Taper rate xanax

I’m dry cutting and using a scale.  I don’t have a fix schedule, I’ve been letting my symptoms dictate.  I was able to completely eliminate a 4th dose of .5 grams of xanax a couple of weeks ago, mostly because I forgot and just didnt’ need it.  A common problem I’ve continually had is the adrenaline surges, standing still, walking with extreme muscle tension (jelly legs) during the morning hours and mid afternoon.

I’m not too bad when I first wake up, I take a dose (.5grams of .5 mg) within about 2-3 hrs I start to have the adrenaline surges and expectly gets much worse when I’m around people in public places indoors.  Once in awhile when I stick it out it goes away but mostly its gets worse until i get leave. Do these symptoms go away as I heal or do I need to address them in some manner.

 

What is a safe jumping point for xanax and being that the goal is to get off xanax, am I prolonging or going to fast or what are good indicators to keep moving downward?

 

As a side, I’ve reached out to a variety of medical experts, doctors, pharmacists , the internet .  A couple of pharmacists told me the taper is %50 for 2 weeks, %25 for 2 weeks and final %25 after 2 weeks and that was a slow taper,— ya ok.  Doctors have told me no matter how slow or fast the taper everyone is looking at about 6 months recovery from final dose- the experiences on this forum dont’ coincide with that and this forum has provided the most accurate information.

 

I'd say you've been doing it right by not fixating on a schedule but rather letting your symptoms dictate your taper rate. That's always our first recommendation. I also don't have a fixed schedule I taper to. We usually suggest a rate of 5-10% every two weeks or so but that's just to give people a starting point.

 

Most medical professionals don't seem to have any understanding of withdrawal and taper rates. That's why BB exists. I still find it astounding that complete strangers on the internet have helped me taper safely and I don't even know their names!

 

We use functionality as an indicator for cutting. As long as you're functional you should be okay to taper. Functional means you can do what is expected of you on a daily basis. It doesn't necessarily mean you feel good. If you feel an increase in symptoms intensity or a change it's probably an indicator that you're going too fast and you might need to hold your dose for a bit. It's good practice to keep a daily diary and record all your symptoms, life events and medications that might impact your symptoms.

 

I believe healing happens as we taper. Our brains are learning to adjust to lesser benzo's. Recovery will happen eventually but we don't put a timeline on it because it's very individual. Some people take a couple of months others take 2 years and some a bit more. The good news is that most people do heal.

 

I think you're doing great so far. Keep reaching out for support. We're happy to help. This journey can sometimes be tough but we all get to the end. 

Scale is a great idea . Do you just mix with liquid , under tongue ?

 

I love the idea of using a pill crusher versus breaking pills because of the pill wasn’t designed to be broken in half atleast crushing should give an even dose . This may be the thought behind titration .

 

On another topic .think it depends on the type of benz and mfg .

 

But I find my alprazam mfg has no binding coating that causes that mush…

 

Imo if I dissolve under tounge for a minimum of 20 minutes I feels like a .5 mg can be as strong as 1mg

 

?

 

Is it getting blood brain barrier that way ?

 

Or is it just in my head?

 

Caveat Attempted this while very low before my apointment, don’t plan on using this while tapering .

 

Thanks

Pixel,

Thanks for the response.  I dry cut and swallow:)

Alprazolam has no binding coating???

I haven’t dissolved under tongue,  I try it and see if I notice a diffence.

 

Jelly, thanks for the encourage, from reading stories on here, I recognize that I’m very fortunate to have more good time periods throughout the day than not.  Too much stimuli at once to very difficult- stores, crowds with a lot of talking, lights and activity.  What is a safe jumping off point with Xanax?  I struggle with trying to keep it slow and taper, it was a rude awakening when I learned a few months ago the devastation of being on this medication.

A jumping dose is a very personal decision and often depends on the symptoms during the taper and how confident people feel. It varies quite a bit but I see some people use the Ashton equivalent which I believe is 0.025mg.

I think the equivalent to each dose I’m on right now is about 3mg Valium.  For a total of about 8 or 9 mg Valium for the day.  Regardless I’ll stick with the tapering and holding for some more time,  symptoms still go up and down a lot and its very unpredictable. And seemingly impossible to stop or manage the adrenaline surges.

Yes those adrenaline surges can be tough. Maybe if you're struggling to manage symptoms you can slow it right down. I contracted long covid at the beginning of the year and had to taper very slowly. I barely felt any symptoms and managed to improve from long Covid while tapering.

I just want to clarify my previous post regarding jumping doses. It would be 0.025mg Xanax or 0.5mg Valium for jumping.

I’m going to keep it slow, when I CT at the beginning it was such a bad experience that I’d rather avoid at all costs.

Thanks for the information, it’s always very helpful on here.