Benzos Xanax taper schedule

[budsnbars712]

I have been on xanax for about 3 plus years now. I began tapering off of 2.5 mg to a quick 2.0 mg drop which was horrible....thought I was going to have a mental breakdown (in combination with my lifestyle right now)..

I stayed on 2.0 mg's for a full month and then agreed with my doctor to try and taper more.....Each dose is 4 mg's 2 times a day. My doctor suggested the regimen of taking .25 away from one dose from the day each week. So this is what my schedule looks like.....

Week 1: 8 am - .5mg, 12 pm - .5mg, 4 pm - .25mg, 8 pm - .5 = 1.75mg total

Week 2: 8 am - .5mg, 12 pm - .25mg, 4 pm - .25mg, 8 pm - .5 = 1.5mg total

Week 3: 8 am - .5mg, 12 pm - .25mg, 4 pm - .25 mg, 8 pm - .25 = 1.25mg total

Week 4: 8 am - .25 mg, 12 pm - .25mg, 4 pm - .25mg, 8 pm - .25 = 1.00 total

This schedule is a month long and obviously I will still be one 1.0 mg but this is what my doctor (General Physician) wants me to try until I see him at the end of week 4. I hear that you should only lower the dose by .25 mg every TWO weeks...and I also hear that it is highly recommended to switch to a longer acting benzo (which I did suggest to my doctor, but he is a General Physician who does not specialize in this and wants me to try to wean off of xanax by itself).

Now for about the past year I have been suffering through tolerance withdrawal everyday, as I binged randomly and also never upped my dosage continuously, which is needed with such a short acting benzo....So i basically have been going thru withdrawal for a full year. Every morning I wake up hating life (I always had a hard time dealing with mornings as I suffer from major depression) but these pills make it way worse..Almost to the point of not wanting to live and having no hope. I hear this is rebound anxiety, but who knows....it could just be my depression flaring up.

I already finished week 1 of this taper and am now on week 2. Instead of taking the 1.5mg's like recommended (split between 4 times a day), I decided to take .5 three times a day with bigger time intervals in between..Idk know if that is a good or bad idea....I do not know if this taper schedule is too much. I also hear that you need to be in a good "mindframe" to beat this dependency...and this I am not. I am in a very bad mindframe, as I overreact about everything and just in a bad spot in my life from a long time relationship ending. But I also do not feel like I can stay on xanax any longer as I am a mess all the time because of the ups and downs it gives me...not to mention I feel like a drug addict...any help for any these things I listed would be appreciated.

 

[crazycatman]

http://www.benzo.org.uk/manual/

 

[budsnbars712]

I am already aware of the ashton manual...Veryyy aware...I am looking for personal experiences and views.

 

[crazycatman]

Well personally I think that Xanax has a half-life that's too short (harder to make stable blood levels) and comes in too big pills (problem near the end when you need really tiny doses) to taper successfully. But I've never been addicted to Xanax so this isn't really a personal experience.

With etizolam (after bingeing on it for a couple of months) I'd just drop my dose to 4mg before bed and lower it by 0.5mg every 3-5 days and it worked perfectly. But as far as I've read etizolam is one of the more forgiving ones as far as withdrawal goes.

 

[Znegative]

Well personally I think that Xanax has a half-life that's too short (harder to make stable blood levels)

I definitely agree with this. Using Xanax to taper is like a heroin addict using heroin to taper. I don't say that to accuse you of being an addict, but because physical dependency can (and will, if the a habit forming substance is taken long enough at high enough dosages) occur in people who take medication as prescribed. Heroin users almost always use long acting opiates (such as Buprenorphine or Methadone) to kick their addiction because long acting drugs leave the system at a much slower rate, so that even when it's time to drop the long acting drug, it is still in the individuals body for few days (or in some cases, WEEKS)! The philosophy is that while withdrawal symptoms will still be experienced, the'll be more subtle-though also longer.

With a Benzodiazepine habit, you really cannot taper down with Xanax/Alprazolam. For one, it's way too short acting (as I already mentioned). Not only that, but Alprazolam is also considerably more psychologically addictive too...and finally, as you said yourself, the pill are too big, and liquid measurement is out of the question unless you have propylene glycol on hand (if you were to taper using Xanax, I would say the only way you could do it would be by making a liquid solution of say 1mg/mL, and then dropping your dose by incredibly small increments every other day). Instead, tell your doctor that you wish to be switched to either Diazepam/Valium, or if he objects for some reason, than Clonazepam/Klonopin. Diazepam is the best choice because like Alprazolam/Xanax, it is rapidly absorbed (and efficiently at that), and it's half life is around 1-3 days, but it's active metabolite, desmethyldiazepam/Nordiazepam has a half life of about 5 days (however it takes a few days of taking Valium to achieve steady plasma concentrations) Source 1http://www.mayomedicallaboratories.com/interpretive-guide/?alpha=D&unit_code=8629http://www.mayomedicallaboratories.com/interpretive-guide/?alpha=D&unit_code=8629.

Clonazepam is not as long lasting (20-80 hours, Source 2), but on the bright size, it's easier to find a dosage that makes one feel stable, as it is basically just as potent as Alprazolam.

The way to use Clonazepam the best is as follows-Say you use 6mg of Xanax a day (this is hypothetical), you take 2mg in the morning, afternoon, and the final 2mg right before bed. While you take 2mg of Xanax/Alprazolam 3 times a day, if you switched to Clonazepam, you could probably cut your dose in half, taking 2mg in the morning, and 1mg before bed. Perhaps the first day you could take 2mg in the morning and 2mg at night, but taking anymore shouldn't be needed. The reason for this is because Clonazepam sticks around your system far longer than Xanax does, which is why most people can dose once, or, at most, twice a day. It's basically like imagining that the first 2mg dose of Xanax in the morning lasted all day-that's Clonazepam (though I must say, Alprazolam is a far better Anxiolytic).

Whatever way you choose to go though, it's important that when you do decrease your dosage, you wait at least two weeks to stabilize on it. I really wish you the best of luck, I've been struggling with benzodiazepines a LOT this year, and I know how hard it can be. I've been on one Benzo or another, at fluctuating dosages for over three years now, and it's a very tough thing. But it can be done.

 

[budsnbars712]

Damn, I am really looking to just stay on the xanax and taper...I am trying to make an appointment with a psychiatrist who would be more familiar with this kinda thing, then my General Physician is...Maybe they will be willing to switch me to valium (even though I do not want to have to use ANOTHER drug). I am on 1.5 mg a day right now and I seem to be ok....but this is only day 3 of week 2. I was on 3 mg's at one point, but I do believe like I said in the start of the thread that I am constantly suffering from withdrawal (tolerance withdrawal, rebound anxiety) and just do not recognize it because I have been on a constant up and down roller-coaster for the past 3 years..Also what about being in the right "mindframe". If someone can touch on that, which I also explained in the opener, that would be great...

 

[budsnbars712]

Has anyone successfully EVER in the ENTIRE WORLD ever gotten off of xanax by itself?!!!!

 

[brutus]

^ I know several people IRL that have done just that.

 

[shreddedlettuce]

Has anyone successfully EVER in the ENTIRE WORLD ever gotten off of xanax by itself?!!!!

Not sure.
I used Diazepam and it was surprisingly easy.