New to tapering Xanax and have a couple questions.

My long story can be found in the Introductions section but here’s a semi quick story.

 

I had insomnia over the course of a few months but had no idea why. I had never had any issue sleeping ever but after getting a CPAP machine and not changing my caffeine intake I finally had a breakdown after trying Trazadone that my GP gave me.

 

The ER doc gave me a script of 1mg of Xanax per night.  I slept so well that first night and woke up and felt so, so good. I had some additional stress along the way that pushed my dose up to 1.25mg on a nightly basis.  I guess I’m happy Xanax was there when I needed it but 5 months later it’s time to come off.

 

I got a medical marijuana card and tried c/t last Friday at the advice of my doctor. I think they were over estimating how much of a sedative THC can be because that was a complete disaster. I ended up taking 1mg that night and fell asleep. Encouraging! 

 

The following night I took 1mg and two puffs of my vape pen and my anxiety spiked. I freaked out and tried to go to bed. Laid there for about an hour then took and additional .25mg and fell asleep.

 

Back to square one.

 

I decided to lay off the MM Sunday night and take my normal 1.25mg to reset. After a bit of research I found these forums and decided to give a 10% reduction a try. I fell asleep well enough but did wake in the middle of the night. I was able to fall back asleep and had the same experience last night.

 

With all that being said, I’ve been suffering anxiety throughout the day but I’ve managed it. I’ve been diagnosed with PTSD after the ER visit and I really think it’s related to not knowing if I’ll be able to sleep at night but I’m really not sure.

 

Does the first couple days of a taper suck, then get better?  Is 10% too big of a jump?  I haven’t been on all that long and my dose isn’t crazy high but I have everything in order now with my caffeine intake and sleep schedule so I’m ready to get off this stuff. I’m just not sure how to do it right.

I’ll add in as well that My GP also put me on Lexapro after the ER visit. I tried that for a couple of weeks but my anxiety was out of control. I went down to 5mg from 10mg and c/t that without a problem. I felt much better after stopping.

Hey Jim -

 

I saw your intro.

 

I wrote this but will say it again:

 

I am doing a DLMT - a daily liquid micro taper - for Valium. I am reducing 5% (from my pervious dose) every 2 weeks. If you go to the Titration board and post: " I need detailed help with a DLMT from Xanax", there are people who will help you plan and prepare.

Slow and steady and listening to your body and s/x is VERY important as you taper.

 

You WILL heal.

 

 

I’ll add in as well that My GP also put me on Lexapro after the ER visit. I tried that for a couple of weeks but my anxiety was out of control. I went down to 5mg from 10mg and c/t that without a problem. I felt much better after stopping.

 

10 mg lexapro is a high dose to start on. I started on 10 mg celexa (=5 mg lexapro) and it was way too much just starting. I felt like I was having heart arrhythmias and couldn't sit still. So I started on 5 mg celexa (=2.5 mg lexapro) and worked my way up from there, upping my dose every few weeks.