Final xanax withdrawal

[xanweaner]

Dear Dr. Gould,

I have been weaning off xanax since Oct. 07. I had begun treatment in Apr. 07 and was taking 2 - 1mg/LA with .25mg. short-acting, when needed.
I am now down to .125mg. every 4 hours - just completed my reduction to this dosage and am on Day 14.
Where do I go from here?
Should I drop my evening dose first? I take Ambien 10 mg. for sleep, and it's high effective.
Thanks.

[Roger Gould, M.D.]

You should talk to your doctor about this so he or she knows what you are doing...you have to get your dose much lower before you stop..in fact, have to get it down to just one dose a day for a week, then one dose every second day for se cond week, then every third day for third week, then stop.

[xanweaner]

Thank you so much - I will definitely visit the site. I just received some great info. from Ryan (he posts in the Anxiety forum) with a tapering schedule. Luckily, I've gotten this far by going at it slowly and methodically, but it hasn't been an easy ride. It could have been worst, from what I've read.
I'm looking forward to more info.
Thanks again for responding, Sue!

[Sue329]

Hello
  My name is Sue I have dedicated time in helping people come off of Benzodiazepines. It is not an easy task and many people taper to FAST which causes many withdrawal symptoms. I did a cold turkey off of 2 mg of Ativan and 2.5 years later still deal with many symptoms. I am much better but at one point became housebound for 18 months because of the severity of the withdrawal.
I can be reached at www.benzowithdrawal.com
When you get there remind me of this invitation and I will assist you.
Sue

[Sue329]

www benzowithdrawal.com

[xanweaner]

I wish that I could get a good answer from others on this particular phase of my weaning. Yes, my Dr. is involved and has been every step of the way. We work together on my tapering schedule, and I have been doing this weaning very slowly and methodically during this entire 5-month process.

As I am now on a low dose - only .5 mg/day - taken in 4 doses, there must be other members who have completed this final step in stopping their xanax.
This is a critical step for me as the ending is near...please, would someone  share their experiences with me?

I will probably start with my evening dose first, as I've done that in the past, and it's worked rather well.
I'm just looking for some additional input.
Please........????