Direct xanax taper

Hello guys! I need some real help with my taper I’m having a lot of physical wirhdrawal symptoms rather than anxiety. I got down to a .5 xr tablet and actually went through 2 weeks of withdrawal and felt better. Then I started cutting in half... I’m scared cause I’m having so many head symptoms. Idk if I should wait or not. But I’m not doing so good and I might be having interdose withdrawal symptoms. I know some people suffer more than me but I was told by another member the rapid taper might be making this harder for me. I’ve been on almost 6 months. The initial half reduction was fine. If I have regular xanax how should I switch over to get off the last .5mgs? Thanks in advance. I don’t wanna mess myself up. I have a jeweler scale from amazon but need help making a schedule. I’m terrible at math I also can buy some gel capsules. I feel like the more frequently I dose the better I’ll feel.

Most members find they need to slow their taper down when they get lower in dose because their symptoms increase, I need to clarify your reduction, did you do a 50% reduction to your .5 mg XR tablet, are you holding at .25 mg?

 

I don't doubt you're dealing with interdose withdrawal, Xanax is famous for that, I've seen many members dose Xanax 4 times a day to avoid it.

 

Are you asking if you'd feel better in your taper if you made the switch to regular Xanax instead of the XR?

 

If you're interested in tapering using your scales we have a moderator who is great at coaching you through it, he's made a video and designed a webpage to make the math easy. 

 

Sorry for all of the questions but it will help us help you.

I did initially make a 50% reduction and had a lot of crazy head and body symptoms for a couple weeks. But I was starting to feel really sick on the 1mg total dose of xanax so I took a risk. It ended up working out and I felt better after a couple weeks. When I got down to .5 thats where its been difficult to make reductions. I cut down to .25 which I don’t think is working out. I tried cutting the extended release tablet in half and I think that it’s messing with the extended release mechanism. So trying to reduce from there is difficult. I am holding on the .25 dose but way to many ups and downs doing it this way. I am confused on the math and how to reduce off the last bit. My doctor refuses the valium but will give me regular xanax.

Thanks for explaining your situation, I sure hope you'll slow your taper down, the thing is, rushing to get off the drug only increases our pain on the way down, it doesn't shorten the time it takes for your brain to recover.  There is still healing to be done when you're off the drug and you won't have the drug to help you minimize your symptoms so it's in your best interest to take it slow. 

 

It sounds like you'd benefit from using regular Xanax to finish your taper, I've seen many members successfully get off of Xanax so it's possible.  Do you think you might want to go back up in dose in order to stabilize before you begin again, perhaps to .375?

 

Let me leave you with some links and if you're interested I'll send Bob7 your way to walk you through this.

 

Bob7 Benzo Dry Taper Method

   

Dry Taper Math

 

 

I could probably stay at the .5. But I don’t know how to split the doses up throughout the day to equal that. Like say I wanted to transition to the regular and total that out to .5. How would I dose that? I feel like I would have to dose frequently.

Going back to .5 sounds like a good idea if you're having a rough time and dosing more often is a good plan.

 

Would you like to try dosing 3 times a day, how long will it take you to get the regular Xanax tablets? 

I have 26 .25 football looking ones right now. I can probably get more at the end of the month.

That's enough to get started, are you interested in the dry taper method using a scale?

Yes I’m intimidated about it cause I suck at math but that seems like my best option.

So I started dosing .125 every 8 hours? Does that sounds right for 3 times a day? That should = the .375. I’ll add in the extra piece to = .5 if I have a hard time and dose .125 4 times a day every 6 hours. I’m just gonna need help figuring this all out once I’m stable. I hope my body accepts this over the xr  how long should I hold this to determine if it’s working? 2 weeks? A month? I’m not sure what stable even looks like tbh. :wacko:

I hope the .375 will help you reach stability, which I'm told doesn't mean feeling good, it means feeling well enough to be able to face another reduction.  I didn't taper so I'm going on what I've read.

 

As for adding in the extra .125 when you feel you need it, that's probably not a good idea, a steady dose going in a downward direction is best.  I don't have any first hand knowledge of the XR either, so I'm concerned as you are that there may be some initial discomfort while you're getting used to the regular tablet which makes me wonder if you're going to need to add in that .125 as part of your regular dose.  Something you may want to keep in mind.

 

I'd like to discuss your plan to dose every 6 hours, please don't plan one of them while you're attempting to sleep, I've seen members set an alarm to do this but it's not a good idea.

 

I've asked Bob7 to drop by to help you with your taper, you're going to do great, no worries, okay? 

I can help you with math.

 

I have the flu right now so I might be slow to response.

