Tapering Xanax long term low dose

I’ve been taking .125mg Xanax near daily for years. Occasionally on very bad days I’d take .25mg. Many days I wouldn’t take any. I thought with such a low and inconsistent dose I’d be immune to addiction but I don’t think that anymore. I need help.

 

I started to get withdrawal tolerance symptoms last week so I decided to go cold turkey. Yesterday was day 6 and I had a 5 hour panic attack. I gave in and had .0625mg last night which allowed me to sleep.

 

I’d like to start a taper but I’m not exactly sure about scheduling since I never took it at a consistent time. I only took it when I got anxious.

So I waited until I felt the anxiety coming on (around 6pm) to take my .0625mg today and I’m really struggling. Not sure if I should take another .0625

Ended up taking another .0625mg around 9pm and fell asleep soon after. Woke up about an hour later with the worst most disorienting loops domineering my thoughts. It was horrific.

 

I feel like I’m sliding backwards now. After 6 days CT even my normal old .125mg dose isn’t giving relief. I feel so trapped. What do I do?

hey randy -

 

I would consider tapering from the last dose you felt good at. It will take a while but it will be easier and you won't have severe w/d s/x when you are off. Cold turkeys are very harsh and from what I have read on here can last a while. That is just my advice - I don't want to see you suffer like this.

 

If you post in the Titration board people can help you do a daily micro taper which will be MUCH smoother than a cold turkey. Everyone on here advices to never go cold turkey. I know it might feel like taking a big step backwards but it could also be a lifesaver in the long run.

Thank you so much, Pete.

 

I guess the problem now is that I don’t know what dose is the last dose I felt good at. I was fine with .125mg once in the evening for a long time until the I got the tolerancr withdrawals that started this urge to quit. Now After my 6 day c/t attempt I’ve been trying .0625mg and while it seems to prevent the absolute worst of the withdrawal effects I’m still very uncomfortable.

 

Should I just bite the bullet and try .125mg?

 

Thank you for the help.

I would recommend trying 0.0625 twice daily for a while and see if it evens out. Try to spread them apart pretty well. If you were taking 0.125 daily on average, that is probably a good place to taper from, but see if splitting it helps with the interdose withdrawals. That is what I would call the withdrawal symptoms you are having. You are not tolerant to your dose, you have just become more dependant on it, and because Xanax has such a short half life, you are now having withdrawal between doses.

Also, because your dose is so low, a liquid titration is going to be your ticket out of this mess. So Pete is right. Hopefully you will stabilize after a while of doing the 0.0625 twice daily (it might take a while because of your 6 days of cold turkey). Then post on the titration board to get help planning a liquid taper from there. Sorry you are going through this.

Thank you so much for the help. Yesterday was my first day at two consistent doses of .0625mg and it was my first day without a serious attack. I did one dose at 1pm and another at 7pm. I slept the whole night through.

 

This morning I had some anxiety but it wasn’t intense. I took my dose at 1pm again and had an attack about 30 mins AFTER taking it. No idea what’s going on. Is my dose too low? Just a coincidence with the timing? It’s a terrible feeling when the Xanax seems to bring on the attack but at the same time NOT taking it will also make me feel that way.

It sounds like you made some improvement and had a better day with splitting your dose.

 

"I took my dose at 1pm again and had an attack about 30 mins AFTER taking it. No idea what’s going on. Is my dose too low? Just a coincidence with the timing? It’s a terrible feeling when the Xanax seems to bring on the attack but at the same time NOT taking it will also make me feel that way." The onset of action for Xanax (the duration of time it takes for a drug's effects to come to prominence upon administration) is said to be 60 minutes. 

A lot if people (me included) have felt their medication to not only sometimes seem to have no effect, but sometimes seem to have a  "paradoxical" effect, while still in acute withdrawal following a too-large cut or cold turkey. As stated above, the onset is usually a little longer than 30 minutes but even if not, you can chalk it up to "aftershocks" of your c/t. Should even out soon. Glad today was better for you.

