Tapering off Xanax

Hi there! I'm 26 years old. I've been on 2mg, occasionally 3mg, a day of Xanax for the past 5 years. My lowest dose, 7 days ago, that I could take without having withdrawal symptoms was 2mg. So I began tapering 7 days ago down to 1.75mg. There is a bit of a hurry because my husband and I want to have a baby, and yes I have spoken and will speak more to my doctor, and other personal issues. I have had no withdrawal symptoms. I consider myself very lucky because I know that for some people that is a large drop. But my plan is to get off in 8-12 weeks. I want to believe that's possible. I read that 8 weeks is the minimum time needed and I want to try my hardest but if I do begin to have withdrawal symptoms that are uncomfortable I will go slower. Any words you have are helpful!

Hey tidalwaves,

I'm glad for you. A little jealous, but very happy.

 

Many people can stop taking a benzo with little or no withdrawal symptoms. They don't usually end up on this forum. I don't know if there's a minimum time that you need to reduce over, but I think slower is safer, especially after many years of use. I think that generally speaking, alprazolam withdrawal symptoms come on quickly; so if you're feeling good at 1.75mg on day 7, you're likely stable there. I always worry with long term use that there is a delay to withdrawal symptoms, but it's only anecdotal and I can't say exactly who it is that seems to get this effect.

 

So far so good! I'll be rooting for you! Keep us posted. 

So far I've been down to 1.75 for 10 days and I've had no withdrawal. <3 What should I go to next? of course, I know this doesn't replace medical advice.

So far I've been down to 1.75 for 10 days and I've had no withdrawal. <3 What should I go to next? of course, I know this doesn't replace medical advice.

 

I can only give suggestions. The choice is yours!

 

I suggest taking reductions that are easy to do with your current tablets and a pill splitter. I like the aluminum pill splitters on Amazon, like the EqualSplit, as I can cut perfect halves and quarters of clonazepam with mine.

 

If you can dose 1.75mg, I'm guessing you have 0.5mg or 1mg tablets. If I'm correct, why not try another 0.25mg reduction when you're ready? You're about 7x 0.25mg away from zero, so a linear 0.25mg per week or two would get you to your 8-12 week tapering goal. Just a suggestion.

 

Let us know if you have other question, and how it goes! 

I'm down to 1.5mg for the past three days and having no withdrawal so far. My anxiety is up, but I feel it's only because I'm going back to the pre-xanax me and that it's not withdrawal. It just doesn't feel like withdrawal to me if that makes sense.

I'm down to 1.5mg for the past three days and having no withdrawal so far. My anxiety is up, but I feel it's only because I'm going back to the pre-xanax me and that it's not withdrawal. It just doesn't feel like withdrawal to me if that makes sense.

 

Okay! I'm glad to hear you're feeling alright. 

I'm a little nervous to drop down to 1.25 a day. I'm still on 1.5 and not having withdrawal but I'm nervous for some reason.

I'm a little nervous to drop down to 1.25 a day. I'm still on 1.5 and not having withdrawal but I'm nervous for some reason.

 

I don't think there's any way to distinguish benzo withdrawal anxiety from "underlying" anxiety, in any reliable way until the benzo is long gone. Until then I suggest treating anxiety as a WD symptom, and considering it something that may diminish with further stabilization at each new dose.

 

It might be too early to take another cut. Your last cut was maybe 8 days ago? Sometimes it takes a little longer than that to stabilize on a large cut (sometimes much longer). What sort of signs do you think would indicate you're ready to take another cut?

I guess I'm going off the other time I tried to come off of Xanax. I had brain zaps and felt a lot of depersonalization which I'm not having, but you're right, this could very well be withdrawal. I'm not sure. I guess at around 14 days I'll probably drop again.

I guess I'm going off the other time I tried to come off of Xanax. I had brain zaps and felt a lot of depersonalization which I'm not having, but you're right, this could very well be withdrawal. I'm not sure. I guess at around 14 days I'll probably drop again.

 

Sounds good. I'm happy to hear you're experiencing less WD symptoms than you had previously.

 

I also just want to clarify, whether anxiety from withdrawal or underlying anxiety, I think there is a significant need during benzo tapering to do skill-building, specifically learning how to down-regulate an over-excited nervous system.

