Xanax and the Rabbit Hole

[Kwarg]

Xanax just may be the most dangerous prescription drug out there... Let me tell you how.
When I was 18 I started having andiety attacks. No idea why.... At the time. So my parents shuffle me off to the shrink and thus begins my 20 year affair with the Little blue devils.
So whats xanax like? Well imagine relaxation and an unending sense of contentness. Everything is good. Not like pot relaxed but relaxed from the brain stem out...
Xanax alters the passage of time. Sleep for 12 hours? Cool. Take a lil extra before bedtime and you wake up at 2 in the afternoon.
So what could possibly be the downside? Well to start with, memory loss. I would frequently answer the phone in the morning and talk to my mom for 10 minutes and have no recollection later in the day.
One side effect of xanax is the statue stare. You catch yourself freezing and fixating in thought staring at an item.
Now for the unpleasant side. If you are prone and susceptible to anxiety attacks you will begin to have anticipatory anxiety at the end of the dosages effectiveness. If you miss a dose by more than an hour or two... You start getting full blown anxiety attacks. Logic says you need the medicine to keep the attacks away. But thats the dark secret here. Danax actually creates more anxiety attacks as the levels in you bloodstream drop.
So... You are flat out addicted and aren't cured of the anxiety attacks.
The only way I got off of it was by switching to Klonopin for a couple years then tapering off of it. The resulting anxiety attacks from quitting were fierce but I succeeded. In retrospect I feel that it was bad to take the medicine in the first place. Some people just naturally have overactive sensitivity to outward stimulus. My mind races, when I hear a creak on an airplane and the creak quickly becomes a hydraulic system failure...
I have a high IQ and am quire a thinker... For good or bad you cant change that and trying to change that causes more problems.
So... I feel for Whitney Houston... I know what she went thru...

[lovuian]

1. this has got to be one of the most dangerous drugs I have seen

It was prescribed like candy and now is a controlled substance

It has tremendous withdrawal affects
from shaking and seizures
you can't go cold turkey

you must gradually drop down
It is very addicting

It can stop a persons breathing in large doses

This is a major tragedy in medical history yet to be revealed

Your absolutely correct
and think about it
the doctors handed it out to veterans like candy

[Seedersandleechers]

3. xanax has always been a controlled substance

Just saying.

[blue neen]

35. I could be wrong, but I think it wasn't classified as a controlled substances until the 1970's.

It's a dangerous medication.

[Seedersandleechers]

65. That may be. It came out in the 1970's as well as Nixon's controlled substance act.

Since I've been a nurse (1980's), it has always been controlled.

[SCantiGOP]

4. nothing new here

One of the most prescribed drugs was Valium in the 50's and early 60's, until they found out as much as a double dose and 4 ounces of alcohol could be deadly.
Amphetimines were handed out in the 60's and early 70's. I knew girls in college in the early 70's who could get a prescription even if they looked like models; all they had to say was they wanted to drop 5 pounds and they were too tired to study. Didn't really need a scrip; you could buy them for as little as 50 cents each. Take it about midnight, study all night, take your test in the morning and, two or three beers later you could crash and sleep 12 hours. My roommate had all of his classes on Tuesday and Thursday, and stayed up every Monday and Wednesday and had the weekends free. He was somewhat thin, which meant dropping 15 pounds was not good for him.

[EFerrari]

14. I was prescribed Xanax for panic attacks and it changed my whole life.

I think this was before they developed klonopin. Instead of planning everything around avoiding panic attacks, I went back to school, started writing again, camping with my family, flew and drove bridges and mountain roads. It was like a miracle and eventually, the panic disorder resolved.

The down side was that doctors didn't know how to manage it very well. The original doc gave me a huge dose, maybe twice as much as I needed but that's because he was basically inventing the treatment at Stanford as we went along. It was easy to take less and less but going off of it was nearly impossible because you get muscle spasms (ouch), fake anxiety attacks and of course, insomnia. Eventually, I found a doctor who had figured it out but by then, I'd been through six months of hell for no reason. The doctor switched me over first to phenobarbital through the detox, then to a tiny bit of klonopin as needed instead of a regular regime and that worked.

