Not as often as I used to, especially since I’ve learned how to predict them. If a sudden attack catches me unawares (generally comorbid with a nasty migrane) I try putting my head between my knees and/or meditating until it passes.
Generally, I get caught by those surreptitious, slow-growth anxiety attacks which creep up on my brain until I’m totally flustered. Can’t always tell when I’m in that zone, but taking 1-2 Xanax always confirms it by (1) making me feel normal (in which case it was a genuine attack) or (2) knocking me out cold for about 24 hours.
In response to an above question about addiction to Xanax – take what you see online cum grano salis, but in my experience, at a low dosage it’s not a problem. However, I’m a tall male, not overweight, but large, with cross-tolerance to alcohol, and it is no fun to withdraw from alprazolam. I believe it’s only a probable concern to those who take higher dosages daily, though, and I’ve had better luck taking a longer-acting benzodiazepine like 10mg diazepam in the past. As it is, I take 1mg alprazolam every morning with my citalopram as a prophylactic against withdrawal and have no problems with withdrawal, although titration will depend on your own chemistry.
Kudos, ThelmaLou, for getting through the last one – it seems you’re on your way, and that may be all it takes, just to know you can get through it.
The thing about xanax is it has a half-life, which means (and medical-biology people feel free to correct me) that you take a pill today and 24 hours from now, you have the equivalent of half that amount still in your system. So you take another pill, and now you have 1.5 times the amount you had on day one. On day three the 1.5 is now .75 and you take another pill and now you’re at 1.75 times what you were on day one… and so on… the dosage just keeps building up. This is a quick-and-dirty way of describing it (and I’m an English major- never took biology). I only take .25 mg at a time and never take more than that in a 24-hour period AND never take this dose more than three days in a row. I may take it this way 2-3 times per month. So I give the drug time to clear out of my system.
There was a magazine program on tv one time that had a segment on the “evils and danger of xanax,” but the people on that program were taking 8 mgs per day every day! That’s 32 times the dosage I take, and they had been doing this for years. No wonder they felt like zombies.
I limit my dosage because 1) it works, and 2) I don’t what to get to where I need more for the same effect. I’ve followed this method for 25+ years and have never experienced any side effects.
Thanks for your good wishes, Jaledin. So far so good.
Sounds right to me, ThelmaLou – I’m a Comparative Literature guy with most of a PhD and never took any hard science since high school. From what I understand, the shorter half-life of alprazolam can lead to some problems for those who, like me, might take 4-5 mg qd on a bad day, but from discussing the issue with my doctor, is probably not an issue for most who take smaller dosages. I have noticed some cognitive impairment, but it seemed to be easily reversed by caution and lots of reading, of which I’m sure you’re no stranger.
Good luck, ThelmaLou, but it sounds like you don’t need good luck, just some good support.
But with repeated dosing even of drugs that have half lives measured in days, you eventually reach a steady state plasma level.
what I’ve heard is that xanax tends to be addictive simply because it does have such a short half life. But Ativan is about the same so I don’t really get that. anyway, that’s why a lot of shrinks prefer to give you klonopin - since it has a much longer half life and therefore isn’t supposed to be as addictive. IDK.
I’ve never noticed any withdrawal from the few years I was taking diazepam (Valium) – which has quite a long half-life. Some dubious sources online have suggested that longer-acting benzos are, to some extent and by some accounts “self-tapering.” But, like I stand by, real information is hard to come by on the internet, and so who knows. I never noticed any problems until my GP prescribed alprazolam (Xanax) for me, three or five months ago, but as I mentioned, I have a large cross-tolerance to alcohol, and am also a big guy (but not fat! just big-boned!), so maybe there’s something to the dosage I require that precipitates the issue of withdrawal. The disadvantage is that alcohol can ameliorate the withdrawal effects, which, for me, is not a substance I choose to abuse, given the negative effects upon my anxiety, not to mention physical health.
I’ve had a few while my wife demolished our family life. I just suffered through them… but again, it was just a few. If I had them regularly there is no way I wouldn’t seek a medical/pharmaceutical solution. It’s flay out a physical malady and merits medical attention.
Absolutely – anxiety is a medical condition and I’d be nowhere if I didn’t have the privilege of consulting a medical doctor. It’s a mental and in some cases physical disorder that requires and deserves treatment by the best doctor one can afford, and respect should be accorded those who seek the best care of which they are capable, even if it is the emotional solace of a few like-minded friends or the comfort of one’s closest allies.