 

First, get yourself stable on a dose.  Find a dose you feel ok on for a couple of weeks.

 

Once you are stabilized, we can start a taper.

 

I will need to know:

(1) the total mg of drug you take per day.

(2) do you split that total or do you take all at once?  If you split it, tell me what you take and when.

(3) Weigh 10 of your pills and give me the number.  I will divide by 10 and get the average weight per pill.

(4) You need to pick a taper schedule.  I recommended no more than 5% every two weeks but everyone is different.

 

Let me know when you want a taper schedule and can answer those 4 questions.

 

Bob

Just an update updosing and switching to regular xanax made me feel way worse should I go back down? I felt like I was healing now I have a terrible migraine and when I up dosed I got depressed. I actually feel better cutting the xr pill? Is that weird? I asked benzo brains on youtube and she said you can actually cut the pill. The total dose I was on when I felt pretty stable was .25 of an xr pill. I was cutting the .5 xr straight down the middle with a straight razor blade where the x is. They all way about .252g when I do this. I was thinking if I dropped 5% a week I would feel pretty good. It seems the longer I hold the worse I am feeling.

Are you saying you incressed your dose and you felt worse?  What are your symptoms?  Sometimes it takes a few days to really understand where you're at with a dosage. 

I spread out 3 regular xanax to total up to the .375. Then I started feeling depressed and got a terrible migrain. The only thing I’m really noticing is some tinnitus and little brain zaps but they don’t hurt they actually feel like good. I was originally only dosing .25 xr at night and was feeling pretty stable at this dose. Updosing made it feel way worse. Should I just continue to slowly cut down from the .25 I’m starting to think my body is in tolerance and I’m not going to feel better until I finish my taper. Maybe I’m not having interdose withdrawal at all. I was mostly only taking it at night. Feels more like a hangover. It’s weird to the lower I go the less anxiety I have almost like it was giving me more anxiety taking it. Wish me luck but I’m gonna try to stop taking it tonight. If I feel terrible I’ll go back up to the .25. Thank-you all for helping me. Did I provide enough information for a taper if I jump back on? I’m so worried about everything it’s bothering me.

You were on it for such a short amount of time you have a good chance of getting off it easier the most.

Many of us had been on it for over 10 years.

 

Yeah just not really sleeping at all and I keep getting scared I’ll have a seizure although I’n sure it’s low risn.

My hardest symptoms was anxiety induced insomnia.  So I saved all my drug to take at bedtime and then again when I woke up at 3am or whatever.  I felt if I could get enough sleep, I could handle the rest.

 

So, I'm struggling with this same issue with Xanax. Now that I'm down to .625 it's definitely a struggle. My doctor gave me .25 pills. I cut those in half and I dose 4 times a day. I am still getting some interdose withdrawals and the doctor is suggesting I switch to liquid soon.

I’m really struggling guys. I was doing so well I was having symptoms every otherday. Now I am having so many facial spasms it keeps making me start crying and going into a panic attack. Should I re-instate? I have not spoken to my doctor I am so scared. I was having this while on the medication too it seemed to have been improving when I got off. and on top of this I have to have emergency surgery very soon and I feel like there gonna use a benzo plus an antibiotic. I’m in such a bad place.

I'm sorry you are having a hard time.  If it were me, I would ask the doctor about the facial spasms. I don't have that side effect. I get severe muscle tension though.

 

I find that when things get difficult,  it's good to hold your dose until you feel more stable. I don't recommend going up on your dose. I've never found that to work.

 

I hope you start to feel better soon. 

SRR,

 

DO NOT underestimate the power and impact of having an upcoming surgery.  It is affecting your anxiety and that creates all kinds of symptoms including facial spasms.  Get pass the surgery and you will feel better.

 

DO NOT worry about a one-time surgery dose of benzo.  This happens to many of us in benzo recovery - it will not destroy you.  It will probably only give you a nice calm and you will be back to your recovery plan without incident.  Same for the antibiotic - those reactions are rare.  I have taken antibiotics MANY times in recovery (e.g. Levaquin and Z-PAK) - maybe your can request one of those if you need anything.

 

How long do you have to wait until the surgery passes?

 

Yes it’s defnitely rebound anxiety. Among minor amounts of other symptoms. I didn’t realize while on xanax that my wisdom teeth were growing in I feel like it numbed my nerves and mouth problems. So after about a week off I realized how swollen my mouth was and that I was having jaw spasms from them and not xanax althought I still get body and eyebrow tremors since getting off.  Dentist said they have to come out now otherwise I will lose other teeth in the back. Being so early into withdrawal freaked me out.