xanax for anxiety?

Question

I just had a baby a month ago and ive been having really bad anxiety attacks. I have also a 2yr old and a 6yr old. I have talked to my doctor about the problem and he put me on paxil I dont want to be on a long term antidepresant because im not depressed I just have times where I shake bad and my heart beats really fast and skips a beat. I get get all worked up and need to calm down but i cant. My doctor says its postpartum depression but I dont think it is. I am soo busy i just get freaked and cant control this, It was halloween and i was cleaning house then I had to get the kids ready and I just got really shaky and couldnt stop. And my husband said whats wrong with you. So I told my doctors about the times its happened to me and I also told him I dont want a long term antidepresant I just want something so when I feel an attack coming on I can calm down and also havent been able to sleep. Ive tried tylenol pm and ambian and told the doctor they dont work and he wont help me at all.

I want to know what to do he says well give it a month and see what happens. I am pissed! If i wanted to just get drugs for plessure then I have plenty of muscle relaxers from 2 1/2yrs ago that i could take. But I dont want to I just want something to help me with my anxiety attacks or at the least something to help me get some damn rest. But because xanax is a narcotic he doesnt feel comfirtable prescibing them but i so i have to suffer for the next 3 months because he's anti, drug or what can I do.

Please HELP with any advise you can give me, thank you

Answer 1

You can always switch docs,some are just more comfortable with prescribing certain meds.

Answer 2

Well, I would guess the fact that you have very young children plays into your doctor's decision not to give you Xanax which is a very highly addictive drug and more importantly, a drug of abuse. By this I mean, and I personally have experienced, that it becomes very, very, very, very, very, have I said very?, easy to start popping them for any little stress that pops up in your life. You may say you would never get to that point but yeah, it's so easy to arrive there it isn't even funny. These pills are instant calm and give you the feeling you can deal with anything whn in fact, you are so emotionally shut down from them, you can't deal with anything at all.
With your personal situation, I'm sure the doctor has taken this into consideration as having kids, and a newborn, can be exceptionally stressful.

Now I hear you on Paxil. It's one of the drugs they tried to switch me to after tapering (forcefully and against my will) off of Xanax. It is garbage and there are a lot of side effects. I am also wtih you `100% regarding them giving anti-depressants for anxiety. I can't tell you how many times I yelled at my doctors saying, "I had the best anti-anxiety drug which was designed FOR anxiety adn now you have me on a cocktail of drugs designed for depression when I don't have depression!"

Let me tell you right now. Doctors despise benzos. there is in fact a medical conspiracy against, or as my doctor referred to is, "a trend in the medical community towards less prescribing of benzodiazepines."

IMO, there is no substitute for Xanax but I was screwed by a previous doctor who STARTED me on it and any doctor would agree that in terms of effectiveness and response time, nothing is more effective or as fast acting as Xanax. They will then tell you this is precisely why they do not prescribe it.

Look, it sucks but it is what it is. I don't think changing doctors will help as I said, and was told by several doctors, they are jsut not prescribing it like they used to and if you mention it, a big ole red flag goes up and you won't get it anyway.;

Unfortunately, you are going to be stuck with a anti-depressant in this day and age but Paxil is garbage. I know how you feel, BELIEVE ME but if you want a real suggestion, try Lexapro. Compared to Xanax it stinks but if I never knew the bliss of Xanax, I night have been ok with Lexapro.

Other than that, they sometimes, RARELY, will give you low dose Klonopin to sleep but in your situation with the kids, I seriously doubt it. I guarantee you this. you aren't getting Xanax.

Good luck.

Answer 3

To help you sleep, try melatonin.