Zanax weaning using kolonopin

A friend age 81who has been very active and who has been using .5mg. zanax tid for 20 years began to feel that the dosage needed to be increased as it wasn't holding her like it had in the past. She was inititially placed on this drug due to panic attacks. Her internist decided to try to wean her off of zanax by first using kolonopin .25 alternating with the .5 zanax. After a few days it became apparent that the dosage of kolonopin wasn't effective so the dosage was increased to .5mg. At 8am she takes .5mg of zanax, at noon she takes .5 mg. of kolonopin, at 6pm .5mg of zanax and at 10pm .5mg. of kolonopin. The problem is that since the onset of kolonopin she has the recurring sensation that the .5mg of zanax does not hold her for the 4 hours that it used to. Her body seems to want more zanax before her next dosage is due. At 9:30 pm she feels nauseaus and faint and has early stages of panic until she takes her kolonopin at 10pm. The effectiveness of this dosage only lasts approximately 5 hours which results in sleep deprevation. She obviously is very tired most of the day and very dependent on her next dosage. She has been on this regimen for 13 days and feels very discouraged as her internist has given no indication how long he expects this regimen to last. Any suggestions would be most appreciated as her quality of life is being hampered.

[greenlydia]

I think it's really great that you're helping your friend. I commend you on that! And she does sound like she needs more help than her pcp is giving her. After 20 years on Xanax, I find it difficult to believe it's even working for her anymore, but I don't want to get into a big discussion on the pros and cons of one benzo over another in THIS post.
If possible, I would suggest you take your friend to a Psychiatric Medication Manager. Almost every psychiatrists office has one. And that is all they do (well, probably not ALL, but it is what they are trained to do) They will be able to look at the whole picture of where your friend is with her medication and determine what she needs to maintain and possibly even improve her quality of life. If the MM decides that a switch to Klonopin would be the best choice, he will discuss that with her and TOGETHER they will devise a taper plan off the Xanax onto Klonopin and he/she will do it that without leaving "holes" in your friends med cycle where she must "suffer" until her next dose. This cross-over technique is not always easy and will take quite a bit of time to fully accomplish, but I think your friend will be much happier with the Klonopin. (Which is just MY opinion)
I recommend these PMM's because they fully understand the usage of psychotropic drugs far better than your average internist and especially their use in the elderly.
I wish your friend the best.
Peace
Greenlydia