3 questions

Hi everyone. I have 3 questions:

 

1- I'm following the alprazolam taper plan given by my psych, he says to lower the dose, in theory, every 2 weeks but to see how I feel. What I keep seeing is when you're stable, but does stable mean no withdrawal symptoms whatsoever or just not severe ones? The worst symptoms for me are dizziness, lack of energy and mental fog. They sort of come and go. Currently I am on day 7 of 0.375.

 

2- I take my doses split in 2. 0.25 at lunch and 0.125 at 7 pm. Mornings can be a bit rough but not always (I take my dogs for long walks and they really help, I'm really glad I chose to do this in Spring, Winter would have been brutal  :'()Should I instead split them in 3 doses of 0.125? I'm saying this also because I worry about the jump to 0.25 daily, which will be 2 doses of 0.125. So should I get my body adjusted to this?

 

3- I have a very bad cold. Luckily it's not covid, but I'm feeling pretty rotten. Should I take this into consideration when I go down on my dose again? Technically it should be on the 24th, but I'm not sure what to do.

Hi Redvi,

 

I can't help with questions one and two, but I've recently been battling a very long virus as well. I also tested negative for covid, that said I've never had a cold last this long, its been almost three weeks. My withdrawal definitely picked up while my cold was worse. It doesn't help that we are already feeling fatigued and miserable. That said have you noticed any complications since being sick? Have any challenges been more challenging? Just cause I was effected doesn't mean you would be too. I always like to feel fully ready when going into my next taper, like I've rebounded from the last and I'm eager for the next! That has never meant I feel 100% and or I'm without no symptoms.

Thanks for your reply, TheOne.

 

Yes, I've been feeling pretty bad and makes some of the withdrawal symptoms worse  :'( I hope it won't last too long, it's been a week now and rather than getting better it's been slowly getting worse. It's a pain.

 

I know what you mean with the dose, so you're not symptomless but you're in a good spot. The problem for me has been that it's not straightforward. Like, I would lower a dose and feel good for a day or 2 then not, then good then not and so on. It's a rollercoaster.

 

 

Hey redvi, sorry to hear you are feeling rotten with a cold.  A taper plan is, ideally, flexible so if when the 24th comes and you are still feeling bad, it would be fine to hold at your current dose until the cold is gone or mostly gone.  As for the meaning of stable, I used functional as my guide.  If I was able to maintain my daily responsibilities, then I felt I was reasonably stable even if I had some withdrawl symptoms.  I didn't shoot for entirely free of symptoms - just wanted them to be at a level I could live with but please note that was me and that would not be acceptable to everyone.  About your dosing, your idea of dosing evenly throughout the day is worth considering.  Your mornings might be better if you took your med every eight hours.  Alprazolam is a short-acting benzo and it could be that by morning you are having some interdose withdrawl (meaning the last dose is wearing out).

Hey Redvi,

 

My cold lasted and developed for weeks as well, hang in there. I usually try to go a week or two in that feeling better phase before going into my next reduction. Don't feel pressured if you are not ready. It's a long a long journey, hope you feel better soon!

Hi redvi.  I started tapering xanax at .75 -.1.00 also.    It took 4 months to go from .75 - to .375.  When I was at .375 I was dosing  .125  3 x daily pretty evening spaced @  5 am, 2 pm, 9:30 pm.    I've gone very slowly - started tapering in 2019 but took a couple of long breaks.  I'm down to just .125 at night and getting ready to start shaving it.    Don't be afraid to go as slow as you need to.

 

 

 

 

Thanks so much everyone for your replies. They are so helpful, I honestly wouldn't know what to do without this place 

 

My cold is a little bit better today, so hopefully, I'm on the mend! Still holding on 0.375 and today I tried to split it in 3 0.125 doses (morning, afternoon and 7 pm), I feel super sleepy even though the dose is the same. So weird, or maybe I'm just tired due to the cold and because today I did some light exercise 

 

I'll try again tomorrow.