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Need serious help with Xanax taper


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Thank you WS , I will try that again when i see him in January.  Not much else i can do until then,but i am going to remain at 3mg daily for now.

 

I believe I'm tapering much too quickly or trying to satisfy him, when i should be following my  own judgement  with my wd sxs.

 

I wish i could locate a doctor who is more benzo informed here in Canada, but have had no success. Yet.

 

Ive gone ahead and posted on the wd support board. Thanks again for support and advice,  as always.  :-\

 

 

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Hi moojoo

 

You’re very welcome!

 

My fingers are crossed for you finding a benzo wise doctor, as they are definitely out there… somewhere! 🤞

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One last question, I hope.

 

I've been looking for a decent scale on Amazon in Canada and there are a lot of them. I'm still breaking and shaving tablets of X but it's probably a better idea to get a scale and be sure I'm not going up or down in my dosing through the day.

 

This was one that popped up often in my search...

 

https://www.amazon.ca/JXTZ-Professional-Milligram-Calibration-Precision/dp/B09NLP1995

 

Price wise seems fine but I'm not sure about the mathematical part of these things...sorry, absolute senior moment.

 

 

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Hi moojoo

 

Not familiar with that particular scale, so can’t speak to its accuracy, but here is one that other members commonly use…, the GEM20.

 

https://www.amazon.ca/Smart-Weigh-GEM20-Precision-Milligram/dp/B00ESHDGOI/ref=sr_1_4?crid=1SQ52ZB5IN4KK&keywords=GEM20+precision+scale&qid=1672108933&s=industrial&sprefix=gem20+precision+scale%2Cindustrial%2C377&sr=1-4

 

 

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I was checking that one out and its a bit pricey for me. :/

 

There’s probably nothing wrong with the one you linked, it’s just that as far as I know, we don’t have any feedback on that particular scale. I think I’m also urging you to be particularly careful because you’re tapering such a potent medication (Xanax), where slight inconsistencies in the scale may potentially affect your doses. If it were valium, which is about 1/20th of the potency of Xanax, then those inconsistencies will more likely have little affect on your doses. But as I said, it’s possible the scales you linked maybe just as accurate.

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  • 4 weeks later...

I need a new taper plan now. I have been trying to come up with some kind of taper I know my body and mind will be able to handle.

I am trying hard to settle at the moment and will be looking to get some kind of help in starting at 3 mg now a month ( from 3.5mg then went to 3mg...then shocked my body by pushing down to 5 1/4 earleir this month, sent me down the rabbit hole blah blah) until my system calms down. I am in no way looking at pushing my old self too far anymore, its too fast and its hard. I am not wanting to do that again.

 

Ive so far gone from 4.5 mg down to 3mg in pretty much 3-4 mths. Thats pretty quick and it was hard. At my age, and for the length of time I was on X, 25 yrs, I do NOT want anymore episodes of withdrawal symptoms that just bloody well make me unable to function. I am too old for this crap. Im just boggled how anyone can go cold turkey?

 

I want to tell the pharmacist I need to hold for a bit, but I have no idea how long. He wants me to devise a new plan in getting off the X, so he can work with this doctor in helping me get to the end of it, whenever that may be. I am looking at perhaps a year or 2 max, I just dont know.

After all hes put me through this past 7 mths, its almost dam near impossible for me to accept getting to a point of being free of this suffering .

 

Presently , 6 tabs a day is the most comfortable and  I know I need to come down a bit more, so again I am still examining a 5% cut monthly as a slow taper?????

 

I need something to bring to the pharmacist , at least,so he can bring that goal to this doctor of mine. He said to take my time and not worry as hes going to try his best to take the load off the doctor. (Like Im not the one suffering here the most). Sorry.

I swear if I'd known this was coming I would have never touched the dam things, but its too flippin late now. Sorry again for being so frantic. Just my nature...and i hate it.

 

So I'm looking at trying to go slow, trying to keep it steady, and perhaps hold at certain points if need be. This is MY  plan now. Im looking at a year or a two yr max. Kind of how gitfiddle did her own taper, in a similar way which is kind of what i want to do. I dont want to spend whatever years i have left on this planet , at age 65, trying to fight every day suffering and not enjoying my retirement years, you know? A Dr Pundy from benzoinfo.com had wrote a blog on tapering slow, which gave me this idea, hes one of the doctors on the benzowise or benzo friendly list there.  Advise please. Thank you much.

