[On...] Posted April 14, 2016 Share Posted April 14, 2016 Hi I was on 3. 2 mg Xanax a day for a number of years I told my doctor I don't want to be dependent anymore I thought he would switch me to another longer lasting but He lowered me to 5 mg a day from 6 So now I'm taking 1 mg 5x a day I see him in a few days I'm not handling it well any advice? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
[Cr...] Posted April 14, 2016 Share Posted April 14, 2016 First, this is why i never told my doctor that i wanted to taper. They treat you differently when they think you're an addict. I'd tell him that i changed my mind and want to stay on it. Then take your meds and taper. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
[On...] Posted April 14, 2016 Author Share Posted April 14, 2016 Ya he told me " I hope your making the right decision" Which added to my anxiety And like I said I asked him to switch me to Valium or kpin but he told me that would put me into withdrawal I see him in 3 days Any advice cause I don't see how I can possibly taper off of XANAX Please any suggestions??? V Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
[Cr...] Posted April 14, 2016 Share Posted April 14, 2016 You can taper off xanax. Just research the liquid daily microtaper and take it nice and slow as needed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
[Do...] Posted April 14, 2016 Share Posted April 14, 2016 I am tapering off Xanax and doing pretty good with it Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
[On...] Posted April 14, 2016 Author Share Posted April 14, 2016 So you know my head is fighting itself But I'm confused On how to reduce each dose to make this as comfortable as possible How do you split the tabs up to know how much your taking? And btw. Good for you Donna that is great ..how are you. I'm scared to tell the truth And congratulations to you crash bandicoot My doctor does not care about my well being Because it's 100$ for a 15 min appointment He said " ok go through 4-6 months of pure hell just to find out you come back on them" As I left " hope you made the right decision" Which just added to my anxiety I have a TBI and I can't figure out the math on that method it sounds great tho Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
[Cr...] Posted April 15, 2016 Share Posted April 15, 2016 Stabilize and then post your med type, dosage per day, and number of doses per day, and I'll do the math for you. That's assuming you want to use my method. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
[On...] Posted April 15, 2016 Author Share Posted April 15, 2016 Ok..thank you I am currently 5 mg Xanax a day 1 mg every 3 hours Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
[Cr...] Posted April 16, 2016 Share Posted April 16, 2016 Ok..thank you I am currently 5 mg Xanax a day 1 mg every 3 hours Every 3 hours is 8 times per day...? Anyway, i'd split it up between dry pills and liquid. Take 4.5 mg dry pill and .5 mg liquid. Then taper from the liquid. Repeat when you reach zero liquid. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
[Do...] Posted April 16, 2016 Share Posted April 16, 2016 So you know my head is fighting itself But I'm confused On how to reduce each dose to make this as comfortable as possible How do you split the tabs up to know how much your taking? And btw. Good for you Donna that is great ..how are you. I'm scared to tell the truth And congratulations to you crash bandicoot My doctor does not care about my well being Because it's 100$ for a 15 min appointment He said " ok go through 4-6 months of pure hell just to find out you come back on them" As I left " hope you made the right decision" Which just added to my anxiety I have a TBI and I can't figure out the math on that method it sounds great tho I'm doing pretty good I made 10% cuts from 1.5 to 1.0. My first cut was a big one, 2.0 to 1.5, then I came to BB and learned to slow it down. Until now I was able to cut every two weeks. I've had very little sxs, some anxiety is about it. I learned to distract myself and it really does help. I think I'm going to hold at 1.0 because we travel all summer and I don't want to get hit, if I would, while traveling. I've followed Crash since I got here and thinking about the liquid. He is an inspiration to us all. It will all depend on how things go below 1.0. Good Luck....just take it slow and don't be in a rush. We all want it to be over with but not at the risk of being incapable of doing anything, Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
[On...] Posted April 17, 2016 Author Share Posted April 17, 2016 No not 8 times a day And I definitely need to fix and stabalize where the anxiety comes from FIRST I feel like that if I don't do that this will not work because IT HASNT for YEARS. I have to learn to cope but there's no help for us to do so.. It's like your on your own 1 mg -8am 11am 2pm 5pm 8pm Well I couldn't believe it yesterday I was so busy that I got home at 8 and realized that I had only taken 2 mg so I took 1 more , so yesterday I got through on 3 mg total 8 am 3pm 8pm Anyway I crashed today back to the 5 a day So I see my doctor on Tuesday I was thinking of asking him to switch to clonazepam or Valium to make it easier? Or do I have him cut me to 4 mg a day So that would be 1 mg every 6 hours? Stuck and need to decide? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
[Cr...] Posted April 17, 2016 Share Posted April 17, 2016 Stretching out the time between doses didn't work for me, and you may get interdose wd with Xanax. I'd personally try to switch to valium or Klonopin to get the longer half life. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