Xanax was the appropriate med at the time and I'm still glad it was available but it's definitely not a drug to fool around with or even, to take under the direction of someone who is less than diligent.

[lovuian]

20. Antivan and Valium are used for seizures and Xanax

can help anxiety but long term use
can turn into a nightmare of dependency

[EFerrari]

23. I don't know why, but Valium didn't help the panic attacks at all.

It just made me feel a little high while the panic attack was going on which wasn't what I was looking for. The Xanax handled it. I don't know anything about Ativan.

[LadyHawkAZ]

46. Valium was the only thing that worked on mine

without knocking me flat for half a day. it was the only medication I had ever taken up to that point that not only worked as advertised but left me with no side effects as long as I stuck to the prescribed dose.

Ativan and Xanax knocked me out, which i really loathe with any meds, and Klonopin gave me a horrific headache. The panic attacks were easier to deal with than any of the three.

[adigal]

74. Yup. My brother has been given Ativan for 10 years

Rebound anxiety every afternoon, depression, suicidal thoughts. I told him it was that damn drug and he found a doctor in Princeton, NJ who specializes in getting people off the drugs, and he is 100% better in a few days.

Doctors don't know what the heck they are doing with these drugs. They are creating horrible nightmare lives for people. Some antidepressants work just as well without addiction and rebound: Wellbutrin, Lexapro, both good for anxiety.

[Aerows]

2. Ativan is similar

I'm so glad I didn't take it for long. I was on it for about six months, took it as prescribed and it made me crazy as a loon. I wouldn't take it unless I absolutely, positively had to, and only then for a very limited time.

[Union Scribe]

7. How much were you taking?

I take .5mg every once in awhile with no problem. Kept me functioning through a devastating family death a few years ago. I guess nothing is a blanket solution for all people, though.

[Aerows]

10. I honestly don't remember

It made me hyper instead of calm. So I had no anxiety and was hyper. Not a good combination. I wasn't taking much though. It probably was .5 mg or something like that.

[Kwarg]

13. Hi

I was taking between .5-1.0 mg three times a day. They prescribed me these giant 2mg tablets that are scored so it breaks into 4 tabs, .5 mg each
Sometimes on rough days I may have taken 4-5 mg a day

[Union Scribe]

18. Thanks to you and Aerows. I think this thread highlights

the problem of cookie-cutter health care, and the importance of the needs of the individual patient.

[Seedersandleechers]

8. Ativan, xanax, valium, etc., they are all benzodiazepines

Some are long acting (valium), some are short acting (xanax).


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_benzodiazepines

[REP]

85. They can have my Ativan when they pry it for my cold dead crazy hands

I take 1mg PRN, up to 3x daily, and I don't need every day or even every week (that's what the Buspar is for). It doesn't cause time-loss, black-outs, sleep marathons ... it just makes overwhelming anxiety tolerable. I don't have panic attacks; that would be nice because those end. Without the anti-anxiety drugs, what I experience is like a "panic attack" that never ends only I never thought I was having a heart attack or ceased to function; I just carried on. Now it's a lot easier without being Harrison Bergeroned with the weight of so much needless anxiety. It's still there; it's just the size on an ankle weight instead if a Buick.

Not all psychiatric drugs are a good fit for everyone.

[polly7]

5. I'm so sorry you've had to go through this.

Absolutely, benzos can do a lot of good short-term .... however, people should be made aware of the dangers of tolerance and horrible interdose-withdrawal that can occur within a 'very' short time of being prescribed.

[lovuian]

11. that is the problem

they don't tell people it is addicting

[polly7]

15. Or, they do ...

but cut them off completely, when it's pretty well known sudden W/D can cause seizures, and that benzo withdrawal can be worse than heroin. Some also just don't understand how quickly tolerance can develop. Britain had a real dust-up with all of this and their Gov't has recognized it as a national problem. There are various British sites that offer some really good information for anyone currently having trouble, even years after stopping.

[riderinthestorm]

6. Oh Kwarg, thank you so much for this post!

Sometimes people don't understand the dangers until it hits them over the head. Thank you for your courageous OP and I'm so glad you managed to kick this dangerous habit to the curb.

