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  • BDD Moderators: Keif’ Richards

Taking 12mg of Xanax a day...looking for a way to get off!!!

L

Lambo123

Greenlighter
Joined
Apr 5, 2009
Messages
5
Location
Eastern Pennsylvania
I know i know, another "i dug myself a hole now how do i get out" thread. My apologies in advance. I've been taking on average 12mg of xanax a day. Obviously it started at 1mg recreationally and went up and up and up. I take 8mg during the day then 4mg to go to sleep. I honestly could take 18 of these things at once and still be able to function normally. I've been buying them off the street obviously and it's so hard for me not to just go to a script doctor in Philly (there's plenty) and tell him i'm having panic attacks just so i can get a script of these things because it's killing all my money. But i DO want to stop taking these. It's affecting my memory, speech, and overall motivation. If anyone that is or was taking a high dosage like i am please chime in on how you tapered down off of them. I tried cutting down by half and felt the anxiety and got no sleep. I need help badly...any advice appreciated! -Chris
 
maybe you should just try cutting back 2mg at a time maybe like 10mg a day for a while then 8mg and so on cutting in half is pretty drastic on a dose thats 2x what any sane dr would prescribe. i wish you luck benzo w/d is hell
 
Read the Ashton manual, written by Prof Ashton who is a leading professor on Benzodiazepine withdrawals

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

Best to take the time to read all of it, but Chapter 2 will tell you about how to withdraw from long term use at high doses and Chapter 3 will give you tapering schedules to follow.
 
at that dose you won't sleep much for at least a month like two days awake one nights sleep and you're gonna feel unbearable anxiety i got down from 12mg (prescribed) to 3mg daily (also prescribed)
 
I use the xanax bars at the moment.but i try to not use too much.
i was supposed to taper off benzo's with clonazepam but ended up buying xanax.
so I'm pretty fucked too right now.
I have plenty of clonazepam to taper off with when that time comes.

they use clonazepam to wean patients off xanax in the hospital.

do not stop cold turkey.

much love and good luck.I feel your pain.
 
Go slow. Don't rush it. I used to binge on xanax...I'd take#90 in a 3-day period. When I ran out..O.M.G. I got this splitting headache that felt like my brain was bleeding, vomtting every time I moved, chills...and yes, rebound anxiety on top of it all. You've made up your mind your're stopping, read the manual, take your time. I'm doing the same w H right now. I have two more days of using...then meds...it's drained and draining my money. HAVE TO stop. I wish you the best.
 
switch over to klonopin immediatelty, its half life will hold you over, they are 1mg=1mg equivalent, i honestly think in my opinion if you take 8mg klonopin daily that woulld be enough to stop xanax 12mg withdrawl and u can start there and cut down. if you GENUINELY are having withdrawl issues taking 8mg, try 9mg, and so on. klonopin really is a powerful benzo, you really only need to take it 2x a day, but try taking it however u want daily. When my dad was on Xanax 8mg daily, he switched over to Klonopin 9mg daily and had no withdrawl issues at all, he told me 4mg of klonopin held him over verse 4 bars a day...my opinion and experience
 
I agree with going slow to get off it. I've tried a few different ways and halving the dose still leaves quite a bit of withdrawal symptoms (hadn't tried klonopin). In the one week I spent hitting the brakes none of that half dose was taken during the day it was all taken at night to sleep which was obviously the only way I was going to get any sleep. Instead of half try 9mg (3/4), then 6mg (1/2), then 3mg (1/4) over a couple weeks.
 
it's going to take along time to taper, so remember- do it slowly and patiently, and do not mess up your taper. going down 1mg a week is what i reccommend, if not 0.5mg i would do, but i sgtrongly encourage you switch to klonopin, you don't have to worry how much klonopin you need to take to equal your xanax dose as they are MG to MG equivalent in strength, as i said you could probably get away with 8-10mg klonopin daily if you were taking 12mg xanax daily...switch to klonopin, take it in the AM and Evening, or you can take a mid day dose. start with 5mg klonopin AM, 1mg afternoon, 5mg evening for 1 week. and just reduce 1mg each week. or just try 5mg AM, 5mg evening...you may get away with it
 
