W/D symptoms to occur with each reduction during taper?

I’ve been on 0.5 mg of Xanax, once per day, for 6+ years (occasionally up to 1.0 mg per days).

The brain fog, memory loss, and cognitive decline is becoming too much and I want to commit to tapering off completely.

I started this week with a %25 reduction in dose. It’s been only 3 days and it’s awful.  I realize now that %25 is pretty rapid, but since I’m already a few days in, I don’t really want to lose the momentum.

I can hold at 75% of my original dosage for a while. But curious if it’s normal to experience withdrawal effects at each step in the reduction?  I would hate to feel like this every week or two when I taper down again.   

Am I just going too fast? 

Any advice, please?

Hello Sidmad    welcome to BenzoBuddies! 

We are glad you joined.  Withdrawal symptoms are awful.  Tapering slowly off benzos helps to avoid some of the severe symptoms that often occur when people try to come off too quickly.  We usually suggest a taper rate of about 5-10% every two weeks, and some taper much slower than that.  Depending on symptoms, taper at a rate that feels comfortable.  Please post questions, you’ll get plenty of help and support here, our members our knowledgeable and very supportive.

If you could check out the Ashton Manual, you will find It’s a valuable resource for learning about benzos and the effect they have on our body.

I'll leave you some links to resources:

The Ashton Manual. 

Colorado Consortium Benzodiazepine Deprescribing Guidelines

Withdrawal Support

You might like to post to this support group:

Xanax Club

If you would like to add a signature (history of meds/doses etc) it will help members give you relevant advice.  Go to the top of the page and select PROFILE then choose forum profile then insert drug history into the text box and remember to click change profile

Welcome aboard

Magrita

A 25% reduction is pretty big so unfortunately I'm not surprised you're feeling miserable. You will feel symptoms with every reduction but the good news is, if you reduce by less these symptoms should be much more tolerable and less severe.

Please can I ask you to take a couple of weeks to stabilize at this dose before you reduce again? Cuts have an accummulation effect so if you don't take enough time (especially if you've made a big reduction like yours), then you will suffer a lot more down the track as the cuts and withdrawal symptoms build on each other.

You should start to feel better within a week or so, but like I said, it's better to give your body enough time to recover from this large reduction before cutting again.

Jelly, that is very helpful and reassuring. Thank you

I have no reason why I can’t hold at 75% for a few weeks.  What would you suggest is a better reduction for next time?  10%?

Also, once I hit .25 mg, would it be safe to go CT?

Jelly, that is very helpful and reassuring. Thank you

 

I have no reason why I can’t hold at 75% for a few weeks.  What would you suggest is a better reduction for next time?  10%?

 

Also, once I hit .25 mg, would it be safe to go CT?

Oh my, no, a .25 mg is a huge dose to jump from, most will taper to .05.  Also, a 10% reduction is better but lets see how you feel as you wait out this large reduction. Making plans is great but being able to adapt along the way is what gets you across the finish line.

Since you've been on the drug for such a long time, I usually suggest the first cuts to be around 5%-7.5% reduction. It's easier to speed up your taper than fix a taper that's been too fast. The best is to allow your symptoms to guide your taper percentage. In the beginning it's difficult because you don't have a history to base it on. That's why we suggest you start a taper journal where you record your daily symptoms and you rate each symptom on a scale of 1-10. This way you can keep track of how you react to cuts and make future decisions  on how to proceed.

People usually jump around 0.05mg - 0.025mg or less. The fact that you've had such severe symptoms with a 25% reduction would suggest that you will not be able to jump at a high dose such at 0.25mg.

I talked with my doc today.  She is very helpful and supportive.  She agrees to hold at %75 for a while before making the next reduction.    She also sent in an Rx for .25 mg X to help with breaking up pills.

She also wrote a script for hydroxyzine to help with anxiety symptoms and sleep if needed.

It's great to hear your doctor is supportive of how you want to approach your taper.

I don't have any experience with other meds when it comes to insomnia. I just white knuckle it. For the most part I think it's hit and miss for people.

Hopefully you'll stabilize pretty soon! 

It's great to hear your doctor is supportive of how you want to approach your taper.

 

I don't have any experience with other meds when it comes to insomnia. I just white knuckle it. For the most part I think it's hit and miss for people.

 

Hopefully you'll stabilize pretty soon! 

