Need serious help with Xanax taper

[[Buddie]]

Thank you  WS for this. I knew i was actually tapering too fast, no wonder I feel so messed up physically and emotionally.  Im in tears right now and no idea why. After i tried to get my profile sig done on where i started on this journey through hell and where I am now, the mgs are probably much less than I previously thought.  I know the script was originally written for 1 3xs a day..0.5 mg tabs. The doctor  increased the dose as my anxiety/panic attacks increased along with so many other things.

Its a long story but  i do want to get down slow, as im sick of waking up sick and feeling horrid every day since July. I think I  see your point on using a scale.  I need to get one.  The only other issue thats got me worried now is how this new doc of mine is going to respond to the information i give him regarding his rapid tapering and allowing me to lead this process in my own way, as symptoms dictate.  His way has actually messed me up in a bad way. Im getting too old for this crud. :/

Thanks  again  for the help and i am soooo glad i found this site. God Bless you all. ❤

[[Buddie]]

I’m grateful [...] dropped by, I told you I’m terrible at math! 

You’re going to be okay moojoo22m we’re going to help you through this, there is reason for hope because you’re not the only senior who has faced this and we recovered so you can too!

I’m out of town until tomorrow but wanted to log on to make sure you’re okay but I can see you’re in very good hands.  I’ll pop in when I get back but in the meantime, keep learning all you can so you won’t be so afraid and keep your eye on the prize which is freedom from these pills and the pain they cause.

[[Buddie]]

Thank you  WS for this. I knew i was actually tapering too fast, no wonder I feel so messed up physically and emotionally.  Im in tears right now and no idea why. After i tried to get my profile sig done on where i started on this journey through hell and where I am now, the mgs are probably much less than I previously thought.  I know the script was originally written for 1 3xs a day..0.5 mg tabs. The doctor  increased the dose as my anxiety/panic attacks increased along with so many other things.

Its a long story but  i do want to get down slow, as im sick of waking up sick and feeling horrid every day since July. I think I  see your point on using a scale.  I need to get one.  The only other issue thats got me worried now is how this new doc of mine is going to respond to the information i give him regarding his rapid tapering and allowing me to lead this process in my own way, as symptoms dictate.  His way has actually messed me up in a bad way. Im getting too old for this crud. :/

Thanks  again  for the help and i am soooo glad i found this site. God Bless you all. ❤

Hi [...]

You may or may not remember when I did your intro, I mentioned the Colorado Consortium Benzodiazepine Deprescribing Guidance Document and provided the link in that post. If you can print that document, circle section 3 (tapering principles) on page 2, your doctor can see how you would like to go about your taper. Just tell him that you just can’t function at all in your daily life at the taper rate he suggested and you need to follow a slower taper model. The tapering principles will explain the 5-10% monthly reductions, how it should be based on the patients tolerability, therefore guided by the patient, and also how those 5-10% reduction should decrease in weight to maintain then percentage as you taper down. I’m sure if your doctor could see that you’re unable to function on a day to day basis at the taper rate he has you on, he wouldn’t want you to suffer that kind of torment, so hopefully it will make sense to him to slow you down to a much more sensible taper rate, as they swear an oath to do no harm to their patients. Tell him you can no longer manage to make meals, shower, or take care of any daily chores on the current taper rate. He needs to hear how bad this taper is affecting your ability to care for yourself. You don’t have to tell hi/m his taper rate is wrong, you simply have to let him know that his taper plan is just too much and too fast for your system at your age, and show him the taper procedure in the CCBDG.

[[Buddie]]

Yes i did print out the CCBDG document and circled section 3 and i also found a pamphlet from the benzoinfo.com website,  Withdrawing Prescribed Benzodiazepine Patients.  It shows some critical points for clinicians on the second part of it. Also the fact that BIC has medical professionals on board, which he doesnt believe.  Also theres a QR code to download Dr Ashton's manual in pdf form.

Im wanting to go in next week with as much as i can muster and get this information out, hopefully encouraging him to get interested and involve as many other doctors in this clinic as im hoping he will. These doctors need to get on board. They need the education and knowledge for others that come after me, and God knows there are probably more. I abhor the thought of more unawares of people like me who go in to see a  doctor or psychiatrist and are prescribed any benzo medications, physicians are  definitely in need of better education in this area.  At least in areas of safer tapering/ desprescribing etc.

[[Buddie]]

Yes i did print out the CCBDG document and circled section 3 and i also found a pamphlet from the benzoinfo.com website,  Withdrawing Prescribed Benzodiazepine Patients.  It shows some critical points for clinicians on the second part of it. Also the fact that BIC has medical professionals on board, which he doesnt believe.  Also theres a QR code to download Dr Ashton's manual in pdf form.

Im wanting to go in next week with as much as i can muster and get this information out, hopefully encouraging him to get interested and involve as many other doctors in this clinic as im hoping he will. These doctors need to get on board. They need the education and knowledge for others that come after me, and God knows there are probably more. I abhor the thought of more unawares of people like me who go in to see a  doctor or psychiatrist and are prescribed any benzo medications, physicians are  definitely in need of better education in this area.  At least in areas of safer tapering/ desprescribing etc.

