I'll try to put a positive spin on things here...
First off, benzo's suck. Second, I too took Xanex for a couple of years. (same dose as you). I tried to go cold turkey, and it was a miserable experience...alcohol withdrawal doesn't hold a candle to that of b's, imho. But, my second opinion doctor wanted to wean me off as well, and do so by switching to K'pin. The short half-life of Xanex is what makes it so chemically addictive. K'pin has a much longer half-life, so it wasn't such a drastic drop off in terms of it being in my system and allowed for a much less painful taper. (most of us were never successful with alcohol taper, but for some reason I could manage it with these...it took a couple of months) I spoke to my Dr. a couple of times a week to keep me accountable and let him know what I was dealing with. It can be done, and I am confident you can do it!