xanax does anyone take it?

Question

does anyone on here take xanax for anxiety or panic attacks.if so how does it affect you.is it helping?

Answer 1

Xanax is a replacement for Valium and it has sme lesser side effects but none the less it is not without its problems. It is much stronger then Valium by about 10 times so that one mg is about similar to 10 mg of Valium. It is a benzodiazapam and consequently can be a sort of an amnesiac in that it can cause some short term memory loss. It usually works better if you take it as needed rather then taking it continiously, say three times a day. Taking it this way causes the patient to develop a resistance to the medication and after some months it is no longer effective if you continue it at the intial dose. So many people ultimately abuse it and take so much more then they were prescribed. Frequently they have to get the extra on the street and they risk a serious charge of drug abuse. One patient I had eventually worked her way up to 6 mg a day. Whereas another patient took 0.25 mg when she thought she needed it. Eventually she began to need 0.5 mg and finally one night in desparation she took 1 mg. She did not wake up until a full 24 hours later... now when she takes it and calls, you can tell her speech is slurred and yet she denies it because she does not remember. These meds are useful but if we begin to depend on them to function in society then there are other problems which really need to be sorted out. The original liturature on Xanax suggested no more then a three month course of treatment. Not to many physicians follow those guidelines. Quitting cold turkey is inherantly dangerous and may even cause seizures and death. These are powerful psychotropic drugs and for years they have been dispensed like candy. They have a place in today's medical climate, but the real work must be done by the patient and their therapist which is often not capable of being done.

Answer 2

Don't take xanax to get high, all it will do is make you feel like dog ****. And its actually quit dangerous, too much and your heart can stop. Taking to much xanax isnt like smoking weed where you feel calm and more creative and just happy.

Answer 3

Quite simply, xanax is the best thing that ever happened to me. It's wonderful for my anxiety problems and it's even helping me get to 250 pts on yahoo answers :P

Edit: I've heard if you need to get off of it or want a natural legal substitute, kava works about the same without the side effects.

Answer 4

I take it for extreme cases if I need the attacks to stop right away. It works to settle me down. If my anxiety is reall bad I take two and lay down. I also take wellbutrin on a daily basis.

Answer 5

I take it for anxiety. It is not something I take all the time, just when the ancieties get bad. It does work for me though. It doesn't sedate me like other drugs they have tried me on. It does help my mind let go of things though.

Answer 6

Yes, been taking it for ten years, and my advice is not to ever start it. I was put on it after a terrible car wreck that I was severely injured from...I'm a miracle living because the wreck wasn't supposed to live and did. I have to have surgeries every few years, but, after the wreck, I get the shakes, not like you can see them or anything, I just feel it..but, was put on xanax and just took it when I started shaking, and now, well, my doctor doesn't like that I'm on it, because it is soo hard to get off of, and believe me it is..some days I might take one, other's three or four, then I get nervous if I'm getting to just a few and know I can't refill the prescription. My advice to you is get on something less addictive, such as clonapan or something like that if you have too...if you can do like a dr. told me when I was young and healthy and wanted to get on it, he wouldn't prescribe it, and told me to go dig a hole, when I felt like I needed something...didn't know what he was talking about till now that I'm on it and can't do without it. And don't have time to go to a facility to get off of it, have kids in college, and have to work and can't get away long enough...so, please don't start if you havn't...do like the doc told me years ago...go dig a hole...which means now, go do something, go run, walk, play, have fun, anything to take your mind off of things, something active...because now, even though that helps, I still can't get off of the meds, I'm so immune to them and have to take such a high dose, they don't affect me like other's, I could take three at one time, and still not sleep if I'm not tired and want to sleep, sleeping pills don't help me sleep...my advice is go dig a hole.

Answer 7

I take a very small dose of it occassionally. It mellows me out and often makes me sleepy. It helps but I hate taking it because I don't feel like myself on it. (Mostly, I think I hate admitting that sometimes I need it )

Answer 8

It works very well but the problem is getting off of it. I went through severe withdrawels when I quit cold turkey. Thought I was dying.

Answer 9

Yes. Been taking it for over 10 years and it does help.

Answer 10

i take the generic form of it. and yah it helps. it makes me extremely tired-however, that is very normal for me. any medicine at all makes me drowsy, even tylenol.
i only take it when i absolutely must though. i fill a prescription for 15 and when that starts to run low i call my doctor and talk with him... medicine is complicated huh? anyway-hope that helps!