tapering off large doses of xanax

[mrlee49]

I have  been prcribed xanax and zoloft for 10 yrs
ex military. i take 1mg 6 times a day.200mg of zoloft, iwant taper down from 6- 1mg of xanax how slow should i go. thank you.

[sunshine1109]

First and foremost be sure to be under a Dr's care...I wish you all the best on your taper. I was in your shoes just 14 mths ago I was on xanax for ten yrs and was up to 12 mgs a day for the last 4 yrs of my using. Please please take the advice of everyone on here, be very careful talk with a Dr. I was in rehab for 3 mths and my taper was 6 wks under the care of a addiction Dr. and a 6 wk taper is pretty fast considering being on them for ten yrs..I had a really bad experience on my first rehab I went into where they cold turkeyed me and stuck me on 1500 mg of anti seizure meds and I ended up in the ER and was admitted for four days but we found a awesome rehab two weeks later and although I had gone through some pretty serious w/d's once I got into the second place I did real well on the taper program, it will take time for your mind and body to heal from this but it will heal and you will feel so much better, the mental part is what takes the longest but in time it all goes away...Just be safe my friend and listen to the good people on here..I wish u the best..shine

[mrlee49]

thanks all of you for your comments.
                                                 lee

[vicki595]

Mr.Lee~    Agree with above.   You need an experienced physician to give you a sound taper schedule.  The taper should be long and slow.

Personally, I had a long, large barbiturate addiction. The withdrawal and taper is very similar to that of benzos.  I tapered over a 9 month period of time.  It wasn't easy but it was the only way to be safe.

I wish you the very best...

[hellc@mst]

Come on erin. I hardly believe your 1.5mg dose for 2 months is comparable to a 10 year,6mg a day addiction. There is no doubt in my mind that many of your symptoms have been manufactured by a mind addled by anxiety. I say this as an addict who abused benzos(amongst other things) for over 15 years yet never experienced anything like the symptoms you describe. I read where you said your doctor believed you werent going to expeience withdrawals and it appears you have ignored this advise in favour of the pop psychology and psuedo science that is prevalent here.

Im sorry if you feel my post is rude and i accept that my delivery could be softer but since noone else is prepared to be honest and truthful then i guess i drew the short straw.

mrlee49. im sorry to have hijacked your thread. Many years ago i did a benzo detox through an organisation here called TRANX. They have a rough formula of 1 month for every year of benzo use needs to be spent tapering. So 10 years equates to a minimum 10 month taper plan.The length of time on any benzo is THE determinant to consider when trying to figure the severity of a benzo withdrawal. A person on 1.5mg dose for less than 3 months will have far milder/if any withdrawals compared with someone on an even smaller dose but over a longer 10 year period.

[erin626]

I don't know much about tapering. I'm being tapered from 1.5mg a day for 2 months but its apparently a very slow process. The wd *****. Be prepared for anxiety, nausea, trouble sleeping and a general feeling of being unwell. That's what I've been dealing with. Its difficult but its manageable. I suggest talking to a dr and if you don't have one,like me, going for an eval at a drug rehab which is what I'm doing. Good luck. I'm in the same boat.

[Rich99]

That is a tremendous dosage of xanax for a very long time.   You have no choice but to do a taper under the strict supervision of your doctor.     Any other method is dangerous.