Benzos Advice on getting and keeping my xanax prescription

[tiredbored]

I have panic disorder and anxiety, I see a psychiatrist who works at a practise with several others. His prescribed dosage for me was 2mg 4 times a day. this worked good for me. However often when I go I get sent to a different doctor there who switches my xanax down to 2mg 2 times a day, or less. My psychiatrist knows this has happened to me twice now and switched it back up and told me to only see him when i come in.

Unfortunately I am still having trouble only seeing him because even when i call prior to a walk in and ask if he will be available, I get someone else, and even with appointments I sometimes get someone else.

should I ask him to put a note in my file to stop switching my prescription strengths?
Repeatedly request him when given another doctor?
Keep coming back until I get to see him?

Has there been some kind of pull back on xanax. my dosage does not seem that high for panic disorder but the doctor i saw today said he has no patients at 6-8mg a day of xanax, and the one i saw last month told me that they do not prescribe xanax at that dosage anymore. It has been 3 months now since ive been able to see my original prescribing psychiatrist who i was seeing for 5 years.

Do i have any alternative if i keep getting my medication dropped? I can't deal with going from 8mg a day to 2-4mg a day and never knowing what i am getting. If i go to another psychiatrist office on top of this one and get another xanax prescription will they know i did that?

I also have agoraphobia which makes it hard for me to even go to the doctor, which is frustrating me to go all the way there and find out they are sticking me with a different doctor.

 

[Hodor]

Has there been some kind of pull back on xanax. my dosage does not seem that high for panic disorder but the doctor i saw today said he has no patients at 6-8mg a day of xanax, and the one i saw last month told me that they do not prescribe xanax at that dosage anymore.

Yeah, I hate to break it to you, but 8mgs of Xanax is an insanely high dose. Even 4mgs is still pretty damn high.

At these doses and with Alprazolam's short half-life, many of your panic attacks are simply going to be caused by interdose withdrawal. I'd say you work out a plan with your doc to slowly taper down to a more appropriate dose, perhaps by switching to a longer-acting benzo and adding Lyrica to lessen your baseline anxiety.

 

[bdomihizayka]

Yeah, I hate to break it to you, but 8mgs of Xanax is an insanely high dose. Even 4mgs is still pretty damn high.

QFFT

You're literally shooting yourself in the head with the benzos. They WILL make your anxiety worse in the long run- especially the short duration ones like xanax and ativan. That being said, why don't you consider a longer acting benzo like valium or klonopin or librium. With these, you only need to dose once a day- possibly twice. You'll have a steady dose of the drug in you with no ups and downs/ withdrawals. Go on a reasonable dose and maybe have xanax for panic attacks/ acute anxiety IF needed.

But with that being said, I would really try my hardest if I were you to keep your dosage down. Benzo withdrawal is no fun, I'm going through it at the moment- it's literally hell on earth and it lasts soooooo long. 8mgs - Christ, my heart aches for you. I'm coming off just a single mg of an equivalent benzo and it's kicking my ass!!! You can always try CBT, alternative treatments, EXERCISE, diet, supplements such as kava, valerian, gotu kola, niacin, or even more benign medication.... look into low dose naltrexone for anxiety.

 

[Drderms]

8mgs of Xanax , wtf . 2mg of Xanax is equivalent to 40mg Valium . So my advice is tapering down to 2mg or even less a day , clonezepam is worth mentioning that's equivelent to 40mg Vallium aswell but has a much longer half life , so you won't need to keep redosing . I would hate to have such a high tolerance .

 

[tiredbored]

The xanax is for my panic attacks, not my anxiety really. Prior to being on them my panic attacks were every hour or sometimes twice an hour. I did try ativan before xanax but it didn't help at all. The xanax does help stop them completely but leaves me with a low level of anxiety, thats at 2mg 3-4 times a day. I was at 2mg 2x a day up until my mom passed away last year and that is when it was boosted because my panic attacks got more frequent again.

I have come off 8mg a day xanax in the past, and my goal ultimately would be to not need xanax at all.

Also I am on zoloft 200mg
temazepam 30 mg for sleep as needed
and propanolol (spelled wrong) as needed up to 3x a day but i am scared to take it
and currently xanax is 2mg 2x a day.

