Talked to my Doctor and Now am More Confused

            Been on Xanax for a little over 3 years, 1.5 mg at bedtime.

 

    I am about to start a liquid titration and mentioned the method to my Doctor/prescriber..........Probably a big mistake on my part.

 

  She said people make too big a deal of weaning off this stuff and the most rational way to start is to cut the 1/2 into a quarter and take 1 1/4 at bedtime for a few weeks and "see how it goes"-direct quote.

 

    I mentioned that seemed like too big of a cut and of course when you question someone's "medical authority", they think they have the right to hand your ass to you.

 

      Does anyone here think that a 1/4 reduction to start is too fast?......I'm concerned that she'll shut me off if I don't follow her recommendations.   Any advice would be welcome.

1)  Overall, most folks find discontinuing benzos to be fairly easy, and would probably have little or no difficulty with a 25% cut.

 

2)  Most folks on BB would probably find a 25% unbearable.

i would also agree with builder here.

i find that many of the members here are ones who have had or are having a hard time with a taper, but this # represents a small section of the population that takes and tapers off of these drugs.

If you are really hesitant to cut that amount the first time maybe your doctor would be willing to give you a smaller dose pill and you could cut that in half, such as a .25mg tablet, so that you can cut .125mg for your first cut.

I don't think it has anything to do with belief systems or philosophy just think some people respond differently to these drugs and find it much more difficult to taper. 

 

Not to say I haven't thought the same thing myself, but my experience tells me otherwise. 

 

I think your doctor's taper plan is too quick.  Might have something to do with her belief system. 

 

The day that patients are included in the design of their taper plan will be a good day.  Not like we're asking for an increase in our dose, we're asking to come down.  Where's the harm? 

 

Did you suggest Prof. Ashton's Manual to her? 

 

I hope you are one of the lucky ones.  Many are. 

 

Dee

 

Wishing you the very best. 

 

        So what you're saying and I don't want to get too philosophical here, is that your expectations or belief system could affect how the outcome goes.

      I personally know somebody who got off of a benzo,(either Ativan or Xanax) cutting about the same amount and was on quite a high dose and had no problem either.

 

      I figured any advice from here would be helpful........................Thanks

 

Nope, that is NOT what I'm saying (although that is also almost certainly true  ).

 

What I'm saying is that a large segment of the population, probably significant majority, are able to discontinue benzos without much difficulty.

 

But, ...there is a substantial minority, well represented here on BB, that because of different physical and emotional structure, fall outside those norms, and legitimately have greater difficulty discontinuing benzos.

It's not that much of stretch Builder. 

 

Yes, agree philosophy and belief systems do play a role, they play a role in everything was just trying to break it down to the case in point that is, "is it all in our heads?"

 

Dee

 

 

 

 

If you can afford it, find a psychiatrist. They charge more but will give you all you need to taper.

 

            Thanks for all the input and advice.............Remember, that's what this place is for!

Which country are you in Al52?

 

Every time I talk to my doctor we disagree. I’m not telling him symptoms anymore. I am dry cutting .25mgs of Xanax a week. I have been on this stuff 20 years. I can’t cross over. I started at 6mgs in February. I’m doing really ok. I feel very lucky. There is another lady in here who did the same tapering schedule I’m doing. She’s out now.  I believe she’s jumped from Xanax. When I described the taper I am doing. It’s a bit quick but under 10% weekly. He warned of seizures and he made me mad. Since I’m January he told me just cut .50 mgs a week for 12 weeks the. Your done. He’s researching just not good data.

Hi Bnzoh8trforever 

 

It’s a bit quick but under 10% weekly.

.25 mg/week cut over 5 mg (2/22/2018) is about 5%/week reduction or 10%/14 days. It falls into the general recommendations to reduce the daily dose by somewhere between 5% and 10% every 10-14 days. It could explain the absence of symptoms.

 

Going forward you have arrived to 4.25 mg (4/20/2018) and the cut of .25 mg/week over 4.25 mg becomes now 12%/14 days. You may still feel good but it is possible that keeping that pace could raise symptoms going forward. A number of buddies found that the last 1/3 of the road is where they are more vulnerable and more sensitive to variations in dose.

 

Wish you a smooth end of the taper.

 

 

            Been on Xanax for a little over 3 years, 1.5 mg at bedtime.

 

    I am about to start a liquid titration and mentioned the method to my Doctor/prescriber..........Probably a big mistake on my part.

 

  She said people make too big a deal of weaning off this stuff and the most rational way to start is to cut the 1/2 into a quarter and take 1 1/4 at bedtime for a few weeks and "see how it goes"-direct quote.

 

    I mentioned that seemed like too big of a cut and of course when you question someone's "medical authority", they think they have the right to hand your ass to you.

 

      Does anyone here think that a 1/4 reduction to start is too fast?......I'm concerned that she'll shut me off if I don't follow her recommendations.   Any advice would be welcome.

 

Cutting 1/4 mg of Xanax after three years of taking 1.5 mg of Xanax at night is going to be a challenge, even if you're part of the "no big deal" segment of the population Builder is referring to.  My prediction is that you will have great difficulty sleeping after cutting 1/4 mg due to the dependency you have built up.  This happened to me once long ago, and rather than adjusting my taper, my doctor handed me a free sample bottle of Ambien.  Careful, careful.  Please keep the group posted on how it's going.

I would start at just .0625mg cuts rather than getting involved in titration at this point.  If your doctor will prescribe .25mg tablets it's easy to cut them into fourths and toss 1/4 to cut your dose.

 

I tapered from 2mg and that cut worked best for me.  I was able to cut every 3-5 days without amped symptoms.

I am tapering xanax. It’s possible. I have a doctor that freaked out.  I don’t think he thought I would really do it but I am. So I was on a very high dose and once I got my dose down. I could tell he researched. I could tell HE was nervous. So that actually makes me feel better. I know it’s scary. I feel it. I have been on them 20 years. I am halfway today. It’s getting harder. Good luck.

When I started my taper, I was at 2.5mg of klononpin a day.  I cut down .5mg at a time, until I was at 1.5mg.  Then I cut down .25 mg at a time.  As I have gotten down to lower doses, the amount I can cut has gotten smaller.  It might also work for you, as it did for me, or it might not.  I held for a significant amount of time after these large cuts and it took me about 3 months to feel mostly normal again after each large cut. 

 

I would honestly recommend doing a microtaper with holds, depending on how you feel.  The worst thing is when you cut too much and can't get relief.