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Day 6 jumping from 0.5 Xanax and I feel tired, relaxed


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I need to add in my profile, my apologies, I will do.

 

I tapered down off 2 mg xanax over two months.

 

2mg to 1 mg x1 month

1mg to 0.5 mg x 1 month

0 mg last Friday.

 

I replaced my xanax with trileptal starting last September for mood disorder, anxiety. I started at 600 mg split twice daily and am at 1800mg split three times a day. My mood disorder was dramatically under treated which lead me to benzo use. I tried to do a three day taper last year and went into PAWS.

 

I have a successful taper and replacement therapy!

 

Trileptal is a safer form of Tegretol which is known in studies to help benzo taper.

 

I feel absolutely successful. I slept 13 hours last night.

 

Good luck everyone.

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I took the liberty of adding the benzo information you supplied into your signature, let me know if its acceptable to you.

 

Congratulations on your benzo freedom, I'm thrilled to hear you're doing so well, especially with such a rapid taper and so soon after jumping.  Are you saying the you feel the Trileptal is responsible for your good fortune?  If this is the case I'd love to see you start a thread in Other Medications so others might see and discuss this with you.

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Thanks, I may have changed it, I did math wrong on my Trileptal dose. I take 300mg three times a day. Whoops! Its not a good look considering I’m an RN. Lol

 

I appreciate you. ☺️

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So my dad takes Trileptal for his bipolar 1. I have a diagnosis of bipolar 2, and was not treating it.

 

I did not so much plan getting off the 2 mg of Xanax I was taking at bedtime for sleep. My sister and I were out in NYC helping with the pandemic and I lost some meds transferring around to different hotels. I also got Covid. Ugh.

 

I did a rapid three day taper and I felt like I was dying. I made it home with my mind set on a successful taper because it was daunting being in that space.

 

I researched this a lot and yes, some very good studies on use of Trileptal and Tegretol. Except I can stay on my dose because it’s essentially replacing what I needed to be on in the first place.

 

In the studies, some were taken off Tegretol (again this is identical to Trileptal but has more risks, Trileptal was made from this medication to address lowering risks).

 

So I do know that I may develop the same kind of dependency on taking an anti seizure medication. I do not know if coming off this would cause a presentation similar to benzo withdrawal but in the studies there were no significant issues addressed coming off. But this doesn’t mean much because the studies are not funded to follow long term.

 

Personally, it’s worth it for me because I know I will always need medication. Yes, this medication has been a godsend. I definitely was having interdose withdrawals which didn’t stop until I started this medication and increased it. I can increase again if I need to. Risks are lower and there has been no side effects.

 

I am sleeping better and have had no panic attacks which were worse on Xanax because of interdose withdrawal.

 

I will try to decrease my dose after a year or so to see how it goes. I am not totally free of symptoms, I feel tired and like I have a mild case of the flu.

 

Which I consider success because it’s not PAWS. I am hoping. Tomorrow could be different as we all know. Today is better than yesterday and since I have a powerful anti seizure medication on board I feel better and more secure emotionally.

 

I will keep the board updated.

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Congrats on being free! I used to take Trileptal for bipolar and I quit cold turkey and not much happened. I currently also take Risperdal. Anyways, I am stunned you feel the trileptal helped with your successful rapid taper (CT almost) off Xanax. I wonder if I went back on 300 mg's once or twice a day if it would help my symptoms. I am doing a slow taper (well, rapid compared to some) from 4mg Xanax a day for 1 year.

 

Thank you for sharing your story.

 

HM

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I’m not sure how to comment on individual posts, but thank you for the well wishes!

 

I have a post over in the other treatments or medication forums regarding my Trileptal experience. I’m going to link it and post my response to you over there.

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