Posted by Iago Camboa on June 10, 2002, at 15:28:22
In reply to tegretol and xanax - advice please, posted by Jackster on June 9, 2002, at 1:45:44
Hi Jackie,
Unfortunately I know virtually nothing about 'tegretol' (or should it be 'Tegretol'?), so this contribution of mine may be of no use to you, but I saw the new medicine 'Xanax XR' (by Pharmacia & Upjohn), indicated specifically for the treatment of panic disorder at the very high (by old plain Xanax standards) 'mean maintenance dose' of 4mg-6mg/day (sic), and thought you might like to read the fabricant's notice about this new drug [please notice that the chemical composition of 'Xanax XR' (in French 'Xanax retard') is the same of old 'Xanax' (i.e. 'alprazolam'), only its release within the body is completely modified in this new variety].
Unfortunately again I couldn't find an English version of the text below, so the following link refers to the document *in French*:http://www.kompendium.ch/data/fi_f/fk05301_.htm
Kind regards,
IagoP.S. Excuse my curiosity, but why should you like to end up with the Xanax which is itself indicated both for anxiety (0.5mg-4.0mg), for depression (0.5mg-4.5mg in a very recent insert of Xanax XR I myself own) and for panic disorder (0.5?-6.0mg)? If I were you I'd rather diminish the Tegretol and augment the Xanax... Unless you need to augment the Tegretol for some other reason...? I.
> I've been on 200mg tegretol and 1mg Xanax (+ 40mg Paxil) per day for panic disorder and have been doing well. I was just below the effective level for tegretol, and so went up to 300mg. About a week and a half later, I started having waves of anxiety for no apparent reason. I talked to my PDoc about it - and theorised that perhaps the increase in tegretol had caused the levels of Xanax to decrease - and I was effectively going through Xanax withdrawal. My PDoc looked surprised and said he'd never heard of it, but perhaps it was possible. Later I looked up on the internet, and found 3 websites that confirmed my suspicion. Has anyone had this effect?
>
> Something else that confuses me is that tegretol is actually recommended for Xanax withdrawal on this website: http://www.benzo.org.uk/gershman.htm
>
> Surely it would actually aggrivate it then?
>
> Any advice welcome!
>
> Jackie
poster:Iago Camboa
thread:109232
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20020609/msgs/109401.html