Welcome to DU!

[sharp_stick]

9. That's a common

characteristic of all the benzodiazepines. When Mom started working as a nurse in the ER many years ago they used to keep Valium in a big bin behind the nurses station at pretty much any major hospital. It provided an interesting and eye opening view into the world of addiction and dependency with benzodiazepines. Not just because of the number of people taking them but the fact that a lot of them were doctors and nurses and they tend to be good case studies.

Unfortunately there isn't a lot of help, especially quick help, for anxiety and we've still been unable to remove the side effects and addiction potential from this class of drugs.

[Kwarg]

16. Oh yeh I took valium a few times

For me it was the granddaddy of xanax... For people who havent taken it, its pure physical AND mental bliss.

[EFerrari]

19. Actually, there's a ton of things that can be done for anxiety.

I think I've tried all of them, lol, and some of them have helped quite a bit. The side effects of anxiety meds can be a problem, though, but that's also a spur for people not to rely on them exclusively.

[sharp_stick]

34. You're right

I was typing faster than I was thinking.

[leftyladyfrommo]

12. My doctor won't prescribe xanax for anything.

Mostly it just makes me sleepy.

[EFerrari]

21. Xanax made me sleepy, too, when I first started it but that goes away.

I don't blame your doctor though. The withdrawal can be horrendous, much worse than others in that class, imho.

[malaise]

17. Excellent post

Thanks

[rubberducky]

22. My experience with Xanax helped to change my life.

I had severe agoraphobia. I had been totally housebound for 3 years. Finally went to a shrink, who perscribed Xanax for when I would have to leave my home. He taught me a few other tricks too, but without the Xanax I don`t know what would have become of me. Never got hooked, just helped me to regain my life. This has been 20 years ago. I just really have a hard time believing that you could honestly sleep for 12 hours and blame Xanax. This drug does not stay in your system that long. But, whatever a few months of treatment turned my life around.

[madokie]

24. I've lived with anxiety most of my life (63 years) and it sucks

I started taking 1mg cloniphen about 2 years ago and what a difference in my life its made. I don't see any of the downsides you did. I couldn't imagine going without my pill ever again as it lets me enjoy life as most people who don't have anxiety or panic attacks live. Although I had to slip up on my dose as at first it made me want to sleep all the time I wasn't doing something but now I've no problem with them at all. If you don't need them don't take them is all I can say to you on this subject. I do and I will continue

[Kwarg]

28. Klonopin is nowhere near as powerful as Xanax nt

[The Genealogist]

30. I developed panic disorder with agoraphobia in late 2003

I had a panic attack in a class one day. No warning, just attack. Miserable. Nothing I have experienced is worse than a panic attack. Then, by New Years Day 2004, I was having more than one a day. They are physically exhausting, and mentally disabling, and I was having them in succession on a trip home from Florida back to Missouri. Days and days of these attacks. I would begin to drift off to sleep, and as I was beginning to sleep, I would be jarred awake by attacks I called "night terror." I was crying when I wasn't having an attack, and during the attacks. I even went to the emergency room once because I had so thoroughly frightened my stepmother with the attacks that she and Dad basically drug me into the emergency room. They gave me some drug, I don't remember what it was, to take as needed til I could get back to Florida and to a doctor there for more permanent care. That doctor put me on Prozac and Clonazapam. In almost no time, I was not only able to function again, I was functioning BETTER than before the attacks started. Side effects of the Prozac were problems reaching sexual climax and weight gain. To function again was worth it. I was diagnosed with panic disorder with agoraphobia (I would run away from wherever I was when the attack was going on, to get away from people). If it wasn't for Prozac and Clonazapam, I shudder to think what would have happened to me; if I hadn't eventually become suicidal I think it would have been a miracle. The way it was, the attacks were beginning to warp my sense of reality very badly.

[Kwarg]

31. I'm glad it helped you

Klonopin helped me get off xanax and is considerably less addictive.

[Taverner]

33. Aren't Klonopin and Xanax based on the same drug?

That is cyclobenzapines?

[blue neen]

36. They are related medications, in that they are both benzodiazapines.

They do not work in exactly the same way. Xanax is short acting and much more addictive.

