 4 x daily, that's every 6 hours, not 4 - right? Want to encourage you to hang in there, but I'll let someone else give you specifics on tapering. You'll need to feel stabilized somewhat on your new dosing regimen (using 0.25mg) as you wait for further instructions, I'd imagine. Blessings to you....

 

VCharis

 

Hey charis

What u said is true if I was going to split it equally throughout the day. But at the same time I won't be awake for 24hours to maintain the 6

I wna know the proper way to take the 4 doses a day ? Does the time matter.? And how do I know when to start tapering? Which one do I taper off first?

[[Ca...]]

Hi VCharis and Sam,

  I was checking in this morning and saw your questions. Perhaps my experience will help guide you.

  My brief story. This week I am 8 months Xanax free after dry cutting from 1.5 mg to .25 mg. I then water tapered to the end. I am still tapering the second benzo I was prescribed. I am not clear minded enough to provide exact mg amounts and fine detail as I am healing from acute symptoms...but I can give you an idea of what worked for me.

  This is a very individual process. Ask any of us and we each have a different method and response. Much of this process is experimental. There is no RIGHT way. Most would agree the only rule is to taper slowly...but others state they did not start feeling better until they were off the drug.

    To avoid interdose withdrawal I dosed four times a day: at 6 AM, 12 noon, 6 PM, and midnight. I simply used a pill cutter and eyeballed the size of the cuts. I prepared them a week at a time and put them in a pill caddy.  Initially I took more at night but over time the doses were all equal. I followed my response to dose decreases when determining cuts. When I was very uncomfortable I held longer. My goal was to remain functional. I never felt good...but I was able to participate in a scaled down life.

    Once I got to .25 I was having more symptoms and decided to change to water tapering. I used 100 ml of water and one .25 mg tablet. Mrs has outlined her technique and is very articulate. Please look up her " how to " post on tapering. Again I followed my response to cuts. Holding when things got rough. It took me 8 months to taper .25 mg.

  I know I have not addressed your questions specifically but hope my account will help you make some decisions. I know you all hear " listen to your body" again and again. It is true. At the beginning of this process I just wanted off this blasted stuff. I quickly learned it was going to take time and I would do much better if I accepted that fact. Take it one day at a time.

  Best to you both. If you have further questions I will try to help. I can not provide fine details as I am not as sharp as I need to be accurate. Again, there is no right way. You can do this. You have already made good progress.

 

Warmly,

Carita

[[Tr...]]

VCharis; If you dry cut before, then you have a good understanding of how it's accomplished.

 

I'd take a .5 pill and break it in half along the score line. I'd take the two halves and use my pill cutter to cut those two pieces in half which yields four .125 doses. The initial break on the score line will most likely result in two slightly uneven "halves" so I'd separate the larger halves from the smaller halves. Same thing when using the pill cutter, you'll likely end up with two uneven halves. I saw this as a positive, not a negative. It allowed me to begin my cuts with the larger pieces for about five days to a week before switching to the smaller pieces. This gave me a small cut within a cut which definitely helped ease me forward. I'd cut enough pills for two weeks at a time. I believe it's easier to cut more at the beginning of your taper than towards the bottom, and given your current dose, I'd start with the .125 reduction and see how your body handles it.

 

The .25 pills are much easier to cut into small doses and you'd be wise to ask your doctor for these. My physician was very agreeable and this make the process much easier after my first two cuts. You'll use the same dry cutting process I outlined above, but you'll be able to easy make smaller cuts. If you can get these smaller .25 pills your taper will be much easier and smoother as you reduce your doses.

 

Given your current dose size and based on my own experience, If I was taking .5 Xanax twice a day, I'd initially remove .125 from one of my two doses, (that's only a 1/8 total daily reduction), let's say the morning dose, and see how it goes. Hold there for ten day to two weeks. I'd cut my nighttime dose next, and hold for ten days to two weeks. At this juncture, you'll benefit tremendously from cutting the smaller .25 pills into quarters and tapering slower, and I'd and cut my morning dose again.

 

Learn to listen to your body and you'll know when you're ready to cut and how much to cut. I didn't follow a rigid, set schedule, but rather one that worked for me. I wouldn't change anything about my taper and jump except maybe the first 50% reduction. That one hurt, but I managed and continued to move forward.

 

My belief is a long, protracted taper only serves to prolong the pain and suffering preventing true and  full healing. Others would disagree, and that's OK. As soon as you embrace that we're all different in how we handle the effects and deal with this withdrawal process, the better you'll deal with your own set of symptoms. You may be one of the lucky ones who has an easy time of this.

 

When i made a decision to stop taking Xanax, i was absolutely ready and fiercely determined. As such, I was somewhat aggressive in my tapering, so what works for me may not be best for you. I believe each person needs to gather the information they need, make a firm commitment, and then go for it. No matter which method you use and no matter how small your cuts, expect some level of discomfort at some point during your taper. Sorry, but it goes with the territory. Make a decision, plan a course of action, and do it!

 

If I can do this anyone can!

[[VC...]]

Thank you, Carita. Kind of you to share your experience while dealing with your own symptoms. I appreciate it and hope it helps Sameo and others.

 

This part interests me, particularly:

Initially I took more at night but over time the doses were all equal.

Carita, how did you shift from a larger bedtime dose to making all things equal? Do you remember? At what point/dosage...

 

Last year I dealt with one bedtime dose.  Simple enough. Went slow but was naive about interdose w/d, not recognizing symptoms (irregular heartbeats/adrenaline/BP surges) as possibly Xanax related. Maybe I'm the only one here dosing unequally --> 0.5mg at night and 0.125 during the day. I added those daytime doses, as suggested here, to help w/interdose w/d...and just keeping my dosing regular has helped, although still have sx when not sleeping or if upset.

 

TrueSouth: Thank you for your input. Appreciate it. So you cut a little off the daytime dose first, held it, then cut the bedtime dose next (and held it), then just repeat? That's what I'm trying to understand - the sequence. With liquid tapering, you just take off 1ml each day and divide up the doses for later, I think. Actually, I'm not taking 0.5mg twice a day - I'm dosing x3....wondering how to split the tiny 0.125 doses and when? I have 0.5mg tabs. If I get the 0.25mg filled, I won't have enough to work with and not sure about the doctor cooperating me beyond this point.

 

With my particular w/d symptoms, I don't want to go too fast, neither do I care to drag this out for a year. I like pill cutting but thought LT would be smoother on my CNS. My concern is that should any of my other health conditions land me in the hospital for whatever reason, the hospital sure as heck won't accommodate a liquid taper. Guess I shouldn't worry about that, but I'm not a spring chicken!

 

Congrats to you and Carita both on getting through your taper. Very encouraging!