rapid taper with help of non-benzo's

Hi community,

 

 

I don't know if it is too early to consider my story as a "success story", but I am feeling very good about my progress and wanted to share with you. Below I am describing my fairly rapid tapering after 8-month use of xanax 1mg.

 

I had been taking xanax 1mg for 8 months. The first 5 months were very good, it felt that I had finally found the solution to my anxieties/depression, but then I realized the hard way (like many of us here) that xanax is not a sustainable solution. After building tolerance, I went back to being anxious/depressed + having horrible withdrawal symptoms and an addiction. This is when I decided to begin my tapering, join this forum, seek for help.

 

Initially, I reduced 1mg xanax to 0.75mg xanax on my own for 2 weeks, without doctor supervision. It was VERY painful, but I did it. Then I saw a psychiatrist. When I went to his office I was feeling helpless and that I would never be able to get off benzo's. My doctor though was very confident that with his recipe I would be able to get off xanax within 1 month.

 

He prescribed me gabapentin and celexa during my tapering (dosages as you can see in my signature). I was very hesitant to follow his instructions to taper quickly, but I trusted him. He was very reassuring that the new meds (non-benzos non-addictive) would help me. Indeed, these two meds helped me significantly to deal with the withdrawal symptoms.

 

I have not taken xanax in 4 weeks. The first 2 weeks were very unpleasant (depression, bad sleep, confusion, dry mouth, etc.), but during the last two weeks things have been getting better and better. I am getting a decent sleep of 5-6 hours, my cognitive abilities have improved, my dry mouth has been getting better, and my depression is back to "normal levels". After 4 weeks of being benzo-free, I feel good and confident that I am never going back, and that withdrawal symptoms will eventually vanish.

 

In summary, I wanted to share with you that gabapentin and celexa (two non-addictive meds) helped me. Is it too early to consider my case a success story? I don't know, but I am feeling much much much better compared to where I was and I posted my first post and before I started my tapering. I wanted to share, and also receive feedback.

 

Your dry mouth is more likely related to Celexa than Xanax.  I started 25mg x day Zoloft mid-way through my taper for GAD.  After 4 to 6 weeks, I developed wicked dry mouth and constipation.  Dry mouth chewing gum and Miralax was a life-saver.  After 12 weeks, I have no negative symptoms from low dose Zoloft.  Years ago, I tried Paxil but sexual side-effect made me stop quickly.  I have no sexual side effect with Zoloft.  This is consistent with the literature.  Good luck going forward.

Are you going to stay on celexa? What’s your plan going forward?