[Taverner]

38. Benzodiazapines. That's the word I was looking for

Same class as Valium, right?

[blue neen]

49. Yes. Valium has a longer half-life.

It is sometimes used to withdraw from the other benzo's like xanax.

Benzodizapine withdrawal is a mean and nasty thing to go through. Some people just can't do it.

They can be very effective medications when used on a short-term basis, emphasis on short-term, because the physical addiction can start very quickly.

[samplegirl]

56. I have panic disorder

Have since I was 18 years old. Now in my fifties. I have used all of the benzos too.
I would be addicted to Xanax if I let myself. So at times I just suffer and try to breath.

I would like to offer this to panic sufferers... That someone told me that if you have panic sometimes it is a magnesium deficiency.

I was told to take Magnesium glyconate. When I take this it really does calm me down.

[EFerrari]

40. Good going.

My experience is pretty similar. After some work, my panic disorder calmed down a lot in my 30s and was pretty much extinguished by the time I hit forty. After going on meds, I never had a full out panic attack again. Just the relief of knowing what the hell was going on helped a lot.

[madokie]

48. What I say to people is if you haven't had a panic attack then you have no idea what

I'm talking about. Remember the movie High Anxiety by Mel Brooks well it gives a pretty good feeling how we feel when we have those attacks. Been so long since I seen the movie I may be wrong on that but anxiety daily sucks big time.

[Uncle Joe]

25. Kicked and recommended.

Thanks for sharing, Kwarg.

[rocktivity]

26. But DO anxiety/panic attacks come out of nowhere?

I certainly do NOT doubt that effects are physical, but can the causes be psychological? I'd hate to think her attacks were caused by the prospect of appearing or performing publicly.

Her last attempt at a tour in 2010 got her booed in Australia, England, and Denmark -- that would certainly be enough to trigger an anxiety disorder!

[div style="text-align:center"]

rocktivity

[alcibiades_mystery]

27. After reading this thread, I guess I'm lucky that I have no idea what a panic attack even is

[Kwarg]

29. Thats the big question

Many people think its all in "our heads" but its deeper than that. The symptoms are very physical. Mild vertigo was part of my condition with the anxiety attacks.

[polly7]

41. Yes, the symptoms are physical and terrifying.

Mine started when, I'd almost be able to sleep, and one would hit. Like a sledgehammer to the chest. The racing pulse, shortness of breath, sweats, chills, horrifying feeling of crushing doom and fear. Mine eventually became debilitating, because I wouldn't sleep for days on end. Then, they started during the day with really nothing triggering them, just at random times. I went through the benzo journey for years, and then cold-turkey W/D ... the whole thing was something I wouldn't wish on my worst enemy.

[DocMac]

44. I have had so many panic attacks

that I could explain one from beginning to end. The panic is when you get the "fight or flight" feeling, caught between wanting to run or hide. Then the struggle to do something to get your mind off of it, trying to do something on purpose but too confused to handle anything. Then you go full panic when you realize you are no longer in control and you can't control your breathing.

I've had more than a dozen trips by ambulance to the ER in the last twenty years. I well understand the Agoraphobia as well. You start to develop more fears as the years go by. You will never be cured and it gets worse as one gets older.

Doctors try to prescribe depression meds for this to avoid the Benzos, but one who really understands anxiety/panic attacks knows that Alprazolam (xanax) is the best med for it. Klonopin is good for people with milder cases and Diazepam (valium) is really just a good muscle relaxer.

I know about the memory loss, but i'm willing to accept that for quality of life.

I know just what some of you have been through.

[EFerrari]

52. One of these days, come on over to the Mental Health forum.

There are posters there in all stages of this. Maybe we could swap trade secrets.

[DocMac]

68. I'll do that.

I didn't know there was such a forum. I see the health topic. I'll navigate around and find it.

Thanks.

[EFerrari]

81. Sorry, it's here:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=forum&id=1151

[april come she will]

77. I disagree with you about the developing of more fears as we age

Are you on anything now? Could it be, like the OP, that the diazepam drug is causing more anxiety? I had agoraphobia for many years and as time has gone by, I have gotten way better. It was a matter of refusing to believe that I would be healed by meds. I agree that a bipolar person might initially be stabilized with a med (or someone in acute anxiety), but you can heal these imbalances with diet and lifestyle. It's been done.

