I own some question roughly Alprazolam (or other benzodiazepine) deduction?
I have panic disorder that is pretty chronic, I'd voice, considering sometimes I can barely leave the house even for the simplest things like to move about rent a video. I am so agoraphobic about being anywhere where nearby are lots of people.
My doctor prescribed me Alprazolam 0.25mg to be take as-needed, but in doing some research on the drug, I own come across a lot of websites that feature posts from people that hold had a hard time coming off the drug--supposedly the renunciation symptoms are something terrible. Heart palpitations, rebound panic attacks, muscle twitching...it sounds close to a nightmare. I know that you're supposed to taper slowly off most drugs, especially a benzodiazepine like Alprazolam, but some users claim they had unpleasant bill symptoms even when coming off the drug by slowly tapering down the dose.
I asked my cousin, who has be using Klonopin for a few years (it's the same class of drug as Alprazolam) and asked her if she ever tried to quit it, and she said she never had any problems going off of it. I told her in the region of all the websites with such horror stories about going bad Alprazolam and she said "Well you need to consider how many of those people be following the prescription and not abusing it, and how many of them will tell you they be taking the required dose but really weren't--if they were taking more than they were supposed to, they probably won't say it." But she said that at my small dose (0.25mg) and taken as-needed, I wouldn't even be capable of develop a physical dependency on it. She said you have to take it at higher doses, and every year for months or years.
Has anyone else had any experience with Alprazolam (or other benzodiazepine) withdrawal or know someone that have? And do you think I will be fine at the small dose I have, and not have a concrete time getting off the stuff? I don't wanna start taking anything that will be hard to get sour of, and reading some of the comments on those websites makes me not even wanna take it at all!
Answers:
Okay, so you're on the deep end of the panic spectrum. This is clearly disabling, and severely impacting your energy. Unless you have a rabid history of drug abuse, benzodiazepines are clearly ideal here.
I'm surprised by what your cousin say, as it's quite accurate. There's somewhere above five million people in the US who use benzodiazepines, most for a time of year of longer than five years, most without significant tolerance to the needed therapeutic effects. The only time you really hear around it becoming a problem is when someone goes on vacation, or ends up in a stay surrounded by the hospital and considers the medication so insignificant that they don't mention to the doctor that they're on it.
0.25mg of Xanax is -incredibly- small. To the point where taking it for years and you would probably only expect minor withdrawal. For the free floating anxiety you're experiencing, especially if it's constant, I'd guess Klonopin would be a better initial choice, due to its stable half life.
Anyway, there's a lot of websites out near that preach that these drugs are evil/the devil/insidious and surrounded by lies. While they're are people who experience utterly horrific withdrawal (I'll get to my proposition why in a second), for your average person withdrawal isn't a problem. A few days to weeks of mild insomnia and itchiness. I own a friend, and former student in a class that I TAd who has over the past five years or so, stopped benzos twice surrounded by trying to find a medication that worked for his anxiety disorder, and didn't find it to be even mildly uncomfortable.
When you look at people who complain about years long horrible godawful abominable withdrawal, you consistently find two things. Either you find that they have preexisting problems with substance abuse, or they've get the etiology of addiction in their history (such as coming from a family of alcoholics - both environmental and genetic factors,r egardless of wether they've manifest independently). In all the cases I've seen, these have be present, though people are frequently not very honest about it. Or they don't follow that this plays a role and dismiss it.
One of the significant problems with anxiety disorders, is that while they're frequently one of the more treatable psychiatric conditions, the course of the mental illness sort of prevents treatment from happening. If I hark back to correctly, the anxiety forum on Crazymeds is subtitled 'Afraid to take that pill' for a reason. The disease sabotages treatment. Source(s): Spent my first year as a graduate student assisting surrounded by research on this drug class.
