Cult mavens Donna and Marie descend into orgiastic frenzy over the thought of picking over the bones of the one member they know isn't them – after eight posts Duesie runs for the door screaming
Water Titration from Xanax XR? Help Requestby Duesie » Sun Jul 15, 2012 8:34 pm
Hi – I am new to this forum. I have been on 2mg’s of Xanax XR for nearly 7 years and have been trying to titrate off of it. I recently decided my method (suggested by my prescribing psychiatrist) is not working well. I crashed hard yesterday and he told me to go back on the full dose. I would like to try water titration. However, the pills do not dissolve well in water (perhaps because they are long-release?). Does anyone have any experience with this or advice on how to water-titrate off of the long release version of Xanax?
I’m glad to have found this forum.
Thanks so much!
John
Re: Water Titration from Xanax XR? Help Request
Hi John,
Welcome to the forum; I hope we can be of support to you here. I am not familiar with the Xanax XR, but I do know that sometimes the Extended Release varieties of certain medications can provide challenges when tapering. You mentioned you are working with a psychiatrist that sounded open to you doing a taper from your medication, which is a very positive thing. Having medical support, I have found, is extremely important in this process.
According to http://www.rxlist.com/xanax-xr-drug.htm – Xanax XR is not water soluble. I would suggest a couple of strategies for continuing your taper:
1) Do you have access to a compounding pharmacy? If so, I might speak to a compounding pharmacist to see if they can work with you and your doctor to formulate a compounded version of the medication in liquid form that you could dose orally at a pace you and your doctor are comfortable with.
2) You may also speak with your physician about switching from the Xanax XR to another benzo with a similar half-life. You mentioned you were on Klonopin and, I assume tolerated that, while you were on it. Your doctor could help you determine which med might be appropriate, and using a non-XR version, you could then stabilize, and begin a titration from that.
Those would be my thoughts that I would discuss with my doctor regarding this type of taper. Perhaps others that are more familiar with Xanax XR can add some advice as well.
Let us know how you are progressing, and how we can continue supporting you.
Best,
Cayenne
Benzo Withdrawal Forums provides community support for tapering and withdrawal from benzodiazepines, but any changes to your medications should be done in consultation with your physician. Please read our community rules here. Tapering from 15 V under GP/Pharm-D/P-Doc supervision. Currently at 7.5 V
Re: Water Titration from Xanax XR? Help Request
Hi Duesie,
I couldn’t help but respond to your question. From what I know, any med that is XR means extended release and most of them come with instructions not to break or crush the pill. Since titration means you have to do one or both, you should ask your doctor about it. I was taking an XR med at one time and my doctor gave me the regular version to taper from because he said the XR pills weren’t meant to be cut, broken or crushed and that it would change the way the tablet worked. As far as I know, Xanax comes in a regular tablet that can be broken, cut or crushed. I’m not sure how much longer the XR version works compared to the regular version but that’s another good question to ask the doctor.
Does the doctor know you are tapering?
Tessa
Re: Water Titration from Xanax XR? Help Request
Hey John,
Like most of us, benzos helped at one time otherwise we wouldn’t have continued to take them. It’s not any one person’s fault that we became addicted. It’s just an unfortunate thing that happened and if you want to titrate off of Xanax you should try doing it without the XR and get the regular Xanax. I’ve been through the same exact frustration and anger that you’re up against but the fact is that if you’ve chosen to get off the meds you will have to do it slow especially since you’ve been on them for so long.
Don’t worry about being back on the 2mg. You’d be surprised how many people don’t get through the first or sometimes even the second try. Don’t be upset and don’t give up hope. The first thing I’d do in your situation is to try to exchange your XR for regular old Xanax. I’m going to be honest and say that Xanax is the hardest benzo to come off of when it comes to any way including titration. If you’re not considering getting on a longer acting benzo like Klonopin then just try to get changed off the XR and get used to the regular Xanax for awhile. Then you can start titration.
Did you read the titration information they have here? They recommend crushing the pills and using blenders, etc. It seems like a lot of effort and if I was titrating I think it would stress me out too much so I like the idea of getting Xanax from a compounding pharmacy. I think it’s the easiest and least stressful way to taper because they do all the dosage lowering for you and put it in a form that you can take without messing with it. They have spreadsheets here that you can download and mess around with in the Education Material section. Here’s the link: viewtopic.php?f=6&t=9. You could use the spreadsheet to make yourself a plan and bring it around to your doctor and see if they’ll write you prescriptions for a compounding pharmacy.
Don’t let it get you down. You’ll make it.
Tessa
p.s. I don’t know where you’re at but it’s worth finding a doctor who’ll help you out with compounding. By the way, I know a few doctors that are or have been hooked on benzos.
Re: Water Titration from Xanax XR? Help Request
H Duesie,
From what you say titration isn’t working for you anyway. If your doctor doesn’t recommend it he probably knows what works for his patients. Titrating helps some people but It didn’t work for me either. Every one of my doctors looked at me like I was crazy when I told them about it. I tried it anyway and it was a disaster for me. If it works for people that’s ducky but it doesn’t work for a lot of people.
Do you have the insert that the pharmacy gave you when you got your prescription? If you still have it see if it says not to crush or cut the pills. I usually throw mine away with the bag. If you threw it away call the pharmacy and ask if it’s okay to cut the .5’s.
