Need help with Xanax taper

  :'( Is how i feel lol.

 

So, if getting divorced after 26 years aint hard enough, i wound up with some terrible insomnia and after trying every over counter med and sleep med my Dr. decided to prescribe me Xanax .5 every night for sleep. Yay! I finally fell asleep. Fast forward here it is two months later and im having all kinds of issues cropping up. Excessive anxiety during the day, anger issues, depression, things i never had before taking xanax. So i tell my dr. i want off, she tells me ahh just cut dose in half for a few weeks then go off it. Nope! im not that dumb. So i get ahold of an ND who says shes an xanax taper expert. Her big plan is to cut my dose in half every other night  (to .25)  for a month, (so one night .25, next night .5) then let her know when that happens and then well go from there. wtf? Maybe this is a good thing to do, but logically it doesnt really make sense to me. So i tried it, whats happening is days i take my regular dose at night i feel fine of course next day. Days i take .25 at night, well next day is filled with anxiety, muscle soreness, and a slight fluish feeling. Ok so what, i am suppose to then feel like that every other day for next month? How does her plan even make sense? I thought folks were suppose to take a cut, wait 2 weeks til your stable...then take a cut again. Her plan she said takes 8 weeks....i have no idea what shes got planned for the 2nd month (she said well be using .5 pills then)

 

Anyways, so i figure i need to take things into my own hands i guess. Prob is im getting prescribed only 15 1mg pills every month. Those are hard to split apart, i guess i could crush it into powder. My doctor will not prescribe me valium for a crossover...she wrinkled up her nose to that suggestion and said shed never heard of it (this is from the xanax taper expert). Sigh. So can someone please suggest a way for me to get off this stuff using 1MG pills (i take .5 at night) I can (next month) ask her to prescribe .5 pills? Thanks for any suggestions.

It looks to me like you have a greater understanding of this process than the medical professionals you're paying to help you!  The practice of taking the drug every other day as you've already figured out will leave you with a whip lash of symptoms, you could maybe get away with it taking a longer acting drug but we don't advise members do this. 

 

A Valium crossover can be helpful for some but many have successfully tapered directly from Xanax so I have no doubt you can too.  It would definitely help if you can get smaller tablets but are you wanting to start your taper now?  If so, it does look like you'll need to crush your pills and either weigh them or begin a liquid titration, Xanax comes in liquid form from the manufacturer as well.

 

If you don't want to go to the trouble of weighing your dose, some members are comfortable eyeballing the little piles.  How we conduct our tapers is a reflection of our personality, some members are fine with good enough, others need more precision.  Here are some Titration FAQ's.

 

 

Yes this is a stupid method of getting off benzos, maybe its worked for someone in her past but not for me. Im way too sensitive to meds to do that kind of taper. I am going to see if she will do the valium method and offer to send her documentation, if she says no well then i wasted my time going to this so called expert and her ego is worth more to her than her patients. I do know of another physician that might be willing to support me on a valium taper, it would prob take about 5 months stepping down from 10mg valium but thats only 2 months longer than my ND has proposed with this whacky xanax taper thats killing me.

I can see you're a strong advocate for yourself, I'm glad you know what you need. 

Unfortunately ive been through this before. About 10 years ago i was prescribed .5 for sleep which turned into a nightmare quick...within months i wound up taking more and more just to get rid of what i didnt know then was daily withdrawls because the Dr. had upped it to 1mg at night for me after a few months when .5 stopped working.  I did find a ND who was smart and got me on valium and a taper plan, although back then it was 30mg of valium to start so the taper took over a year. I was fine for 10 years after that...i really thought this time i could control the xanax, just take it "as needed" for the nights when i couldnt sleep. I had totally forgotten how xanax works, that for me xanax creates anxiety after a month or two during the day and stops working at night....my "as needed" quickly turned into every other night...then eventually every night. Now here i am again. Good news is i know i can beat it with valium taper, its a little rough but a heck of alot better than whats im going through now. I just need to find a Dr. that agrees with that plan. I finally after days of searching found the original Dr. that helped me 10 years ago....i put a call into her office this morning to get an appt setup. Hopefully she has room! Lesson learned, after this i now know there is no controlling xanax (at least for me) kind of like thinking an alcoholic can control how much he drinks (with bottles of alcohol all around).

I like your confidence, I hope you can get into see the new/old doctor.  These pills are pretty seductive, I can't have them in my house. 

If i cant find a Dr. that will work with me on a valium taper, what would be the recommended schedule tapering off of xanax at .5 a night? Shes currently prescribing me 1mg pills i just cut in half. I have no idea what to do for that. Is it the cut and hold method? trying to take 10 percent off every few weeks? I guess i dont understand how to take 10% off of a half a 1mg pill.

If you stay on Xanax you would either ask your doctor for a smaller pill as it's difficult to taper 1mg pills. You can then shave and weigh the pills or alternatively as Pamster explained, you can ask for liquid Xanax. You can do cut and hold with either liquid or pills.