I am with jelly baby as I have no experience with other meds of any kind except C.  I am fairly new but am so grateful to the people here that share their knowledge and experience as I too had tried both cold-turkey, and tapering at a quarter tablet, from a my 1 mg C I'd taken for 35 years.  Failure and bad (ok horrible) wd sxs, and I am tapering very slow just about 3 months now.  I go by the weight of my pill to taper and started with the .171 tablet, and finally learned I could work the scale and use a razor blade to trim the tabs very little.

I'm now just down to .128 weight of dose from the .171 weight or original.  I hold after each taper and go by "how I feel" to know when I can cut again.  Time will reveal more for me, but I do believe every person has to decide for themselves on how much to taper, and what works for them as far as possibly avoiding wd sxs. I don't believe we can avoid all of them, please don't misunderstand me. But my quality of life is improving already and I'm not sure how many of us have that during tapering off, but I am grateful I am here, where I can continue to talk with others on the same journey to freedom from benzos.

Don't hesitate to keep sharing your journey, asking questions, reading this forum full of massive information we can sift through hugs, encouragement and love coming your way, Denise

I appreciated reading this thread immensely.

Can you explain the accumulation of cuts you speak of? Also, do you have use an affordable scale you would recommend?

I’ve been tapering off Ativan for the last three months and am currently holding at .5mg. I’m not working while I do this and trying to find the most economical approach to tapering down the last pill.

I appreciated reading this thread immensely.

 

Can you explain the accumulation of cuts you speak of? Also, do you have use an affordable scale you would recommend?

 

I’ve been tapering off Ativan for the last three months and am currently holding at .5mg. I’m not working while I do this and trying to find the most economical approach to tapering down the last pill.

Hello  hadleyandjane    I want to welcome you to BB, you will get lots of support here. well done on starting your taper.  The Gemini scale from Amazon is used a lot here, I am sure members here will advise you and explain the cuts.    It's suggested to reduce between 5/10% every 10/14 days, many go much slower.  Slow and careful is the best way, listen to your body and taper at a rate that's comfortable.

Check out the Ashton Manual, finding the manual  It's a good resource  for learning about benzodiazepines and the effects they have on the body, CHAPTER III  reassured me about symptoms, with explanations.

Here's a few links to resources:

The Ashton Manual

Withdrawal Support (during your taper)

Colorado Consortium Benzodiazepine Deprescribing Guidelines

Ativan Tapering Thread

If you would add a signature (history of meds/doses etc) it will help members give you relevant advice.  Go to the top of the page and select PROFILE then choose forum profile then insert drug history into the text box and remember to click change profile

Magrita

I appreciated reading this thread immensely.

 

Can you explain the accumulation of cuts you speak of? Also, do you have use an affordable scale you would recommend?

 

I’ve been tapering off Ativan for the last three months and am currently holding at .5mg. I’m not working while I do this and trying to find the most economical approach to tapering down the last pill.

Hi h&j,

I bought a few scales until I came back to my least expensive one as it works great.  I did put lithium batteries in it.  I also dry-cut my tablet, and use a one-sided razor-blade.  I'm doing a slow-taper and I'll show you the video that is most like what I do, except I hold my doses for a few days, to a week, maybe longer.  The scale I use took me some time to be steady enough to do it like I'm supposed to.  I make sure it's calibrated, then I use a tiny dish, do a Tare, then put my dose in.  For me it's taken some practice to make sure the scale is setting on a steady surface, no air-flow coming from anywhere, including, I do not even breath on it 

Here's the video I like but there are a few different ways of tapering and you can decide what fits you best   First I'll put the scale I have, then the link to the video:

https://www.amazon.com/JamBer-Milligram-Electronic-Weighing-Calibration/dp/B0731F3F2N

Hi hadleyandjane

Accumulation of cuts: cuts do not happen in isolation. Your brain remembers each cut. If your reductions are small enough then your body can manage consecutive cuts. But if your reductions are too big your body will eventually reach a point where it "crashes".  Think about it as a tray of dishes. If you stash small plates and cups you can get quite far but if you have a high stack of pots and pans it will all come tumbling down. The more and higher you stack the greater the fall. Your body works the same. It can only process small amounts. It is constantly trying to catch up to the next cut.

Sometimes even tapering within the suggested range can be too much. In my case for example. I usually tapered around 7-8%, but wanted to see if I could increase it, so I tried 10%. My first cut of 10% went fine. It was like all my other cuts. But then when I did the second 10% cut it was extremely tough. It really hit me bad. This is the perfect example of accumulation. I could handle one but not the other.