[On...] Posted April 19, 2016 Author Share Posted April 19, 2016 Crash I have been reading your posts , you seem very knowledgable What do you think the best way I should do this is? I am so overwhelmed and depressed And if my doctor says no to substitution and just stick to Xanax How slow should I go ? Should I go down to 1 mg 4x a day for 2 weeks Then .5 mg Then 0.25 Then jump? Doesn't sound good any way you put it Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
[Cr...] Posted April 19, 2016 Share Posted April 19, 2016 50% cuts might be hard on your system. I would do a daily microtaper instead. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
[On...] Posted April 20, 2016 Author Share Posted April 20, 2016 Can you do the calculations for me ? I would much appreciate it? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
[Cr...] Posted April 20, 2016 Share Posted April 20, 2016 At your dose level, I'd take most of it dry and liquify the rest. mix up the liquid using Builder's method and cut from there. Ask him for the math. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
[ly...] Posted April 21, 2016 Share Posted April 21, 2016 Hi Onedge, I'm tapering Xanax from a pretty high dose as well. I was able to get pretty low cutting the pills so far. If I were you I would go with lesser cuts every two weeks and see how it goes. Perhaps cut .25mg each time and see if the wd sxs are easier. You can get .5mg and .25mg tablets from your doctor. I think you are on 5mg per day? I don't think you said how long you've been on this. When did you cut from 6mg to 5mg? If it's not been two weeks, you may want to give it a little longer and then cut .25mg. If you did that you would take 4 1mg doses and 1 .75mg dose (a .5 and a .25). Do you have the 1mgXR (extended release)? These allow you to spread it out some when you get lower. I did better on the XR and only dosed twice a day after awhile. It just helps take the whole thing off your mind when you do one in the morning and one at night. Unfortunately XR doesn't come at less than .5mg and you have to use some of the shorter acting .25's for doses that end in .25 or .75 (ex. 4.75, 4.25, 3.75, etc.). You'd take 4.5mg in XR and .25 regular to get the 4.75mg if that is your next cut. When you get lower than 2mg you may want to cut .125 (half of a .25mg) instead of .25mg. Of course this is pretty individual and depends on how you do with wd sxs. I was able to cut pretty large amounts until I cut to where I am now. I'm going to crash's liquid micro taper when I resume. Best wishes! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
[bu...] Posted April 21, 2016 Share Posted April 21, 2016 Can you do the calculations for me ? I would much appreciate it? What tablet size(s) do you have? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
[On...] Posted April 22, 2016 Author Share Posted April 22, 2016 Ok so I went to the doc today and told him I was buggin He told me I came down too fast He gave me 1mg of clonazepam 4 times a day Told me to try 3.5 but I need to feel it out for a few days So now it's 1mg k pins Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
[Cr...] Posted April 22, 2016 Share Posted April 22, 2016 Onedge, you may feel wd sxs from that. Going from 5 mg of X to 4 mg of K is a 20% cut relatively speaking. The good news is that it's easier to cut big when you're at a high dose. Also, the K is a much longer half life, so it's easier to get off of later. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
[On...] Posted April 23, 2016 Author Share Posted April 23, 2016 Onedge, you may feel wd sxs from that. Going from 5 mg of X to 4 mg of K is a 20% cut relatively speaking. The good news is that it's easier to cut big when you're at a high dose. Also, the K is a much longer half life, so it's easier to get off of later. My doctors at the va wanted to cut me to 1 mg of kpin. 2 x a day 3 days ago I told my doc that yesterday he said " that is absurd" Well depression is setting in...facing REALITY now that I'm in this mess and that soon I'll have to actually face life Ahhh Man Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
[Cr...] Posted April 23, 2016 Share Posted April 23, 2016 Don't get too depressed. A lot of people are able to get off in short time. This board is just full of the hard cases. You might be one of the majority. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
[On...] Posted April 23, 2016 Author Share Posted April 23, 2016 I wish I never got into this mess I feel so trapped I feel like there is no way out I don't get this I came down on the Xanax a lil Now switched to clonazepam My va docs said 1 mg kpin= 2 mg Xanax Sure doesn't feel like it Woke up today very depressed I'm just sharing my feelings Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
[On...] Posted April 23, 2016 Author Share Posted April 23, 2016 I wish I never got into this mess I feel so trapped I feel like there is no way out I don't get this I came down on the Xanax a lil Now switched to clonazepam My va docs said 1 mg kpin= 2 mg Xanax Sure doesn't feel like it Woke up today very depressed I'm just sharing my feelings My eyes are tearing constantly So anyway my doc gave me 1 mg 4x a day of klonipin How do I go about reducing ? He said .5 every 2 weeks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
[Cr...] Posted April 23, 2016 Share Posted April 23, 2016 I think he's wrong about that. My understanding is that 1 mg of K = 1 mg of X. http://www.benzo.org.uk/bzequiv.htm Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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