Ok thank you. My ND emailed me back and said she would work with me on a valium taper, thats what i did 10 years ago and of course it wasnt some walk in the park but man these interdose withdrawls or whatever you call them are really hitting hard lately. Now i remember why i should never take xanax  you would think i would have learned. Its strange though, give me 10 years and its like i completely forgot how i fell into the trap. Once im done this time im going to have to treat xanax like a recovering alcoholic, there is no just having 1.

I'm glad you're having the Valium option.

 

Yes, I also don't think benzo's can be taken as needed. Once the brain is sensitized it just cannot manage benzo's again.

Im really hoping im not making a mistake here by switching to valium, it was so long ago that i did this exact same thing. Who knows how ill react this time, im in my 50s now and back then was in my early 40s. I do know that the switch over was not hard at all, but thats because the Dr. prescribed me way too high a dose to start off with (30mg) so i was basically on cloud 9 the first two to three weeks of transition, but i dont remember ever having any kind of withdrawls from the straight across cutover.  I do remember the cuts every two weeks though, they would hit around 3rd day after the cut and last about 24hrs...sometimes i would feel nothing...but other times i would feel terrible. If my memory is correct after that one cut week the following week id feel pretty normal. No ups and downs, not like xanax. Problem is i never get stable on xanax. There has not be one day where on xanax i take it at night, sleep good then next day wake up feeling good. Im up, down, all over the place with bad anxiety all day (that was not there before xanax) and crying, unstable, depressed as heck. I guess thats why im choosing valium, at least i can have some form of stability that way inbetween the cuts. Even if i was to do this taper the Dr. is suggesting with Xanax that would still keep me on it for 3 months, id rather do 5 months with valium. I know every cut is hard and adding an extra two months to the time sucks but with the way i react to xanax i really dont have a choice.

If you tolerated the Valium in the past there's a good chance you will again and you're smart to understand you may react differently this time. 

 

I notice you asked a question about cutting your Xanax pills, are you still contemplating staying on it?

If you tolerated the Valium in the past there's a good chance you will again and you're smart to understand you may react differently this time. 

 

I notice you asked a question about cutting your Xanax pills, are you still contemplating staying on it?

 

I keep wondering which way is the best to go, i know when i was doing the valium taper i told myself never again i should have just cut down on xanax and got it over with oppose to the year it took me to get off. So would at least like to see the options if i was to try to taper off .5 xanax what that would look like.

I understand and its good you're looking into all options.  It would be a good idea to ask your doctor for the .25 mg pills, it also comes in liquid form from the manufacturer so there's that option.  You can look at titration down the line if you need to make your taper even slower.  Titration FAQ's

Well so much for that, got the valium and tried it for two days...yeah i know thats not much time but it was terrible! Made me feel awful and i didnt sleep the whole time...reminded me of the valium feeling from 10 years ago, and i dont know what happ but my bodys saying no way, we arent going back there. So, Xanax taper it is. I need help figuring this out:

 

So i am stuck with 1MG xanax pills, i take .5 a night. My Dr. will not figure any of this out, and does not want to mess with prescribing me anything lower. I dont really like or understand her tapering method (take .25 every other night for a month?, thats a 50 percent cut every other day it makes no sense to me...if you do that for a month it sounds like a 25 percent taper over the month and going up and down)

 

I would like to basically break that .5 into 8 parts, and take out one part (1/8 of .5) once every 7 days if i can. If not then an eighth of that every 2 weeks until im out. I believe thats a 12% cut every one or two weeks, i know its over the 10 percent but im hoping i can do it.

 

I am terrible with math.

 

Completely confused, can someone help me figure out how to take a .5 pill (i can cut the 1MG pill in half) and somehow with a scale get it to where im taking out 1/8 of the .5 pill a night. I dont want to waste the extra powder either since my physician only gives me exactly enough for a month (15 1MG pills).

 

So im thinking crush a .5 amount of xanax into powder, put it on the scale weigh it..... then somehow take 1/8 away from the pile then thats what im taking for next week. How do you take away 1/8 of whatever that pile weighs?

I'm like you, not good with math so I've asked someone to drop by.  I'll keep an eye on this thread to make sure you get the help you need.

 

I agree with you that your doctors plan makes no sense, not to mention sounding extremely painful.

Dear spitfiremetalart,

 

Pamster and another member asked me to stop by.

 

I read all the messages in your post.

 

First a disclaimer - I am not giving you directions, just my opinion.  So I will speak frank but take it with a grain of salt.

 

First, I have read messages for years and your experience with the valium cross over is common.  Many people try it but it only seems to really help a few and many end up with more problems because they crossed over and now have a longer road.

 

Second, I have observed MANY TIMES, people on benzos can get off of them without too much trouble the first time they take them.  But when they go back on them, they often have troubles getting off the second time.

 

Third, you do not need to do your doctors plan but I want you to understand where they are coming from.  They have many patients and often the method your doctor suggested works because it is the first time getting off the benzo.  But you are a second time user and so you have the difficulty I mentioned in the above paragraph.  In addition, you doctor knows you have only been on xanax for a few months and so is doing a fast taper to get you off of it before you get more dependent.

 

All that said, I can help you with math and tapering.

 

Let me give you 3 slow tapers.  The first is best because if it works for you, it is a tiny change per day and simple.

