crtclms Posted April 12, 2016 Share Posted April 12, 2016 I decided that the xanax wasn't helping with my anxiety, and have started to titrate off of it. My psych nurse agreed, and I started. First I went down from 2mg to 1.75 mg. That seemed to go okay. But when I went down to 1.5, I started having trouble, and was very anxious. So I started alternating 1.75 and 1.5 in hopes that that would be gentler slope. I've been really anxious the days after I take 1.5mg. I take the .5mg at night, and I am often woken up by free-floating anxiety. I've been doing the alternating for 2+ weeks (3 weeks on Thursday). Am I coming off of it too fast? I would kind of like to continue using this level of alternate days for another couple of weeks. I'm hoping that will give me time to start to cope with .5 mg, before I go down to .5mg every night. Does this seem reasonable to you? Am I moving too fast? Should I ask for another anxiety med to counter the anxiety? I clearly don't know what I am doing. I've been on Xanax for 10 years, which is probably a factor. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crtclms Posted April 12, 2016 Author Share Posted April 12, 2016 Oh, and thanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
uncomfortable thoughts Posted April 12, 2016 Share Posted April 12, 2016 (edited) Hi. If I got it right, You said you take xanax for anxiety and you're trying to reduce it and successfully reduced 0.25 of your habitual dosage but things isn't ok when you have to go about 1/4 of your habitual dosage, that is 1.5mg, sometimes when you take 1.5mg you have to compensate taking +0.5mg at night even tough you wake up feeling extreme anxiety, right? What I want to know is, how you used to take it in the first place? It seems like you used to take it periodically more than on acute anxiety break or maybe both, I wish you could explain me this better along with why you think it isn't helping with anxiety. Ps: You may notice that there isn't xanax on my med list that's because here it's called tranquinal or frontal, but I have experience with alprazolam sublingual and tablets. Edited April 12, 2016 by uncomfortable thoughts Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
melissaw72 Posted April 12, 2016 Share Posted April 12, 2016 It seems pretty reasonable what you're doing, but because everyone is different it is hard to say specifically how fast/slow you'd do the best at coming off the xanax. What does your p-nurse say? Maybe she has some insight into how fast or slow you should wean down off of it, and whether or not you need something (a med) to help you come off of the xanax. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dilemma Posted April 13, 2016 Share Posted April 13, 2016 I've weaned of Ativan and Klonopin before. The last time I was on 2mg Klonopin and I went down .5mg at a time. I would take 1.5mg every other night and then increase to 2 nights in a row and so on. If I felt anxious, I would take the .5mg. Once I finally got to where I took 1.5mg for a whole week (or maybe it was 5 days. I forget), I would then try to go down to 1.0mg. Good luck. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
San Posted April 13, 2016 Share Posted April 13, 2016 Very, very, slowly. Can you switch to a longer acting benzo, like librium, klonopin or valium? The half lives on these are not as short as with Xanax and considered easier to come off of. I went from 2mg Xanax a day to 1.5mg (plus 1.5mg PRN if necessary, rarely taken) klonopin with no cross taper and was fine. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phoenix_Rising Posted April 13, 2016 Share Posted April 13, 2016 If you're looking to keep your anxiety under control but just want off the xanax, I would also suggest using klonopin as, like San said, its longer-lasting. I have a much easier time weaning off klonopin than I do xanax. Just keep taking things slow and talk with your pnurse about a weaning schedule that alternates with klonopin. Sorry, you probably know all this...just adding my two cents. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tryp Posted April 13, 2016 Share Posted April 13, 2016 San is right - Xanax is one of the hardest benzos to come off of because of the half life. If you can't tolerate it, you could ask about crossing to clonazepam or diazepam and tapering from there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crtclms Posted April 13, 2016 Author Share Posted April 13, 2016 That sounds doable, I'm curious if my pnurse will go for it. Thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crtclms Posted April 13, 2016 Author Share Posted April 13, 2016 Actually, I thought Xanax was the one benzo that you couldn't just switch to another benzo,. Are you talking about taking Valium as I go off the Xanax? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
San Posted April 14, 2016 Share Posted April 14, 2016 You can switch benzos with Xanax. I've done it, cold turkey switch to klonopin. No side effects, no withdrawal. Valium could work, but klonopin is more effective.I find valium pretty shit for anxiety.. I went from xanax to valium once and panicked until they switched it back. Klonopin, no problem. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aquarian Posted April 14, 2016 Share Posted April 14, 2016 I went onto valium to taper off of xanax for panic disorder. I don't remember how exactly I switched over as it was many years back. I do remember I had xanax withdrawals. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crtclms Posted April 14, 2016 Author Share Posted April 14, 2016 Oh, I can't use klonopin, it makes me have rages. But valium seems possible. Uncomfortable thoughts, you summed it up. The way I took it was one mg in the morning, one in the pm, and I had a third for prn. But I don't take the prn that often. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
uncomfortable thoughts Posted April 14, 2016 Share Posted April 14, 2016 (edited) 1 hour ago, crtclms said: Oh, I can't use klonopin, it makes me have rages. But valium seems possible. Uncomfortable thoughts, you summed it up. The way I took it was one mg in the morning, one in the pm, and I had a third for prn. But I don't take the prn that often. Got it. I'll suggest what everyone is suggesting. I would get one long life benzo to take periodically/regular and consider the time that it'll take to reach effect, so the equation would be for it to hit at the same time as your habitual xanax. For me, Valium has a great life spam and is relative fast acting (40-50 minutes) but unfortunately is mild sedating more than has therapeutical value on anxiety, for me it's better to take at night to at least induce a little bit of drowsiness, because of that, I use Rivotril (clonazepam) during the day, it's better for anxiety and most indicated for panic disorders but unfortunately I have to plan ahead because it takes two hours for it to act, which can be habit forming since I take it anticipating some stressful event or already under stress but in a comfortable place, as my home. If Valium is a good go for you, it would probably do both tricks to cut off xanax, you would take it periodically on a regular time of the day, considering the time that takes for it to take effect. If it's relative fast acting and long lasting as it is for me you can take it for a mild acute anxiety related episode. I like that valium works fast for a long acting benzo and as a long life benzo it will probably reduce the need for xanax since it will be in your blood for a long time, or at least it's excepted to reduce the dosage of the xanax. Have you ever switched to Ativan? it lasts longer than xanax but to be honest I think it's more effective, at least for insomnia. Unfortunately Ativan can make someone uncomfortable because it has similar dependence as Xanax. Those anxieties and insomnia can be related to those symptoms by itself but it can be only related with benzo withdrawal, you got to discover which is the case. I hope this helps you. Edited April 15, 2016 by uncomfortable thoughts Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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