You need to ask your doctor to switch you over to Valium. It has a much longer half life and is the gold standard for benzo tapering. You would start out at 10 mgs Valium which is equal to .5 mg. Xanax. I’m 71 and this is how I tapered off Xanax. It’s extremely difficult to taper directly off Xanax due to its short half life. Also google the Ashton Manual which tells you exactly how to taper and has helped so many.