I deal alot with this stuff, I am a certified addictions counselor, and I am also aliscensed analyst so I have alot of patients that come into the rehab I work in and they are on medications similar to benzos. Alot of them are abusing it and thats why they need to come in and catch detoxed off of it but that is because they are abusing it. If you are taking a regular day by day dose of a benzo at a normal dose and you are taking it for a long period of time then you will become physically dependent on it and you would own to taper slowely to come off of it because it can cause some unpleasent withdrawel symptoms and can even cause seizure, but that is only in highly severe cases. If you are not taking it everyday and only taking it at a small dose then I think you will be fine, but it does nouns like you need the medication so you should take it and not verbs about the withdrawel right now because you probably will not experience it. Good luck, if you have any other question feel free to e mail me. Source(s): certified addictions counselor, liscensed shrink
I would agree next to what was said above. A 0.25mg tab taken PRN is (as a teacher I had once said "almost holistic"). Alprazolam comes contained by 2mg tablets in the US (most other nations only hold 1mg) as the highest dose.
When you go online and read in the google banner "Stop Xanax or die" it is rubbish. And the forums and other places are typically describing one persons reaction. And for a few of the million who have taken it- it have been devastating. But from those unlucky few they were probably not taking 0.25mg as needed.
They make Xanax for a rationale, it is a good drug for for people with a legitimate need. And for the anxiety disorder you have- benzo's are ideal.
And for the record, most patients and doctors own no clue how to safely and correctly withdraw a patient from a benzo i.e. why so many people say it can be dismal. Source(s): I am a 4th year Psychopharmacology/ Pre-med university student and Psychiatric intern. Did a Neurology internship and interned at a Chemical Dependency Rehabilitation Centre
I take alprazolam as needed for anxiety and have never had any trouble near it. Generally, I split the pill in half (using a pill splitter) and try to use just partially the dose, only taking the other half if necessary. I probably single take the medication once a week at most. Sometimes it helps just knowing it's nearby if it becomes necessary. I think if you're solely going to be taking it on an as needed basis, you'll probably be just fine. are you taking medication for generalized anxiety disorder as well? it sounds approaching maybe your anxiety in general is making you anxious just about your anxiety medication, know what I mean? I hope it works for you and you have no problems with it. It have been a blessing for me. Best wishes!
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My doctor prescribed me Alprazolam 0.25mg to be take as-needed, but in doing some research on the drug, I own come across a lot of websites that feature posts from people that hold had a hard time coming off the drug--supposedly the renunciation symptoms are something terrible. Heart palpitations, rebound panic attacks, muscle twitching...it sounds close to a nightmare. I know that you're supposed to taper slowly off most drugs, especially a benzodiazepine like Alprazolam, but some users claim they had unpleasant bill symptoms even when coming off the drug by slowly tapering down the dose.
I asked my cousin, who has be using Klonopin for a few years (it's the same class of drug as Alprazolam) and asked her if she ever tried to quit it, and she said she never had any problems going off of it. I told her in the region of all the websites with such horror stories about going bad Alprazolam and she said "Well you need to consider how many of those people be following the prescription and not abusing it, and how many of them will tell you they be taking the required dose but really weren't--if they were taking more than they were supposed to, they probably won't say it." But she said that at my small dose (0.25mg) and taken as-needed, I wouldn't even be capable of develop a physical dependency on it. She said you have to take it at higher doses, and every year for months or years.
Has anyone else had any experience with Alprazolam (or other benzodiazepine) withdrawal or know someone that have? And do you think I will be fine at the small dose I have, and not have a concrete time getting off the stuff? I don't wanna start taking anything that will be hard to get sour of, and reading some of the comments on those websites makes me not even wanna take it at all!
Answers:
Okay, so you're on the deep end of the panic spectrum. This is clearly disabling, and severely impacting your energy. Unless you have a rabid history of drug abuse, benzodiazepines are clearly ideal here.
I'm surprised by what your cousin say, as it's quite accurate. There's somewhere above five million people in the US who use benzodiazepines, most for a time of year of longer than five years, most without significant tolerance to the needed therapeutic effects. The only time you really hear around it becoming a problem is when someone goes on vacation, or ends up in a stay surrounded by the hospital and considers the medication so insignificant that they don't mention to the doctor that they're on it.