Ive have others added to try and help, trazodone which i hated and gabapentin which i hated, were prescribed on top of these. and ive tried other anti depressants wellbutrin, paxil, effexor celexa

I've never tried lyrica

 

[Drderms]

Propranolol really helps with panic attacks , that's what people take before they have to do a speech in front of a lot of people.
I think You should look at some counselling , it really helps with ways to prevent a panic attack and how to deal with them better .
i get prescribed benzos but don't take them daily because I dnot want to become addicted and dependent on them .
And you should make an appointment with your doctor , and make sure it's with him not someone else .

 

[bdomihizayka]

The xanax is for my panic attacks, not my anxiety really. Prior to being on them my panic attacks were every hour or sometimes twice an hour. I did try ativan before xanax but it didn't help at all. The xanax does help stop them completely but leaves me with a low level of anxiety, thats at 2mg 3-4 times a day. I was at 2mg 2x a day up until my mom passed away last year and that is when it was boosted because my panic attacks got more frequent again.

I have come off 8mg a day xanax in the past, and my goal ultimately would be to not need xanax at all.

Also I am on zoloft 200mg
temazepam 30 mg for sleep as needed
and propanolol (spelled wrong) as needed up to 3x a day but i am scared to take it
and currently xanax is 2mg 2x a day.

Ive have others added to try and help, trazodone which i hated and gabapentin which i hated, were prescribed on top of these. and ive tried other anti depressants wellbutrin, paxil, effexor celexa

I've never tried lyrica

Why is it you're afraid of taking the most benign medication you're prescribed lol?

Again, I'd treat the source, not just band-aid the symptoms. Could be a vitamin/ mineral deficiency, hormone imbalance, low or high thyroid, dehydration, etc etc etc.... try natural remedies. Exercise- I cannot stress this enough, but people are fucking lazy and impatient. If you're consistent with an intense exercise regimen (not just walking 2mph on the treadmill for 10 minutes- that doesn't count), it has been shown and proven time and time again that it's more effective than anti-depressants. Also, low dose naltrexone is INCREDIBLY helpful for anxiety.... and it's non-addictive and completely benign.

I just don't want to see you or anyone in a world of hurt when the time comes to get off those benzos.... you think your anxiety is bad now?


LOL

 

[tiredbored]

Why is it you're afraid of taking the most benign medication you're prescribed lol?

Again, I'd treat the source, not just band-aid the symptoms. Could be a vitamin/ mineral deficiency, hormone imbalance, low or high thyroid, dehydration, etc etc etc.... try natural remedies. Exercise- I cannot stress this enough, but people are fucking lazy and impatient. If you're consistent with an intense exercise regimen (not just walking 2mph on the treadmill for 10 minutes- that doesn't count), it has been shown and proven time and time again that it's more effective than anti-depressants. Also, low dose naltrexone is INCREDIBLY helpful for anxiety.... and it's non-addictive and completely benign.

I just don't want to see you or anyone in a world of hurt when the time comes to get off those benzos.... you think your anxiety is bad now?


LOL

oh i was afraid of all of them at one point, im afraid of taking new pills. I cried when i got prescribed xanax initially because i didn't want to take it.
I've had panic disorder for 12 years but only been on benzos for the first year (ativan), and then the last 4 years. except i was off them in 2014. I was scared of taking the temazepam as well.

I have had thyroid checked multiple times and my vitamins and recently hormones. I do take supplemental magnesium and iron and b12 which has helped significantly with the depression. The only thing i haven't had checked is some sort of adrenal issue.

I would like to start running again but with the agoraphobia i have left the house 3 times this year. It did help me and so did swimming but right now im limited to the elipical and treadmill for running and other indoor exercises. I do find it helpful however sometimes the heart rate increase freaks me out because of the rapid pulse i get during my panic attacks. I know threes not really a way around that because the exercises that are beneficial to me are the ones that would increase my heart rate.

Is there a better option for agoraphobia? My agoraphobia is seriously making everything more difficult, if i was able to leave the house without panicking i would be able to do a lot more to help myself.

