Posted by Clayton on December 3, 2003, at 21:58:13
In reply to Re: tapering off, posted by maxx44 on December 3, 2003, at 19:47:16
Xaxax can be VERY addictive. Doctors DO have trouble weaning their patients off it. It is a street drug because it can, depending upon the person and the specific circumstance, produce a brief "high". Some doctors call this "euphoria". Other doctors (and I) call it an "antidepressant effect" - it's simply a choice of words. (It is a great motivator to lift your spirits just enough to get started on those dread projects you have been procrastinating about for so long. It is DANGEROUS to anyone with a predisposition toward addiction. On all this we agree 100%.
OTHER SIDE OF THE COIN: in my opinion, Xanax is the most efficacious drug ever invented to control panic attacks. It is a surperb medicine for anxiety and all types of anxiety attacks A small dose literally killed off my SEVERE Social Anxiety Disorder (SAD). It has a very short half-life. The subjective effects last no more than 90 minutes. Check the pharmacology. Thus, the duration of the benzodiazapine-inflicted memory and cognitive loss are of minimal duration.
Doctors like to prescribe Klonapin (Clonazapam, Rivital) instead of Xanax. It IS LESS ADDICTIVE. There is no "high" or "motivational effect". It also has subjective effects that last SIX HOURS. My experience is that I have TOTAL AMNESIA for those six hours. I can't tell my boss what I've been doing all day at work because I CAN'T REMEMBER. And all that assummes I've managed to stay awake. I find Klonapin to be VERY SEDATING and that it TOTALLY IMPAIRS my COGNITIVE FUNCTIONING. I am a software engineer. It almost got me fired. I literally can't sustain a train of thought or reason on Klonapin. Others have had better experiencies.
Xanax, on the other hand, "wakes me up" (I KNOW that that it impairs memory and thinking like all benzos, so this is partly an illusion - I also know that this "wake up" can be called "euphoria" or "antidepressant"...that's a semantic distiction). But it gets me going, calms me down, protects me from SAD and anxiety most of the day (even though it's subjective effects last only 90 minutes, it breaks the vicious cycle of anxiety and protects me long after it's direct action has ceased.) I can remember what I did at the end of the day. I can focus and reason, and remember what happened, even during the drugs "active" period. (I know there must be SOME impairment, but it is NOTHING comared with other benzos - I can suceed at my job). It is truly a MIRACULOUS MEDICINE and, for those who can take it WITHOUT ABUSING IT, it can be a Blessing...a Gift from God!
Who can take it without abusing it? Do you have an "addictive personality"? (You KNOW if you do!)
Do you have a history of alchohol and/or drug abuse, even a long time ago? If so, DO NOT ATTEMPT XANAX!If you do NOT have an addictive personality and no history of substance abuse, feel free to CAUTIOUSLY try Xanax if your symptoms call for it. It can ease needless psychological agony. It can assist you through periods where your pain is beyond endurance. It can control anxiety attacks of all kinds. You may need a full 1 mg dose (some people even need 2 or 3 mgs - 0.5mg does it for most people). If your doctor prescribes a certain dose and it does not address your symptoms, call you doctor and tell him/her. Have the dose changed through your dctor and pharmacy. But do not EVER take more than prescribed!
If you take Xanax for GOOD CAUSE (normal anxiety that we all feel is part of life and NOT "good cause"), and it helps, that is GOOD! If it MAKES YOU FEEL GOOD, there is nothing wrong with that!
If you feel the urge to take MORE than prescribed, especially during the subjectively active period of the drugs action, place yourself on ALERT! Resist! Do not take more than prescribed. It's OKAY to WANT more. But you may NOT take more.
If you DO take more than prescribed (more than one time, anyway), then XANAX is NOT FOR YOU! CALL your doctor IMMEDIATELY and tell him or her that you are taking more than prescribed. You MUST get off from it with your doctor's help and find an alternative. If you act quickly, there should be very minimal, if any, withdrawl consequences. This is one blessing you may not have because the risks outweigh the benefits. Resign yourself to that.
Dogmatic Docs: If you honestly feel Xanax is what you need, explain why to your doctor. Your doc should ask questios about past substance abuse and addictions, etc. If you admit to these, and the doctor refuses to give you Xanax, the doctor is probably making the best decision for you.
However, if you PASS this "screening", or worse, the doctor refuses to "screan" at all, and simply rejects the idea of Xanax out of hand, you may have a "dogmatic doc". This medicine CAN control terrible suffering and save lives. It IS worth consideration. Some doctors mistake, "First of all, do no harm" for "Never take any chances". They may not conciously realize that nearly every medical treatment they sanction carries RISK. This risk is no different. But cut the doc some slack. They may have been over-indoctrinated about the risks of Xanax. They may have had bad experiences with patients who DID become severely and dysfunctionally addicted.
BY ALL MEANS, DO FEEL FREE TO CHECK WITH ANOTHER DOC WITH A MORE OPEN MIND!
The prescribing of any medicine, even a non-addictive antdepressant like Prozac or Zoloft, entails significant risks. A high per centage of the population are taking these modern (but soon to be obsolete) antidepressants. Their negative side-effects are just now being discovered and openly acknowledged. The risks and side-effects are extraordinarily signigicant. Like Xanax, the benefits can control suffering and free people to lead ordinary lives.
The prescription of any medicine is a JUDGEMENT CALL. This is ESPECIALLY TRUE FOR PSYCHOTROPICS. Sorry, medical science will not be able to "CALCULATE" the correct medicine for you in our life time. (Still, there has, and continues to be, extraordinary, rapid progress. There is just SO FAR to go prior to a final understanding.)
Best of luck and blessings...
poster:Clayton
thread:13781
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20031202/msgs/286379.html