Xanax (alprazolam) [Benzo]

[ian mc]

Originally Posted by icedCoffee

I found xanax + Propranolol is a great combo for giving presentations, public speaking situations. I used 20mg Propranolol + .5mg xanax. Give a try!

.5 mg?? i need four 2 mg bars to get my anxiety go away

[wrongnumber]

Social Anxiety Background
SA since 16, depression since 10.

Treatment Experience
I rarely use xanax because I don't like it too much. When I finish my current bottle I don't think i'd ever want to get it again.

One morning I misjudged how much I needed and took a little too much (only about 1 mg, I am sensitive to it) and someone said I looked catatonic. That's why I don't really like it as an anti-anxiety drug - I'm always worried I look weird / out of it. At the same time I also feel more emotional on it, which does not help in making me feel calm. In general it makes me feel drowsy and loopy.

[britneyparks]

I actually cannot have caffeine in any way because I completely freak out, 10x worse than normal. Even a simple can of dp will do me in. If I have a mtndw I'm gone. I have to depend on tylenol pm to take away my anxiety, but I'm really worried about it causing problems to my liver/stomach. I've taken it so much that I have to take around 4 to get the same effect I got when I first started. Would xanax be good for me?

[nox]

I take Xanax on an as needed basis. I really only take it when I know I'm going to be in a situation where I might have a panic attack. It takes about 30 minutes to work and lasts about 2 or 3 hours.
It makes you incredibly sleepy, well at least it makes me sleepy. I turn into a zombie and people always comment that I look worn out when I'm on it. I have no energy and slur my words, its almost like being drunk without the euphoria.
I take .5 mg, and I find that if I take it for 2 days or more in a row I start to get head aches without it and have to up the dose to get the same benefit.

Everyone is different, but I don't recommend anyone take this on a long term basis. It's definitely addictive, but it's helped for presentations in school and other situational anxiety.

[nox]

Originally Posted by britneyparks

I actually cannot have caffeine in any way because I completely freak out, 10x worse than normal. Even a simple can of dp will do me in. If I have a mtndw I'm gone. I have to depend on tylenol pm to take away my anxiety, but I'm really worried about it causing problems to my liver/stomach. I've taken it so much that I have to take around 4 to get the same effect I got when I first started. Would xanax be good for me?

I would ask your doctor for a prescription so you can try it to see if it works for you. I'd stop taking the tylenol pm because it's not made for this specific purpose, and xanax is.
Just keep in mind it's very addicting!

[Belshazzar]

Doc gave me a month's worth once (before I got a formal diagnosis). I think I was supposed to take .5 MG or 1 MG a day (long time ago), but I skipped my doses a lot. It was very calming and relieved anxiety, but I felt rather zombie-like on it. A little like being drunk without the motor difficulties and a muted euphoria, like nox said. However, I couldn't concentrate on anything -- depressants are not entirely good for someone with ADHD. I have a few left over that have been a great help during the few times I get full-blown panic attacks, though.

[MandyC]

did absolutely nothing for my SA, from the first day i took it until the last, several years later...even at 2mg/4x per day. what it did do, however, is cause me to have severe constipation and want to sleep 24/7.

[white album]

I get my xanax from the VA....the Doc gives me 60 per month; actually I could use 3 per day. Last month I got them on the 12th and by the 23rd, they were gone. Consequently, I had to go well over two weeks before I got my refill....It isn't a pleasant experience to just suddenly stop....had difficulty sleeping, numbness, metallic taste in my mouth....its a difficult drug to get off of.

[catalinahx]

I absolutely love this stuff, but the stigma around xanax's being addicting and the street market value of them is disappointing--which is why a lot of doctors don't like to give them out. IF taken in moderation, these things can do a world of good. At least in my experience.

I usually only take them when I'm anticipating extreme anxiety. Every once in awhile, I will take one to help me sleep. Which isn't ideal... but it helps. I always --always-- get migraines coming off of them. Even if I only end up taking it once, it will be guaranteed I'll have a migraine the following day.

I had a court date in March of this year; ended up taking 1/2 of a 0.5mg twice a day (once when I woke up, once when I went to sleep) for a week. I had a HORRENDOUS time coming off of it. Needless to say, that is the last time I will be taking xanax time and time again.

On a normal general anxiety free day (mostly anyway), sometimes I'll keep it at 1/4 of a pill to help them last longer and to keep me from building up a resistance to them. I only do this if I think I really need them though.

When I take a full pill, it makes me high beyond belief. Unfunctionally high. I would compare the effects pretty similar to pot, only in pill form. The key here is to figure out what dosage works for you and try not to build up a resistance or get addicted to them.

[MandyC]

wow, do i ever need to change my opinion on xanax! - if you've read my saga on "overactive bladder" problems experienced with klonopin, here's the *next* update:

recently having switched back to xanax after several years of being on klonopin, it's like NIGHT AND DAY...not only have my overactive bladder problems started to majorly discipate, but also, and even more importantly, the severe *depression* (that i'd previously attributed to my low dose of adderall), is GONE!!!

holy crap - i feel like a brand new person...i actually did a bunch of housework yesterday, went for a drive with my son, and am starting to enjoy life again!!!

i hope this isn't temporary, lol...

