xanax

how do i withdraw fro 0.25 xanax

i startedat 0.5 went to 0.25 for now 2 weeks into just wondering what to do now

You made a 50% reduction in dose, we recommend around 5-10%, how do you feel?  What are your symptoms, have they settled down from your last reduction, are you functioning?

 

How you answer will help us help you figure out your next step. 

i am feeling ok not so tired i do have a brain fog an a little bite hyper i am able to think an do stuff i do feel a little depressed

How long have you been on the Xanax?

i been on 4 yrs

 

Are your tablets .5 mg? 

 

You seem to be doing very well considering you reduced by so much, I'd sure slow it down to be on the safe side since you've been on it for so long. 

yes o.5 tablets i have i really hate to stop taking cause i have lived A lifetime with anxiety i am 61 yrs old an it does help with my anxiety so much but from what i am learning its not a good drug i mean its not like i am going to live forever i am hitting the age were i am not getting younger

I never suffered from anxiety, I took benzo's for sleep but when I became dependent on Klonopin, I learned what anxiety was because it started causing it and of course insomnia because these drugs begin to cause what we took them to fix.  I wonder if once you taper from the Xanax and recover from your use if you'll actually experience less anxiety?

i could only wish i find since i cut back i feel anxiety thats when i need to think about taking a dose its always around 1 pm in the afternoon

i have tried so many different meds over the years i given up to many side affects

Many of our Xanax users will dose 4 times a day, what is your dosing schedule?

taking it once a day 0.25  you had said i should slow down my tapering how many weeks should i stay on 0.25 a day before i taper its been two weeks

 

If you're able to take care of your daily tasks then we consider that to be stable enough to make another reduction.  I would suggest a smaller one this time, instead of cutting your pills you could shave them to make smaller reductions.  Or we have many other ways to make the dose small enough if you'd like to hear them.

sure i would like all the information i can get

i was reading it sounded like you went thru a struggle yourself

after i wean off this xanax i need to wean myself off of ambien that  i been taking for 30 years or more but one thing at a time its amazing when  i look back at what i have taken all because of anxiety since i was a little boy

Oh yeah, Ambien isn't this benign sleep aid, its a benzo in disguise and made my life so much worse, I'm glad you're going to take a look at that.  The short half life of Ambien had me miserable every waking moment with anxiety, inner trembling and horrific dark thoughts and depression.

 

Here are some Titration FAQ's to digest for now.

see i dont have that i have heard stories about ambien an they cant take it it makes them not happy with me they allow me to sleep an i wake up refreshed i havnt needed to increase my dose at all over 30 plus years

see know i am learning i never knew ambien was a benzo it makes me see things different cause i always felt good taking it after a long day of anxiety

I'm glad you haven't had to deal with interdose withdrawal from the Ambien and never had to increase it.  It's officially called a non-benzodiazepine but it affects the same receptors in the brain so its can contribute to our misery.  I remember it taking away my anxiety too, of course, it was the anxiety it created, just like the Klonopin, what a great money making products!  You've got the cause and the cure in one pill! 

yes the have the cure in one pill but its harming more people then helping well i guess its helping some people but its also harming when you go to try an get off them

so how long it take you to get of of the meds you were on years ago

an i know you told me but just making sure you think i should start to taber off more of this xanax my problem is i will have nothing to help me with my anxiety after i am off like i said i been dealing with this proble for 55 yrs that i can remember anxiety sucks

I quit Klonopin cold turkey, started taking Ambien about 6 months later, quit that cold turkey 7 months later, declared myself recovered from both at 14 months.

 

I hope you'll keep an open mind about what you'll be like when you're off the Xanax and Ambien, you may find you do well once fully recovered because compared to the anxiety the drugs can produce, many members have found their original anxiety to be quite manageable.  You won't know this though until you fully recover from both medications. 

 

did you have a bad experience stopping cold turkey i am sorry you had to go thru that

so you feel much better off the meds an havnt needed anything to help you

It was the worst experience of my life, thank you for your sympathy but yes, life is so good without these nasty drugs.  I hope you can know this as well.

hello pamster

we talked not to long ago you said that the xanax an ambien caused you to have anxiety from taking  an when you stopped the meds it went away

an you thought maybe that it might happen for me if i stopped but the thing is i had anxiety before i started taking xanax  where you saying the meds cause you to have more anxiety from taking it

I started taking Klonopin than Ambien for sleep so when I recovered, I returned to my baseline which thankfully doesn't include anxiety.  However, I've heard from others who have dealt with chronic anxiety that the anxiety that benzo dependence and withdrawal creates is so much worse than their normal anxiety that once they recovered, their normal anxiety was much easier to manage. 

 

 

hi pamster i so far have cut back to  .12 xanax now for  3 going on 4 weeks just wondering if i should cut back more at this time after being on .5 for 3 yrs an reaching this point of .12 or wait a little longer before cutting back some more