I read the Ashton manual. There are millions of people on benzos. For instance I found this today when I was browsing. It was written in 2008. It’s only info about the US and not the whole world.
Results
Over the past year, 112.8 million prescriptions were filled for a benzodiazepine. Slightly more than half of all benzodiazepine prescriptions (55%) were written by primary care physicians. Psychiatrists accounted for an additional 16 percent of prescriptions, and the remaining 29 percent of prescriptions were written by another type of specialty physician.
http://www.innovationscns.com/use-of-be … f-anxiety/
It’s talking about prescriptions so if everyone got 12 prescriptions filled each year that would still be over 10 million people. I wouldn’t put too much faith in the Ashton manual. It’s not the best source of current bw information. It’s an old book from a clinic study. It written before most of us were born. It has a really small insignificant following that swear by it and don’t consider anything else. Keep an open mind. Look at all your options.
Tessa
Re: Water Titration from Xanax XR? Help Request
Hi Deusie,
I was talking about liquid titrating but I guess titrating means tapering too. Some people do this thing called titrating with water, milk or other beverages. That’s what I was referring to when I said titrating. I wasn’t saying for you to stay on your Xanax. If I was I would have been direct but I’m not qualified to say anything of the kind. I’m sorry if that’s what it seemed. The Ashton manual doesn’t have anything new with the updates. I think that people rely too much on that one book that isn’t very modern.
Wish I’d been at those seminars with you. Since Xanax XR hasn’t been around for ages I wonder if they talked about the XR type benzos in those seminars. Are you having any of the pseudo withdrawal? I’m sure people can get it but I think that it’s probably a percentage and not everyone. I’ve had friends who were on Xanax. Their experience was a lot different than mine. They took more and more in a shorter period of time and when they trashed the Xanax they tapered (or titrated) over weeks. They had a much worse time than I did but their withdrawal didn’t last as long.
Re: Water Titration from Xanax XR? Help Request
Hi Tessa and Grace:
Tessa – thanks for the clarification. I understand now. I haven’t tried the water titration because I just couldn’t make the stuff dissolve, even when I crushed it. The seminars I went to had to do with benzo’s in general, their usage, how they should be used, for how long and at what doses. They were put on a clinic I went to for a while a couple of years ago. And, I felt they were fairly objective, from the perspective of MD’s/psychiatrists who had good knowledge (again that was was my feeling, but I’m not a medical professional) and without a particular agenda pro or con. I remember having mixed feelings about my taking what I was and not feeling a great need to get off of the stuff then, although the point made was fairly clear that this class of drugs was not intended for long term use. You are correct, it was some yers ago and the XR’s weren’t discussed – so playng in a gray area here.
It’s been really in the last year or (or perhaps a bit longer) that I’ve thought a lot more about his, and especially in the last 6 months since I’ve started to feel extremely anxious, more easily agitated, prone to a bit of anger (which isn’t like me), shaky, moody and more withdrawn from friends and social events (social anxiety is not new to mel, but I was always able to handle it well). I suppose there are life circumstances that could be contributing to this (I have been going through some tougher times with my dear mom who is dying of cancer, etc. I’ve been thinking about getting older … I’m 45 and time lost, particularly a good relationship with a gal that I would have been very, very happy with but let her go out of indecision, immaturity and “fear.”) But, I also feel just so ill-equipped to handle situations. It’s like I can’t make decisions, even on little things, I’m always frightened, like a little kid, I feel easily overwhelmed, bad about myself, and I’m not processing emotional things. I just feel either dull and flat, or extremely anxious. No pleasure. I won’t attribute everything to Benzo’s, and it could be I shouldn’t contribute anything to them, but unless I get off I’ll never know. I think life might look better without them, like it used to years ago, when I could handle the day to day things that were really tough in life, and be there for my family. I’ve sought advice, and started reading again about benzo’s, and finally found a good psychologist. The decision to titrate is mine. And, it’s a bit of a guess .. but it feels like a move in the right direction, or at a minimum, A DIRECTION. Just hard, as you know:). Thanks for sharing your experiences and thoughts.
Grace – I’m going to go to a pharmacist and try to get a better pill cutter. I have one, and I’m terrible at it. Are you really cutting XR’s? I’m just plain bad at it! And, not sure if if the stuff will release faster if cut or is unevenly distributed throughout the pill. I know the instructions say not to cut them. But, not going to be a stickler for rules if I find that it can be done, even down to eighths Really would love to know if you are cutting XR’s and how it’s going!!! Thanks so much.
Best guys!
Duesie
Re: Water Titration from Xanax XR? Help Request
Double check with your pharmacist but I don’t think that XR pills Should be crushed or put into water as they are coated to give the XR. if you want to use water titration then I believe you need to use the ordinary pills, no benzos are water soluble but the ordinary pills do break up into tiny bits ans suspend OK in water. There is a new book out called Xaxaz withdrawal by Dr Stuart Shipko, it is available on Amazon, it has some good info in it that might hold water with your doctor. Dr Shipko is a psychiatrist – I think his sample schedules are way too fast so be careful of that but that is mitigated by the fact he believes a taper should be patient driven, Some have also had success by crossing Xanax to klonopin or Valium first and the tapering This is useful for understanding water titration http://www.benzosupport.org/water_titration.htm
lucke59man 