Weaning off small amount of Xanax

Hi,

I have been taking Xanax at .25mg in the morning and .25mg at night daily for about 3 months.  Before that I took the Xanax only as needed...maybe a couple times a week for sleep.  I also take 150mg of Wellbutrin XL and Buspar for about 5 weeks now.  Those seem okay.  These were prescribed by my pdoc.  My question is:  What is a good scedule for weaning off of this Xanax dose?  The other day I skipped the morning dose and felt fine.  But then my anxiety took over and I woried about withdrawal and didn't sleep that night.  I'm back to the .25 twice a day.  Also how long should this weaning process be carried out for?  Can there be withdrawal symptoms coming off this dose?

Thanks

[Roger Gould, M.D.]

Your wellbutrin and Buspar should cover your withdrawal.  I would suggest you talk to your doctor about a schedule like this. Keep the night doses and skip the morning doses. Then if that goes well, skip every other night doses for a week, then every third, then you can quit.

[rosetoes]

Weaning off of that amount of xanax won't be too difficult.  I took it for about 3 months but just a little more per day than you.

You first want to take either the morning or evening pill and break in half.  If you take it to go to sleep you might want to break the morning dosage in half. They should be scored unless you take the extended release,so it is okay to break them.  So it would .12.5 in the morning and .25 in the evening.  Do that for a week, then break the evening pill in half, so your taking .12.5 both in the morning and night.  Do that for at least five to 7 days.  Then you can either just take one of them a day or stop.  


I am not a doctor, I am just sharing with you what my doctor told me to do when I stopped.  While this worked for me, everyone is different.  You may want to run this past the doctor who prescribed the xanax to you.

Best Wishes.