Xanax

[Tides]

Hello Everyone.

This seems like a place full of knowledge gained from experience, so I wanna tap into it. I myself am a recovering alcoholic (gettin' there!) and I have some questions about xanax. Thanks in advance for taking your time to read my queries and for giving me whatever input you have to offer - any and all will be appreciated!

I've been taking baclofen for just over a year, and I have never gotten the anxiety that people have spoken so much about as it pertains to this incredible medicine. I've not had anxiety from it as far as I can tell. In fact, I've had the great good fortune of not ever having had anxiety in my life until now! When life circumstances and my own untrained mind recently inspired a speedy spiral into chaos and fearful machinations, I suddenly found myself -for the first time ever- in the clutches of a physical reaction to perceived life-threatening danger, based on what was going on in my mind. Scary and out of control! That's anxiety.

Granted, my life as I knew it when I started to have this experience was pretty scary, what with new and huge financial obligations I still don't know if I could meet, and personal relationships gone very sour, and thus and forth. But still, I was struck by the physical reaction I was having to my thoughts.

So I called up the good Dr. Levin, and he prescribed xanax for me. No questions asked. I had been taking .25 mg, 2 x a day. Then, I ran out before I had the script refilled. Whoops. I went way down, to half .25/day, a quarter of my usual dose. Subsequently, I had some moments of sheer terror, but they passed. And what I noticed when I totally ran out, on my first day without xanax after titrating down (I had been taking it for about three months at this point), was that I felt very happy and okay with the world, in an energized way that I hadn't for a very long time. Maybe it was circumstantial, I dunno. Some stuff had just happened that day that felt really good. But I can't help but wonder what this xanax may have been doing to my spirit, to my mental state, such that when it was somewhat out of my system, I should suddenly feel so much better. ...?

S'anyway, I guess what I'm asking is what you good folk out there have to say about your experiences with xanax. Titrating off it, leaning on it, what have you.

Thanks for reading, thanks again in advance for your input. This truly is a great community.

Yours in Swimming,
Tides

[Greg]

Xanax

Hi Tides, welcome to the forum.

I have taken Xanax and Valium at various times, and have found that they can reduce or deaden emotions. I have also read about this emotional suppression/flattening in medical sources and by people who have been taking benzodiazepines. What you experienced when stopping Xanax could well be a sense of happiness and energy from having your emotions no longer reduced.

For physical anxiety symptoms, beta blocker drugs like propranolol (Inderal) and atenolol (Tenormin) can work well. They don't flatten emotions the same way as benzodiazepines either. Maybe you could ask a doctor about these as an option. Out of the two, atenolol is the longer acting drug, I think you only need one a day. If you only want to use something for particular periods when physical anxiety is a problem, propranolol could be better.

Please understand that I have no medical training, and have only been an amateur student of medications. You would want to consult with a doctor before making decisions.

Just one other thing, remember that long-term daily use of Xanax or any other benzodiazepine could result in serious withdrawal symptoms if you suddenly stop or rapidly reduce, although this is more likely with medium-high doses.

[COSGringo]

Xanax

Be careful with stopping benzos. However it sounds like you were at very low doses. .25 I'd pretty low even 2x per day. Also, I find they have less effects at least with me as bac is s strong gaba b agonist.
I never had issues skipping a day of 2 at that level.
I am curious how much bac you are taking.
The xanax helps me with the bac se's but I am at 230 mg / day. I also use klonopin which is prescribed to me. I have a lot of sleep issues. It all helps me.
I have more issues from the bac than the benzos. But hey it got my drinking under control. I really can't drink as it makes me feel bad with the bac. Sort of like an antabuse.

[COSGringo]

Xanax

sorry about the typing, I am on a lousy tablet

[Tides]

Xanax

Thanks for your replies, Greg and Gringo.

I am on 140 mg of bac. Lately it's killing me, out of nowhere! I have had the return of the somnolence which is such a bummer. It is so bad I have to nap in the afternoon almost every day, even if I've had eight hours of sleep. This after having no se's for months. It's another reason I was ok with running out of xanax; maybe it started building up in my system and causing these side effects to return. I don't know. The somnolence is so bad I'm playing with the idea of tapering off bac altogether, but -obviously- I don't want to return to being a drunk.

...speaking of, I have also been drinking regularly again for a few weeks. (Hmmm, maybe that explains the tiredness...) I'm not getting drunk, but I am chasing the high, the escape, and this is sometimes inspired by anxiety. I feel like a bit of a mess. I would go up in dose to get back to my switch (around 160), but that just seems to worsen the se's. What's the point, I ask myself, of taking all these pills if I'm too tired to enjoy life, and if I'm washing them down with beer? I guess it's time to go for abstinence again. Maybe that will help, and it surely can't hurt.

Thanks again for your replies.

[Ne/Neva Eva]

Xanax

Sounds to me like it might be too much bac. I don't really have time to expound.

The anxiety you experienced? I have experienced it, and witnessed first hand (and second) others with the same reaction from HDB.

Somnolence? The booze. Without question. Not that bac doesn't do it on it's own!

Deadened feelings? hmmm. Could be the whole combination!

Ya' know?

And there's a big jump between 140 and nothing.
If you're craving alcohol, and you can muster the resources you could go up. I would. And then down again. I've never stayed at a level for very long if it didn't sit well. Going up sometimes lessened the SEs. Going down didn't always. And some levels of bac just don't feel good. (It might be in my head--probably is--but I avoid 180mg when I get around that number.)

That was the advice I got...It worked for me.
Gotta go!

