OMG! Wanting to taper .5 mg Xanax/bedtime and just read a benzo website!!

[jule1]

Okay I'm really upset now. I have heard benzos were bad but I can't believe all the stories I just read on benzo.org!! I mean people have died from benzo withdrawal!!! The da$$ doctor put me on the .5 mg Xanax at bedtime for the TMJ that Effexor caused me three years ago! Now I am scared to death! I just barely have survived Effexor CT and now this????

Please someone tell me I am overreacting! Now I know why tapering my tryptophan is causing so many problems because it is changing the levels of the xanax at the same time even though I ONLY ever take it at bedtime because of not wanting to get addicted to another med??

Please benzo taperers help! Maybe I shouldn't even mess with it right now??

[rain]

Jule... *I* think you are overreacting. I take a .5 at nite also. (Not in my sig). There was a time that I weaned off - no problems whatsoever! I continued to have problems sleeping and I decided to start taking it again. I only take it at nite also. Yes, it's very addictive but I'm careful not to take anymore than the .5. I will get off it once I'm off the Celexa. I think you should probably hold off weaning Xanax also, but others may know more about this than I do.

[jule1]

Thanks rain. So you don't have any tolerance withdrawal from the .5?? I have kept thinking all along that the xanax was not my biggest problem but I guess I just need to stay away from those benzo sites! surely .5 isn't as bad as say 3 and 4 mg??? So you weaned off of it before with no problems. This is good news! How did you wean it the 10% rule?? If you don't mind my asking.

[rain]

I didn't have any problems, Julie. It was just last year... but I don't remb exactly how I weaned. I think I said something about it in a thread... not sure. I think.. .25 for a while and then just stopped it. Any tiny prob I might have had was all psychological - worried I wouldn't sleep, etc.

You can't compare .5 with 3 or 4 mg. Of course, I (and you) would like to stop altogether... when the time is right! STOP going to those sites!

[jule1]

LOL thanks Rain! I think I will just breathe now, take a break...and go eat dinner!

[Songbird]

I don't have experience with benzo w/d but I believe it is similar to SSRI w/d in that CT is bad, slow tapering is good. If you're already on a low dose, it may not be a big deal. I'm currently working on tapering off zopiclone (a sleeping pill, but not a benzo) which I've been using for the past few weeks, and I've done it before by just reducing my dose a little every few days. Once I'm sleeping well on the new dose I'm ready to reduce again. I did the same thing when weaning off Seroquel. Remember, you're in control of this.

[pokie]

Originally Posted by jule1

LOL thanks Rain! I think I will just breathe now, take a break...and go eat dinner!

Jule,
Listen to Rain and if that website scares you stay away from it. That happened to me once when I was reading a book called "SYMPTOMS" I thought I had every disease and was at the doctor non stop. You will be okay

[jule1]

Thanks guys for the support. I'm really in limbo right now. I posted on my tryptophan tapering journal today about how tapering my tryp has taken me from 7-9 hours sleep every night to complete insomnia! I don't know what to do next.

[pokie]

Originally Posted by jule1

Thanks guys for the support. I'm really in limbo right now. I posted on my tryptophan tapering journal today about how tapering my tryp has taken me from 7-9 hours sleep every night to complete insomnia! I don't know what to do next.

I am in the same boat with insomnia want to share an oar?

[jule1]

It's brutal isn't it??? I'll only share an oar if we can row to some carribean island!

[pokie]

Originally Posted by jule1

It's brutal isn't it??? I'll only share an oar if we can row to some carribean island!

The Bahamas-by the time we got there we would be unconscience. See and if we didn't have this insomnia we could go on their new special buy one get one free-shuck's

[jule1]

Originally Posted by pokie

The Bahamas-by the time we got there we would be unconscience. See and if we didn't have this insomnia we could go on their new special buy one get one free-shuck's

LMAO!!