 

Im getting a bit better symptom wise but still battling these head shocks and muscle spasms, nausea etc...hopefullly get them down by months end?

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Hi moojoo

 

It sounds like you’re gradually stabilising, but it can take time. It does tend to be a very gradual process, especially if you’ve been very destabilised and highly symptomatic from tapering too much or too fast. I would focus only on stabilisation at the moment. It ok for us to help you sort out your taper plan, which will all come together in good time, but just continue to allow yourself to stabilise for now. It could take you another month before you feel ready to begin tapering, possibly less, possibly more, only you will know when you feel ready. Be patient, and try not to focus on a taper finish date… I’ve done that in the past when I was tapering too much, too fast, but now I’m doing a 5% taper every 14-18 days from a place of relative stability. That’s the important thing. You will handle your taper reductions much better if you stabilise properly first and then remain stabilised under a sensible taper. I don’t even know when my taper will end. I could work it out if I wanted to, but I see absolutely no point in knowing. Setting dates comes from impatience, and impatience has been my worst enemy in the past, and I think you will find most other members would express a similar view. I just want to live a functionally acceptable life throughout the process, and minimise any potential of an unnecessarily, overly painful recovery phase/phases.

 

Before we go ahead and discuss any one taper plan or method in depth, I feel I should ask if anyone has discussed the liquid Alprazolam option with you, that is, if it is an option for you…, depending on whether your doctor would be on board, and availability in your area?

 

 

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Liquid Xanax should be available in Ontario, if you get someone to make it.

 

I’ve used both liquid Valium and liquid Ativan, BUT a compounding pharmacy has to make them for me.

 

I use The Medicine Shoppe, but there are many small ones around as well.

 

They use the base powder and then use a suspension agent etc.

 

The only downside is that it is quite pricey, so if you don’t have a drug plan that covers it, it costs a lot.

 

It certainly makes life easier for tapering though.

 

Winnie

 

 

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Thank yo again Winter sun for responding. Im in agreement with you in stabilizing at this point. I woke this moning still feeling  nauseated,  shaky, weak and pain in my right eye, and thats another somewhat new symptom. Ive been having issues with my vision for a few years, so i am looking at the pain,or headache type feeling above my right eye, as either eye strain, or again, another wd symptom? And my right cheek gets very hot and red, this started last year. It is at its worst when im feeling hot or over heated, very strange feeling. Its not a fever,as i assumed at first, its just a feel8ng of the room being too warm, but it isnt, if that makes any sense. I dont find it uncomfortable just bloody annoying. My dermatologist had said it will probably get worse if i didnt take some kind of steroid  medication for it, but i flat out refused, and i wasnt tapering at that time,mthis was around May of last year.

 

The liquid titration was mentioned to me by the  clinic pharmacist, but this would be expensive for me as there is no coverage for this type of treatment.  Im only coming to getting my old age security next month, and will eventually  get on the drug benefits program here in Ontario Canada.  But as i said, ive no insurance or health coverage to help pay for that ...so im probably going to need to purchase that gen20 scale you mentioned some time ago. Dry taper is about the only option for me at least. My pharmacist has suggested cutting tabs in halves ,then quarters,and ive been doing this all along. Still without a scale right now. I will get one as soon as i am able.

 

The rapid taper this past 4 to 5 month's has been pretty messed up. Im only now understanding i need a solid plan and stop fluctuating up and down in my dose. I explained that to my pharmacist yesterday. He is pretty understanding and i sure as heck hope he can stick with me on this. I mentioned in my paper plan ,( what he suggested i do so he can work with the doctor) , that i would need to HOLD my taper at times if wd symptoms became intolerable or i get completely thrown off my keester. I also mentioned i wont go through any further deadlines placed on me, especially since this all started last July. This is only placing further pressure on me and causing my system too much stress, hence my confounded fear of having a seizure, stroke or heart attack  at my age, or 65...,its far to stressful and my husband became so worried about that, he stressed himself to much and is now ill himself. He hasnt been himself because of all this unnecessary stress from my doctor, whom he would love to choke..😬

 

So yeah, thers a lot more questions i have anyway in regards to my taper plan. One in particular is, at what intervals or how many hours apart do we take our doses??? Ive not really seen anything on here in that general direction.  Ive been trying to keep my doses at between 5 hrs apart, during the day of course. Is that the norm?

