help with xanax taper

Hello buddies. I am thankful for this website. my story began a year ago. I was on 0.5 mg prn. I would take it twice a week and not have any withdrawals. life got tough and I started to take it almost daily for the last 7 months.  I am here to seek advice and whether i should taper with valium or stick with X. I am also in school and have ADHD meds which is not helping either.

thanks for any advice.

Hi wanderingman   Welcome to Benzobuddies.

We are glad that you found us,  you are making a great decision in tapering off benzos.  We have/had members who have successfully dry tapered Xanax. I suggest you do some research before you decide, check out the taper plan boards and post questions.  We have a great community filled with knowledgeable and compassionate members who will support and encourage you.

Benzodiazepines need to be tapered off slowly. The general tapering guidelines are to cut the daily dose by between 5% and 10% every 10 - 14 days. 

It’s important to listen to your body, whatever feels comfortable.  The aim is to keep any withdrawal symptoms manageable.

I would recommend reading through the Ashton Manual, It is a great resource for understanding the effect benzo’s have on our body.  It provides tapering/withdrawal information. It also includes a list of common symptoms 

I'll leave you a few links:

The Ashton Manual. 

Planning Your Withdrawal(TaperPlans)

The Xanax Club

If you care to add a signature (history of meds/doses etc) it will help members give you relevant advice.  Go to the top of the page and select PROFILE then choose forum profile then insert drug history into the text box and remember to click change profile

Welcome aboard

Magrita

Hi and welcome to BB!

It's good that you are looking for answers before you have WD issues. I did read the info about switching to valium but had personally taken valium a couple of times ( 10 mg 2 different times, before taking xanax) and it might as well have been a sugar pill. So my crazy metabolism plus not having a supportive Dr and being afraid of rocking the boat with him, I have stayed on xanax.

The alcohol/water method with a 1:1 mix has been easy to use and follow for me. I was so stressed when I started that hard math or using a scale seemed more than my brain could comprehend. I started at 1 mg in June and will be off in 4 more days! It has allowed me to go faster when sxs were mild and slow down and even hold a couple of times when sxs were bad. Because I know xanax has such a short half life I have dosed 4 times a day. I've read about some people even doing 5 or 6 doses a day, just to avoid interdose sxs but I've been good with 4 doses a day.

Best of luck with your decision and let me know if you need info about the taper.