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Dr. Bob is Robert Hsiung, MD,
bob@dr-bob.orgShown: posts 1 to 6 of 6. This is the beginning of the thread.
Posted by bassman on January 1, 2007, at 9:05:35
I take 0.25 mg Xanax about noon and 0.5 mg Xanax in the evening. I also take Prozac. When I took Paxil + 1 mg Xanax years ago, it was an especially effective antidepressant combination and also lessened, but did not eliminate the periods of panic-but I really didn't care, because I wasn't constantly fearful as I was before. The Paxil + Xanax combination worked wonderfully for 3 years-probably the best three years of my life in terms of lack of depression.
So here's the question: I've found that when I take 1 mg of Xanax instead of 0.5 mg in the evening, the same sort of antidepressant effect as in the past with Paxil seems to happen and I feel much better the next day than with 0.5 mg. But I'm having benzophobia and worried that if I take the 1 mg of Xanax regularly, I may stop feeling better in the short term, but still face having to decrease the Xanax one day. I should add that I've had little difficulty withdrawing from benzos (Xanax was the hardest, but just because I felt depressed after decreasing, even weeks later) in the past and that my doc isn't worth consulting because she would just say, "take the 1 mg Xanax".
I'd really appreciate some comments on this situation...rationally, it seems like giving the 1 mg Xanax a try, but something else in me is worried..
Thanks for any thoughts anyone has!
Posted by Phillipa on January 1, 2007, at 10:18:26
In reply to Xanax and depression, posted by bassman on January 1, 2007, at 9:05:35
How many years have you been on xanax as now after 30years I've built tolerance to benzos. They don't work the same. Love Phillipa
Posted by blueberry1 on January 1, 2007, at 11:28:46
In reply to Xanax and depression, posted by bassman on January 1, 2007, at 9:05:35
I don't know, I can't decide between two different scenarios.
First, life is short. And if you have found something that improves your life a lot, go with it. So many people struggle to find what you have found. Be appreciative of it and ride it as far as it can go.
On the other hand, tolerance builds up to almost any pschiatric med. It's not just the benzos. Prozac, like all meds, has a probability of pooping out, or reaching tolerance, someday. So the worries go beyond xanax. I guess the difference is that xanax would be harder to withdraw from.
I hear ya. I can relate very well. The same indecisions you are looking at are the same ones I obsess over all the time. Sometimes I tell myself, hey, car accident, illness, smoking, family history...who's to say I'm even going to be around in 5 years or 10 years? Just enjoy the best you can find and don't worry about it.
On the bright side, there have been people here in other benzo threads that have been on xanax for many years without tolerance and they are even able to voluntarily lower their dose over time without problems.
Posted by bassman on January 1, 2007, at 12:38:19
In reply to Re: Xanax and depression, posted by blueberry1 on January 1, 2007, at 11:28:46
Thanks-I think the "I wanna lower my benzos" is a destinctly panic disorder thing-us guys don't want to take anything, no matter how messed up we are. And if we are taking something, the fist sign of feeling somewhat better and we wanna decrease the meds (despite the fact that the reason we're feeling better is probably because of the meds). I don't know why.
Thanks again. :>}
Posted by Phillipa on January 1, 2007, at 18:41:39
In reply to Re: Xanax and depression, posted by bassman on January 1, 2007, at 12:38:19
Bassman you hit the nail on he head. exactly right. Love Phillipa
Posted by tessellated on January 7, 2007, at 2:52:08
In reply to Re: Xanax and depression, posted by bassman on January 1, 2007, at 12:38:19
my experience with xanax was initially a steep tolerance/increaded dosage pharmacy based addiction which was horrible. waiting in the morning for savon to open.
the initial withdrawl was aweful-rebound anxiety.
now i waver between 0-2mg/day, depending on state of mind.i've heard a psychopharmacologist's theory that benzo tolerance seemed highly variable and perhaps genetic.
i think it could be variable neurplasticity/receptor sensitivity.
recently, i only use xanax at night, and have not noticed a significant tolerance by not using around the clock, nor really even a withdrawl after days of abstinence. it makes me tired, i''ve lost any abuse potential. and therefore i'm not afraid of pushing 1-2mg with some daily breaks.
heck, its better than 5 cocktails, but perhaps approximate.
lower doses at a year back gave me w/d problems than higher doses currently. i think the psych term is attribution error. determining where the anxiety originates and how one searches to compensate for it can vary dramatically.
i use to think xanax exasperated the problem, whereas now i just think of it as a smoother form of alchohol; fewer SE's. (except short term memory loss.)
l8
This is the end of the thread.
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