Posted by bleauberry on July 11, 2008, at 19:41:06
In reply to Xanax, posted by Sky Brite Line on July 10, 2008, at 23:38:09
If you've been on xanax for years as you say, then I don't think getting off it any time soon is a wise idea at all. It should realistically take you months to slowly wean off if that is to be done. What I don't understand is why the doctor wants to fix something that isn't broken. You've tried other stuff, xanax seems to be the one, yeah?
I would think a better idea would be to go through a series of trials of adding other things to xanax, such as depakote; zyprexa; lithium; beta-blocker; lyrica; gabapentin; magnesium; and when you find something agreeable, then and only then think about reducing xanax.
Another benzo to try would be lorazepam. I found xanax worked very good when I needed it. Klonopin worked even better except deeply depressing. A nice middleground compromise between the two was lorazepam. I have a friend who has been on lorazepam for years with no dose escalation or tolerance. For him it is to control seizures and tremors. He behaves perfectly normal and you would have no clue he is on a longterm benzo.
You best safety might be to find a doctor who is not benzophobic. A benzophobic doctor could get you in a lot of trouble at this point. I don't think it is smart at all to have them get you off xanax and then try you on other things. Disaster. Try the other things first, while still on xanax.
poster:bleauberry
thread:839215
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20080706/msgs/839323.html