[EFerrari]

82. It's probably a bad idea to prescribe for other people unless you are a doctor

and they are in your examination room.

[DocMac]

87. I wouldn't take diazepam.

From my experience (over time), as the anxiety/panic disorder got worse, the more phobias I started to develop.

Things that never used to bother me. Fear of heights, movie theaters, big stores, crowded places, large things like mountains and skyscrapers, etc.

You won't have a panic attack without having some anxiety first and xanax can keep you from becoming anxious. Did you experience panic attacks before agoraphobia? I do believe one can have agoraphobia and not have a panic disorder.

I'm glad you were able to overcome it.

[EFerrari]

37. After thinking about this for the last 25 years

it's complicated. They run in my family, extended family even. So, imho, they are genetic. But, our big brains try to rationalize them and at that point, psychology definitely becomes involved. The upside is that you can use both nature AND nurture as points of intervention.

When I was working on mine, I learned to predict them by training myself to monitor my breathing and muscle tension and anxious thinking -- to the point where I could head them off completely. In the beginning, they felt as if they came out of "nowhere", though. I don't know if that makes sense.

[countryjake]

39. Makes perfect sense!

And thank you for your comments on this subject!

[EFerrari]

42. Oh, my pleasure.

At my onset, panic disorder wasn't even in the DSM yet. I went up to the Stanford Medical library, lucked out and found a guy in Boston who was publishing and who knew a guy at Stanford and he let me into his clinical trials. Probably just in time, too, because the panic attacks were starting to generalize into all kinds of phobias. Ack.


It was like being let out of a cage -- for everybody because my husband and my two kids were living with this, too. The first thing we did when the meds were working well was to pack up our kids and go on a month long camping trip to the Grand Canyon. I sent the doc a snapshot of us sitting on the edge of the rim, "so long, agoraphobia".

It's pretty cool to know that my younger cousins and now, a few of our kids can walk into a doctor's office and describe a panic attack and they probably won't be handed a paper bag like I was. lol

[DocMac]

45. And the smarter you are

the worse it is. I bet you tried to out think it for a long time. The more you try to beat it the more you understand it and the more you understand it the harder to run from it. It's devastating without meds, for me.

[EFerrari]

50. Yep. You really can't outthink your DNA.

It was completely beyond anything I could have controlled without medication. No contest.

[JohnnyRingo]

54.

[fizzgig]

79. they can come out of nowhere

i've been battling panic attacks since i was a pre-teen. yes, there are triggers and i try to avoid them, however, sometimes they just smash into you from out of the blue.

they're bad enough when you know what caused them, even worse when you don't

[rocktivity]

86. Well, if PERFORMING was Whitney's "trigger"

Then it's no wonder why it all fell apart for her.


rocktivity

[Taverner]

32. "...elaxation and an unending sense of contentness" - sounds exactly like Morphine

I have known people who have been helped by Xanax. I have also known people who got hooked and quitting was really hard for them.

I am finding that many of the conditions that we throw drugs at, could be solved with 420. Yes, the DEVIL WEED WITH IT'S ROOTS IN HELL!!!

Anxiety can be controlled with 420, as can depression and insomnia. 420 is much better for you than Paxil, Xanax and Ambien.

[CanSocDem]

78. Had to read the whole thread...

...to see my own experience.

Was prescribed Xanax in the late 80's. Seemed to work OK but when I tried to refill my scrip before a long road trip my doc became unavailable. The kindly pharmacist offered up some free substitutes but I was too pissed at the process of having to rely on a doctor and his drugs that I refused and set off with a few milograms of street bought valium and a bag of cannabis.

That ended my dependance on Xanax AND Valium. However, I'm still "hooked" on cannabis but have never felt better and 'panic attacks' are a distant memory.

I'm waiting for cannabis to be included on my seniors drug plan. And no, I'm not holding my breath.

.