Great to hear, moojoo!

Let’s cross our fingers and hope that he’s ‘open’ and willing to jump aboard for the sake of all those patients who often blindly put so much trust in a doctors knowledge of these medications.

[[Buddie]]

Im getting nervous the closer Wed comes. Im trying to get my questions,  what have you, ready on paper , to ask him when i go.
Ive been seriously concerned how to approach him, since previous conversations with him ended in him doing all the talking and me trying to budge in whatever jumbled words i could . He started this ball rolling a few mths ago and with me being completely  caught off guard,  i really haven't been able to communicate how im feeling, or trying to understand whats happening.
Now that I've read all i can from the Ashton manual and so much more from benzoinfo along with benzoreform, i think ive gained so much more knowledge since this started.
Hes already ignored my pleas to slow down on my rapid taper,  assuming he is right by telling me ** withdrawals aren't happening with me, and that its just my being "" hyper- concentrated "" on the whole process.  He has no clue who Dr Heather Ashton is, which kind of surprises me because he went to medical school in the U.S.  and he began practicing there. I found this out from a couple people in the clinic and a family member who also has him as a their doctor.
I keep thinking about certain things he said to  me since July, e.g.  he didnt want me seeing a psychiatrist as , in his words, " they only prescribe the medications" , not much else. Now he wants me to see one since i got ticked off at him for ignoring my nervous , screwed up sentences explaining what rapid tapering does to the brain and body. Im suppose to be over reacting.  Which i know I am not. He made snide remarks about how i " managed to get down from 8 tablets a day to 6, and i didn't die!!! ". GAH!!

I always assumed physicians and psychiatrists etc, are always learning,  even after they graduate. Why do we have to  suffer so much before they get it? Im much older and wiser than he, and i swear, if he was my son i would crack him one upside his head.   

Sorry for the rant, i had to get that off my chest.

Hopefully he doesn't come across this site and figure out who this is,   

[[Buddie]]

You made me chuckle [...], but I know it's your frustration talking.  Do you have anyone who could go with you to your appointment, maybe he wouldn't be so dismissive if it were two against one.

I'm so impressed with how much you've learned but I can see that communicating it can be difficult, I had trouble forming words not to mention my thoughts were jumbled and cloudy.

I hope your nerves aren't making your symptoms worse.

[[Buddie]]

Unfortunately my husband is the only one I can take in with me but he would do more than crack him upside his head, LOL!

Ive no one else that understands this and yes I think my nerves are exacerbating the symptoms. I have been a bundle of nerves for weeks.
Its so bloody frustrating. But I am determined to hold this dose for a bit longer. I cant handle much more at my age. 

[[Buddie]]

Unfortunately my husband is the only one I can take in with me but he would do more than crack him upside his head, LOL!

Ive no one else that understands this and yes I think my nerves are exacerbating the symptoms. I have been a bundle of nerves for weeks.
Its so bloody frustrating. But I am determined to hold this dose for a bit longer. I cant handle much more at my age. 

Hi [...]

I agree with [...], and also appreciate your ability to find humour.

I’m wondering if you could show your husband all the points you want to make, possibly give him a copy of those points and ask him to step in, put those points forward to the doctor if you are thrown of kilter and feel overwhelmed. Pick out the important points and ask your husband to make sure he shuts the doctor down if he won’t allow you the space to talk (they love the sound of their own voices , and then get a couple of points across. I once went with my sister, and honestly, it was the only time the doctor didn’t try and dominate over me.

[[Buddie]]

I really do want my husband to come in with me and have him step in if I need him to, he knows that, but hes very impatient and already despises this doctor for all the pain he has caused me as well as the stress that we both feel at home and trying to get through all my bouncing mood swings. So I would really be making things worse by bringing him in with me. It would probably end up in disaster, which I am trying to avoid at all costs right now.
I have written all my valid points on paper that I stapled to the  CCBDG document.I figure if the doctor takes a minute to read it, he may get my points, hopefully.
I've gone over it all and am just praying he listens this time. Remember, all my other appointments were over the phone since I hadn't gotten my last Covid booster or flu shot yet so phone appointments were all I could muster. I now understand that an in office visit may produce more positive results.
I'm so bloody nervous right now and I'm not sure I will sleep much tonight. Thinking of all hes said to me these last few months is kind of giving me a lot of yammering in my head. "" what if he says that again, or what if he refuses to listen...again"??I just want to shut it all off. SO hard to do.
First thing I'm doing is handing him that paper. I'll wait and see if he bothers to read it. If he sets it aside, I'm going to ask him to please take a minute to read that document, since we will have 1/2 hr to go over it together. Fingers are crossed and so are my toes. Wish me luck , say a prayer or 2, whatever..I need all the mental and spiritual support I can get.