It’s CRUCIAL that a some point you find a doctor that will not discontinue your prescription and do a very, very long proper taper. As a former 25 year Xanax user I will stick my neck out here and say it will take many years for you to get completely off this drug. You need to start looking for someone now in my opinion. Please go listen to ALL of Dr. Josef Witt-Doerring’s benzo videos on YouTube. He used to work for the FDA, he’s a physchiatrist and an unaddiction specialist. He explains things perfectly. Please listen to this doctor. It will take quite some time to listen to all his videos. Please message me if you would like to discuss anything else.

Hi...I know where you're coming from. I am in my 60's and have been on Xanax for almost 30 yrs. I wish they would NEVER have prescribed this....long story short, I was prescribed it because of panic attacks from taking me off another prescription. My situation should have been handled COMPLETELY different, but here I am and it is what it is. No ethical doctor will 'yank' this med from anyone....my God, you CAN die. Your system will 'speed up', your BP will go up & you could possible also have a heart attack. You would have to be very slowly weaned off, and not by yourself. Monitored carefully. That's a pretty big dosage. My prescription has been 0.5 mg., twice a day, so 1 mg. total daily, for all these yrs. Much lower than yours...I will more than likely stay on it. I have 2 sons and 6 grandchildren (2 passed away)....I want to be around for longer, also. If ANYTHING, you'd think maybe a dr. would suggest slowly reducing the dosage....VERY slowly, because you WILL go through withdrawal....which is of course, anxiety. It's hard. Many yrs. ago, a dr. prescribed Xanax to me....started out at a low dosage....I later found out that he was doing this with many women (one was a neighbor), he always attributed any problems we had to 'nerves'. Every time I left his office, I'd sit in my vehicle and look at the prescription he had written out.....every one of them would be MORE PILLS.....he always said to me, "Don't worry...if you need more, take more....if you can't sleep, take another one"....on & on. (he was nothing but a 'legal' drug dealer) I became addicted. How could I not? Yes.....some may say, well....it was up to me to take it or not....and that is true. BUT, I trusted him when he said I 'needed' it and that everything would be 'fine'. So did other women. MANY women! Well...we all eventually saw why he was doing this....to get more 'customers'....that's what we were....'customers'. I finally had it...I called him & asked him to please help me wean off of it. Do you know what he said? His exact words...."Uh...there's a nurse waving at me...I have to go." And....he hung up on me. My God, instead of weaning me off....he YANKED the prescription! Before I knew it, I had a call from my pharmacy...with another med. he had called in. I can't remember the name of it now....but they said he was prescribing it as a 'maintenance' drug....all I remember was that it was HORRIBLE. I was having tremors, horrendous anxiety, I was scared....called my neighbor, she went through withdrawal, also (he had been her dr., too)....but she said she wasn't on the huge dosage I was given. The reason he was prescribing all of this was to make more money and open his own practice, which he did. He didn't care what he did to people....he was only trying to 'get ahead'. He left a lot of people in limbo and in mental pain. I soon got a new Dr., I was still VERY anxious (shaking badly, almost crying) when I went in, told her the whole story, she was pissed & knew who he was, she was the one who put me on THIS dosage....it has remained the same, she retired 5 yrs. ago, after 15 yrs. going to her. Best Dr. I ever had! Like I said, wish I DIDN'T need it....on the other hand, she saved me. I was an emotional mess when I went in to her. She had said she would help me wean off the new prescription, if I ever wanted to....but what she prescribed me was a tiny fraction of what the other dr. had prescribed me. It's been a rough road. Wow....sorry, didn't mean to go on & on. Guess it just reminded me of what I went through because of a very unethical dr. My new dr. said it was a miracle I did not go into seizures, possibly have a heart attack, etc. But....it was HORRIBLE. Do you have any rehab centers close to you, where you could call & speak to someone about this? Maybe a center that takes regular insurance and Medicaid, also? Do you have any refills on your Xanax prescription now? I should scroll up and see, but am so tired....but also worried about you. Even a counselor at a rehab center can give you information (I called one)....maybe have you come in to see another dr., and he could do this in a very safe environment.....or even as an out-patient. You would not have to be COMPLETELY off of it, if you feel a small dosage would help you. You know how you feel....only you can know this. And, I very much agree with you.....to yank a prescription on Xanax on anyone IS murder....or it could be. I was lucky...I made it through. Please keep us updated....the dr. who did this to me should have been disbarred (sp.?), but he wasn't.....he made enough $$$$ on customers to open his own practice. I hope there is such a thing as Karma!! Take care now and let me know how you're doing....hugs!!