Advice for getting off adderall Xanax klonopin w/o treatment

[thunderbeast]

Advice for getting off adderall, Xanax by myself
Ive been in recovery for years and was used to life sober for a long time. I started grad school and my doctor put me on adderall, which at first seemed miraculous. Now I?m abusing it, running out of my script early, and using more than I intended once I start. The Xanax I use to combat the anxiety from the adderall once I start to come down. I also sometimes take klonopin for sleep or if I run out of Xanax.
I can?t tell anyone I?m doing this. It would cause enormous damage in my life. I want to try to do it on my own. I just want to know what to expect from withdrawing, how to taper, how to deal with cravings, a timeline for tapering, and otc meds that can help soften the harshness of withdrawal symptoms. I have two kids and can?t sleep my life away. I have school as well. I can?t tell my husband it would ruin our marriage.
My daily intake of adderall is 30-60 msg
Daily Xanax is 2mgs
Klonopin is not daily but is 1 mg when taken
I?ve been using all regularly for 7 months
I know these aren?t crazy amounts but I still fear cold turkey would not be safe.
I?m looking for advice and support, even help coming up with a timeline for tapering, suggestions for decreasing side effects of withdrawal etc.
Please don?t bother with surrendering to the Lord. I am an Atheist. Not spiritual whatsoever. That approach just doesn?t quite work for me.
Thank you

 

[Jabberwocky]

I'm interested in hearing more about why you think you have been having trouble managing your amphetamine use. There is probably an unmet need or two related to not being able to keep that under control.

How long total have you been taking benzos now?

In terms of stopping amphetamines, that is pretty straight forward - stop taking them. You will probably have some fatigue and issues related to your mood for a while after you stop, but if you haven't been using them that long it shouldn't be too horrible. Cold turkey amphetamines is generally pretty safe. How much Adderall do you normally consume each day?

I'd work on discontinuing the amphetamines before you get into the benzos, just to keep things are straight forward as possible. You might also look into an antidepressant or another psych med (such as bupropion) to help you stabilize off amphetamines. OTC racetams, particularly piracetam, seem to help some people in your situation, but don't expect too much.

With the benzos, instead of taking your clonazepam while you discontinue amphetamines just save it up and only take alprazolam. Once you have a 1-3 months of not taking amphetamines I'd suggest you replace the alprazolam with clonazepam, as it will be a bit easier to taper. During the time you are discontinuing benzos just take your alprazolam as prescribed.

After you have some time off amphetamines and have replaced alprazolam with clonazepam, you can start tapering clonazepam slowly. Try a 10% dosage reduction once a week. Ideally you'd be able to switch to diazepam, but clonazepam works well for tapers too. Certainly better than alprazolam.

There are also other meds you can get from you doctor to help with coming off benzos. Gabapentin is helpful for some, baclofen for others, antidepressants for yet others. There are also meds like propranolol that can be helpful with anxiety. Likewise there are non-habit forming sleep meds that will probably be quite helpful. Even though I recommend working with your doctor to help you discontinue these meds, you could get the stuff I'm talking about even if you don't tell your doctor you're trying to stop taking amps/benzos.

I strongly encourage you to discuss what you're trying to accomplish (coming off amphetamines and benzos) with your medical professional. Unless you sign a waiver allowing them to, your doctors legally cannot discuss your treatment or medical condition with anyone else. So you could work with them and you're SO wouldn't have to know or anything.

Something else you might consider looking into is mindfulness based stress reduction or something similar. It is a non-religious/secular program that can be really quite helpful with anxiety, mood and addiction related issues. Definitely worth looking into, and if would probably help you remain grounded with all the stress of grad school. I can't begin to tell you how helpful learning how to meditation via mindful awareness has been in terms of my recovery and professional development.