Looking for Buddies - LT High dose Xanax direct taper 1/2 way there!

You’re welcome, Pearl. Anyone here feel free to PM me over to this thread if ever I can be of any support or  help. I am well healed and getting on with normal life these days.  You will, too.

Challis 

You’re welcome, Pearl. Anyone here feel free to PM me over to this thread if ever I can be of any support or  help. I am well healed and getting on with normal life these days.  You will, too.

 

Challis 

Thank you!! 

Hi Julia!

To answer your question:

What do you suggest?  Go down to 1.6875 or 1.75 which I know I would do .5, .5, .5 and .25.

Personally, I would reduce from my morning dose to what you wrote above. Ideally, you'd want to have the same doses throughout the day. As you taper down, it will make it easier if you're doing uniform cuts. Additionally, I read over and over on here that a steady and uniform dosing schedule allows for a consistent amount in your system which is supposed to be easier on the body.

.5 Morning

.5 Afternoon

.5 Dinner

.25 mg bedtime

After this, I would do small cuts from my other doses until all are at .25 and then go from there when you reach 1.0 mg. That's just me. I know that you always took your largest dose in the morning but after this cut,  you can always start your reductions by cutting out .125 from the lunchtime or dinner time dose and see how you feel. If it works well, cut your next .125 (or however much you plan to cut) from the other, etc.  Agan, until you reach four equal doses of .25 mg.

Let me know what you think. Good luck today!! Tell hubby that I said the same!

Love,

Lori

Hi All.

I hope everyone is doing well today.

Lori,

Thanks for the reply.  Sorry I did not respond yesterday!  Things went ok with Hubby!  I will let you know about that privately.  But I will say, I was not feeling well and he was concerned about me and the smells and being around so many people that I did not go.  I was still anxious about it but I stayed home and it did not take him long so I was glad about that and that he got home earlier than we thought he would .

Today I did a cut down to 1.75 which is halfway!!!!  I am very happy about that and I can not believe I am at the halfway mark.  Milestone for me!!!  When I look back at the last 7 months, I have seen alot of improvement since I started tapering even though it has NOT been easy but it has not been horrible the whole time either.  I look forward to moving on and getting closer to the finish line and being healed!!!

After this, I would do small cuts from my other doses until all are at .25 and then go from there when you reach 1.0 mg.  I agree with that!  That is what I plan to do.  I did not do the 10% this time as 1.75 is easier for me to dose with the pills I have.  I plan on doing the .125 mg reductions until I get .25 mg pills which I will not have until at least the middle of September when I go to the PDOC and get my next prescription.  If I find I need to get the .25 mg pills before my next appointment I will reschedule my appointment for a date sooner than what I have.

An interesting fact - out of curiosity, I did call a compounding pharmacy close to me that does take my insurance and would cover the liquid Xanax and the pharmacist gave me some interesting information.  I told him I had tried the liquid taper using the Xanax, vodka and water mixture and that I did not do well on it at all.  This is what he told me - Xanax and alcohol do not mix - even with extremely low doses of alcohol, including ML's of alcohol.  He said that both are sedating and that when you mix them, the alcohol makes the Xanax metabolize quicker and therefore leaves your body faster and then you start having interdose WD because of that and that  makes you need more Xanax. I believe what he said because that is what I believe happened to me when I tried the DLMT for two weeks - which turned out bad for me.  I am also very sensitive and it makes sense that others have had the same issues I had hence making this very real for a lot of people who can not do the DLMT using the alcohol.

He said they do not use alcohol in the compounded Xanax but I am not going to try it at this point. 

He was very impressed with my progress since January and was quite helpful with answering my questions.

So - I am happy to be at the mid way mark in my taper and am hoping I continue doing better as I go down in dose.  Also - funny thing - I cut from my morning dose today and my stomach is not hurting as bad as it has been.  I still wonder if when my stomach was hurting so bad again if it was my body telling me it was time to make another cut.  I wonder if it was saying, I do not need as much Xanax.  I know this theory could be totally wrong but we will see how my stomach is in a couple days.  If it continues to get better - I will stick with my thinking.    If not, oh well!! 

How are you doing?  I really hope you are better!!!  Let me know!!!

PowerPearl - how are you doing?  Better I hope. 

I am thinking about you all and hope everyone has a good day and I hope this cut will not be a difficult one for me.

Love and hugs,

Julia

Lori,

Hello!  Missing you. How are you?  I signed in to see where you were on your taper. I’m so proud of you. How are you?

Love you

Kristin

Lori,

 

Hello!  Missing you. How are you?  I signed in to see where you were on your taper. I’m so proud of you. How are you?

