Do I Need Medical Supervision to Taper Off Xanax?

What Happens When You Try to Quit Xanax Suddenly?

If you’re wondering how to taper off Xanax, it helps to first understand what can happen if you try to quit suddenly – especially why benzo withdrawal can be dangerous. Most prescribing recommendations call for only using benzodiazepines for a matter of a few days or, at most, about two to four weeks. This is because long-term use of this kind of medication can easily lead to increased tolerance, physical and mental dependence, and addiction.

For someone who has become dependent on a fast-acting benzodiazepine like Xanax, many withdrawal symptoms can begin soon after taking the last dose, leading to distressing mental health challenges, physical effects, and the risk of severe symptoms or even death. Benzodiazepine withdrawal symptoms are similar to what’s seen in alcohol withdrawal, and this withdrawal process from benzos can include things like:

• Sleep disturbances or insomnia.
• Feeling irritable or tense.
• Hand tremors.
• Sweating.
• Concentration and focus problems.
• Nausea.
• Weight loss.
• Headaches and pain.

Just days after quitting Xanax, people can experience a “rebound” of insomnia or anxiety that they were treating with the drug, and this can lead to panic attacks, anxiety, and depression. For those who have had an addiction to high doses of benzodiazepines, especially fast-acting ones like Xanax, more serious symptoms are possible, like seizures, delirium, and even psychotic reactions.

Benzodiazepine withdrawal peaks after 10 to 14 days for most people, after which they can struggle with the return of symptoms related to their underlying anxiety that will persist for weeks or months until they get another form of mental health treatment.

Why Is a Medically Supervised Taper the Safest Option?

Professionals recommend one answer to the question of how to taper off Xanax: Slowly, and with close medical supervision. If someone is taking high doses of a benzodiazepine like this for more than just a few weeks, they could be experiencing physical and mental dependence on the drug – and if they try to quit cold turkey on their own, they could experience severe or even deadly withdrawal symptoms.

That’s why most patients who have taken benzodiazepines for more than a month will be advised to slowly taper off the medication, gradually reducing the dosage until they can completely stop taking the drug. This process should be individualized, factoring in unique aspects of each patient, such as their use history, age, mental and physical health, type of medication, and lifestyle. This personalized approach can help determine how aggressively or conservatively to approach the taper, giving patients enough time to adapt to a lower dose of this medication while also receiving mental health support to deal with anxiety, insomnia, or other challenges without relying on benzos.

How Long Does It Take to Taper Off Xanax Safely?

The length of tapering off benzodiazepines like Xanax in a safe manner can vary significantly from patient to patient, depending on their past usage and dosage of the drug, other mental health or physical health conditions, and age, among many other things. Elderly patients, for example, are at increased risk of more side effects of these drugs and withdrawal symptoms.

For some patients, a more rapid tapering schedule of just eight to 12 weeks can be sufficient to get them off the drug. However, many patients will find they need to slow down the process to tolerate withdrawal symptoms. There’s also some evidence that a tapering process that is too long can worsen long-term outcomes because the patient becomes anxious and focused on tapering. Still, there are examples of successful benzodiazepine tapers that lasted for one or even two years. Again, it depends on each patient and what they need at the time.

Most medical professionals agree on trying a slightly more aggressive tapering schedule when the patient is in an inpatient setting, such as a medical detox center. If they’re instead in an outpatient program or coming to a doctor’s office for occasional appointments, the tapering schedule will likely be more conservative and spread out. Some patients also will reach a plateau of sorts, having to pause on the halfway point of a dosage reduction for several weeks or months until they can adapt to the new levels of the drug and continue tapering off the substance entirely.

In 2022, an online survey of 1,207 people found that many weren’t aware that when they started taking benzodiazepines, quitting these drugs could be very difficult eventually. Of those who had quit benzos at some point:

• 10.4 percent took a year or more to taper off – and many still had withdrawal symptoms after they quit.
• About 4.4 percent of those who tapered off benzodiazepines took more than two years to do so.
• Six percent tapered for more than one year but less than two years.
• 17.6 percent said they didn’t taper when they quit benzos and rather “quit abruptly but with consequences.”

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Are There Medications or Therapies That Help During a Xanax Taper?

If you’re still wondering how to taper off Xanax, a specialized Xanax drug rehab program like what is offered at Resurgence Behavioral Health can help. Some patients benefit from being switched from high dosages of fast-acting benzodiazepines like Xanax to lower doses of longer-acting medications, which gives their bodies time to adjust and start to wean off these drugs. Other interventions can also help, including medical detox programs to get through the peak of withdrawal symptoms, inpatient or outpatient rehab programs with individual and group therapy, and aftercare support services following rehab.

 

Key Takeaways on How to Taper Off Xanax

• Xanax is a fast-acting benzodiazepine that is most often prescribed to treat anxiety or insomnia.
• While it can be an effective medication if taken for a short period, benzodiazepines have a high potential for misuse, dependence, and addiction.
• Those who are used to his doses of benzos can suffer distressing and even dangerous withdrawal symptoms if they quit abruptly.
• If you’re wondering how to taper off Xanax, most medical experts advise slowly reducing the dosage over weeks, months, or even years.
• Medical detox and drug rehab programs can help patients address the mental and physical aspects of benzodiazepine addiction.

Don’t try to go it alone or quit cold turkey if you’re suffering from benzo addiction – it’s uncomfortable, upsetting, and possibly even life-threatening. If you or a loved one is suffering from an addiction to Xanax, Resurgence Behavioral Health can help. Call us at 855-458-0050 today.

Resources

• National Library of Medicine – Physical Detoxification Services for Withdrawal from Specific Substances
• National Library of Medicine – The Benzodiazepine Withdrawal Syndrome
• American Family Physician – Tapering Patients Off of Benzodiazepines
• National Library of Medicine – Experiences with Benzodiazepine Use, Tapering, and Discontinuation: An Internet Survey