0.25mg of Xanax is -incredibly- small. To the point where taking it for years and you would probably only expect minor withdrawal. For the free floating anxiety you're experiencing, especially if it's constant, I'd guess Klonopin would be a better initial choice, due to its stable half life.
Anyway, there's a lot of websites out near that preach that these drugs are evil/the devil/insidious and surrounded by lies. While they're are people who experience utterly horrific withdrawal (I'll get to my proposition why in a second), for your average person withdrawal isn't a problem. A few days to weeks of mild insomnia and itchiness. I own a friend, and former student in a class that I TAd who has over the past five years or so, stopped benzos twice surrounded by trying to find a medication that worked for his anxiety disorder, and didn't find it to be even mildly uncomfortable.
When you look at people who complain about years long horrible godawful abominable withdrawal, you consistently find two things. Either you find that they have preexisting problems with substance abuse, or they've get the etiology of addiction in their history (such as coming from a family of alcoholics - both environmental and genetic factors,r egardless of wether they've manifest independently). In all the cases I've seen, these have be present, though people are frequently not very honest about it. Or they don't follow that this plays a role and dismiss it.
One of the significant problems with anxiety disorders, is that while they're frequently one of the more treatable psychiatric conditions, the course of the mental illness sort of prevents treatment from happening. If I hark back to correctly, the anxiety forum on Crazymeds is subtitled 'Afraid to take that pill' for a reason. The disease sabotages treatment. Source(s): Spent my first year as a graduate student assisting surrounded by research on this drug class.
I deal alot with this stuff, I am a certified addictions counselor, and I am also aliscensed analyst so I have alot of patients that come into the rehab I work in and they are on medications similar to benzos. Alot of them are abusing it and thats why they need to come in and catch detoxed off of it but that is because they are abusing it. If you are taking a regular day by day dose of a benzo at a normal dose and you are taking it for a long period of time then you will become physically dependent on it and you would own to taper slowely to come off of it because it can cause some unpleasent withdrawel symptoms and can even cause seizure, but that is only in highly severe cases. If you are not taking it everyday and only taking it at a small dose then I think you will be fine, but it does nouns like you need the medication so you should take it and not verbs about the withdrawel right now because you probably will not experience it. Good luck, if you have any other question feel free to e mail me. Source(s): certified addictions counselor, liscensed shrink
I would agree next to what was said above. A 0.25mg tab taken PRN is (as a teacher I had once said "almost holistic"). Alprazolam comes contained by 2mg tablets in the US (most other nations only hold 1mg) as the highest dose.
When you go online and read in the google banner "Stop Xanax or die" it is rubbish. And the forums and other places are typically describing one persons reaction. And for a few of the million who have taken it- it have been devastating. But from those unlucky few they were probably not taking 0.25mg as needed.
They make Xanax for a rationale, it is a good drug for for people with a legitimate need. And for the anxiety disorder you have- benzo's are ideal.
And for the record, most patients and doctors own no clue how to safely and correctly withdraw a patient from a benzo i.e. why so many people say it can be dismal. Source(s): I am a 4th year Psychopharmacology/ Pre-med university student and Psychiatric intern. Did a Neurology internship and interned at a Chemical Dependency Rehabilitation Centre
I take alprazolam as needed for anxiety and have never had any trouble near it. Generally, I split the pill in half (using a pill splitter) and try to use just partially the dose, only taking the other half if necessary. I probably single take the medication once a week at most. Sometimes it helps just knowing it's nearby if it becomes necessary. I think if you're solely going to be taking it on an as needed basis, you'll probably be just fine. are you taking medication for generalized anxiety disorder as well? it sounds approaching maybe your anxiety in general is making you anxious just about your anxiety medication, know what I mean? I hope it works for you and you have no problems with it. It have been a blessing for me. Best wishes!
Related Questions: