Benzos Help on weaning off of 2 months of Alprazolam (Xanax) & Etizolam usage.

[alesana95]

Hello, I am new here to the forum and this is my first post. It may be unnecessarily long so I did put a TL;DR: at the end.

For this post I am going to assume the .5mg of Alprazolam is equivalent to 1mg of Etizolam, as that is what I have experienced. Recently I haven't been taking the Etizolam as much, just Alprazolam. I started with about 1mg of Alprazolam a day (or 1mg of Etizolam and .5mg of Alprazolam at night to sleep, depending on my mood). At this point I am taking about 2mg of Alprazolam a day (or 1mg of Alprazolam and 2mg of Etizolam depending on my mood).

It's only been 8 weeks, so I was considering stopping cold turkey as it doesn't seem like my addiction could be too bad. However, I am starting my work in 4 days so I don't think I have time to go through the withdrawal symptoms and rebound anxiety and still perform my functions of my job.

My question is, what would be the best way to wean off of this? I am going to run out of both very shortly, so a visit to a doctor is necessary.

I am looking at http://www.benzo.org.uk/manual/bzsched.htm and I see quite a lot of options, but it seems like this is more for people who have been taking benzos much more long term than me. I am thinking (and hoping) I can wean off of this addiction much quicker. I see that in all the plans, it starts with slowly switching from Alprazolam to Diazepam. Would I experience any withdrawal symptoms if I went from one day taking 2mg of Alprazolam and the next 40mg of Diazepam? If so, I am thinking of starting with 40mg of Diazepam a day, and every week going down 10mg. That way I could wean off of it in one month, which seems to me reasonable as I have only been taking it for 2 months. However I am in no an expert so I have no idea if this would be possible without experiencing withdrawal symptoms.

Any advice on any plans of weaning off or any tips would be greatly appreciated.

TL;DR: I've been taking Alprazolam daily for 2 months. Currently I'm taking on average 2mg of Alprazolam a day. Would I experience any withdrawal symptoms if I switch to 40mg of Diazepam a day and reduce my dosage by 10mg every week? If so, what would be the best way to wean off of this short term addiction?

 

[Methacodone]

2 months isn't too long, you'll still be uncomfortable, but I doubt there's any seizure risk for a 2mg/2month Xanax binge.

40mg of DIAZEPAM is TOO much for you.

If you want to taper using diazepam you should start at 20mg, and taper off from there.

This is what you should do..

Day 1- 20mg/Diazepam
Day 2/3 - same
Day 4- 15mg/Diazepam
etc..

Go down 5mg from 20mg of diazepam every 3 days.

2 months isn't long at all...you don't want to go any further than that though, because Xanax w/d can be ugly and or life threatening if taken larger doses for a longer period of time.

 

[AlphaOdure]

Ditch the crutch. You don't need that month long taper. I was dependent on 225mg/day of etizolam.. Was hospitalized for a month and discharged with a stabilization regimen of 6mg/daily lorazepam.

But once i was finally comfortable on that I dropped 0.5mg every 2-3 days with absolutely zero discomfort aside from a bit of anxiety. Nothing major. I used to be a huge proponent of the Ashton method and of 10% dose reductions but that is entirely unneeded IMO. So much of it is mental.

I mean hell if I could do it at 225mg/day etizolam anyone in the world can do it. And you can do it. but do it NOW. Before you experience the delirium tremens I did, the PTSD I dealt with daily from the trauma of these DTs, the constant anhedonia, the lack of motivation or feelings of any sort of energy, or the PAWs or the depression.

You're at a crossroads man. It is only going to get harder to quit in the future... With more physical characteristics... That crutch will become even more engrained and integral to your every being and function.

The risk of becoming further dependent is so.. SOO.. Much more of a deterrent than having to work a few days with some anxiety here. Because another few weeks or months down the line you'll likely be dealing with those same levels of anxiety (from rebound anxiety), at work, WHILE even on the same or elevated alprazolam doses.. Then what are you going to do? Increase your dose. And no one can stay high or sedated/anxiolyticated (if that's a word) 24/7.

Oh, and ditch the the etizolam.. Can increase prolactin levels and make you lactate.

 

[TheRapperGoneBad]

I was takin up to 50 mgs valium or anywhere up to 10 mgs of xanax for a a couple months solid daily dosing.

Then my stash was trashed an I had to cold turkey it, defo some time where I thought I might have a seizure but it didn't happen.

Was fairly uncomfortable the whole time but it's been 3 er so months an im benzo free.

The post above mine is full of great info.
do you trust your self to stick on a taper?
And why draw out any bad effects by stretching your habit.

 

[Tii]

Taper off them, benzo's are not meant for daily use. I'm 19 with an RX for 6mg of xanax a day a long with 12mg of bupe and 30mg of zolpidiem... Something I'm not proud of and it disgusts me. Iv'e been taking benzo's on and off since 16.

 

[Scarfo]

A switch to diazepam might not be necessary. I was in a similar boat to you not too long ago. I got my doctor to prescribe me a non-benzo sleep aid (ask about interactions obviously) and each week I'd shave a little bit off of one of my 3x daily doses of etizolam. Eventually, I was done to one dose which I started doing every other week and then stopped. Since you've only been doing it for 2 months, you might be able to drop faster.

Be sure to clear your taper with doctor since they'll have all of your relevant medical history and know-how to make sure you do it safely.

Good luck!