 

Love you

Kristin

Kristin!!

Oh how I miss you!  I'm hanging in there! Another cut soon! Praying to be off by Halloween... or Thanksgiving at the very latest. Will call you soon!

Tomorrow is your 1 Year Anniversary! CONGRATULATIONS! 

Love you!

Lori

Julia,

Congratulations on 1.75! Woo-hoo! Way to go!

Still at the beach. May not leave until Tuesday morning. Busy week ahead. Doctors appointment, chest X-ray, and then packing My son up to head back to NYU on Saturday for his senior year!!! I can't believe it! Will reach out when I can. Again, congratulations! Halfway there is a beautiful thing! 

Love,

Lori

Hi Lori,

Thanks.  I see you made another cut, awesome!!  I would love to be at the beach right now. 

Day 3 of this cut and this morning has been rough.  My stomach has gotten better but this morning I am having chest discomfort and my anxiety is high.  Hubby took my blood pressure and it was 138/80 so that is not bad for me....  I am keeping check on myself.  I have had this multiple times before and went to the ER and it has always been anxiety.  But -  I am keeping a close watch on myself and trying to not make it worse by getting upset and making my anxiety worse.  I do think this is cut related but we will see.

I am sure it will be hard for you to have your son go back to college but this will be a great year for him I am sure and you will be off this Xanax soon and will be able to enjoy this time with him watching him accomplish his goals in college.  That will be great!!

I hope your week goes good and please do reach out to me when you can.

Love,

Julia

Hi everyone, I am new to this group. So glad you are all here and that we seem to be going through the same kind of things. I started tapering off of 2.0mg of Xanax last November 1st. I had been taking it for like 30 years. :DI don’t remember the exact cuts and dates but as of the other night I am at .50mg yay! My goal is to be completely off of it as of 12-31-2029. God willing. I too believe that we need a group for us and to stick together as we go off of this horrible medicine. I hope you all have a good day and week. Thanks for being there. Sheila

Hi there! Just checking in to make sure you're okay. Please know that we all care!  Feel free to jump in at anytime. 

I truly hope that you're doing well!

Fondly,

Lori

Hi everyone,

Trying to distract myself....  This is day 5 of this cut and I only went down around 6% and it has hit me so hard!!  I started on day 2 and 3 with chest and arm pain (have had this many times in the last couple years and go to the ER and they always say health anxiety)  but it is now getting alot better but my other symptoms today are ear pressure, issues with my vision which has gotten better as the day has gone on.  Went to the grocery store with my husband and had a rough time walking around the store - had to move very SLOW!!  My head is pounding.  May have to take an advil for that. 

I have to go to the doctor this afternoon with my husband so I am trying hard to be positive and tell myself I will be ok......

Just writing on here to get some encouragement and support as I am having a hard time.

My last cut I took away from my morning dose and this cut as well. I was trying to get my doses close to being even.  I have always made my morning dose the strongest because I take a low dose in the evenings.  I am thinking it is too much of a cut from the morning dose so this morning I went back up on the morning dose and just cut from my second dose of the day. 

I have not felt this bad with a cut in quite a while so it has certainly caused me some anxiety.

Any suggestions on how to dose when going down?  I am tapering only using pills. 

I was doing the following: .5, .5, .5 and .25

Today I have done - .625, ..375 and will do .5 and then .25 for the last 2 doses of the day.  I really do not want to be so different in dosing as I want to get to the point I am truly even dosing throughout the day.

Should I stay at the first plan of dosing or the second? 

Thanks for the advice in advance.

I hope all are doing well.

PowerPearl - how are you?

Lori - I see where you updosed yesterday but I agree one day won't set you back.  Miss you!!!

Julia

Hi everyone, I am new to this group. So glad you are all here and that we seem to be going through the same kind of things. I started tapering off of 2.0mg of Xanax last November 1st. I had been taking it for like 30 years. :DI don’t remember the exact cuts and dates but as of the other night I am at .50mg yay! My goal is to be completely off of it as of 12-31-2029. God willing. I too believe that we need a group for us and to stick together as we go off of this horrible medicine. I hope you all have a good day and week. Thanks for being there. Sheila

Hi,

I too wanted to say we are here for you and I hope you are doing well!  Having support and encouragement here has been a God send for me.

Take care.

Julia

Hi everyone,

 

Just writing on here to get some encouragement and support as I am having a hard time.

 

I have not felt this bad with a cut in quite a while so it has certainly caused me some anxiety.

 

Any suggestions on how to dose when going down?  I am tapering only using pills. 

