Someone please make me a spreadsheet

I have been on  Xanax for 26 years.  Started at .25 used as needed back in the mid 90's, then over the years doctors gradually raised me using as needed to .5mg, then 1mg twice a day, then eventually up until now 2mg/day, prescribed as 1mg in morning and 1mg at bedtime.  My current doctor one day said to me, 2mg/day is too much and dropped me down from 2mg to only 1mg at bedtime. I was forced into CT from 2mg down to 1mg.  I had no clue about benzo w/d, and somehow survived on that 1mg for almost a year having what I now know to be horrible interdose w/d.  I had to beg him to put me back onto 2mgs because my anxiety was getting out of control and I almost couldn't handle it. When I decided to make the commitment to slowly come off all my psych drugs over a couple of years, starting this past January with adderall, then I gradually came off an anti-psych called geodon.  as I was nearing the end of the geodon taper, I became insanely anxious, and was having heart palpitations and intrusive thoughts, sensitivity to light and sound, insomnia, my doctor prescribed and addition 15 .5mg pills to take as needed on top of my 2mg/day.  I didn't know what hitting tolerance meant which was happening over the years each time I had to increase the dosage.  So, when I told the pdoc that even with the extra .5 milligrams which I had been prescribed for about three months total, I could not sleep.  The xanax wasn't working anymore. He immediately told me to stop taking the extra .5 mg and I was forced to go CT off that.  Then I started researching information that I found on you tube, which led me to BB.  I knew I was physically dependent on Xanax and had developed tolerance over and over.  I have tried to taper using liquid which did not work, and cut and hold, which didn't work for these 2mg bar tablets which would cut unevenly and have lots of powder left loosely after making a cut.  I have had to take the 2mg tablet and spread it into 4 doses because after I tried different tapering methods, and being a newbie, probably not doing them right, and the fact that Xanax is so short acting, I was experiencing even worse interdose w/d.  I just got a gram scale and although I could probably, eventually get DMT with a scale under my belt, many buddies have said using a speed sheet saved them. I hear there are some buddies that will actually create on for you.  I have only made one reduction, which you will see in my info below.  I have had trouble with the math because I am so brain fogged.  Spreadsheet with info laid out all in front of me would be a lifesaver.  Thanks in advance for all who can help.

How does the cut to 1.96 feel?

 

How long do you think your taper should take?  I can certainly set up a daily micro-taper spreadsheet that you can download.  I'd be tempted to set a 24 month initial tapering goal and see how it goes.  If you're feeling decent throughout the taper, you might get it done in 12-18 months.  If symptoms get nasty, then slow down (or stop) until you can again handle the cuts.

 

What's your dosing schedule (times)?

 

What are you doing to prepare yourself for dealing with anxiety, should it rear it's ugly head?

Also - what is the weight of an average 2 mg 'bar'?

 

 

http://www.benzobuddies.org/forum/index.php?topic=260753.msg3294812#msg3294812

How does the cut to 1.96 feel?

 

How long do you think your taper should take?  I can certainly set up a daily micro-taper spreadsheet that you can download.  I'd be tempted to set a 24 month initial tapering goal and see how it goes.  If you're feeling decent throughout the taper, you might get it done in 12-18 months.  If symptoms get nasty, then slow down (or stop) until you can again handle the cuts.

 

What's your dosing schedule (times)?

 

 

 

What are you doing to prepare yourself for dealing with anxiety, should it rear it's ugly head?

Average weight of pill is 265g

24mo taper plan sounds like a good goal for now

My dosing has not been spot on regular but most of the time it is 7:00-7:30am, 1:00-1:30pm, 6:00-6:30pm 11:00-12:00am.

Anxiety will be dealt with by deep breathing with meditation, CBT with a therapist, and exercise if I am doing well enough that day.

Should I be reducing across all dosages?  I also read that one can start with am dose until that is finished, and move on to subsequent doses.

 

1.96 cut felt decent, but instead of staying with it because Sx felt tolerable, I made a tiny increase in the reduction this week to 1.93 and it felt like too much because I got Sx that were uncomfortable, so I went back up to 1.96. 

Hoping the spreadsheet will help me stay steady. This all feel scary and overwhelming!

See  all info you requested below. Can I still assume you are going to make me that downloadable spreadsheet you said you would?

