# Ask Psychiatrist for Xanax..



## ESKIMO (May 3, 2010)

My psychiatrist has been prescribing me Lexapro, but Id' much rather take Xanax since from past experience it works best for my anxiety. Though my experience with Xanax was from a friend of mine who had a script, I dont want to tell my Dr. that Ive tried it before and thats how I know it works. 
Whats the best way to ask my Dr. for Xanax instead of Lexapro?


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## mike8803 (Feb 21, 2010)

No u dont, trust me you want to get the problem CORRECTED not corrected for 1 hour.


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## WTFnooooo (Mar 27, 2010)

Xanax makes you a zombie. Some weeks I was like WTF dude, it's Friday already?!
I've taken it more than once, years ago, not "legally" though. 2 dollars a pill.
I have to say it's one of the worst drugs...

Like Mike said. Get it sorted, not masked out temporarily.


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## Brightpaperwarewolf (Oct 16, 2008)

Say you are highly anxious and can't sleep.

But i'm with the rest of them, that stuff is bad news. I'm prescribed to it and tend to over-medicate myself and I'm a virtual zombie, I didn't realize it till I read these comments.


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## hensley258 (Apr 24, 2010)

Wait at least 6 weeks on that Lexapro and see if the Lexapro helps with your anxiety. SSRI's can help a little with anxiety, but if you have severe anxiety dissorder then no SSRI will help much.

If your anxiety continues to be a problem after several weeks I would ask him about just some low dosage Klonopin to take the edge off.

Here's the problem with Xanax. It's a Benzo that unlike klonopin (also a Benzo) has a very fast onset of action (great for putting down a fast panic attack) but it also has a very fast off set of action which tends to make us want to take more before our next dosage is due.

I remember my first experience with xanax. It was only 1/2mg and since I had no benzo tolerance it gave me the most calming, warm and cozy buzz I ever had in my life.

One year later I was at 12Mgs a day and severely addicted. Lets put it this way, most people that take a 2mg bar will be on the floor with their toung hanging out of their mouth.

I was taking enough in a day to kill a Donky. But I never thought it would happen to me because I was good and could limit my usage. It's a lie you just can't reason with.

I'm just saying be careful with Xanax because it really is very addictive. I think even more addictive than Opiates. I had to detox from that 12Mgs a day I was taking for almost a year and buddie you think your anxiety is bad now? Try adding massive Xanax withdrawl to it. It was the most dirty rat withdrawl I have ever had in my life and it took weeks for it to fade.

Though I will not lie. The Xanax high is very nice. Too Nice.
They had to use weaker benzos on me to taper me off in Detox, If not a Xanax addict will sezure after about 24 hours without the drug.

You will build resistance to Xanax dosage so fast. In just two months I went from 1Mg a day up to 4Mgs a day. Once your past 2Mgs a day then your dependent on the drug. Then it takes 5Mgs a day just to get that relaxed feeling and so on and so on it goes.

There was one Lady in Detox that was taking 26Mgs a day! All I can say is that the withdrawl gives new meaning to the word Hell.

Stick to low dose Klonopin only and be careful because even Klonopin can be addictive. Most likly you doctor will not give you enough of either to become addicted, but who knows my doctor did.

On the other hand there are people that can just keep taking their 1/4 mg a day of xanax and they are fine and never get addicted. I think it was just that my anxiety was so bad that I was always wanting more Xanax to ease the anxiety.

I always thought it was funny how Psychiatrist will hand out Xanax no problem, but ask them for an MAOI and they run out of the office with their *** on fire.

More people die each year from Benzo overdose than MAOI hypertensive crisis by a factor of 1000.


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## Himi Jendrix (Mar 24, 2010)

Panic Attacks and agoraphobia are the key to getting Xanax I believe. I have both in addition to SA and my doc prescribed Xanax the very first day I saw him. 

There is research that suggest that Xanax is more effective than other benzo's for panic attacks so some doctors prefer this. 

I would say to stick to a low dose. I take only 1mg per day. The key is to take more than prescribed so you run out early and lower your tolerance. Make sure you dont refill early. This way it stays really effective. 

:yes


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## hensley258 (Apr 24, 2010)

I agree Xanax is much better for panic attacks and Klonopin seems to work better for Generalized Anxiety Dissorder.

Panic attacks come on fast and Xanax works really fast so my guess is that would be the reason.

As long as you don't have an addictive personality and you can put the brakes on then low dosage Xanax can be a great tool for panic attacks.

It's just when your dosages start getting higher that problems occur. In time you will build tolerance to Xanax. That was my main problem with it. What once only took 1/2 Mg to vaporize a panic attack started taking 1 Mg to do the same job. Then it's off to the races from there.

Most Psychiatrist will not give you more than 2mgs a day even if you a Xanax veteren, but like any drug we might get dependent on we find ways of getting more.

Just keep it low and if you can skip a couple days on it. This helps keep resistance low.

Most people are shocked at how fast they can build a tolerance to the drug. If it were not for that factor I would still take it to this day, But that's like asking for a Narcotic that never builds tolerance. It not in the relm of science yet. Maybe one day science will fix this, then we could all have fun with no consiquesces.


