Connect
Just started Xanax...anyone have experiences to share?
I recently moved to a new house I am not liking, and have always struggled with anxiety. My anxiety has spiked and has been out of control over this move which I feel was a mistake. My doctor prescribed sertraline, but I understand I will not feel the affect of the sertraline for 6-8 weeks. For the past couple of weeks I have been taking two .5 mg of Xanax a day, which has really helped. My doctor said Xanax is not a long term solution but that this is a safe dose. I am afraid of addiction and of Xanax, but right now it seems to be the only thing calming me down. Just wondering what others have experienced with Xanax.
Like
Helpful
HugInterested in more discussions like this? Go to the Depression & Anxiety Support Group.
Connect
@phxlife- Really enjoyed your post! I have been on Klonopin or generic clonazepam for also approx. 30 years. I started experiencing anxiety with panic attacks out of the blue which started ruling my life. After meeting with a Physiatrist for a number of weeks he perscribed Klonopin 1.5 mg. per day. It took about 3 weeks to settle in, but that was the beginning of taking my life back.
Probably after 5 years I decided with the help from my PCP to drop down to 1mg per day. I don't remember tapering to get there, but I remain on this dosage for all these years afterward. I agree with you that there is always someone out there that will abuse their perscriptions, which often makes it harder for those that do what is right. I'm a big fan of if it's not broke, why fix it!
Thank you again for your supportive words for so many responsible perscription users. Jim@thankful
-
Like -
Helpful -
Hug
4 ReactionsSee my (long!) comment below. 🙂
-
Like -
Helpful -
Hug
1 ReactionSounds like my relationship with clonazepam. 1 mg. daily. I sleep at night. No anxiety during the day. No physician, so far, is trying to take me off of it. A good drug, responsibility prescribed and taken is a good thing.
-
Like -
Helpful -
Hug
3 ReactionsUnfortunately the doctors want us off these meds. They don’t care about the quality of our lives.
-
Like -
Helpful -
Hug
1 Reaction@phxlife I totally agree and can understand as I posted that I have been on Alprazolam for thirty-two years for severe panic attacks. I am not ashamed that I have to take it, but I do notice that people are nervous when they find out I do. They think I am an addict; I'm sure. To have to say, "I can drive, but I do not drive" sounds ridiculous and they look at me as if I have two heads! But, it is what it is, and it could be much worse than not driving. Like you, I know what I need, and fortunately, I have never had a doctor question me about it and say I need to stop it. All of my doctors always have been supportive; they have seen me in the ER having an attack; that's about all it takes to make people know how important this med is.
Carol
-
Like -
Helpful -
Hug
2 ReactionsAre you afraid your doctors, at some point, may quit prescribing as so many are doing?
-
Like -
Helpful -
Hug
1 Reaction@sears I have no way of knowing. My PCP would not do it unless it becomes government/Big Pharma regulations. Then she would fight for me; I'm sure.
Carol
-
Like -
Helpful -
Hug
2 ReactionsAs usual, American Law Enforcement takes the easy route of perusing patient records (in specific cases) rather than make inroads on the street. Ugh. I worked at a plant where, for the first 2 years, we were trained in a specific building, and otherwise worked in our areas. When at that building, day after day, a bar had a drive up illegal drug thing going on. A car would pull up, a man come out, lean deeply into the passenger side window, then stand up and walk away. Police would drive by during this, never once seen them sitting nearby, watching, or stopping anyone. Sure, maybe it wasn't drugs, maybe a bookie, but the area is well known for drugs. Maybe they were monitoring it, maybe, maybe not.
Enter an ambulance, somewhere in the U.S., discovered to have the morphine being cut, I guess the drug was syringed from the vial, and saline substituted, maybe the vials were disappearing. The police chief examined the health records of the Fire Chief, found he had chronic pain, and in front of his neighbors, possibly in front of his kids, had him arrested because he had access to the ambulance.
No evidence, just looking through his health records. The Fire Chief, and his lawyer, presented the totality of his health records, electronic ones can be spotty, and the Fire Chief was acquitted of the theft.
I've taken Valium, Xanax, and now Klonopin, all my adult life. I took Valium too often, and had a rough time getting away from it, nothing dramatic, just refused to take it anymore, it was "as needed". Away from that, I did later take Xanax, but sparingly.
I learned to live with the anxiety, I learned to be tense, without that need of relief. But, infrequently, I'd take something. In more modern times, my doctor, at the time, would write for Klonopin 0.5 mg bid prn (Twice a day as needed). I never took more than half of one, he wrote for 60 pills with 2 refills. I used them so sparsely I'd struggle to remember to pick-up the first of 2 refills, never picked-up the second, because it would expire.
Now, getting 60 pills is a major problem, no one writes for refills, and I take less than 1/4 of 1 pill at bedtime every 10 days or so. And the one thing I'm tense about, after using these on and off for over 40 years, now I have to just about beg to get them. But I can buy unlimited amounts of alcohol and in some states buy Marijuana (I don't use it, this is hypothetical) but they'd have me believe I'm almost criminal for using Klonopin.
-
Like -
Helpful -
Hug
1 ReactionLove the point you made about alcohol which according to the experts are just as harmful as benzos.
-
Like -
Helpful -
Hug
2 ReactionsI’d love to watch that video. What’s the name of it, and where can I find it? Thanks for posting about it.
-
Like -
Helpful -
Hug
1 Reaction