 

Sorry again for the long reply WS.  I know there are many many people here requesting help and need assistance  as well.

 

Its going on 12pm now so i need to try and get something to nibble,  as ive not been eating proper.  :-\

 

 

Thanks Winnie, i just caught your post before i posted. Yes it is expensive and theres not much optionnfor me to go that way , at least not at this point.

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Hi moojoo

 

Withdrawal can affect the eyes, burning, blurriness, and pain/ache behind the eyes. I get them all. I also have to try not to laugh or smile to much at the moment because when I use those muscles in my face too much, it feels like all the bone in my face is fractured all over. It’s very painful. These are all withdrawal symptoms that will resolve one day.

 

I will reply again later with information about a dry taper plan for you.  :thumbsup:

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Sorry youre in pain too WS. I hope you feel better soon. And I will be back tomorrow. I'm in desperate need of sleep. Its 12:10 am about now here in Canada ( East Coast).

I seem to be staying up later and later these days and sleeping in most mornings.Sometimes I would rather sleep forever ,if I could. =}

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Get some sleep if you can, moojoo, and yes, I do understand… there is no such thing as a normal sleeping pattern. I don’t know how many manage to maintain a steady set time working week. I’m all over the place, but I’m used to it now. I take my sleep where and when I can get it.
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Taper plan of 5% per monthly total tablets, were my best and only idea. Ive printed it out and taking it to the pharmacist today. I dont have a scale yer again. Im waiting on my OAS to see how much that will be since its suppose to start in Feb 2023.

Plus waiting to see what RAAM has to say. They have my number. Any further  comments are welcome or advice.

 

Thanks

 

P.S. ..I have a number of online auzzie friends.  Most are elders. We worked on writing paint shop pro tutorials for years together , teaching other psp.ers how to use their own paint shop pro software.  But it came to a sad end when our head writer and owner of the group got very ill. We've not heard from her since 2021. Last email from her son was , she was back in hospital in Brisbane suffering from sepsis. The group is kind of just keeping in touch and i havent written anything since. :/

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Taper plan of 5% per monthly total tablets, were my best and only idea. Ive printed it out and taking it to the pharmacist today. I dont have a scale yer again. Im waiting on my OAS to see how much that will be since its suppose to start in Feb 2023.

Plus waiting to see what RAAM has to say. They have my number. Any further  comments are welcome or advice.

 

Thanks

 

P.S. ..I have a number of online auzzie friends.  Most are elders. We worked on writing paint shop pro tutorials for years together , teaching other psp.ers how to use their own paint shop pro software.  But it came to a sad end when our head writer and owner of the group got very ill. We've not heard from her since 2021. Last email from her son was , she was back in hospital in Brisbane suffering from sepsis. The group is kind of just keeping in touch and i havent written anything since. :/

 

I do understand moojoo, it can be very difficult to keep up with and connect socially with others. I spend quite a bit of time here on BB, but I mostly find it very difficult initiating picking up the phone and connecting/reconnecting with friends for a chat. I just figure I’ll re-engage fully once I’m mostly recovered. I still see a few people.

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My pharmacist just called and said he had sent a message to my doctor last night about the fudge up of the next 3 mths of my X script, to continue my taper, and explained several other issues with him, and he (the doc) said hes now willing to give me some "grace " to come up with a plan.  ???

Pharmacist mentioned a plan, like for week 1--week 2-- etc..... I had my plan set up as a 5% reduction of the monthly tabs, per month, and to give me adjustment periods or HOLDS if I became unstable again.

Im still not steady on my feet, still not eating much or sleeping. My back is killing me,pressure in my head and tinnitus is so loud ive an enormous headache....... :sick:

 

I have my plan on paper...I had my plan on here...but I seriously do NOT trust this doctor anymore. Ive given him my plans and my requests to go slower. At my age, now I am suppose to believe hes suddenly going to agree to what Ive been asking for months?

 

The way I feel physically ,emotionally and mentally right now , im not even sure if I can keep going. I gave up earlier when I picked up the script the doctor had faxed in last week and only to find it was over 60 tabs less and would have NOT lasted anymore than 2 weeks. He said he was going to fax in enough to carry me over to May, 12 weeks, at 6 a day. The bottle said ..up to 6 a day, (can renew in 30 days), 2 refills , thats it.