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## Inside (Jan 31, 2010)

Eskimo, you've got a gammut of really good advice from all types of people. What I wanted to add was you said you knew it worked for your anxiety because you had a friend who had a script. What I want to say is, try and be honest with your doc because he or she is there to help you, knows your personality and can help you get into and out of situations but they're most effective if you are honest and open. Sometimes they make mistakes and don't give us what we think we want but its always a step forward, at least you're doing something about it, just consider being honest with the doc, let him know you were really struggling and took some of your friends and the reaction you had, your honesty will go a lot further in your relationship with your doc than saying the right thing to get what we think we need or want. Keep us posted, looking forward to hearing how it went.
Inside.


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## Positive (Jun 29, 2009)

Xanax is pretty good, but keep in mind, diff't drugs give diff't reaction. I was on Ativan first and noticed the effects are diff't. Xanax is quite powerful and lasts me a lot longer than Ativan.

Like everything, I think a lot is your psychological dependence on the drug. Try to take it only when you need to, but everyone is different. The body will undoubtly develop a tolerance. Especially if u take it every single day. I try to use it only during work days, and only when i need it. I often panic seeking the drug, but I don't panic because i need functioning dependance.

Good luck. IM gonna continue w/ it.


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## UltraShy (Nov 8, 2003)

WTFnooooo said:


> Xanax makes you a zombie. Some weeks I was like WTF dude, it's Friday already?!


I'm the largest Xanax consumer on SAS as far as I know. I'll let all who've read my prolific posts over the years decide if they appear to have been written by some cognitively impaired zombie or not.

I sure doesn't make me feel like a zombie. I certainly hope my posts convey an intellectual capacity higher than that of a zombie, but you can be the judge.



> I've taken it more than once, years ago, not "legally" though. 2 dollars a pill.


What size do you get for $2? I pay $33 for 300 mg. I'd never sell mine, but I'm just thinking about how much my stockpile is worth at that price. I'd currently have $1,200 of Xanax. I didn't realize it was worth as much as a one ounce gold coin. Makes me wonder how much my dextroamphetamine goes for on the street.



WTFnooooo said:


> Get it sorted, not masked out temporarily.


With rare exception, like antibiotics, meds typically don't cure anything. Lots of people takes lots of meds to merely mask a lot of problems. Problems like high blood pressure, high cholesterol, ED, diabetes, allergies, insomnia, ADD and the list goes on & on. Meds that merely treat symptoms while the drug is in effect, but do absolutely nothing to eliminate the underlying problems. How do benzos differ for so many other drugs in this regard?


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## UltraShy (Nov 8, 2003)

hensley258 said:


> More people die each year from Benzo overdose than MAOI hypertensive crisis by a factor of 1000.


1. Define "benzo overdose." Would this include those who die by mixing a whole assortment of CNS depressants, that typically includes vast amounts of alcohol that often on its own is nearing fatal alcohol poisoning? It must because the LD 50 for Xanax is sky high at 331 to 2,171 mg/kg in rats. If if takes at least 165 mg of Xanax to give only a 50% chance of killing an average size 500 gram (1.1 pound) rat, how much is it going to take to kill even a small human that weighs 100 times more that a rat?

2. When comparing the danger of benzos to MAOIs you must look at how many patients use each. There are only 80,000 Nardil users in the entire world, even less for Parnate. And good luck even finding anybody who takes Marplan. Benzos have been one of the most widely used drug classes in the world in the last 50 years.


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## hensley258 (Apr 24, 2010)

UltraShy said:


> 1. Define "benzo overdose." Would this include those who die by mixing a whole assortment of CNS depressants, that typically includes vast amounts of alcohol that often on its own is nearing fatal alcohol poisoning? It must because the LD 50 for Xanax is sky high at 331 to 2,171 mg/kg in rats. If if takes at least 165 mg of Xanax to give only a 50% chance of killing an average size 500 gram (1.1 pound) rat, how much is it going to take to kill even a small human that weighs 100 times more that a rat?
> 
> 2. When comparing the danger of benzos to MAOIs you must look at how many patients use each. There are only 80,000 Nardil users in the entire world, even less for Parnate. And good luck even finding anybody who takes Marplan. Benzos have been one of the most widely used drug classes in the world in the last 50 years.


Alprazolam is significantly more toxic in overdose having higher rates of fatalities compared to other benzodiazepines. A study in New 
zealand found that alprazolam is almost 8 times more likely to result in death in overdose than other sedative hypnotics as a group, with higher rates of intensive-care unit admissions and mechanical ventilation

I'm sorry not to agree with you about the Rat data, but I'm not a Rat either so I discount that study and it's findings. I could also site studys on Lab rats in which scientists have found medications that cure cancer in rats, but do nothing of the sort for humans.

If you think a 500 Mg dosage of Xanax is survivable then that's your opinion. I don't think it is and that's about all I have to say regarding the issue.

Unfortunatly there isn't a lot of test study out there that involves actual experiments on people to see how much Xanax it would actually take to kill. (Not many people willing to take part in that study)

Bottom line is that people do overdose on Alprazolam and when they do there is always that chance that the overdose could be fatal. Personally I would take my chances with a ton of Xanax than I would a ton of a tricyclic such as amitriptilyne, but that's not to say Xanax can not be deadly in an overdose situation also.

They say opinions are like *** holes, everyone's got one. This is just my opinion regarding Alprazolam overdosage.


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