 

I was doing the following: .5, .5, .5 and .25

Today I have done - .625, ..375 and will do .5 and then .25 for the last 2 doses of the day.  I really do not want to be so different in dosing as I want to get to the point I am truly even dosing throughout the day.

 

Should I stay at the first plan of dosing or the second?

 

Julia

It never ceases to amaze me how everyone can be so different on how they have dosed this medication. Logically I would think that due to its short half life, that you would need to dose evenly throughout the day in order to not get slammed with interdose w/d. Yet I've met so many people who for many years only dosed at night and seemed to be okay. I could never wrap my head around it since I've always dosed equal amounts (until I got below .75 mgs). 

This being said, I don't know what advice to offer. I know the liquid is out of the picture for you (as it was for me).  The only thing I can think of is maybe cutting a very tiny bit from your morning dose to allow your body time to adjust. I watched videos two years ago of people using a nail file to take minuscule amounts off until they reach 1/2 a pill and then were able to adjust to equal dosing.  I know this sounds tedious but I'm reaching for suggestions.

If I think of any other methods, I'll let you know. Hopefully someone else who did not dose equal amounts each day can chime in on how they did it. Or, you could start a new thread asking that question since this thread only seems to attract 2-4 of us.

Also keep in mind that the taper itself can get tougher before it gets better. I remember well that I was struggling a ton when I was at your current dose but it got much better!! Horrible symptoms that I believed we're going to be with me FOREVER just vanished! New ones came along but the old ones didn't come back. It's a crappy road but if you just hunker down and ride it out, they will pass!

Sending love and support!!

Lori

Thanks Lori,

I know what you mean, everyone is different but I know I'll get through it. I'll hopefully catch up with you later today.

Love you and thank you for being there for me!!!

Julia

Hi everyone,

Trying to distract myself....  This is day 5 of this cut and I only went down around 6% and it has hit me so hard!!  I started on day 2 and 3 with chest and arm pain (have had this many times in the last couple years and go to the ER and they always say health anxiety)  but it is now getting alot better but my other symptoms today are ear pressure, issues with my vision which has gotten better as the day has gone on.  Went to the grocery store with my husband and had a rough time walking around the store - had to move very SLOW!!  My head is pounding.  May have to take an advil for that. 

 

I have to go to the doctor this afternoon with my husband so I am trying hard to be positive and tell myself I will be ok......

 

Just writing on here to get some encouragement and support as I am having a hard time.

 

My last cut I took away from my morning dose and this cut as well. I was trying to get my doses close to being even.  I have always made my morning dose the strongest because I take a low dose in the evenings.  I am thinking it is too much of a cut from the morning dose so this morning I went back up on the morning dose and just cut from my second dose of the day. 

 

I have not felt this bad with a cut in quite a while so it has certainly caused me some anxiety.

 

Any suggestions on how to dose when going down?  I am tapering only using pills. 

 

I was doing the following: .5, .5, .5 and .25

Today I have done - .625, ..375 and will do .5 and then .25 for the last 2 doses of the day.  I really do not want to be so different in dosing as I want to get to the point I am truly even dosing throughout the day.

 

Should I stay at the first plan of dosing or the second? 

 

Thanks for the advice in advance.

 

I hope all are doing well.

 

PowerPearl - how are you?

 

Lori - I see where you updosed yesterday but I agree one day won't set you back.  Miss you!!!

 

Julia

HI Julia,

Sending you much love and support.  I know it is hard but you are doing a great job.  In terms of dosing I never thought I would have equal doses but I am about to be at .25 .25. .25. .25.  I used to always take my largest dose in the evening.  I think its probably the easiest to make even cuts from equal doses.  If not at some point you are down to just one dose a day.  I have limited experience but I'm not sure how that is possible with such a short half life.  We will have to look to Lori to see how she does with her dosing as she gets lower since she is ahead of us.

I am doing just Ok.  I have so much trembling in my arms and legs and lots of chest pressure.  Its just hard being on vacation and wanting to show my kids a good time and I feel like I'm just faking it (well I am just faking it).

So for the liquid you obviously must do what is best for you but I will say it is a smoother ride down than just making a large cut.  So maybe think about it more for when you get lower.  Also my insurance does not cover it either and it is $40 a bottle.

Wishing you the best of luck and speedy healing.  I hate this journey so much but I am so glad to have you ladies to talk to

Hugs

Pearl

Hi everyone,

Thanks for all the support.

I'm feeling a little better. I think changing the dosing helped but I need to figure out how to get to equal doses without so many symptoms. This has been re

ally bad but I know I'll get through it.

We'll figure it out aa we gp and I agree with Lori, it's amazing how people have dosed so different but we all have to listen and do what our individual bodies need.