SO 6 a day for 112 tabs worked out to 18 days. Screw up. :idiot:

 

So because of my draw back with all these WD and this doctors constant rapid taper, and him totally ignoring what I had asked several times, I feel like Im in a dam boat without a paddle and I see no shoreline. Ya know? Maybe Dr Shipkos email changed his mind or the pharmacist mentioned it again , I dont know I was just in no mood to hear this again.

 

I dont trust him, this doctor. Ive a jumbled mess of nerves and fear of all this shit thats to come ...no doctor changes that quick over night unless hes aware he can indeed lose his license as I WAS thisclose to placing a complaint against him for the way hes been treating me

 

Why is 5 % off of a months supply so flippin hard to understand? He said he couldnt go lower than 10% I mean it was like he was bargaining with my EFFIN life last week!

 

Sorry..Im going to leave this here as I am in no mood to even think about this anymore. I trust you all here more than I do that doctor. I told my pharmacist about you all and he was kind enough and decent enough to accept that. He sees nothing wrong with it.

Somebody help me devise a plan..please..Im losing my mind right now.  Or d you think my 5% monthly of the total tablets, with holds , is a decent plan for an old lady? :'(

 

I swear these doctors truly believe that us seniors are absolutely STUPID!

I really want to just crawl into bed and never get up..........................

 

Appreciate this place and you all!

Have a good evening/night /day..Im going to bed.  :hug:

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My pharmacist just called and said he had sent a message to my doctor last night about the fudge up of the next 3 mths of my X script, to continue my taper, and explained several other issues with him, and he (the doc) said hes now willing to give me some "grace " to come up with a plan.  ???

Pharmacist mentioned a plan, like for week 1--week 2-- etc..... I had my plan set up as a 5% reduction of the monthly tabs, per month, and to give me adjustment periods or HOLDS if I became unstable again.

Im still not steady on my feet, still not eating much or sleeping. My back is killing me,pressure in my head and tinnitus is so loud ive an enormous headache....... :sick:

 

I have my plan on paper...I had my plan on here...but I seriously do NOT trust this doctor anymore. Ive given him my plans and my requests to go slower. At my age, now I am suppose to believe hes suddenly going to agree to what Ive been asking for months?

 

The way I feel physically ,emotionally and mentally right now , im not even sure if I can keep going. I gave up earlier when I picked up the script the doctor had faxed in last week and only to find it was over 60 tabs less and would have NOT lasted anymore than 2 weeks. He said he was going to fax in enough to carry me over to May, 12 weeks, at 6 a day. The bottle said ..up to 6 a day, (can renew in 30 days), 2 refills , thats it.

SO 6 a day for 112 tabs worked out to 18 days. Screw up. :idiot:

 

So because of my draw back with all these WD and this doctors constant rapid taper, and him totally ignoring what I had asked several times, I feel like Im in a dam boat without a paddle and I see no shoreline. Ya know? Maybe Dr Shipkos email changed his mind or the pharmacist mentioned it again , I dont know I was just in no mood to hear this again.

 

I dont trust him, this doctor. Ive a jumbled mess of nerves and fear of all this shit thats to come ...no doctor changes that quick over night unless hes aware he can indeed lose his license as I WAS thisclose to placing a complaint against him for the way hes been treating me

 

Why is 5 % off of a months supply so flippin hard to understand? He said he couldnt go lower than 10% I mean it was like he was bargaining with my EFFIN life last week!

 

Sorry..Im going to leave this here as I am in no mood to even think about this anymore. I trust you all here more than I do that doctor. I told my pharmacist about you all and he was kind enough and decent enough to accept that. He sees nothing wrong with it.

Somebody help me devise a plan..please..Im losing my mind right now.  Or d you think my 5% monthly of the total tablets, with holds , is a decent plan for an old lady? :'(

 

I swear these doctors truly believe that us seniors are absolutely STUPID!

I really want to just crawl into bed and never get up..........................

 

Appreciate this place and you all!

Have a good evening/night /day..Im going to bed.  :hug:

 

Hi moojoo

 

As frustrated, angry, and worn down as you are, I think you may have had a little win. Your doctor may be starting to come around to the idea that he could be digging a big hole for himself, but he can’t just do a complete backflip in one go, or that would be outrightly admitting he has been completely wrong all along. The fact that he’s shifted slightly, probably means he’s had his eyes opened to the possibility that he may be wrong, so he may actually start opening up and conceding more ground as you go along. Let’s hope!

