Posts by gentlebadger8

fadedbear92 said:I was on it for 15 years...

I eventually reached a dose of 6-8 tablets of 0.5 mg each...

They introduced Normabest, but I ended up taking it somewhat impulsively—meaning I didn't

gradually taper off my Xanax dose; instead, right after a massive panic attack,

I just grabbed the Normabest and thought, "Whatever happens, happens, because I can't

stand this anymore..." I would occasionally slip back to the old stuff, but in smaller amounts... eventually

I was prescribed Rivotril, which brought my anxiety and fears down to almost nothing, and

I haven't reached for Xanax again (at least not yet)... I think my doctor and I

hit the sweet spot with therapy: two different types of Effexor ("the lifter") in the morning,

and Paxil ("the downsizer") in the evening, plus Rivotril three times a day and Prazin, one pill at night for

sleep... but I am still managing things—basically keeping my hereditary depression under control,

since I deal with depressive-anxiety disorder...

By the way, I really like your method for tapering off Xanax...

Look, Reggie, it works perfectly. Trust me, just by cutting back, I already feel way more motivated and alive. Things are okay right now, but I’m still planning to kick the habit entirely since I don't actually need it (I only drank it because I was hooked). I honestly believe anyone dealing with panic attacks or whatever could pull this off flawlessly too—though they’d probably need to start an antidepressant or something first, not for the taper itself, but to handle the actual panic. This way of quitting is going great... I don't feel like I'm some special case here. And Reggie, you said you're doing good now? I hope it stays that way forever.

fadedbear92 said:The antidepressant should actually be introduced right at the start of treating panic disorder...

In cases where someone is hooked on Xanax, you might introduce another benzodiazepine instead—but that’s strictly for actual dependency issues (which, in my case, was the situation)...

Like I mentioned earlier, panic disorder is treated with an antidepressant and psychotherapy; anxiolytics (like Xanax, Ativan, or Klonopin) are basically just given for those first 3-4 weeks. After that, they should be tapered off gradually because the antidepressant should already be kicking in and helping stabilize things—meaning fewer panic attacks...

Xanax and stuff like that are just quick fixes to calm you down, but they don't solve the underlying issue long-term...

There's no need to be scared—you haven't been on it for long...

Try doing it this way: use a knife to break off a quarter of a pill and take that for a week or two, then take another quarter—so you're down to half a pill, or 0.125—and just taper off from there... It's slow enough that your system won't freak out too much...

Good luck! 😉

Hey everyone... looks like people have all sorts of experiences when tapering off Ativan or Xanax. I've been taking mine since '99 and decided to finally quit last year. I always stayed at the same dose, usually between 2.5 and 3 mg (yeah, heavy dependency here), so I can tell you from experience that you don't necessarily need an antidepressant to get off it. They offered me one twice, but I started it and gave up after a week or two. You don't need anything else to quit—just willpower. Honestly, I haven't had even a tiny withdrawal symptom while lowering my dose so far. It just takes grit. And don't follow that advice about cutting the dose every two weeks like everyone says; I drop by 0.25mg every 3 to 4 months, and there is ZERO crisis. None. Just go slow and you'll be fine. Over the last year, I've made it down to three 0.25mg steps. No rush, since I've been on it since '99 anyway... but I am curious, if you don't mind sharing, fadedbear92, how did you handle your taper? How long did it take, how many years were you on it, and how are you holding up now without the Ativan (are you on anything else)? Thanks.