DreamofWinter
Bluelighter
- Joined
- Mar 29, 2024
- Messages
- 45
So I got prescribed Xanax to get me through a very rough patch in mid to late February. The doctor initially suggested 1mg a day, split into morning and evening doses. After keeping in touch and talking about things, we agreed that 1.5mg a day, split into morning, afternoon, and evening doses would be better for me. It was.
A few weeks in I had another call with the doctor and asked for a repeat of what I had originally got. It was helpful for me and I was still going through difficult personal stuff. The doctor agreed, but said that 2 months should be the maximum. I stayed more or less on the 1.5mg per day (when averaged out). Some days I used less, if I was feeling good and life around me was calm. Some days I used up to 2mg. One day I think I took 3.5mg, but I didn't keep note of it, so I'm not sure how much I took exactly.
Getting to 6 or 7 weeks in, after asking here about tapering advice (that I didn't follow), I finally spoke to the doctor again, and I was advised to start a taper. It wouldn't take long, according to my doctor, and we'd play it according to my response to the taper. I started the taper perhaps a week later than planned, because I didn't want to stop.
The first day I went down from 1.75mg the day before to 1.25mg. I stayed on that for 4 days. The next day I went for a bike ride with some friends in the morning and forgot my morning dose. I felt fine, so I skipped it. Then time for afternoon dose came, and I still felt absolutely fine, so I decided to skip that again to see what happened. It was totally fine. So I had made the sudden jump from 1.25mg to 0.5mg.
I stayed on that for six days in total, monitoring my symptoms along the way. Blood pressure and heart rate were stable, and actually even improved slightly. I had no physical symptoms other than a very mild headache, which I didn't need to take any painkiller for; it was just there in the background. Psychological symptoms over those days were mildly negative. My mood was quite low, especially on the 5th and 6th days. I wouldn't call it depression, but I was just grumpy with the world. I had some low level anxiety that came and went, but it's comparable to what I felt before Xanax as my baseline anxiety. It was slightly exacerbated by my constant reading of withdrawal experiences and getting myself stressed out about that.
After six days I went to 0.25mg, waiting 24 hours between my previous dose and that one. It was fine. Mostly I was feeling down about having to stop, because I really liked how Xanax turned the volume down on the world, and all but stopped my overthinking. I had slight difficulty falling asleep, and that's about it. On the forth day of 0.25mg (I was taking it of an evening, right before bed) I noticed that I had lost a sheet (or however you call it) of ten 0.5mg pills. I managed to get in touch with my doctor and told her this. I requested a prescription for some 0.25mg pills. She refused. I guess she didn't believe me that I'd lost the other pills and was more thinking that I didn't want to stop. She said that I'd responded well, and things were looking positive for me to stop. I could take a few more days at 0.125mg if I wanted to be conservative, or I could just stop. My total use time without tapering was around seven weeks, and the taper time was around three weeks, give or take (the first week I went down a day and then back up the next, because I just didn't want to stop).
When 24 hours had passed since my last 0.25mg dose, I was considering the 0.125mg dose before bed, but I felt just fine. Apart from being a little off during the 0.5mg part of the taper, pretty much nothing changed other than slowly returning to 'normal'. I decided to skip that dose and see how the night went. I had a bit of trouble falling asleep, but slept well after that. The next morning, again I felt just fine. Now it's been close to 48 hours since my last dose of 0.25mg and there are no noticeable changes. And I'm a hypochondriac, so I generally monitor my own body and any potential symptoms very closely at the best of times.
A couple of things that might be worth noting: I'm a heavy smoker, and I've read that this can lower the absorption of Xanax by up to 50% and also speed up the metabolism of Xanax by up to 50%. Before taking Xanax I had tinnitus, which manifested itself as a low level hissing in my ears. I've had it since childhood. Xanax made that disappear completely, and since starting my taper, it has returned to the way it was.
I don't drink or use any other drugs or medication. I spent two/three years as a functioning alcoholic, then about a month or so as a no-so-functioning one. I quit drinking by using a taper method for alcohol and that was possibly the worst experience of my life. I was offered meds to get through that, but refused and lived through about 2 weeks of solid hell. Looking back now, I could have died and should have checked into a hospital, but I opted to either stay in bed, or walk constantly. The anxiety coming off alcohol was the most intense, nightmarish thing I've ever experienced and walking helped slightly. For a couple of weeks I was walking around 50,000 steps a day, while unable to eat. I think I lost close to 10kg in those two weeks alone. That experience is why I was a bit more careful during this Xanax taper, and really listened to my body. It's also why I didn't push my doctor to give me more, because I enjoyed Xanax so much, I could have easily gone down the path of a life dominated by it.
As it stands now, I'm entering into the third day without Xanax. I have 0.25mg with me at all times, just in case, but I haven't gotten close to feeling the need to take it as of yet. I'm considering taking that last dose before bed this evening, or splitting it into a 0.125mg dose this evening, and one more tomorrow evening. just before I fly off on holiday. My doctor is in another part of the country from me, and I can't get a doctor's note in time to take the other Xanax pills with me, should I find them. My thinking with it is that while I'm away, if I do start to feel bad, then I'll either visit a local doctor, show them my old prescription and ask them to prescribe me a low dose, or to have a beer (which seems like a silly option, considering my history with the drink). Or to just ride out any unpleasant symptoms, by overeating, swimming, and some long walks.
I will edit and update this when a full week has passed since my last dose.
Edit:
Day three of no Xanax. It has been around 60 hours since my last dose of 0.25mg, and I still feel the same. Quite tired, but I've been falling asleep around midnight (which is two hours later than usual) and waking up at around 6 (which is normal). I have some cold-like symptoms, but so does my partner, so I suspect this is actually a mild cold that I've caught at the same time.
