Xanax Question...

Hi All,

A few months ago, I had a series of panic attacks, and my DR gave me xanax. I have been in the habit (and kind of addicted) to taken 1 0.5mg pill a day. I am looking to start TTC in March and I NEED to get off the xanax. This morning I tried cutting the 0.5 in half and take a .25 and wean myself that way. But I felt really shaky and I ended up having to take the other half.

I really want to kick this habit, if you will, by the end of this month. Did anyone have to do this, or do you have any suggestions to help me through it?

Tomorrow I am going to try to cut the 0.5 in half again and stick it out.....ugh....

Thanks!

Re: Xanax Question...

Did you talk to your doctor? He/she may offer some suggestions (how to get off, other drugs, etc..)

Good luck!

Re: Xanax Question...

You're going to absolutely need to talk to you're doctor about weaning yourself off....

Re: Xanax Question...

Talk to your doctor and let him/her know what you're going through. Also, do you have a therapist??? He/she can teach you some coping skills that you can use when having a panic attack so that you do not have to resort to the medication.

Re: Xanax Question...

For the most part, I don't have the panic attacks anymore and when I do, I don't take any more xanax. I basically take the one a day because I have been doing it so long (a few months) that I can't just stop cold turkey.

I am going to call the DR this morning....

Re: Xanax Question...

Is your doctor a psychiatrist or just a general doctor? Generally speaking, I don't think a psych. would give you xanax to take if it was going to be on an ongoing basis, maybe just for a short time if you were going through something bad. A psych should be monitoring your prescriptions for things like this because they should know that it is HIGHLY addictive as you've seen. I've suffered through this as well and this is my experience. When I started my anxiety attacks I started with therapy and Lexapro (an SSRI for anxiety/depression which serves as a preventative drug to significantly reduce the amount of panic attacks you have). I was fine with it for the most part (still had some bad spots but at least i felt a noticeably improvement). Then I got tired of taking meds (even though I had no side effects) so the doc took me off to see what happens. I was fine for a few months but then it started to slowly come back but not as frequently as the beginning. That is when my psych gave me zanax (and he would only prescribe in limited doses so as to prevent me from taking it all too quickly and reduce addiction -- he said that if I used too much of it at once he'd know I was depending on it and then he would insist on putting me on the lexapro again). That worked for a while, no addiction or anything because I knew I always needed to ration my prescription. Then I was going to start a new job so i decided on my own to get back on the Lexapro just in case the first few months were tough because it was going to be a big change. it was at that point that I had the conversation with the doc about TTC and the drugs. So, here is the feedback I got. He said that he'd rather me not be on anything (of course that is my preference as well but my mental health also needs to considered). However, if I needed something he'd rather me be on just lexapro because he has treated many patients with no side-effects and there are no proven studies of dangers of using it with pregnancy. However, with the zanax, there are studies that link its use in the first trimester to cleft pallets. So that is my doctor's opinion. I'd be curious to hear what yours says. If you're not seeing a specialist I would suggest you do that and not go by the guidance of a general practitioner because they aren't specifically trained in pre-natal care or these types of drugs. So, I'd either go by the guidance of a pscychiatrist or your OBGYN. I'm sorry that you're going through this. The good news is that you are not TTC until March so you have plenty of time to properly wean yourself off of the Zanax and either learn some coping skills through therapy or try a safer drug or both. Take this for what it is, I'm not a doctor, just have gone through it before. Good luck!

Re: Xanax Question...

Thanks for all your information.

I just spoke with my DR. He is my primary DR but he is a specialist. One of the top in Huntington. At any rate, he told me that I should be fine if I just stop taking it all together. He said if I want to I can wean myself off by cutting my0.5 in half, but he doesn't think it's necessary.

To be honest, I have gotten my anxiety under control and the only reason I have been continuing with the xanax is because I was afraid of the crazy side effects of stopping.

I think I will go the route of cutting my current dose in half and see how I feel. He said that my dose is a very low dose and I shouldn't have any problems. Plus, I have had every test in the book (stress tests, colonscopy, etc...) and I am a healthy individual. Hopefully I can do this with no problems.

Thanks again for all your information and I will let you know how I do!

Message edited 10/9/2006 3:30:37 PM.