[Inspired]

43. Xanax helped me through a debilitating case of postpartum depression.

I got 30 of these wonder pills. I only used 20. It never crossed my mind to continue taking them when I felt normal again. I guess that is how it is supposed to be. Short term help for a short term problem.

[bhikkhu]

47. 25 years ago I watched a good friend try to kick Valium...

on and off over a year. It was pretty miserable and she had no medical help - she tried tapering, cold turkey, switching drugs, etc, but never got past the muscle-spasms, mood swings and seizures. She never really did get her mind back, and after a long time it was just too much for me...

Needless to say, I was never the slightest bit tempted to try any of the anxiety-reducers myself, or most anything else like that.

[EFerrari]

59. 25 years ago, they didn't know how to detox people.

Some doctors still don't. But it is possible to do now without all of that suffering and drama if you have the money for a real doctor.

[Nikia]

51. For a while, I took it for panic attacks "as needed"

It made me relaxed and sleepy no matter how I had been feeling shortly before. I definitely could see someone becoming dependent on.
I have dealt with anxiety most of my life, although panic attacks were scarier because they seemed to happen for no good reason and be more intense. Through counseling and my determination to be brave, I was able to force myself to get through panic attacks without xanax.

[maximusveritas]

53. There are better options out there for most people, including therapy

cognitive-behavioral therapy can do wonders for that kind of thinking you describe. You actually can change it, slowly but surely. But most people would rather just pop a pill than do the work, not thinking how much worse it could be in the long run.

[EFerrari]

58. I think that's wrong.

Taking meds you need to function is not sloth, it's survival. And more, meds can help you get to the point where you can focus on CBT.

So it's not at all a matter of being thoughtless but of taking care of first things first.

[maximusveritas]

60. I didn't say that. Meds have a place, in combination with therapy

but relying on meds alone doesn't give you the best chance of getting better in my opinion.

[EFerrari]

64. Without meds, there's a lot of people who don't have a shot at therapy.

I guess my back goes up at blanket statements about people "not wanting to do the work" when without something to balance the cocktail they were born with, there are people who are simply not candidates for therapy, like my ex, who even when he did every single thing his doctor prescribed, couldn't get out of bed for weeks at a time or hold a conversation, he was so decompensated.

People who manage to navigate any of these dysfunctional systems and get care are lucky. They don't need to be guilted for taking meds on top of all of that, imo.

[countryjake]

83. And trying to navigate a dysfunctional medical system, too.

A very dear friend of ours, who was like a son to me, died five year ago this month after being hit by a train. He suffered terribly from many of the symptoms that have been described in this thread, was getting aid from the state because he was deemed unemployable, and the medical care he received for his conditions was deplorable. The ease with which they prescribed him drugs such as Xanex and Klonapin could have easily also been accompanied by some sort of therapy, but because of his economical status, he was offered very little follow-up care or any psychological treatment, at all, and was basically left to his own devices in attempting to handle both his disease and the effects of the drugs he was taking.

He was stuck on the merry-go-round of the medical system we have in this country, died at only 42, walking on the tracks on his way to see us.

[EFerrari]

84. Omg. How terrible.

I'm so sorry.

That's where the ex would be, too. And at the time I was trying to help him cope, the very same people kept deciding I shouldn't be married to him.

They did things like respond to his decompensations as if they were rebellions. For example, he missed a group meeting because he couldn't function and they refused to give him his refills until he made three meetings in a row. So, I had to stand there in the lobby and declare that he couldn't come home without his medication. It was like being in the Twilight Zone.

And the kicker was that the group was not even appropriate for his DX.

This was at the main clinic in L.A. The level of care they deliver is dangerous. I'm surprised they don't get more people killed.

[BeHereNow]

66. And if my GAD is so severe that I can't drive to a therapy appointment

What do you suggest then?
BHN
Shaking head in wonder at those who voice opinion with no experience of the condition... shame on you.
Have you ever experienced GAD?
I'm thinking not.

[Voice for Peace]

73. I say whatever works, I've had GAD + more most of my life

have tried many things, and everything has helped a bit, or at least taught me something.

Brain-state training has helped, self-knowledge, diet management, cognitive re-programming, learning to feel and weep and laugh. Pot can help. Exercise, sunshine, attitude. All of that.