First off dude, if you were to go the doctor route... they would start you on .25 or .5 4 times daily, no where near your habit.
You have to come clean about buying them off the grid, which would then compromise you, I think if you were really honest and sincere, a cool doc might take pity. But would then he would have to explain to the powers that be why you are being started on a 12mg daily dose,, LOL.
You have to taper, 10 percent bi-weekly. I am also on 10 mg of xanax, along with Valium.
You could go cold, but your in for HELL, no where near narco withdrawal... but possibly the closest thing to it.

Why didn't you just get them legit in the first place man, they are pretty easy to get a script for.
 
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I have heard gabapentin help with benzo wd's... you might want to look into it.. just throwing it out there.
 
Just had a look on your profile and you've not been online since you created this thread so I hope you're coping well.

If you do happen to pop back on BL, I really do recommend that you see a doc, just come clean, be honest and get the help you need.

You wont be the first and you certainly wont be the last... Their job is to help you, not punish you.
 
I was up to four bars a day and more......I went into IP to help with the DXM abuse but what I got was them taking me off all my meds including xanax and making me suffer severe pain and withdraws until I got out and started taking .5 here and there.....Then I spoke to my pdoc about getting off of them and turning back to klonopin......It worked and I have no desire to take xanax even to feel a buzz because the feeling of it reminds me of the torment I went thru. Sometimes we have to go thru extreme measures to see how a medication is really making us worse.
 
you need to see a doctor. get switched over to an equipotent dose of diazepam or clonazepam and taper from there. then you might want to discuss gabapentin or pregabalin with your doctor to help you cope with the withdrawal symptoms.

all the best.
 
That is certainly a heavy dose of Xanax. Might I ask how long you have been on this dose and how long you have been taking Xanax in general? You received a lot of good advice here, Ashton manual, switch to a longer acting benzo etc. I have come off benzos a few times, the slow taper worked best. I once checked in to a detox for an 8 mg Xanax habit and it was a complete nightmare. I was given phenobarbital which works great, but I was cut off and sent packing after 6 days. I would also avoid alcohol and caffeine during your taper. Best of luck to you, God bless.
 
Groundhogdayagain said:
That is certainly a heavy dose of Xanax. Might I ask how long you have been on this dose and how long you have been taking Xanax in general? You received a lot of good advice here, Ashton manual, switch to a longer acting benzo etc. I have come off benzos a few times, the slow taper worked best. I once checked in to a detox for an 8 mg Xanax habit and it was a complete nightmare. I was given phenobarbital which works great, but I was cut off and sent packing after 6 days. I would also avoid alcohol and caffeine during your taper. Best of luck to you, God bless.
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Yes detox from xanax is a nightmare. Gabapentin works great for withdraws.....But I need a lot to help me thru and eventually I will start to feel the withdraws at sometime but, it's better then nothing.
 
yo my boy was on alot of mg like that and when they reduced him a few mg's he started having sezuirs....no joke im prescribed them for sleep but when 1-2 mg dont work well I stop taking and do breathing exercises cuz xanax is the best for sleep so find other ways to fill in the gaps to reduce your daily intake.....be safe
 
Thanks for sharing your situation -- this type of help is one of the main reasons I joined BL. It looks like there was a lot of great advice given.

I'm in a similar situation but on a lesser dosage... I'm currently averaging about 2-3mg a day and even at that clip whenever I've tried going cold turkey its been awful. I can feel my tolerance increasing and I need to cut this out of my life before it gets worse. Is tapering my best bet here? I get the bars off the streets so I'm not sure if I could get kpins to try that approach
 
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