The same is true for Xanax. I've taken it for a number of years now. I don't enjoy them, and I don't find I get increasing tolerance. I may have been developing some tolerance shortly before I went on bac. It's hard to say, since I was drinking so much. I would use Xanax after a night of heavy drinking to stop the anxiety and slight morning shakes. I would need to show up to work, and I use my hands a lot with people watching. I couldn't be shaking at work. At that point, I may have been developing some tolerance. I was taking them everyday. When I went on bac, almost to the day, I stopped taking Xanax regularly. I stopped having the same kind of anxiety. I didn't even realize it until I did. I was like Wow, I haven't needed to take a Xanax in a long time. Now I take them occasionally. Sometimes I need them more often. I don't really count because then I'll go a number of weeks without needing one. I most often take them for sleep, if I do (and no, my sleep isn't messed up from the Adderall. It wears off by early evening). My sleep gets very fragmented when titrating up. I also had to take them for a week or two when I tapered too quickly on bac the last time. I had some very severe anxiety that lasted a while.
So a script for my Xanax that could last a month, lasts multiple months. I'm aware that not everyone can take benzos and there can be a cross addiction and/or tolerance to them. I also know that many alkies suffer from anxiety disorders, so it's a balancing act. It really is a personal decision and one that is best left to the patient and the physician treating the patient. The physician who knows the patient's history along with everything else. Some people drink just because of anxiety. And that's also true in untreated ADD. There is a high percentage of substance abusers in this population.
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