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Another question on Xanax tapering

Posted by CW on January 10, 2002 at 02:13:08:

I have yet another question about Xanax tapering. I have been taking it nightly for the last couple of months (due to severe emotional stress) and of course now cannot sleep without it. My current routine is to take .25 mg when I go to bed and another .25 at about 2-3 am when I wake up and can't get back to sleep. Sometimes I take .5 when I go to bed if I'm feeling like .25 isn't going to work, but then I still wake up about 4 hours later, and if I then take another .25 I feel terrible the next day!

I have just picked up a new prescription and really want to use this one to taper, as I don't know how much longer I will be able to get it. I'm not ready to deal with severe rebound insomnia as the emotional stress is not yet over, but I know that I cannot keep taking this drug. But the problem seems to me to be the fact that as you need ever increasing dosages to get the same effect, tapering is inevitably going to mean rebound insomnia. Is this the experience of anyone who's had to do this? If I taper to just one dose of .25 to start with, presumably this means I'm only going to sleep for a few hours (I've tried taking .25 mg with valerian but I still wake up after only a few hours). Here's the question (finally): If I do manage to taper to .25, would the next step be to cut it in half again (with the same problem as presumably this won't be effective for sleep), or is it better to try taking .25 every other night and deal with the fact that I don't sleep on alternative nights for a while?? And maybe at some point shift to .25 every 3 nights, etc.?

I should add that I've had insomnia off and on for years, so as my sleep system was already out of wack, I don't expect to suddenly discover my body's natural ability to sleep. But I do want to get off this drug.

I would very much appreciate hearing from anyone who's had to go through this! Thanks.

CW

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