(and no, i do not feel euphoric - i just don't feel like Sh*t anymore!)

(oh, and the xanax didn't lift the depression either - stopping the klonopin did. and *replacing* it with xanax caused me to not feel like i wanted to crawl out of my skin with withdrawal symptoms - even though on a low dose, i still am physically dependent on benzos - and they do help me sleep at night - and the adderall helps me stay awake during the day...as well as completely eliminating my panic attacks!)

[bballerlover]

xanex really takes control of its user. you become dependent on it easily, like i did as well as many other people. you have to be really careful with it....

[KurtG85]

Never tried Xanax, but I am at a loss for how people differentiate between the feeling of not wanting to come off a med because it helps with the symptoms it was designed to treat which you have suffered horribly with for your whole life and being 'addicted'.

I guarantee you if and when they create a drug which gives people all 100% great mental health with no side effects and it leads to world peace it will be the most addictive drug on the planet. In other words, maybe a med is addictive but what does this matter if it works?

[Recipe For Disaster]

it matters because meds tend to work less and less (if not stop altogether) while causing increasing problems and side effects over the long term. if the med is non addictive, you can stop using it at that point. but if it as addictive as xanax, you're screwed.

[foxy]

talking as a ativan addict, i see both sides of the coin//without ativan for acute anxiety i would be dead ,simple as// i never moved up the ladder to xanax but took 10 mg ativan once every day on a regular basis every day//i take an ssri as well at 100mg that also has an anxierty agent in it//after being on ativan a good 20 years i now take 4mg a day ,i can never get rid of that //an there is no way im going through forced withdrawl again it worse than death, an i have been close to that a few times// i still get benifit from 2mg a night an 2mg in the morning //miss any of those 2 dose,s an im in big trouble ,leveling again//it is possible to level but after many years,plus i had no choise thats all i am scripted//if i want more i wont get it from the gp or shrink//it is a short term drug if to avoid addiction//but if your illness is not short term an you carry on takeing them like me ,be prepaired for a life of addiction//or the mother of all withdrawls//and i would sooner die than go through 6 months of that again //you trully carnt imagine what its like to withdraw a high dose of benzo

[KurtG85]

I see the logic of the potential of becoming addicted to effects which are not therapeutically beneficial.

I am fully like this with adderall. However it is a bit of a combination as the euphoric effects of adderall may be viewed by some as a 'dirty' kind of therapy but the fact is adderall has been the only thing which has allowed me to hold a job and a conversation and it has absolutely without a doubt saved me from suicide by allowing me to explore my own identity.

I guess my point is to highlight that there is often a fine line between 'addicted' and therapeutically beneficial. Couth individuals will be cautious with how they use the culturally emotion-laden word addictive. I believe a med can be addictive as well as therapeutically beneficial.

[Recipe For Disaster]

adderall is a whole different ballgame. benzos are crappy drugs, plain and simple. no one, should have to go through the hell benzos induce. if the pharm companies would invent a sedative that had effects similar to benzos, but did not destroy your GABA receptors in the process, no one would take any benzos anymore.

[KurtG85]

Originally Posted by Recipe For Disaster

adderall is a whole different ballgame. benzos are crappy drugs, plain and simple. no one, should have to go through the hell benzos induce. if the pharm companies would invent a sedative that had effects similar to benzos, but did not destroy your GABA receptors in the process, no one would take any benzos anymore.

You are fully entitled to your opinion and I support your right to voice it. However it would be couth to recognize that for some, despite their drawbacks, benzos are the only medicine with effects which are therapeutic for their condition/s and to allow some lee-way in how heavily you bash those who use them (by indirectly condescending towards the meds themselves). By all means though share your research which supports your beliefs.

I totally agree that pharm companies don't give a damn about the improvement of meds. That's a strictly capitalist society for you which, unfortunately, our country is being internally sabotaged towards. Money is the bottom line, not health, not safety, not anything else but greed.

[Joolzz]

Glad I read this.....I spent five years on SSRI's before taking myself off them agaist doctors' wishes. After a five year break from medication I was hoping that perhaps a benzo might be different and was going to ask my doctor for xanax for my anxiety.

I was told you couldn't become addicted to paxil etc and you simply stopped taking them just like that. It took me two years to withdraw fully from them, one year of tapering the medication down and then another year of blinding headaches (which I'd never experienced before) before returning to relative normality. The SSRI's never even worked in the first place.

I think no one fully knows what theses phychotropic drughs are doing to people, including the medical profession. I would say to anyone, if ther's anyway you can manage without these drugs, then do so. They should be an absolute last resort.

[burn the masons]

xanax works but its so evil. it makes people do stupid stuff. it makes me really mean to people i like. the addiction suckssss

[offroad]

As I just took a half xanex, am starting to feel a little better. But never do daily dosage of this stuff. Rather take it maybe once every two weeks, or worst case once a week.

I was taking three pills a day at one time; and it really messed me up where I literally could not move. Geting it out of my system, mostly, took a month.

Try exercise and eating only perfectly good foods (vegetable, fruits, low fat meat). Will help to get over the effects of xanex. You still may need a pill every once in a long while.