Xanax works fast but does not last long. When I was taking Xanax I would have to take a lot of it to keep my anxiety which was exteme down.

A very long time ago I had this psychiatrist who just loved giving out meds. He put me on xanax, but back then I had never heard of it. I can\'t remember the dosage, but I know it was pretty high, and it was 3 times a day.

After a while I became very foggy, became extremely forgetful, and I decided I didn\'t like it. So, I stopped taking it....just like that.

Biiig mistake. I ended up in a psychosis for almost a week, and had no idea, and very little recollection of that week. That was my one and only experience with psychosis.

So I urge you, if you are on this and decide to come off, do it with you doctor\'s help gradually. You don\'t want to mess with this one.

Myself, I would never touch it again.

I was given Xanax for panic attacks. It really was prescribed as a way to calm myself down when I was having a severe attack. It said to take 3 times daily on the bottle, but when I asked my physician he said that I could take it UP TO 3 times a day, but don\'t take it unless I felt a panic attack coming on. Whenever I took it, it really knocked me out - I had to sleep.

I guess I would suggest only taking it for panic attacks, the way you take aspirin for a headache - that was what my physician suggested. Eventually, with the help of SSRIs and therapy, you should be able to learn non-medicinal ways to cope with anxiety/panic attacks.

ive been having severe anxiety lately and im really feeling at the end of my rope. i currently take klonopin and ativan but the dose is too low. i dont know if i should just have my doc up the dosages or if i should talk to him about xanax. a friend of mine who is an RN recommended xanax. but yet i need something that is going to last for a while too. what should i do?

I use Xanax now for when my heart is racing and I can\'t get it to slow down. (Panic Attack). My Dr. told me they are addictive so I only use it for emergencies. (so I won\'t end up in the emergency room) I did go on it for about 2 weeks once 2 times a day when I was going through a really hard time and had started Zoloft and was waiting for that to kick in. Once it did I didn\'t need the Xanax anymore.

I understand how your feeling and i\'m sorry you have to be going threw this. I take xanax 1mg four times a day and that is helping alot. Ask your doctor about xanax or xanax xr(extended release.

I have been taking .25 mgs of xanax for about a year now...it helps me alot. I only take when i feel anxious or sick. I have never taken it on a daily basis..i do not want to get addicted to it. My mother takes it every night...she has to in order to go to sleep at night. She is 75 yrs. old though, and basically she has high anxiety as well. I like it, and it tends to calm me down and make my heart stop racing.

Xanax works GREAT for panic attacks which come on suddenly and fade after about 20 minutes. I\'ll take a Xanax and drink something hot like tea to make it work faster. Very helpful.

For generalized anxiety, which I also have, there are two medications that can be helpful- Buspar, which did not work for me and made me feel REAL dizzy, but has worked GREAT for several friends of mine. Also, Ativan works longr than Xanax but doesn\'t give the big \"bang\" Xanax does. Most doctors will not prescribe both Xanax and Ativan together.

I went through a progrma that helped me a lot w/ both panic attacks and generalized anxiety and I don\'t suffer nearly as badly now. It\'s called Attacking Anxiety. You can find the website by doing a Google search.

I work at home now because at one point my anxiety was very severe and I became Agoraphobic.

Angel
www.mtworkathome.com
www.mtacc.net
www.cwahm.com

Xanax is very addicting. When I took it I was on cloud nine. I had never felt so good in my life, The next day is whole other story, I felt many of the symptoms that you talked about in your post. I am becoming more convinced that beating anxiety throigh meds is just not the answer. I believe anxiety is 90% mental.

My doctor prescribes Xanax for my anxiety, and I have come to see that there are two schools of thought medically on Xanax by doctors and psychiatrists. I checked myself into the emergency room in October, and eventually admitted to inpatient in the psych ward; they tried to take me off Xanax....and I had to remind the nurse and doctor that you can\'t just take someone off of Xanax cold turkey, as it could cause seizures.

Xanax has proven beneficial for me, even though I was persistent at first that I did not want to be on drugs for my depression and anxiety. However, my body told the doctors something else, which has helped me and save me from having a stroke or other serious medical issues.

It\'s an individual doctor/patient issue and for me, it was one of the only medications that worked early on in my treatment for anxiety and acute depression.

Body chemistry and personal conditions determine what a doctor recommends and the patient must provide feedback so that adjustments can be made if necessary.

I currently take the following, which finally seem to work and have me somewhat stabalized: Paxil, Wellbutrin, Xanax and Ambien CR (as needed).

gumby2go

I take xanax when my anxiety is very high and it calms me down. It is a short acting drug, but they now have a time release xanax u take once a day and grad releases throughout the day. I took ativan and it made me too sluggish, like a zombie. But the xanax for me works great, but I only take when I need it.

I took Xanax on and off for 2 years. It helped with the anxiety BUT it is extremely addictive and can cause you to go through withdrawals if you stop taking it abruptly. I have been off it now for 17 days I will never take it again. It is not worth the withdrawals.

Xanax made my legs ache and the more I took, it seems like the more I needed.

I only have one word of advise BEWARE..
.... I posted this in divorce and will paste it here....Little back story for you I have been on .5mg of xanax for 2 years 2x a day, Family doc raised me to 1mg 2x a day when my hubby left. Went to the psych. First Time I ever met this quack. He put me on the Xr Normal starting dosage of xanax xr is .5mg then an increase of only 1 mg every 3-4 days till your dosage is right. Well not him he had me on 2mg in the morn, 2mg afternoon, 2mg at night.Within 5 days, x-mas night I attempted committing suicide by swallowing pills, But thank god I remebered what I did and spit them out. Plus family was there. I have had memory loss. I was on the pills from thursday-monday. That time is very hazy. I don\'t really remember doing anything. I don\'t remember x-mas much. My Family said I was incoherent, I stuttered, I was shaking, I basically was slowly being overdosed. I also tried to call the doc, but he never returned my call. I have contacted an attorney and he is looking into the matter.That is my story with xanax. I am now on Klonipin, 100% better in every way!!!


........Hi all I hope everyones xmas was great mine was horrible. Well the Xanax xr taking that 3 times a day drove me nuts. I forgot things,basically I ended up in the hospital for 3 days, while at the hospital my husband used the reaction from the xaxax to get temporary custody of the girls, and restrain me from any contact with him or them. I can\'t even go to my house. I can\'t call the girls. I will see them on jan 5th for our hearing,to see if my rights get stripped. I am so Pissed at him. I have letters from doctors stating my reactions were from the meds, I am not Bi-polar YEAH. I did not overdose, He says I did. He also says he 302 me. they denied it, I went my own. My meds are all straightend out now. I just have to see my girls!!!!

Since this time, the order was vacated, I have my girls, back for now until custody in March, depending on my actions, with meds! Hubby said he will probally just drop that to. I hope so.
(Posted: 12/28/06 8:50 pm)

I was on Xanax for over 10 years. I was told to take it as needed for panic attacks. I loved it. I had to fly a lot and it calmed me down so I could. I also did some public speaking and...same result.
I often suffered panic attacks just from being in crowds. I grew to really rely on it for all stressful situations. I was so reliant on it that it seemed to calm me down as soon as it touched my tongue.
So I knew I was psychologically dependent and gradually stopped. My biggest fear was running out and letting my prescription lapse which I have just done.
When I get a panic attack, I tell myself what it is and try not to \"panic\" because I know that I won\'t faint or have a heart attack.