Tapering off Xanax on your own!

[danni918]

I have been taking 2 mg xanax  once a day for about 5 years now (half in the am half in the pm to = a bar and want to get off of them, my Dr. doesn;t want to taper me down, pill pusher I believe!

[worried878]

I did not know u could get xanax bars here in the us at a drug store..thought they were an outa country thing and sold on the streets here...but i have never been a benzo person as i love the nrg i got from narcs..til they turned on me...a slow taper is suggested..there is a great article in the health pages on tapering off benzos..if ur dr will help u/or find one who will/often they will step u down to a weaker benzo like valium..then traxene til u r clean....xanax is the strongest of the benzos..hit u fast..klonipin altho slower and longer lasting is right behind xanax on the strength list with ativan right under xanax....valium altho has a bad rep as it was the firt benzo marketed is actually weaker than any of the above...a slow taper with a drs help would be best..do not ct off of benzos..good luck and keep posting  

[SophieShine]

Hi and welcome to the forum!
I have been tapering off oxazepam which is kinda similar to xanax, a short acting benzo too.
The tapering plans are mostly established with a switch to valium which is a long acting benzo and stay longer in the blood w/o the peak that gives you the "high" you get with xanax.
If you wanna do it on your own ~which I wouldn't but that's me~ you should taper off 20 % of the dosage every week to 10 days. Now that's the rule but you can bend it a little. The rule I used to apply was 2 good nights in a row then taper off 20%.

Here's an example of tapering plan for xanax:
http://www.benzo.org.uk/manual/bzsched.htm#s1

and here is the reference on benzo, all you wanna know about them:
http://www.benzo.org.uk/

I'm not gonna tell you it's been a walk in the park far from it, but it's so worth it and it's so good to get your life back.
Best of luck to you.
xoxoxo. sophie.

[GA Guy]

This should be done under a doctor's care, but you could try reducing .25mg a week for a couple of months. That should be slow enough to have minimal withdrawals. Why were you prescribed them in the first place?