 

[tiredbored]

would the propranolol help with the agoraphobia do you think? I'm always scared of having a bad reaction to one of my meds, so im scared of it, plus scared of the combo of it with the other meds i am on. the doctor said it was a low dosage (10mg) as needed. I do notice my heart rate is increased when i go out, when i go to my psychiatric appointments they check it and its like 130. but its normally 70 at home.

 

[mysafehome01]

Propranolol is probably the 'safest' drug out of all the ones you're taking. There should be little to no interaction with those. From previous experience they do help a lot over time.

 

[bdomihizayka]

oh i was afraid of all of them at one point, im afraid of taking new pills. I cried when i got prescribed xanax initially because i didn't want to take it.
I've had panic disorder for 12 years but only been on benzos for the first year (ativan), and then the last 4 years. except i was off them in 2014. I was scared of taking the temazepam as well.

I have had thyroid checked multiple times and my vitamins and recently hormones. I do take supplemental magnesium and iron and b12 which has helped significantly with the depression. The only thing i haven't had checked is some sort of adrenal issue.

I would like to start running again but with the agoraphobia i have left the house 3 times this year. It did help me and so did swimming but right now im limited to the elipical and treadmill for running and other indoor exercises. I do find it helpful however sometimes the heart rate increase freaks me out because of the rapid pulse i get during my panic attacks. I know threes not really a way around that because the exercises that are beneficial to me are the ones that would increase my heart rate.

Is there a better option for agoraphobia? My agoraphobia is seriously making everything more difficult, if i was able to leave the house without panicking i would be able to do a lot more to help myself.

I feel for you dude. I really do. I didn't know it was that severe.

I had bad anxiety too.

Do you know how I cured it? I moved to a different country. It FORCED me out of my comfort zone and it was a complete shock. The lifestyle was a complete 180, and there was no getting around "enabling" my anxiety and avoidance tendencies. Exposure therapy- you need to be exposed to what you're afraid of and stay in that situation. You won't die, you'll just feel extremely uncomfortable, and eventually you become habituated to it and you stop feeling so anxious.

Try forcing yourself into extremely uncomfortable situations. Also, work with a therapist on this if you can. It's the only way to beat it, and it can be completely beaten.

 

[tiredbored]

I feel for you dude. I really do. I didn't know it was that severe.

I had bad anxiety too.

Do you know how I cured it? I moved to a different country. It FORCED me out of my comfort zone and it was a complete shock. The lifestyle was a complete 180, and there was no getting around "enabling" my anxiety and avoidance tendencies. Exposure therapy- you need to be exposed to what you're afraid of and stay in that situation. You won't die, you'll just feel extremely uncomfortable, and eventually you become habituated to it and you stop feeling so anxious.

Try forcing yourself into extremely uncomfortable situations. Also, work with a therapist on this if you can. It's the only way to beat it, and it can be completely beaten.

I actually did the same thing. I moved from canada to the US and my issues stopped. i was doing ok in canada at the time i moved but i did still have some anxiety and agoraphobia,, and then i moved here and i was great, felt normal, got married, was happy, and then he cheated on me and my depression got bad and the one night BAM panic attackk (i thought it was a respiratory issue so went to the ER). honestly that ER experience was shit because the dr told me he thought i had a blood clot because of an abnormal ekg, did a blood draw, came back and said its not a blood clot and that the abnormal ekg can be normal for some people, said i have bronchitis, gave me a breathing treatment sent me home with an inhaler. and then my panic attacks returned, the next day, probably 20 of them, and it was non stop every day after that, i the agoraphobia came back in full force as well.

I'm still with him and hes military and we can't really move, and i absolutely HATE the town we live in, I hate the people here, and i have no family here, they are in canada, and i have no friends here, and i can't drive since my license expired and im too scared to drive now.

I rack my brain trying to find a good way to get used to going out again. If i had friends here it would be easy because my friends back home were cool as shit and would always ask me to come out even just to drive around, and little by little i got better and better with it. but here i just don't have anyone like that at all, and i think thats making my panic attacks worse because if something happens i have no one i can call. my husbands not really home much at all, and he also gets pissed at me when i say ill go somewhere and thenn decide i wanna turn around.

maybe the best thing would be to try and suck it up well enough to make the flight home to canada and my dad can help me out, or fly him out here. he hasn't come out since my mom passed away though so i dont know if he will come.