I have some anxiety, but that is related more to flying today. I have a phobia of airports.
A few weeks in I had another call with the doctor and asked for a repeat of what I had originally got. It was helpful for me and I was still going through difficult personal stuff. The doctor agreed, but said that 2 months should be the maximum. I stayed more or less on the 1.5mg per day (when averaged out). Some days I used less, if I was feeling good and life around me was calm. Some days I used up to 2mg. One day I think I took 3.5mg, but I didn't keep note of it, so I'm not sure how much I took exactly.
Getting to 6 or 7 weeks in, after asking here about tapering advice (that I didn't follow), I finally spoke to the doctor again, and I was advised to start a taper. It wouldn't take long, according to my doctor, and we'd play it according to my response to the taper. I started the taper perhaps a week later than planned, because I didn't want to stop.
The first day I went down from 1.75mg the day before to 1.25mg. I stayed on that for 4 days. The next day I went for a bike ride with some friends in the morning and forgot my morning dose. I felt fine, so I skipped it. Then time for afternoon dose came, and I still felt absolutely fine, so I decided to skip that again to see what happened. It was totally fine. So I had made the sudden jump from 1.25mg to 0.5mg.
I stayed on that for six days in total, monitoring my symptoms along the way. Blood pressure and heart rate were stable, and actually even improved slightly. I had no physical symptoms other than a very mild headache, which I didn't need to take any painkiller for; it was just there in the background. Psychological symptoms over those days were mildly negative. My mood was quite low, especially on the 5th and 6th days. I wouldn't call it depression, but I was just grumpy with the world. I had some low level anxiety that came and went, but it's comparable to what I felt before Xanax as my baseline anxiety. It was slightly exacerbated by my constant reading of withdrawal experiences and getting myself stressed out about that.
After six days I went to 0.25mg, waiting 24 hours between my previous dose and that one. It was fine. Mostly I was feeling down about having to stop, because I really liked how Xanax turned the volume down on the world, and all but stopped my overthinking. I had slight difficulty falling asleep, and that's about it. On the forth day of 0.25mg (I was taking it of an evening, right before bed) I noticed that I had lost a sheet (or however you call it) of ten 0.5mg pills. I managed to get in touch with my doctor and told her this. I requested a prescription for some 0.25mg pills. She refused. I guess she didn't believe me that I'd lost the other pills and was more thinking that I didn't want to stop. She said that I'd responded well, and things were looking positive for me to stop. I could take a few more days at 0.125mg if I wanted to be conservative, or I could just stop. My total use time without tapering was around seven weeks, and the taper time was around three weeks, give or take (the first week I went down a day and then back up the next, because I just didn't want to stop).
When 24 hours had passed since my last 0.25mg dose, I was considering the 0.125mg dose before bed, but I felt just fine. Apart from being a little off during the 0.5mg part of the taper, pretty much nothing changed other than slowly returning to 'normal'. I decided to skip that dose and see how the night went. I had a bit of trouble falling asleep, but slept well after that. The next morning, again I felt just fine. Now it's been close to 48 hours since my last dose of 0.25mg and there are no noticeable changes. And I'm a hypochondriac, so I generally monitor my own body and any potential symptoms very closely at the best of times.
A couple of things that might be worth noting: I'm a heavy smoker, and I've read that this can lower the absorption of Xanax by up to 50% and also speed up the metabolism of Xanax by up to 50%. Before taking Xanax I had tinnitus, which manifested itself as a low level hissing in my ears. I've had it since childhood. Xanax made that disappear completely, and since starting my taper, it has returned to the way it was.
I don't drink or use any other drugs or medication. I spent two/three years as a functioning alcoholic, then about a month or so as a no-so-functioning one. I quit drinking by using a taper method for alcohol and that was possibly the worst experience of my life. I was offered meds to get through that, but refused and lived through about 2 weeks of solid hell. Looking back now, I could have died and should have checked into a hospital, but I opted to either stay in bed, or walk constantly. The anxiety coming off alcohol was the most intense, nightmarish thing I've ever experienced and walking helped slightly. For a couple of weeks I was walking around 50,000 steps a day, while unable to eat. I think I lost close to 10kg in those two weeks alone. That experience is why I was a bit more careful during this Xanax taper, and really listened to my body. It's also why I didn't push my doctor to give me more, because I enjoyed Xanax so much, I could have easily gone down the path of a life dominated by it.
As it stands now, I'm entering into the third day without Xanax. I have 0.25mg with me at all times, just in case, but I haven't gotten close to feeling the need to take it as of yet. I'm considering taking that last dose before bed this evening, or splitting it into a 0.125mg dose this evening, and one more tomorrow evening. just before I fly off on holiday. My doctor is in another part of the country from me, and I can't get a doctor's note in time to take the other Xanax pills with me, should I find them. My thinking with it is that while I'm away, if I do start to feel bad, then I'll either visit a local doctor, show them my old prescription and ask them to prescribe me a low dose, or to have a beer (which seems like a silly option, considering my history with the drink). Or to just ride out any unpleasant symptoms, by overeating, swimming, and some long walks.
I will edit and update this when a full week has passed since my last dose.
Edit:
Day three of no Xanax. It has been around 60 hours since my last dose of 0.25mg, and I still feel the same. Quite tired, but I've been falling asleep around midnight (which is two hours later than usual) and waking up at around 6 (which is normal). I have some cold-like symptoms, but so does my partner, so I suspect this is actually a mild cold that I've caught at the same time.
I have some anxiety, but that is related more to flying today. I have a phobia of airports.
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