Taper from short term but high dose Xanax (prescribed)

Hello,

 

I'm 41y male, no priors with mental issues, no addiction (don't drink, smoke, drugs, etc). Have a high level stressful job and had a divorce few years back. All together I snapped suddenly in december 2021. It was so bad they almost administered me. My MD put me on 2mg of Xanax 4 times per day or when needed. Very irresponsible I know now  , but at the time I was out of my mind and it did help. Of course, That's enough to drop an elephant. 

 

Short:

- 2 weeks on 8mg day. Started visiting psychiatrist. He put me on Lexapro 10mg together, to help with anxiety. He also reduced the dose to 6mg/day (4 x 1,5mg)

- 12 days on 6mg day. Started reading all the horror stories and now Xanax is my main anxiety. Talked to psychiatrist. Want to reduce, but I'm scared for big drops.

 

His suggestion:

Reduce dose with 0.25mg and hold that for 3 days. The next day reduce with 0.25mg and hold again for 3 days,... Since I'm taking 4 dosages per day it looks more like this (first taper)

4 AM (1,5mg)

10 AM (1,375 mg) => here we can split the 0.25mg pills in half so the least amount is 0.125mg

4 PM (1,5mg)

10 PM (1,375 mg)

Total: 5.75 mg.

 

My next taper (tomorrow) will be 4 times 1,375mg to a total of 5.5mg. The one after that will be 5.25 looking like:

4 AM (1,25)

10 AM: (1,375)

4 PM (1,25)

10 PM (1,375)

Total ; 5.25 mg

 

Basically a -10% drop in about a week.

 

I'm well aware of the option to switch to a long acting like Valium but the switch will take weeks and this whole benzo thing is already driving me crazy. I have interdose withdrawal like anxiety, depression, lethargy and an tinteling sensation in my hands. I never know something like a benzo could be so addictive and hard to get rid off. 

 

1) Is this a reasonable taper method? I've only been on for about 6 weeks, but the dosages where crazy high.

2) will the SSRI help a bit with the depressed mood I get from it? I'm only 2 weeks on, so another 2 for some decent effect. I can handle the tinteling effect and some agitation, but the depressed mood is just intolerable.

 

Thanks.

Typically we see those on the higher doses being able to cut quite a bit in the beginning so your taper looks reasonable but I'm concerned about your symptoms, are you functional, can you work?

 

Adding medications during benzo withdrawal can be helpful for some but our central nervous system is so sensitized while going through this its difficult to know if adding Lexepro is going to help.

 

I wanted to give you another resource to ask your questions, we have members in Support Groups who have Xanax specific experience who may have some insight.  The Xanax Club

I’m at home with sick leave. It’s hard to distinguish the sides from the withdrawal (like loss of interest, depresssion,…) from my actual burnout and depression. I can function but everything seems like an unsurpassable mountain. Thanks for the Xanax forum.