 

Let’s work through the taper plan slowly. I’ve been back through the thread and seen some of your questions, so let me ask - what does your daily dosing look like now? How many times a day are you dosing, how much, and at what times?

 

If your doctor was more awake, I’d ask Libertas if she could kindly share some information with you about liquid Xanax options, but it’s probably a bit too much to ask of your doctor at this point, so we’ll work on a dry taper plan for now.

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The doctor wants this plan on paper so i cant change anything again,or rather, say i need to hold,  like dose wise, if i need to. Or hes just going to continue with his rapid taper. In other words hes trying to keep his grip on the wheel. Which i had a suspicion of. After all, legally, anything on paper is bound, right?

Which i tried to read here: https://www.cmpa-acpm.ca/en/advice-publications/handbooks/consent-a-guide-for-canadian-physicians#expressed%20consent

 

I'm going to rewrite it, but put in 》》*HOLDS IF NEEDED***, going by MY WITHDRAWAL SYMPTOMS,  AND THAT I AM IN CONTROL OF THE SPEED AND RATE . No longer negotiable by him or anyone else.

 

I may be a little fudged up right now, and getting older, and i noticed my hair is actually getting grayer,  but I'm no fool and most certainly not stupid.  I read enough all over the internet to understand whats happening and what needs to be done, but very much in need of someone who has and is going through this stuff too. I always value your input WS , as you well know, and others here.

 

My therapist also rang me this morning asking what happened, since she too is in the same clinic and i cancelled my appointment with her yesterday.  I had just gave up on this. So she rambled incessantly on about my anxiety and fibro, etc, trying to blame all my withdrawal symptoms on that  but i think I can tell the bloody difference. 

 

I did go over liquid titration with his pharmacist at the clinic but it would be costly,and i dont have that kind of money anyway. So im staying on a dry taper, i guess.

 

I am at 6 tabs or 0.5 mgs of X 6 xs a day. So 3 mgs per day. I take 1/2 a  0.5 mg tab in the a.m. , then 2 tabs or 1 mg midday,12pm, then 2 tabs,1 mg late afternoon, about 4pm, and 1 1 /2  tablet early evening,around 7pm...which is still 6 tabs or 3 mgs a day. The oxazepam is 45 mgs at bedtime ,around 10pm,  which im not discussing with him until i get off this xanax first. And even when that time comes he'll screw with that too cause its going to need refilling by May as well. Ill worry about that when i get close to that day.

 

So, I know your going to tell me to get a scale  ;) and i am working on it. I'll put a link to one or two i see on amazon. The one you guys use is a bit expensive for me,but i could manage it. My old age security starts next month. Not sure how much yet.

 

Ill try to check back in later..got something else I need to do.

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I think it’s very wise to allow for flexibility in your plan, as we cannot know the potential challenges we may have to face at certain points throughout our tapers, whether taper related, or actual external life challenges, where we may have to hold on a dose for longer at times. I like your style!

 

So, just make sure you dose at the same times each day, and I would taper from your larger doses first. The idea is to get your total daily Xanax dose down by moving your taper from one dose to the next with each reduction so you don’t just taper away one entire dose, which could leave you with interdose withdrawals. So I would taper my biggest daily doses down until they were equal to my other daily doses, then begin moving the taper from one dose to the next, cycling between them all.

 

If you are starting at 3mg per day, you would weigh all 6 tablets at once on the scale to get a total weight. If I weighed 6 of my 2mg valium tablets, each one weighing 0.172g, then I would get a total weight of 1.032g

 

If you want to taper at 5%, then you would simply use a calculator and multiply 1.032 by 0.95 = 0.980, so 0.980 would be your new dose. You would simply file or shave 0.052g from your total dose weight to get your new dose of 0.980g.

 

So your 2 biggest doses are your midday dose and your afternoon dose, so you could reduce one of those doses by 0.052g and then switch and reduce the other one when you calculate and make your next reduction, or you could also reduce both the midday and afternoon doses by 0.026 each (overall total reduction of 0.052g). Does this explanation make sense to you?