But I know so well how it feels to be paralyzed with anxiety, unable even to leave the house -- and if there had been a simple pill for me, I wouldn't have hesitated. It's just that none the pharmaceuticals I tried ever worked for me -- negatives were greater than benefits.

[xiamiam]

63. when my mom died, i couldn't think straight..i couldn't figure out how to get an airline ticket

i called a dr during the funeral..she prescribed an anti depressant and an anti anxiety med..2 bottles..i took one each and went to sleep..a friend called the next am..i told him what was happening with me..he said, "grief is a natural process, you need to allow it and deal with it"..i wanted to say stfu..many of my friends were taking xanax or some type of anti anxiety med and they were intelligent well balanced women..but for some reason, i heeded his advice..i still have those 2 pill bottles filled with pills, now it is 7 years later...getting over the grief of my mom took over a year, really...but i didnt take that medication and i fumbled thru..i already have an addictive personality.food, sugar, cigarettes..so i knew it wouldn't take much..i dealt with it..wasn't easy...life is not easy..but i'm glad i dont take meds to mask it...i have a friend who has been on prescribed mood enhancers for a legitimate reason for decades....personally, i think shes too friggin happy..how can one live in this world and be happy all the time..yet i would hate to see her after a day or two without her meds..interesting culture we've allowed to be created.

[Nikia]

69. Medication is often necessary at first

Acclimation will help most people who are willing to do it. You have to realize that yes you will be very afraid at first. Maybe next time, you will be very afraid too, but maybe it won't be quite as bad and won't be several times from now.
I know what it is like. For a while, I had a hard time going anywhere. I "had to go" to work, but left a few times because I had so much anxiety. Driving to my doctor's office a mile away was a big deal. My level of anxiety was more than enough to get me declared "disabled" but I went to work anyway, and I am glad that they put up with me as much as they did.
I did have Xanax to help me get through panic attacks if I needed it. I was able to learn in time though that I didn't need it because the panic would pass on its own. I was able to learn that even though most people don't feel high levels of anxiety when they go to the store that I could go and buy what I needed despite that. With anxiety disorders, people overestimate the problems that they will face and underestimate their ability to deal with it. Despite the very real anxiety feelings and physical symptoms, going through with scary things can show you that there really weren't the envisioned problems and that you did have the ability to deal with them. I still have anxiety to the levels that many doctors and counselors would want to treat me. In some circumstances, it is a disadvantage, but it is no longer disabling. I have also learned that other people have anxiety too so I don't have to feel so anxious about it.
I know that there are people who have taken medication for a long time. My mother-in-law has been on Xanax for over 20 years and has a severe mistrust of counselors. She is very set in her ways even when they make no logical sense. Maybe she needs her medication and having everything exactly the same to function.

[fizzgig]

80. i have spent a significant amount of time in therapy in my life

and while it's helped me to recognized triggers and better navigate when i have a panic attack, it has not stopped the attacks.

you can train your brain, but changing you brain chemistry is something altogether different.

[LisaL]

55. It works well if used properly and not abused.

[DocMac]

88. Bingo!!!

[samplegirl]

57. I have had panic forever...

Like everyone here...I have tried all of the benzos. I would be addicted if I let myself.

Just a little word of help if you want to try it.....
It has helped me. Magnesium Glyconate.............I take it whenever I feel anxious and it calms me right down.
Try it....not sure it will work for everyone but it works for me.

[JonLP24]

61. It has a very large rebound effect

[phleshdef]

62. I've had Xanax twice in my life. I didn't like the feeling either time.

I think it must affect different people differently. Once I had one after a bad car accident. Another time, I had one due to panic attacks being brought on by a vestibular problem. Both times, I just felt so disconnected and "wrong". I can't really describe it. I'm no stranger to marijuana. I've had vicodine after dental work. I've had my share of alcohol. I can understand people getting addicted to any of those things. But Xanax, I don't get. It just made me feel lousy... not depressed persay, it made me feel too apathetic for depression. I get a better result from a simple Benadryl to be honest.

