Coming off alprazolam

Hi, This is the first time i have ever come online for help as I'm the kind of person who likes my privacy & like to do things on my own. I do however feel as apart of my rehab I do something l,ike this.
I am currently on 3mg of xanax (alprazolam) a day, I was on 6-7mg a yr ago. Its taken this long to come down but at the time I was addicted to heroin, Morphine and methadone. I have had 7, Yes 7. Naltrexone treatments and countless re-treatments.
I am now on methadone again(it works 4 me) doing what they call a blind detox. I asked for it as I know it works. Ive started to take more control over my life and have been clean from any illicit drugs for well over 1 year now. BUT...
I still hate the idea of being hooked on anything! I was once locked up while addicted to opiates and xanax and valium! And given nothing for 2 days.
(It was the worst 2 days of my living life) I mean Ive done the rapid detox b4 and given narcan and all that, But I cant begin to tell you how severe the withdrawal process was! This has contributed to me wanting to be completely drug free as it was such a frightening feeling. But it's also given me a long term panic disorder. Imagine being thrown away with a monster habit with a bunch of criminals (like that wasn't bad enough in itself) I was locked up for 1 of the most common problems ever!(parking fines) Yes, FINES! can you believe that? My advice if your addicted to anything! PAY ALL DEBTS! Anyway this is a little about me. I'm here to support anybody who's addicted to anything.
I also quit cigarrettes the day I quit heroin. It was just easy given how sick I felt at the time. Now my routine consists of getting up, trying to go without anything, And when I feel sick and withdrawn. Only then do I take a quarter of a pill. That gets my by until the next spell which is usually 4-5 hours later. This is not living and I know that, But its better than not caring like I used to be. I now also suffer hepatitis C. And am currently on a waiting list for interferon treatment.  I hope someone can share their story with me, and let me know Im not the only one suffering=) Kindly urs.

[gnarly_1]

I came off xanex also was taking 4mg for yrs and the doctor slowly knocked of .25mg a month
till I was done with it it wasent any fun coming off of it when you get down to like 2 1/2 mg your anxiety goes threw the roof...you just got to be disciplined and stick with it
we have several members here with benzo experience check back later im sure they will find your post hang in there.....by the way I did 150mg of methadone for 6 1/2 yrs so I know what a vice that is also good luck and God bless.....Gnarly  

[GeorgiaGirl1022]

Benzo wd is not too fun but it's doable I'm 26 days clean from Xanax and 13 days clean from opiates. You have to taper benzo's because as u know ct is dangerous. Let your doctor know even if u are not getting them legally. They can put u on a controlled taper. Good luck and hang in there!!

[throwindatowl]

You can do the xans man. You can. Get that doseage down and youll be fine. Ive seen alot of really bad horror stories of the wds from those. Luckily I didnt really have any. I took um for years. I was running out so fate made me taper and it worked. went from 2mg down to 1mg for a couple days. Down to .5mg for afew days to nothing. Slept fine. All was well. Youve come along way! You got the xanax trust me.

[my_mayberry]

rapid dose changes of xanax...such has dropping the dose by 50%....is not a good idea. a taper of xanax needs to be long and steady. at higher doses, its usually a better idea to switch to a longer acting benzo and taper with that under doctor supervision.

if you were to reduce your dose further, doing so 1mg at a time would not be a good idea at all. you really should do it under doctor supervision. xanax is highly potent...for some, 125mcg is an effective dose...1mg is nearly 10 times that amount....this goes to show that the theraputic range for xanax is very wide even though the actual doses seem small. reducing your dose any more than 10% at a time can be very bad news for some people. slow and steady wins the race....