 

I have been on  Xanax for 26 years.  Started at .25 used as needed back in the mid 90's, then over the years doctors gradually raised me using as needed to .5mg, then 1mg twice a day, then eventually up until now 2mg/day, prescribed as 1mg in morning and 1mg at bedtime.  My current doctor one day said to me, 2mg/day is too much and dropped me down from 2mg to only 1mg at bedtime. I was forced into CT from 2mg down to 1mg.  I had no clue about benzo w/d, and somehow survived on that 1mg for almost a year having what I now know to be horrible interdose w/d.  I had to beg him to put me back onto 2mgs because my anxiety was getting out of control and I almost couldn't handle it. When I decided to make the commitment to slowly come off all my psych drugs over a couple of years, starting this past January with adderall, then I gradually came off an anti-psych called geodon.  as I was nearing the end of the geodon taper, I became insanely anxious, and was having heart palpitations and intrusive thoughts, sensitivity to light and sound, insomnia, my doctor prescribed and addition 15 .5mg pills to take as needed on top of my 2mg/day.  I didn't know what hitting tolerance meant which was happening over the years each time I had to increase the dosage.  So, when I told the pdoc that even with the extra .5 milligrams which I had been prescribed for about three months total, I could not sleep.  The xanax wasn't working anymore. He immediately told me to stop taking the extra .5 mg and I was forced to go CT off that.  Then I started researching information that I found on you tube, which led me to BB.  I knew I was physically dependent on Xanax and had developed tolerance over and over.  I have tried to taper using liquid which did not work, and cut and hold, which didn't work for these 2mg bar tablets which would cut unevenly and have lots of powder left loosely after making a cut.  I have had to take the 2mg tablet and spread it into 4 doses because after I tried different tapering methods, and being a newbie, probably not doing them right, and the fact that Xanax is so short acting, I was experiencing even worse interdose w/d.  I just got a gram scale and although I could probably, eventually get DMT with a scale under my belt, many buddies have said using a speed sheet saved them. I hear there are some buddies that will actually create on for you.  I have only made one reduction, which you will see in my info below.  I have had trouble with the math because I am so brain fogged.  Spreadsheet with info laid out all in front of me would be a lifesaver.  Thanks in advance for all who can help.

 

Hi I left

How does the cut to 1.96 feel?

 

How long do you think your taper should take?  I can certainly set up a daily micro-taper spreadsheet that you can download.  I'd be tempted to set a 24 month initial tapering goal and see how it goes.  If you're feeling decent throughout the taper, you might get it done in 12-18 months.  If symptoms get nasty, then slow down (or stop) until you can again handle the cuts.

 

What's your dosing schedule (times)?

 

What are you doing to prepare yourself for dealing with anxiety, should it rear it's ugly head?

You could make use of the spreadsheet Badsocref shared with another taperer here:

http://www.benzobuddies.org/forum/index.php?topic=259438.msg3280752#msg3280752

 

There's also Jim Hawk's DMT schedule generator, and there are other buddies who could lay out the basic math if you want to either make a spreadsheet for yourself or calculate the reductions one at a time from simple instructions. 

Sorry for the late response.  I'm not on the forum frequently right now, so you have to send a PM each time you post so that I'll take a look at the thread.

 

Anyway, I've taken the info you provided and uploaded a spreadsheet for you.

 

You are able to change lots of parameters on the spreadsheet if you wish.  Any blue or pink cell can be altered.  However, some things are locked down to prevent essential code from being altered.  I think you've had a chance to see and play with the spreadsheet already, but if you have any questions, please send me a PM. 

 

Spreadsheet is here:  http://www.enchantedskies.net/Universal_Tapering_Guide2_widesky.xlsm

 

You'll have to agree to the disclaimer in order to use the form (sorry, but it's a litigious world).  Allow the macro (and macros in general) to run.  Save a back-up copy.  As you enter your daily symptom scores, a suggested reduction will appear.  The daily symptom rating is based on a 100 point scale.  You don't have to use all 10 symptom categories, but you have to use at least one (the leftmost symptom column), and the point basis needs to add up to a possible 100 points (if you were feeling excellent).

 

You asked if you should reduce each dose during the day equally.  That's totally up to you.  You can change the percentages on the top of the 'Sub-Dosing' page to whatever you want to better cover your needs throughout the day. 

 

Hope this helps.  Again, send a PM if you have questions about how to use the spreadsheet, but please post here if you have questions about dosages or timing.