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How to taper with Ambien & Xanax?

I am desperate for any help.  My situation is as follows:  Was prescribed 4.5 mg of Xanax for about the past five years along with 2 12.5 mg Ambien CRs.  Soon, the 4.5 mg wasn't enough and I was on anywhere between 10 - 20 mg of xanax a day for about a year.  Made a decision to get off everything and since this July, I've cut my Xanax dosage down to 3.5 mg and my Ambien to 1.5 pills of the 12.5 mg Ambien CR.  Had terrible insomnia and my docs prescribed 100 mg of hydroxyzine which I've been on for about a month.  I'm very familiar with the Ashton method and I know I have pushed my tapering only because I am so motivated and determined to get off of all this.  My hands shake, my teeth chatter,  mornings are the worst as I feel so anxious to the point I can't get out of the bed even though I may get 6 hours of sleep.  My plan was to decrease the Xanax first and do it by .5 mg every two weeks since the Ashton method of decreasing your dose by 10% of the remaining dose would theoretically take 48 different steps of two week tapering which is not possible.  

Rehab is an option, but everything I read says that's not the way to do it and could increase chances of protracted w/d syndrome.  Should I ask my doc to slowly transition me over to diazepam and then keep tapering?  Should I tackle the Xanax first or the Ambien?  Is there more risk staying on this hydroxyzine for more months?  Has anyone ever successfully tapered with using a short acting benzo alone while trying to come off Ambien at the same time and if so how?

I can't keep living like this as it is costing me everything (relationships, jobs, self respect, etc.).  I keep reading about how long this tapering takes and how difficult it is for people to come off just a 2 mg/day dose and what I've done to myself and where I am it seems impossible to be back to normal in the next six months.  While I wish I had never been prescribed any of this, I am the one to blame and I realize that has consequences that must be faced and I'm willing to face them.....just not sure how and what to do.  Any help would be greatly appreciated.

God Bless
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Avatar universal
Thanks so much for your detailed reply nursegirl7572.  I was initially prescribed the Xanax due to social anxiety.  In a party or even just sometimes getting my hair  cut I would literally start dripping sweat on my face (not a little, but to the point where it looks like I dipped my head in the tub).  Because of this and my fear of rejection and/or failure from people, the Xanax was prescribed and worked like a charm as everything took off as I faced fears and challenges with this invisible shield.

But, because it took more an more to have the desired affect I made the terrible mistake of abusing it (I would take 20 mg at once sometimes before a speech and no one would ever notice), the medication now does nothing to work except keeping me from going into acute w/d.  I sometimes question why I'm trying to get off this as I wonder what quality of life I will have without it, but I'll never know unless I try.

I know that a slow taper is recommended, but the thought of having to endure months or even years of this shaking and fear of everything is overwhelming.  Just typing a post on the internet by myself in the office I tremble and feel like my adrenal glands are wide open.  

Is this normal if you taper slowly?  I was thinking that maybe I still feel this way since I've come from an average of 15 per day down to 3.5 mg of Xanax in less than 4 months.  Has anyone seen an improved effectiveness of the medication return by leveling off for a few months or is it pretty much a given that after abusing Xanax to this extent that the effectiveness of one pill will probably never return like it was when first prescribed or anywhere close to it?

I was on 4.5 mg for about 3 weeks and really didn't see any improvement in effectiveness or decline in w/d symptoms so I was thinking if I'm going to suffer it is better to continue to taper .5 mg every two weeks and get this over as soon as soon and safely as possible.  This has literally consumed my life as it is all I can think about all day.

Is there anyone out there that has successfully tapered off Xanax without substituting it for valium or a longer acting benzo?  

Is there anyone out there that had an Ambien dependency in conjunction with Xanax and if so, which would you recommend to tackle first?  I'm taking 1.5 Ambien CRs, 1.5 mg of Xanax and 100 mg of hydroxyzine just to fall asleep while I have been able to scratch out about 4 to 6 hours of sleep the past week, I still feel so bad in the morning that it is a struggle just to get out of bed.  

Thanks to all for your help.  This is the first time I've used a board like this for help, but every post I read tells me there are a lot of caring people out there who really want to help and are so encouraging.
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480448 tn?1426948538
Hello and welcome!

I'm sorry you're going through this.  You seem very knowledgeable about benzos, which is great.  Imagine if you weren't?  You REALLY could have found yourself in an even bigger predicament!

I personally think, that if you can find a good doc who knows his way around benzos, I would try a VERY SLOW, very gradual taper, under his/her supervision.  You can discuss the pros and cons with the doc about just tapering versus doing a taper using Valium instead.  

Considering that you've already been tapering, the Valium approach may be the most viable, reasonable option.  The MOST important thing is to (again) make SURE you're working with a doctor who KNOWS his stuff and who has experience dealing with benzo tapers and benzo dependency.  If you got that base covered, you should be in good hands no matter what route you choose.

I think you should tackle ONE med at a time.  It muddies the water too much if you're trying to taper off more than one medication.  That makes it difficult to properly assess which med is causing which symptoms.  If you're only handling one med at a time, you know that whatever you're experiencing is related to that med, and your plan can then be adjusted accordingly.

What were you initially on the Xanax for?  An anxiety disorder?  If so, what kind of treatment plan do you have in place to deal with that?  Therapy?  It goes without saying that you'll likely experience rebound anxiety with the discontinuation of BOTH of these meds, so it's imperative to make sure you have a plan in place for coping.

Very best to you, please update us when you can, let us know how you're doing!
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