 

Method 1 - watch this video.  I recommmend you first disolve the benzo with a few drops of vodka but that is up to you.

 

Method 2 - Use a scale.  Cut pill in half.  Weigh your 1/2 pill, scrap off some of the pill to get the right taper, eat what is left.  This isn't exact because the scales have trouble measuring light weights.  But if you want to try it, buy this scale and then we can do the math for your pill.

https://www.amazon.com/Smart-Weigh-Precision-Milligram-Calibration/dp/B011J88S8M/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1541012152&sr=8-1&keywords=Smart+Weigh+Premium+High+Precision+Digital+Milligram+Scale+with+Case%2C+Tweezers%2C+Calibration+Weights+and+Three+Weighing+Pans%2C+50+x+0.001g

 

Method 3 - this is extremely difficult and I only recommend it for people who have been on benzos for tens of years.  You can see a link in my signature but please try method 1 or 2 first.

 

Bob

 

 

 

 

 

Wow thanks Bob, honestly id just never heard of her method. She told me she believes in a slow taper, and that it would take me 2-3 months to get off these....I dont know what the 2nd month of her taper plan would be... she said we would be getting .5 pills next month to split up...guessing its .25 every day at that point. Who knows honestly not me. How long have i really been taking benzos again? I started back Aug 13th, my wife and i decided to get divorced and sell house and that night i didnt sleep a wink. The next night i took .5 to help me sleep. I KNOW i shouldnt be doing that but felt desperate. So from Aug 13th until about 3 weeks ago i would take a .5 at night then try to hold out as long as i could. My sleep was horrible as we sold the house and i moved into an apartment. I kept a journal and i would take it one night...go a few nights without....take it one night....go a few nights without...then take it for 3-4 times in a row...then go 5 days without. I was all over the board. If i counted how many times i took it though it would be like 20 out of 30 nights. I didnt start taking it every night consistently until 3 weeks ago. i want off this stuff badly, like everyone does. Maybe since ive only been taking it every night for 3 weeks and randomly for 3 months her method would work. I just dont get HOW it would work, maybe i should ask her.

I know it is hard to trust your doctor when there are so many conflicting points of view on this website about tapering.

Still, you doctor is saying the right things and if she is smart enough to switch you 0.5 mg pills for the next month, she is doing well.

Look, the problem most people have is they want to reduce symptoms so bad that they look for hope trying all kinds of things.  But in the end, we all have to pay our dues and take some level of issues and bad sleep to get out of this mess. 

There is no symptom free method of tapering unless you have a lucky brain or as I said, some people get one free pass (you can taper off benzos one time with little difficulty but the next time, it is so much harder).

 

At some point, you need to learn to control your anxiety naturally.  You have anxiety induced insomnia.  Once your are free of withdrawal, use hot baths before bed and try to reduce stress to let you sleep.  You could even do Zoloft which takes months to kick it but it will help with anxiety.  It gives me bad headaches but my brother has no symptoms.

 

 

I know it is hard to trust your doctor when there are so many conflicting points of view on this website about tapering.

Still, you doctor is saying the right things and if she is smart enough to switch you 0.5 mg pills for the next month, she is doing well.

Look, the problem most people have is they want to reduce symptoms so bad that they look for hope trying all kinds of things.  But in the end, we all have to pay our dues and take some level of issues and bad sleep to get out of this mess. 

There is no symptom free method of tapering unless you have a lucky brain or as I said, some people get one free pass (you can taper off benzos one time with little difficulty but the next time, it is so much harder).

 

At some point, you need to learn to control your anxiety naturally.  You have anxiety induced insomnia.  Once your are free of withdrawal, use hot baths before bed and try to reduce stress to let you sleep.  You could even do Zoloft which takes months to kick it but it will help with anxiety.  It gives me bad headaches but my brother has no symptoms.

 

Yeah your right, i went through this rodeo before. There is no easy way out. I remember when i was on valium 10 years ago thinking jesus why didnt you just taper straight from the xanax. It would have been hell but at least youd have been done in 3 months oppose to a year on valium. If i was to be honest with myself i only tried her way twice....and i didnt go in with the right mental attitude. I had it in my mind there was no way in hell it was going to work, even at that i think i self sabotaged myself both nights by drinking to make up for the .25 that i wasnt taking. Prob why i had bad nights sleep both times and anxiety next day. I appreciate your feedback, i sent her a message this morning asking her to explain to me the 2nd month of the taper all the way to out so i can see the big picture. Im not a "just do this and let me know when its done" type of person. Especially when it comes to this stuff. Its been a few months since divorce and im feeling pretty good at my new place, im settled in and took up meditation and have a good bed routine now...i feel if i wasnt on this stuff i could fall asleep now on my own hopefully. It is prob the best idea since i really havent been taking this stuff every night for very long to see if i can handle her method. She was a pharmacist for years and then worked in a drug rehab place for years and she seems like a rational person. Honestly id just never heard of her way of going about it. I think im going to give her way a try but give it 100 percent, knowing that yes ill run into issues but there is no way out of that. If it gets to be too crazy i can then talk to her about it. Thanks again.