cutting back a half a xanax

[foxysgirl]

hi ,i haved been lingering on 1 mg of xanax since may 8th,would recently cutting it down to 1/2 a mg cause me to ahve like visual problems ,facial numbness,headaches,,i have several posts on here about my taper off this awful drug,im also on klonopin but all it does is depress me once im off the xanax i will taper off the klonopin,just wondering about the xanx cut,i have been on benzos 18 years

[MrGreen]

I think from reading another thread she is coming off Klonopin as well. That and xanax at once would be hard enough for anybody. Your body might need something due to your condition. So your body is letting you know.

[smileybrunette]

Don't worry.  It's entirely possible to get off Xanax without a lot of suffering.  You may have headaches for a while.  I did.  
But there is medication out there for that.  I've found Imitrex (1/4 a 50 mg pill) to work just fine for those.  Your GP can prescibe.  Or you can take propranol which is a blood pressure med that prevents headaches.  And the headaches do go away.  But if you want to avoid rebound anxiety (and boy does Xanax give you that) you can do what I did and divide your pill into eights.  Yes, eights.  I literally cut my dose by 1/8 pill every 6 weeks or so.  I barely noticed going off aside from the darned headaches.

I had a friend who was on 8 pills a day.  Her doofus psych doc told her to go off cold turkey.  Bad idea.  You can have a psychotic break doing that.  She didn't, but got very close.  Suffered terribly, poor thing for months.  I took my cue from her and got off my much lower dose verrrry slowly.  There is a great British website with really helpful information on how to get off benzos without wreaking havoc:  www.benzo.org.uk.  They have a much more sensible method than most treatment facilities (treatment facilities push you to go off on your insurance's schedule, not ideal, and many doctors have no clue how to wean you off sensibly.  So check out that website and don't despair.  

I'm on klonopin now.  I don't intend to ever go off, why would I?  I have a disorder just like diabetes.  My body doesn't produce enough feel good chemicals just like a diabetic doesn't produce insulin.  So it needs to be treated.  It doesn't mean you're weak.  It means you have a disorder.

[Prizma]

Xanax was hard for me to get off of and I was only on it for about 5 years. I took 1mg at night to help me sleep as I had insomnia from an SSRI. By the time I started to go off the xanax, I knew I was addicted to it.

You really do need to follow your doctors instructions on how to come off of xanax... especially after 18 years. You're taking something away from your body that it's had for 18 years and your body is going to give you as much grieve as possible. Unfortunately because I was doing a drug study, I had to do a quick ween off of the xanax as per my doctors instructions. That combined with coming off of Celexa was one hell of a month. For 2 weeks I experienced extreme nausea and dizziness. I had fun with the dizziness but the nausea was unbearable. I couldn't eat. I had no energy, could barely function. I've been off Xanax since March and it feels good. I know I'll never get back that sense of relief when I take it and feel it kick in, but I'm going to have to try and find that in other aspects of life. It's been a complete lifestyle change for me.

Maybe even try calling your local detox facility and see what they suggest?

[MrGreen]

Long time to be on Benzos for sure. I am sure you are probably as much an expert as I am about tapering off of such tablets. The slower we do it the better. Some people go for broke. Take 1/2 less for a week and then think they are doing great so stop the other half. Thus creating more of a problem. I'm trying to actually understand the question you are asking exactly? Is it if the 1/2 of xanax cut is causing your problems? I am sure in reduction sense I would have maybe broke it into quaters and then saw if I felt any change at all. Xanax is powerful as we know. Coming down a half might have a few kickback effects. Your body might need something and if the klonopin is doing nothing at all, your body might be screaming out for medication to help it. You are probably fed up with your dr changing your medication by now. Have you spoken with your dr about this? Or are you coming off these because you want to. Sorry. Think I have asked more questions than I have answered.