[Mixter]

For me benzo CT was nothing like my brutal effexor CT it is a bit worse in a way, and I know benzo tapering is much easier than to taper off SSRI. I know it because I did taper benzo in hospital 2 months from 90 mg oxazepam, 10% each week. I did not feel any withdrawal compare to CT. It was very gentle like nothing did happen! The rule is 10% each 2 weeks, and with liquid titration 0.5 mg xanax you could do that mix 100 mL in mixer and crossover to diazepam, will go easier and faster on your body. 0.1 mg Xanax equal 2 mg diazepam they come in 2 mg tablets so you can split and do the crossover. I would first stabilize on 2500 mg tryptophan, as I think it is as you say the increased metabolism make it adapt to tryptophan you need to go 10% and also when you mentioned you even had some improvements too. I promise you it will go well for you! I will be here all for you, every day jule1!

[jule1]

Thanks Mix for your advice! Thinking on it. Don't think I would trade one benzo for another though since I am already on a low dose of Xanax. Just think I would taper it slowly until off. Still considering the tryptophan. Hard to believe an amino acid could cause so much trouble!

[pokie]

Originally Posted by jule1

LMAO!!

Jule -hurry up go get that wench that just stole our rowboat!

[jule1]

Pokie you are hilarious! I can't stop laughing! I'm on my way!!!!

[imokay]

Jule have you tried other things for the insomnia? Like camomille tea,warm milk etc.? I can't go to sleep unless I read first and sometimes I have to sleep on the couch so I can sleep with the TV on because it is easier to go to sleep when my mind is occupied (if THAT makes any sense)

[jule1]

Wench overboard!!!!!!!

[pokie]

Originally Posted by jule1

Wench overboard!!!!!!!

Great job Agent-99 we are on our way!!!!!

[jule1]

Originally Posted by imokay

Jule have you tried other things for the insomnia? Like camomille tea,warm milk etc.? I can't go to sleep unless I read first and sometimes I have to sleep on the couch so I can sleep with the TV on because it is easier to go to sleep when my mind is occupied (if THAT makes any sense)

Hey Callie! I have tried everything. It's like the chemically induced insomnia that I used to get early in withdrawal. I haven't experienced it in a very long time.

Thanks for your advice though. I'm still stewing about what to do.

[pokie]

Originally Posted by jule1

Hey Callie! I have tried everything. It's like the chemically induced insomnia that I used to get early in withdrawal. I haven't experienced it in a very long time.

Thanks for your advice though. I'm still stewing about what to do.

Jule,
And the Xanax is not helping? she say's the Xanax is not helping.

[jule1]

Originally Posted by pokie

Great job Agent-99 we are on our way!!!!!

Carribean Islands here we come!!!!!!!

[jule1]

I think the xanax quit working a long time ago although every once in a while I still get the sleepy feeling from it.

[pokie]

Originally Posted by jule1

I think the xanax quit working a long time ago although every once in a while I still get the sleepy feeling from it.

Cannot take that after I take it a few hours later I get the shakes.

[texgirl]

Keep in mind that, milligram for milligram, benzos are many times more potent than SSRIs. Even though .5 mg sounds small, it is in fact a normal daily dose of Xanax. Benzos are also addictive in the more classic sense, i.e, stopping suddenly *can* (occasionally) cause serious, immediate medical problems such as seizures. This is why they absolutely must be tapered, even from a "small" dose if taken regularly.

You don't need to freak out about benzo withdrawal, but you should absolutely be cautious. I disagree with Mix about benzo w/d not being as hard as SSRI w/d; it was much harder for me, but I was on benzos longer and at a higher dose. He's right about the crossover to Valium being a popular benzo-weaning method, especially because the half-life of Xanax is so short. Others have the drug compounded; that's how I did it.

I'm going out on a limb here, but the problems you're having, Jule, sound a lot more like benzo tolerance to me than any kind of reaction to tryptophan. If that's the case, you may find that you actually feel better once you start to wean the Xanax.