[BeHereNow]

67. Can I introduce some science into anxiety disorder?

The scientists who study such things have found that many people
with GAD (Generalized Anxiety Disorder) have significant brain chemistry imbalances
due to child hood trauma.
I am one such individual.

I am fairly certain at this point that my father was bipolar, as was his brother.
The brain chemistry changes that can occur under living with a bipolar parent are
now well documented.

A very well intentioned doctor prescribed Zanax four years ago-
It was a disaster drug for me.

Two years ago- a very esteemed psych doctor in my area put me on 3mg of Ativan daily, taken as needed.
It completely changed my life- it gave me a life.
I have been on this medication regime for nearly two years- have never abused my prescription, as I understand many do.
and have regained my ability to HAVE a life. The incredible break through I had recently with my PD was that
I had lived with GAD since childhood! Which makes perfect sense given the studies they have done on the brain
and the PSTD that results from living with an abusive / manic -depressive parent-
but hallelujah! At lesst now I KNOW what has been wrong all these years- it has a cause and a CURE!


I have a daughter who is bipolar- something I would not wish on anyone.
But it happened, and I am no good for her healing with out healing myself.
And Ativan along with 150 mg of Wellbutrin has enabled me to function to my best
capacity as far as taking care of my daughter.

After her initial diagnosis five years ago- I was frozen.
Barely able to function due to my panic attacks- so how much help was I to her?

Drive on the freeway to a therapist/doctor appointment?
NO WAY- I was panic stricken, sleep deprived and just a notch above her mental state.

Zanax was an very destructive drug for me-

Ativan, on the other hand has proved extremely beneficial for my day to day functioning.

What I have learned about medications is there is no "magic bullet" for any one.
It is all trial and error because we are all "snowflakes."

No medication is going to work the same for any two people.

For those who have struggled with Zanax though- I can tell you, for me,
Ativan has provided the benefits of stopping panic attacks with out the side effects
of some of the older medications, like ZANAX. Evil drug in my book.

BHN

[leftyladyfrommo]

70. I have anxiety disorders, too.

I take prozac and it has really helped. My OCD is actually almost gone. And I have suffered from GAD almost all of my life, too.

The only problem with the prozac is that it makes me sleepy. So I kind of have to make a choice - horrible OCD or sleepy? It's been 8 months since I started taking the 40 mg of prozac each day and I'm still sleepy so I don't think it will go away. But it is still a whole lot better than OCD.

[Voice for Peace]

71. good for you for getting through it

I have a brother who was addicted to those kinds of drugs
for many years.

When he finally was able to quit, he said the detox -- which took
several years apparently, adjusting -- was the worst, hardest thing he's
ever experienced; and no prescribing doctor took any responsibility
for helping him get off the drugs, or be informed about what was
happening to him. I think it was klonopin, not sure.

[LynneSin]

72. Which is why legalizing all drugs makes no sense

Sorry, was reading another thread.

I'm glad that you made it thru your addiction. Xanax is a scary drug. I was prescribed it one time when I had horrible panic attacks after losing a job (about 11 years ago). I got the prescription and it just sat in the medicine cabinet because I was so paranoid I'd end up like Noelle Bush. About 8 years later I finally disposed of the stuff.

[april come she will]

75. What an awesome post! Thanks for this!

First of all, I didn't realize that Xanax has been around so long. From what I recall, it was supposedly created to be less addictive than Valium (ha!), and they are in the same family. I suffered from anxiety attacks in my late teens, too. I am so glad I just white-knuckled it; I was so terrified of drugs that I couldn't consider them a viable alternative. What I learned was that my thoughts precipitated the adrenaline surge. If you stop identifying with the negative thoughts, you calm yourself down.

Question: I heard that Klonapin is also a dangerous drug. I remember Stevie Nicks talking about her harrowing experiences on the stuff. She also mentioned feeling like a zombie.

[txwhitedove]

76. Too true. Xanax MAY help some, and that's good. But for years I have discouraged everyone

from ever taking Xanax. I worked in a general practice clinic in the 1990's, and Xanax issues were what our doctors 'fired' patients over. One doctor handed out scrips like candy, but later they were in the office hollering to see a doctor, demanding to see a doctor to get more, then the other doctors sent out letters declining to see them again.