[Ne/Neva Eva]

Xanax



Check back in, will you, so that we can pass on what works or didn't!
And good luck and hang in there!

[Tides]

Xanax

Thanks, NE, for the encouragement and wisdom.

I"ve gotten my refill of xanax, and I do feel better now. I was finding the anxiety unbearable: I would shake and tremble and I couldn't reign in my sense of doom. Now, I just feel a low current of fear, but it doesn't consume me as it was. Instead, I seem to be riding waves of high and low. (Lately it occurs to me that I almost fit the description of someone with bi-polar two - a milder version of bi-polar disorder.)

I just skimmed parts of Cassander's 'Baclofen and Anxiety' thread. Seems most people find relief from anxiety by taking Bac, but some find it increases once on HDB. I am just mystified by my experience! I've been on HDB for almost a year; why would I start having anxiety now?! I'm at 140, but, like I said, am tempted to go down. It's making me so tired -naps are necessary almost every day- and the anxiety can be crushing at times.

I've been abstinent (al) for a couple of days, so I'll try to keep that up and see if the somnolence and anxiety subside. If not, I may titrate slowly down to see if I can find a better comfort level.

Who out there has felt an increase of anxiety on HDB? Anyone found this to appear out of nowhere, even after being on HDB for a while? I am very confused.

Thanks!

[COSGringo]

Xanax

Tides- I have had panic attacks though very rare. I find the xanax just seems to help with some of the side effects. I don't get them often but sometimes.
I get the somnolence a lot. It's a pain.
I hate to say it but I use energy drinks and sometimes ephedrine. It's worked out for me okay and once upon a time caffeine and such would make me want to drink. That doesn't happen how.
Give yourself time to get used to the level you are at.
I went up 10mg at a time for about 4days at a time. I still hit a bad time at 260. Went down to 230 and I am doing well except the somnolence.

[Tides]

Xanax

Thanks, Gringo.

Hey, you said in your first post that xanax helps w your bac se's. Which ones? Do you get anxiety from bac, do you think? Also, I, too, have used ephedrine and energy drinks; coffee does nothing. But I can't stand anymore being so dependent on chemicals to regulate my system, using one to combat the effects of another. My ultimate goal is to be free of them all! With that, though, would have to mean total abstinence from alcohol, a place I am not yet at, nor confident that I would be able to get and stay there without chemical assistance. Guess I have some inner work to do...

I forgot to mention before, I'm going to sit at 130 for a while and see how that feels. Also, I am female, which I mention because my gender seems to be (?) especially susceptible to all kindsa se's.

Thanks for reading, and for any input. Out in the world is no place to get this sorted out! Who knows better but ye good people here?

[COSGringo]

Xanax

Hey Tides.
Xanax helps with anxiety but just when I don't feel quite right in general from the bac. I get some odd feelings at times and the xanax helps as do other benzos.

I get not using the other stimulants. I have a big business to do that I have to attend. I have things I must have done and I want to look good. It's helping me hit the weights again.

Bac has a lot of somnolence for me. I have to fight it somehow. Caffeine doesn't always do it. I am not drinking down whole cans of those energy drinks. Some a gulp here and there.

I think anyone can get SE's. I get them plenty. Less then I once did. More so with the somnolence.
It's tough as I like to take my wife to plays, orchestras, etc. I nod off now and then and that's horrible. So I have to play these games. In time I suspect I won't.
I am getting better and it's worth it in the long run I believe.

Hang in there. I hear you about the chemicals. I am doing what I have to short term and long to be away from all of that in the long.

I loved when I was strong and healthy. Ate well and could backpack with 60lbs for miles in the mts. I will again and anyone else that wants to it will happen.
Good luck Tides!

[Bruunhilde]

Xanax

TIDES. I FIND LOW DOSE BAC WORKS for anxiety (sorry about caps) but higher seems opposite. Ha d you heard of neuron ti. For anxiety? Sorry re typos which I blame on kindle mostly. Neurontin. Ck online r x. Sites.

[Bminor]

Xanax

Benzo's are great for short term use, but I'll tell you first hand that after long term use you will build up tolerance and it the effect wears off... I've been on xanax for over a year now and I'm struggling to get off of the shit. (not that I've tried that hard yet) I usually take between .75 mg and 1.5 mg per day depending on the situation. It's a bitch to taper off of though... I did it 3 years ago by switching over to Valium and tapering slowly. It's what I'm planning on doing soon this time around as well... I feel like I'm just taking it to keep from going through withdrawals right now... Anyway, I'm tired and it's super late here for me... so if this doesn't make any sense I apologize. I was in California for 4 days and then coming back to central time really screwed me up and I can NOT sleep tonight for the life of me.

[COSGringo]

Xanax

Valium and klonopin are both good for tapering off. At least you weren't taking too much.
Are you on baclofen? I find I can take or leave those benzos without consequences but that's because bac is such a strong gaba b agonist it over powers the benzo effects in my case.

[Tides]

Xanax

B, I'm dying to know what withdrawl is like for you... I guess by comparison my .25 -.5 mg/day isn't much, but I daresay I felt some funky stuff when I dropped it altogether for a couple of days! (Then again, I am constantly in a state of major up-and-down lately. Yesterday, I was lower than the sludge at the bottom of a murky pond. Today, I am flying high and happy again. Can't figure it out.) Why do you want to 'get off the shit'?

Gringo, I dunno if you were asking me or B if we're on bac, but I am (130), and I think that's probably why I haven't been chasing a high with xanax; I don't even feel one, just relief.