 

I see benzo recovery as two legs; the first is tapering, and the second is skill-building. Working one successfully without the other can cause many difficulties.

 

I suggest taking on skill-building as part of the challenge of becoming medication-free. Skill-building can look like simply becoming aware and less reactive to anxiety, or achieving this through meditation, psychotherapy, or other self-help strategies. Tapering alone seems to set buddies up to either struggle functioning at lower doses, or to return to the medication when life triggers stresses they haven't yet learned to handle on their own.

 

You'll get this! I just didn't want to be misleading with my earlier post. 

I'm going to try a drop down to 1.25mg today. Wish me luck! <3 Still no intense withdrawal.

 

Also, thank you for elaborating. I really appreciate your comments to my updates and it's always nice to read them.

You're welcome. I believe we heal together. Good luck!

I'm very impressed with how well you're doing.  I'm only on .25 but I know I'll experience withdrawals based on past experience.  Keep up the good work.  You just may be home free from WD symptoms. 

I'm managing okay on the 1.25mg. This is the third day, I think. I have bad social anxiety but that's always, even when I was on 3mg of xanax a day. I'm doing well. I think I'll be able to do this.

tidalwaves, are you using any skill-building practices to help reduce anxiety on the long-term?

Hi there! I'm 26 years old. I've been on 2mg, occasionally 3mg, a day of Xanax for the past 5 years. My lowest dose, 7 days ago, that I could take without having withdrawal symptoms was 2mg. So I began tapering 7 days ago down to 1.75mg. There is a bit of a hurry because my husband and I want to have a baby, and yes I have spoken and will speak more to my doctor, and other personal issues. I have had no withdrawal symptoms. I consider myself very lucky because I know that for some people that is a large drop. But my plan is to get off in 8-12 weeks. I want to believe that's possible. I read that 8 weeks is the minimum time needed and I want to try my hardest but if I do begin to have withdrawal symptoms that are uncomfortable I will go slower. Any words you have are helpful!

 

Hi there I'm also 26 and have been on a similar dose to you for a bit shorter of a time period. I read your story and it seems like things are going well for you. I'm only a week into my taper and I plan to be done by February but was hoping I could maybe get this done faster like you as well. I know it's important not to rush but I think hearing from someone my age with a similar dependency might be a little bit more reassuring. Hope everythings going well!

I would love to answer any questions you have. Things are going very well for me and I'm honestly pleasantly surprised. I'm still on the 1.25mg and doing well, though I am having slight, what I'm calling cravings, to use more. I took an extra .5mg one day but besides that, I've been steadily doing the 1.25mg daily. My social anxiety/agoraphobia is worse, but not by much... it's no worse than it was pre-xanax. I don't know if this is withdrawal or not but it's something I can definitely tolerate. I live in a 'safe bubble' if that makes sense and I am often housebound.

This is not due to my taper but my mental illness that I've had since I was 12. However, I have gone to the store by myself several times even since tapering and I'm proud of that. I just have to go when it's less crowded. So this is my story. I'm going a little faster than my doctor would like, but she's letting me self-regulate my dose.

That's great to hear I'm about 2 weeks into tapering also haven't experienced any withdrawals yet. I'm going significantly slower than you just because I want to avoid nasty symptoms as much as possible. I've been weighing out dropping .003mg every 2 days. If the symptoms don't become unbearable the tapper should be done sometime in december. Wishing you the best of luck in your journey

Hey, guys. I'm down to 1mg as of yesterday. I'm getting excited!

I might have to go to 1.15mg instead or something, because I'm noticing a little bit of brain-zappy feelings. It's very slight, though. We'll see.

Sorry to hear that but you've already made great progress. Might be a good idea to slow it down and let your brain try to adjust

following.

 

I am coming off 4mg of Xanax and I am going faster than average but much slower than you. Congratulations on your successful rapid taper!

 

My best to you!

 

HM

I think I'm going pretty fast as well I'm doing a little bit more than 6 months. Or at least that's the plan. Good luck to you

Thank you

 

Good luck to you too!

 

HM

I wanted to let you guys know, I did okay yesterday and feeling okay today. No brain zaps.