Anxiety Support Group

Anxiety is a physical condition marked by intense and persistent feelings of distress, fear, angst or dread. General anxiety caused by routine day-to-day stresses usually passes quickly and is experienced by almost everyone at one time or another. However, such feelings that linger over time and are very difficult to cope with, and which lack a clear cause, may indicate...

23,095 Members

43,241 Posts

1 Online

kristina14 08/30/2007

I have been taking Xanax for 3 weeks now. I started it with taking .25mg twice a day and earlier this week I cut it down to taking only .25 mg once a day. I want to get off this drug. If I stop taking it altogether in the next few days, do you think I will go through withdrawal symptoms? It's such a low dose, so I wasn't sure if it still applies. I wasn't sure if I should cut the .25 mg tablets in half for a few days before stopping completely.

Desertdancer 08/30/2007

I would talk to your pharmacist or doc about this. IMO, I think it's always best to taper off slowly even if you've just been on them a short time. Best not to shock our already fragile systems.

deleted_user 08/30/2007

you DEFINITELY need to taper off slowly. your doc may lower the dose or have you wean off-take one every other day or something like that. Def. talk to your doc, though, you can end up feeling really bad if you don't go off of it properly. (Trust me, I have done that.)

kristina14 08/31/2007

The bottle says take 1 pill twice a day as needed. I have needed them a lot, but now I think the lexapro is starting to work so I don't feel like I need as much or any.

deleted_user 08/31/2007

It's always a good idea to talk to your doctor or pharmacist first.

I took Xanax when I first started having panic attacks but it didn't really help me. I quit cold turkey after taking 6 within 2 hrs because I was feeling so badly. It scared me enough to say no to the drugs. I called the ER and they said I should be fine, just don't go to sleep for awhile.

I have since taken Paxil, which didn't help and Zoloft which I think was great.

I quit all medications after my husband died from a drug that has been known to cause heart attacks. We didn't know it had those affects until afterward.

There are days that I think I would like to try something again, but then I say NO.

deleted_user 08/31/2007

You should ALWAYS talk to your doctor about coming off any benzodiazepine. Withdrawal can be severe and even dangerous
good luck

kristina14 08/31/2007

I called the pharmacist and she told me to start taking half of the .25mg for a few days before completely stopping, though she also said that she didn't think it would be a problem if I just stopped taking them completely.

Join the Conversation