It is different for everyone. I was on 3-7 mg a day for 8 years. And just stopped about a 8 months ago. All my anxiety, pain, muscle meds gone. Just blood pressure meds now.

I did have some tension headaches, trouble sleeping, but that was it.

Side note - I was on your same dose briefly(or said I was), the taper they gave me was;

.5mg daily for 4 days
.25 mg daily for 3 days
Discontinue

No withdrawal probs that time.

To your point, your biggest concern is the anxiety that will come back. Life is stressful and full of conflict.

I made myself so afraid that something horrible was going to happen to me or my family. And my response was to push every limit, to risk everything including my life. Until something happened that scared me enough to step back. In a corny way I was literally “scared straight.”

The stuff that terrified me became what it always had been; unrealistic thinking that I let get out of control.

Sorry didn’t mean to get off track. One last point,

Using a benzo in conjunction with an ssri or snri, is typically an adjunct medication to bridge the gap between starting the antidepressant and it taking effect in the body. Once this happens, the need for the benzo should noticeably diminish.

If you are stil feeling major anxiety symptoms you should tell your doc. Don’t let a desire to get off a med set you up for a struggle.

Is there any reason you couldn’t go back to the Xanax as needed while you confirm that the Zoloft is high enough? You’ll know you are in a good place when you forget to put that Xanax in your pocket every morning or realize you haven’t taken it in a couple days.

I just get this vibe that you are quitting because you “want to be off it”, rather than quitting because you don’t need it/it doesn’t help you.