Getting off Xanax

[Zali]

Has anyone experienced extreme discomfort at the lower end of Xanax tapering, say at ,375 mg. a day?

[Zali]

Thanks. I do write notes, too, so I don't forget any of my questions.  If you were on Xanax, what was your final taper mg. before going off?  

[Zali]

Thanks for responding.  I can imagine it's very rough for you at .125 mg. How much were you taking before you started to taper?  Now that you're at .125 will the next step be to go off?  My understanding is that under .50 mg. a person continues to be uncomfortable until finally going off.  I hope you don't have to suffer too much longer.

[Zali]

I'm new to this group, too.  I am familiar with Heather Ashton, but not the Jack Hobson-Dupont book.  Thank you so much.  I'll look it up.

[cornyguy]

I am also reducing from Xanax at 0.125 mg per week.Right now I am at 1.25 mg per week and finding things are tough.My Psychiatrist is not willing to change over to Diazepam or any other longer acting Med.

[d450d]

sorry it wasnt Ray Nemo (Ray Nimmo), but Jack Hobson-Dupont's book "The Benzo Book" available in PDF form here:

http://www.thebenzobook.com/benzo/pdfs/the-benzo-book10.pdf

[d450d]

I'm new to this group so I hope this isn't common knowledge, but one great resource for getting off of a benzo is Heather Ashton's book "Benzodiazepines: How they work and how to withdraw" which is available online at http://www.benzo.org.uk/manual/

Ray Nemo also has a great book available on the www.benzo.org.uk website. These two resources have helped me understand what is going on through my klonopin withdrawal.

Good luck to you!

[cj29]

That is a smart approach in my opinion...my mantra has always been the slower the better.  When I came off of benzos, I did not substitute; I did it REALLY slowly with close consultation with my doctor.  For me, writing my questions down before going helped me remember and showed her that I was prepared and active in my treatment....I am glad that you are working closely with her.  

[Zali]

Thanks for your note.  Yes, I noticed that the previous information from M4 was all quoted material.  I'll await the doctor's direction before doing anything.  She's been very cautious about going slowly, which is good.  I'll have some questions for her. I'm grateful for all the response.

[cj29]

Just be careful in how you taper. Work with your doctor.  We all experience this differently.  While wikipedia can be a great resource (the one quoted or copy and pasted verbatim by M4) and I sometimes agree with much of its content, we have to be careful how we apply and filter the information that is available to us.  

[Zali]

Thanks again for your input.  I'll see what she has to say when she returns from vacation.  It sounds like a good idea to me.

You've been a big help.

Best regards,
Zali

[M4Y0U]

You can ask for a very low dose of Valium or Librium to take along with your .375 to ease things off but i don't recommend an instant switch.

Please consider that I'm not a doctor. Those are all issues you will have to discuss with your doctor. You might propose the idea of including Valium at very low dose along with the .375 Xanax and see what see thinks.

[Zali]

Greetings,

Thank you for your very detailed response to my question.  You are right; I was prescribed too high a dose (although relatively small at .75 mg. a day) for an elderly person.  I suggested the idea of switching to Valium to my doctor, but she wasn't interested in this approach. Do you think it would be possible to switch over now that I'm down to just .375 mg. a day?  I'll talk with her again to see if she'd consider the switch to Valium or Librium.  Right now, she has me on "hold" at .375 mg. a day until the end of the month.  The beginning reductions, at .125 mg. a week, were not difficult.

I greatly appreciate the time you are taking to help me.  

Very best wishes to you,
Zali

[M4Y0U]

Hello there,

Yes a lot of people experience withdrawals symptoms while reducing doses. Everyone is different and your dosage reduction should be adapted to your needs and the doctor should consider your age and response to the tapering.

''Detoxification of a benzodiazepine dependent individual is often carried out using an equivalent dose of either diazepam or chlordiazepoxide to the benzodiazepine the individual is dependent on and by reducing in steps of 10% every 2–4 weeks depending on the severity of the dependency and the patient's response to reductions. However, if withdrawal is carried out slow enough and preferably using an equivalent dose of diazepam or chlordiazepoxide to withdraw, many benzodiazepine dependent patients find that they experience little or sometimes no withdrawal when it comes time to come off the last 0.5 mg dose of diazepam or 5 mg dose of chlordiazepoxide. Those who have withdrawn slow enough but still experience withdrawal effects typically find that their withdrawal symptoms have largely disappeared after a few months. It is important to note that the elimination half life of diazepam and chlordiazepoxide as well as other long half-life benzodiazepines is twice as long in the elderly compared to younger individuals. Many doctors do not adjust benzodiazepine dosage according to age in elderly patients.

It is strongly recommended that during benzodiazepine withdrawal that the drug used is diazepam (Valium) or chlordiazepoxide (Librium) as they are available in low potency doses in addition to having a longer half-life than most other benzodiazepines such as lorazepam (Ativan) or alprazolam (Xanax)and hence a smoother withdrawal. It can be very difficult to withdraw successfully if the addiction is to a short to intermediate half-life hypnotic benzodiazepine such as temazepam (Normison), lorazepam (Ativan) or alprazolam (Xanax), as the intensity of the withdrawal syndrome can be too high and debilitating. It is also important that while the early and mid part of withdrawal should be managed with a 1 mg (for diazepam) or 5 mg (for chlordiazepoxide) reduction every 2 weeks, the reduction down to 5 mg (for diazepam) or 12.5 mg (for chlordiazepoxide) daily is a key milestone. From 5 mg down to 0 mg (for diazepam) or 12.5 mg to 0 mg (for chlordiazepoxide) a taper of 0.5 mg (for diazepam) or 1.25 mg (for chlordiazepoxide) reduction every three weeks makes this much more tolerable on the mind and body. Usually, for most people, once off the drug, a sense of relief and well-being can be felt after 2–3 months of total abstinence.''

Best regards,
M4