First of all most of this is not true. Equivalency tables mean nothing, the Ashton method is a silly route to take, benzo's do have withdrawals and they are easy to come off unless you hve abused them. If anyone reading this is scared because of what they read on the internet, my advice is do not read the internet.
So, as with all things, if you have been using a chemical like the chemicals in benzo's to mask your anxiety then it depends how you got your anxiety to whether you will experience withdrawals and how bad, also depends on your situation at the time. If you have abused benzo's and you dont need them for anxiety then you shouldnt have taken them in the first place but if you did it is not a big problem unless you spend your days on blogs and reading on the internet.
Benzo's are incredible drugs, if you have some stress issues and need them for 2-4 weeks then you will experience no withdrawals at all, if you do then there is some underlying anxiety which requires you to combat it with CBT or with SSRI's, and SSRI's will be easy to taper when the time is right.
YOu do not taper by lowering the dose, it makes no sense, if your tolerant on 2mg/day on Xanax for example, its extremely rare your going to get a seizure withdrawing and it doesnt matter how long you've been on it.
If you have abused them and are at over 4mg/day then you need to taper first but you can taper quickly to 4mg/day.
Equivalency charts, do not look at them, they mean nothing. 5mg of Klonopin is not the same as 100mg of Diazepam, its completely wrong.
This is how you taper:
Firstly, you do not in any way do it when you are in a stressful period of your life if you have been using them for longer than 4 weeks, wait until a quieter time, if the doctors wont prescribe you and want you to go through hell instead, then get another doctor.
When you are in a quieter period (ie take a month off work and blame it on some other reason), you do not taper down your dose unless your on something ridiculous. instead you use a time method and a GABA drug. If for example you took a 0.5mg xanax at 6am, 12pm and 6pm, then you took 1.5mg a day for a year. You then take the same schedule once every two days for 3 months, then once every three days for 3 months and then your done. Tapering your dose doesnt work, you kep it constant in your system so as your tapering, your still building a tolerance (especially if you have a strong liver) and living with worse withdrawals as you taper.
Remember, the internet is the worst place for advice, it is filled with people who have bad experiences, the people who dont have bad experiences (99% of the population) dont go to a forum for help with other people also experiencing bad experiences.
If you take amphetimines, drink heavily etc whilst tapering, then forget it, and that doesnt mean you cant have a beer or two.
No one fails tapering if its done correctly, so the time related formula is what you want and on top of that take a gabapentin (900mg per dose up to 2 times a day always works) or a lyrica when you get that feeling, distract yourself and excercise. if you get a tingly feeling in your hands and feet then its called hyperventilating, take a brown paper bag and breath in and out into it 10 times or so.
Is tapering off benzo's harder than heroin? no. Harder then alchohol? no. But you have to do it properly and you have to discourage these people giving opinions about their own thoughts. Taper properly, be safe!