It is so frustrating and depressing but failure is not an option!!!

PowerPearl, thank you for responding. I'm sorry you are having a rough time too. I hope it gets better for you too. You are doing great too!!!

Lori, thank you too for the Love and support. You are an inspiration to to all of us!!!

We'll all get through this together.

Hardest thing I've ever had to do.

Love and hugs to you both!!! And to all of us suffering but making progress!!!

Love,

Julia

Wow. I came in here to check on Lori. You are ALL AMAZING. Great job. Keep plugging away. You got this.

Kristin

Thanks Kristin!! 

Hi all , I hope everyone is hanging in there and doing well.  I am hanging in there.  Some days are better than others.  Still having issues but not as bad.  One day at a time.

Love,

Julia

Thanks, Kristin!

Julia, how are you making out? Hope things are going better!

Pearl, I hope you managed to enjoy vacation!!

I ended up staying at the beach for another week. We took my son back to college yesterday and came right back to the beach. Sorry I haven't been on here much but it's been a busy week and typing on this iPad is a royal pain!  Heading back home tomorrow. Will check in once I get settled. Had a few decent days, a few really good days, and 2 really bad days while on vacation. It's simply bizarre!!

Again, hope all are doing well!!

Fondly,

Lori

sandoz/greenstone question:

I just switched from sandoz to greenstone. Having trouble finding the right dosage for the Greenstone.

Did those of you who have used both  find you had to dose down, or dose up a bit in the transition? Thanks.

sandoz/greenstone question:

 

I just switched from sandoz to greenstone. Having trouble finding the right dosage for the Greenstone.

 

Did those of you who have used both  find you had to dose down, or dose up a bit in the transition? Thanks.

I actually did well with both Sandoz (was on them for over 10 years) and Greenstone (have been on these for two years now). I had a terrible time with Teva!! I only lasted on Tevas for 3 days and had to call my doctor.  It was THAT bad.  At that time my local pharmacy, as well as Walgreens and CVS were all carrying Teva (cheaper) or Activas (sp).  I remember it was frustrating!!

After doing my research, I was able to call my new pharmacy ask them to order Greenstone as I had heard that it was the closest to the name brand originally from Pfizer.  Fortunately, that's all I get now (knock on wood). My doctor now writes "Greenstone only" on my script. 

I honestly never had a problem with Greenstone or Sandoz. My suggestion would be to give it some time.  Experience tells me that it's often difficult to tell the difference between taper related symptoms and different manufacturers meds.  When I had the Teva symptoms  it was before I even started to taper so I knew it was definitely the medication. But when I went from Sandoz to Greenstone during my taper I didn't feel any different. They both seemed to work the same.

Keep us posted.

Fondly,

Lori

Made another cut yesterday. Praying for the best! Hope all are doing well. Crazy quiet thread. 

Lori

Good Luck Lori!!

I started cutting yesterday too. I’m taking .0625 from my 4pm dose.

How are you dosing now ? .25 .25 .0625?

I’ll be thinking about you!

Pearl

I'm just trying to make it through. I restarted my DLMT somewhere around September 1st? I was at 0.5 mg. I've been reducing 0.005 mg a day. That's 5 micrograms! MICROGRAMS! I had to hold at 0.46 mg for about 5 days. Seemed to have settled, so I reduced another 0.005 mg today and I am already very foggy headed this morning. Maybe I haven't settled?

Good luck to everybody!

Good Luck Lori!!

 

I started cutting yesterday too. I’m taking .0625 from my 4pm dose.

 

How are you dosing now ? .25 .25 .0625?

 

I’ll be thinking about you!

 

Pearl

Hi Pearl!

As of yesterday I'm dosing the following:

.1875 at 9:00 am

.1875 at 3:00 pm

.1875 at 9:00-10:00 pm

I had been doing .1875, .25, .1875. We'll see how this goes.

I will say that dosing 3 x's per day has made it easier once dosing below .75 mg. I still have symptoms... but I've had them all along. However, I truly did adjust fairly quickly to dosing 3 times per day. I never could have done this when I was at a higher dose. 

Best of luck to you on your reduction!!!

Lori

I'm just trying to make it through. I restarted my DLMT somewhere around September 1st? I was at 0.5 mg. I've been reducing 0.005 mg a day. That's 5 micrograms! MICROGRAMS! I had to hold at 0.46 mg for about 5 days. Seemed to have settled, so I reduced another 0.005 mg today and I am already very foggy headed this morning. Maybe I haven't settled?

 

Good luck to everybody!

Nice going!! 

Lori