My understanding from my own situation and what the docs told me is that fight or flight reaction is caused by having too much cortisol in the brain. (In my case caused by 30 years of alcohol). GABA reduces the effects of cortisol, so I take gabapentin which, I think depresses the re-uptake of GABA. I’ve just gone through a crisis mode (depression and anxiety) due to losing my meds for 6 weeks, was hospitalized, and have now started quitting alcohol (14 days in). I’m going to get some GABA and theonime later today, which I’ve heard has the same calming effect as the gabapentin. AS a poster said above, I too get a calming effect by touching my wife, but with all that I’ve put her through (and still waiting for the anti-depressants to kick in), unfortunately she’s ignoring me.
When I was getting them a lot a few years ago, this was the thing that helped me the most, willing them to do their worst. It didn’t work every time, but fwiw, trying to will them on in some anger is I think the key to success to me. Kind of like “come on, you bastard - do your worst.”
I’m sure it’s not for everyone, but I was also surprised by how effective chamomile tea was for me. Valerian stuff on the other hand, I found seemed to wear off leaving me more anxious and panicky then previously.
I have a big problem with anxiety, and have been in therapy for a very long time. There are many issues in my childhood & family life, but there’s also a physiological component (even if the physiological component is the result of years of environmentally-caused anxiety, it’s still there.) I carry Ativan with me all the time, but have always had troubles with antianxiety meds – it’s hard to get the dosage right, and if I start spinning up later in the evening, I have a tendency to err on the side of under-medicating because I don’t want to risk missing work.
Exercise really helps me, and CBT has helped to a degree, and while “feel the fear and do it anyway” is somewhat valid, there are some situations where it just doesn’t work.
Sometimes nothing works and I basically just accept that I’m panicking and it’s just about me panicking and I’ll just lie in bed all night letting my body get some rest.
I feel for ya, groo. When it happens at night, I’ll get up and walk from one end of my house to the other, back and forth. I live alone except for two dogs and three cats. At first the dogs will follow me until they figure out we’re not going anywhere.
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When I was a kid I used to wake up in fear. I never called to my parents. I didn’t have a clock in my room so I didn’t know what time it was. I would lie there until the sky would just start getting light- only then could I fall asleep.
I have had them all my life and only in the past 10 years or so have I been able to get them under control. Between my beloved hubby keeping me together when I have an attack, therapy and the occasional Xanax, I’m doing all right now. The worst one I’ve had in awhile was this time last year and I had it at work. Scared the living hell out of my office mate at the time, who got me settled down long enough for my hubby to find my Xanax, then they both talked me down.
I have a lot of panic and anxiety/depression. My doctor would NOT give me Xanax due to the addictive nature of it, so I’m taking Lorezapam when I feel panic creeping in… which is ok I guess, I take just half. Apparently these are addictive too. I’m not aware of many depression/anxiety/panic meds that aren’t addictive. As anyone in the throes of a panic attack can attest to, “I don’t give a fu*& if it’s addictive, help me out of this PAIN!”
This is a helpful thread for me to read as well as write in – I had my first multi-day panic attack while I was catsitting for a long weekend (four and a half days) for some relatives. Not having enough alprazolam was a problem, since I am judicious about the quantity I take but am absolutely fearful of not having enough in reserve in case, as was running out of cigarettes in the middle of suburbia. I love to walk, but the isolation within a semi-urban environment (i.e., no people around “just out walking” on any given day) makes the prospect somewhat unpleasant.
The only way I felt I could get through the ordeal was stumbling my way to grab a liter of whiskey, and, of course, some cigs. To get through this, I had to use cog-behav techniques, with moderate success, but it highlights for me the dangers of relying on any substance, including legally-prescriped medication, as one’s “backup.” The behavior seems to reinforce the notion that any hole is a goal when it comes to medication, and I’ve found semi-benzos like alcohol to be more detrimental to long-term anxiety-free life than the real deals.
I’ve been getting them lately. They actually don’t bother me too much, they only last 5-10 minutes. Out of nowhere, heart starts racing, adrenaline starts pumping. Typical fear response.
But the funny thing is, although physically it is fear, I have no mental fear, and can recognize this, realize that nothing bad is actually happening, and push through it. I had one while driving today, don’t think spouse even noticed.
They kind of feel like when I used to take certain unregulated substances as a youth (cough cough).
The broad range of panic attacks is interesting. Unlike the last poster’s, mine are deeply psychological. My panic attacks are similar to a “bad acid trip” psychologically; depersonalization, ego-loss, Alice in Wonderland syndrome, loss of proprioception, transcendental terror… I wish it was only my heart beating fast with a typical fear response.
So far so good.