 

For your next reduction, you would calculate your dose the same… 0.980 x 0.95 = 0.931, which means this time you would file or shave 0.049 from your remaining total daily dose. Once you get the midday and afternoon doses down to about 1.5mg, which is equal to your nightly dose, you could then work on tapering all 3 of those doses until they are down to the 0.5 morning dose. The idea is to taper all doses as low as possible without removing any of the doses completely until absolutely necessary. This would be the best way to keep your blood serum levels even to avoid interdose withdrawals.  :thumbsup:

 

 

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I am pretty sure I get what you are saying WS.

 

I'm searching for a deal on the scale you guys use. Asked the seller on amazon.ca to see if he could give me a little price reduction. As right now they're asking between 50.00 and 57.00 for them now. I could have got one last year, and it was down to 43.00, but I kind of gave up on it because of the doctor messing shit up.

 

Anyway, I'm waiting to see if this one seller is willing to negotiate a price.;)

 

I am assuming your plan is 5% monthly right,? So I'm not really reducing much at all. Coming to realize that this will be a heck of a lot easier on me at my old age,lol. Now it's up to the doc to get the point of all this and realize that symptoms of withdrawals are bloody real, not made up. If half or 90% of these doctors would take some time out of their schedules to read the hell we're going through, maybe there would be a complete mindset change, and I think there needs to be.

 

Ok, so I will be back, it's snowing like crazy outside. Snowstorm for us Canucks here in the east. Right now it's about 10cms on the ground  already! We're snowed in for now. Got a little puddle jumper that wouldn't get through 2 cm of that stuff. :laugh:  won't be going anywhere for a day or two. Hopefully the hydro doesn't conk out. I hate it when that happens. Plus it's going to get colder too. It's crazy weather for sure. Climate change for sure.

 

Will be back later , thanks again for the help WS.👍😊

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You’re welcome, moojoo!

 

I taper 5% every 14-18 days, which seems to work well for me, but there are others here that go at 5% monthly. Everything went a lot smoother for me once I properly stabilised. We need to get your doctor on board and out of the way so you can destress for your taper, and he needs to stay out of the way.  :thumbsup:

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:thumbsup:

You’re welcome, moojoo!

 

I taper 5% every 14-18 days, which seems to work well for me, but there are others here that go at 5% monthly. Everything went a lot smoother for me once I properly stabilised. We need to get your doctor on board and out of the way so you can destress for your taper, and he needs to stay out of the way.  :thumbsup:

 

Yes..I agree. I think he's unfortunately,the ** worm in the apple**  here.🍎🐛. 🤯. I can only hope he comes through this time, but I'm no longer holding my breath, since he gave me false hopes too many times before

 

I am going to write in your taper sample for me at 5% monthly, just using it as a scale or weigh sample. Thank you again WS . You are an inspiration.  :thumbsup:

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Im back again.

 

While I was trying to type out my taper plan for the pharmacist to go over with the doctor, I got stumped.

 

If I use a scale ,measuring the daily dose by cutting or shaving 5% off each month, where would I get the amount of tablets that would be needed or dispensed ? I know the pharmacist would know this but I am curious how others here get their scripts? Is it always the same amount with repeats or refills or do you get you script monthly? I am not getting a clear picture of that part. Sorry if it sounds a bit dumb. :\

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Im back again.

 

While I was trying to type out my taper plan for the pharmacist to go over with the doctor, I got stumped.

 

If I use a scale ,measuring the daily dose by cutting or shaving 5% off each month, where would I get the amount of tablets that would be needed or dispensed ? I know the pharmacist would know this but I am curious how others here get their scripts? Is it always the same amount with repeats or refills or do you get you script monthly? I am not getting a clear picture of that part. Sorry if it sounds a bit dumb. :\

 

With my taper, the doctor (once on board) originally started giving me a script for 30 x 2mg tablets a week. The script is for 3 months, but the pharmacist is only allowed to give me 30 tablets a week. They hold the script and I just go back each week and the pharmacist gives me another 30 until I reach the total script allowance. Then I go back to the doctor to get another 2 or 3 months worth. Now that I’ve tapered down to a certain degree, the doctor knows he only has to allow the pharmacist to give me 20 x 2mg tablets a week until the script runs down. This way, the doctor is sure that I am actually tapering down because of the smaller amount of tablets accessible to me from the pharmacist per week. I also keep every bit of tablet I break off, shave off or file off when weighing my doses, and I use them to top up doses when they’re under. Because I’m allocated only a certain amount each week, the doctor and pharmacist can both see that i am clearly tapering down.

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