Only woke up once during the night. Felt genuine hunger today for the first time since I started my c/t. Thank you all so much for the support.

rdandy - waves gave you great advice. Definitely post on the Titration board and some knowledgable people like Builder will help you plan...a DLMT is the way to go. You will suffer so much less. If you read enough stories on here, you will see that cold turkey is not what you want to do and you don't even want to do a rapid taper - go sloooooow. Slow will make it all smoother right down and after you step off.

 

Happy to help in any way I can always. I am about to start my DLMT and will report what I learn along the way.

Thank you SoberHope.

 

After my positive post yesterday I had a pretty rough afternoon. Today was very bad too. The mornings seem ok but a few hours after my afternoon dose seems to be very difficult. I’m wondering if my dose is too small.

Sorry to say, but if you only reinstated a matter of days ago, you are still in acute from that.  It could be rough for a while, even if you straight up doubled your dose. I would hold if you can handle it, you'll make it through. Just be patient.

Stay strong rdandy - things will improve.

When I first tried cutting my xanax dose by 25%, I lasted 2 days before all hell broke loose in my head. I reinstated to my 1 mg daily dose. It took me 7 days to feel better.

Today is day 7 of my “stabilized” dose. Last night was incredibly difficult. What if I never adjust to this dose?

It can take a while - just try and stay in the fight. i spent about 3 weeks trying to stabilize on 3mg of Valium and still have very up and down days. For example: yesterday was a window and today i woke up feeling awful. I was feeling so much better yesterday that I went and did a hot yoga class and now I am worried that it set me back - who knows. It could just be a wave I am in.

 

Have you planned to do a daily liquid micro taper?

I’m doing a dry taper with .25mg Xanax tablets. I plan on dropping .001g every other day depending on how I feel.

I’m doing a dry taper with .25mg Xanax tablets. I plan on dropping .001g every other day depending on how I feel.

 

How much do your tablets weigh?

They average .140g. I weighed dozens and they’re pretty consistent. I’ve been taking .035g at 1pm and trying to wait until 8pm to take the other .035g. The afternoons and early evenings have been very very difficult and I’m wondering if the long 17-hour window between doses is causing it.

Hi rdandy -

 

I am tapering Valium so not a Xanax expert but I do know it has a short half life. Even with Valium's long half-life, I have to dose 3x a day to feel stable.

 

Hopefully someone who is tapering Xanax will chime in.

I'm tapering xanax. But I also take ambien at night which I am not tapering yet. I'm also doing a liquid micro-taper. So I pour my daily dose into 1 bottle and take swigs from it during the day. That keeps my dose leveled throughout the day.

 

rdandy it looks like your taper is about 15% the first 10 days. And it will get higher beyond that.

Rdandy, you are right about the 17 hour window. I would either try to take them 12 hours apart or break it into 3 doses if you have to. I believe average half life for Xanax is about 11 hours.

 

Also, as Hopetodothis points out, your taper rate may get a bit fast due to having so little weight to work with. It is 10% in the first 2 weeks, but after that it goes up. After a while, you may want to do 0.001g every third day.

 

7/70 = 10% / 2 weeks

7/63 = 11% / 2 weeks

7/56 = 12.5% / 2 weeks

7/49 = 14.3% / 2 weeks

7/42 = 16.6% / 2 weeks

You get the picture.

 

If you switched to every third day after 2 cuts it would be:

10% / 2 wks

11% / 2 wks

9% / 15 days

10% / 15 days

11% / 15 days

12% / 15 days

 

Then you could switch to every fourth day if you wanted, or continue with the climbing percentage if you are doing okay with it,  or switch methods to liquid or to dry with added filler.

 

Thank you so much for those breakdowns, guys. I really appreciate it.

 

I’ve been in a pretty constant anxious state the last couple of days. My sleeping has actually deteriorated over the last few nights. I was sleeping better during my c/t somehow!

 

I was hoping to see more improvement without upping my dose but I have to go back to work this week and I’m tempted to add a .0625mg dose in the morning. I just hate the idea of losing ground but I’m starting to feel like I never even found my stable starting dose.