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  • BDD Moderators: Keif’ Richards

Xanax XR or IR??

Are you having anything else like cognitive behavioral therapy for your anxiety? I hope your not only on drugs for that kind of excessive anxiety?
 
xanax is probably the only drug i would say XR, its so short i feel it for 2-3 hours and im dropped back to my anxious self and i feel like i need more xanax to chomp on...
 
I'd say the XR Xanax although I've never been on it, I was on the IR Xanax daily for a couple years and it just made my anxiety worse due to the ups and downs. I think the IR Xanax is only good for panic attacks. I take Klonopin daily now and it works the best, also see a therapist, but without the Klonopin my anxiety comes back so fast.

I know how you feel, it sucks to have to rely on benzos, you're on pretty damn high dose but I understand that you gotta do what works for you. For me I find the Klonopin to have very few side effects, with xanax I always felt a little off, if you haven't tried Klonopin yet I'd give it a shot. Although I haven't tried XR Xanax either...
 
Since you have General Anxiety that is fairly constant throughout the day, I definitely think you need a longer acting medication. The others have given quality advice, but I was just curious if you had ever considered switching to a different benzo, with a longer half life? Klonopin or Valium would be a good choice and personally work much better for my general anxiety than xanax IR. I have used XR Xanax before and did not have great results with it, personally.
 
jonny11007, I can relate to your anxiety levels quite a bit. I had my first panic attack in a social situation at six years old—not exactly a pleasant issue to deal with! On top of the severe panic disorder, I also have Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, as well as periods of time when I simply do not care to leave my house. Although I have never been diagnosed as agoraphobic, ever since the development of PTSD, I often just want to stay in my house due to my anxiety levels being so high out in public. With that said, I can undoubtedly relate to having multiple anxiety disorders, haha. As far as medication is concerned, I was originally started on 1mg Klonopin once daily. Although it was better than nothing, I felt as though it made me feel a bit like a zombie while not alleviating as much anxiety as I had hoped for. I also felt that it lowered my usually quite high sex drive. Needless to say, I gave Klonopin the boot! Haha! Next, I was put on 1mg of regular Xanax twice daily. I found that the regular Xanax did exactly what you had stated—made me very high and very low, very quickly. Finally my doctor prescribed me 3mgs of Xanax XR once daily. The Xanax XR has changed my life. Although I still have issues with severe panic attacks, the severity of them has decreased immensely. I can honestly say that Xanax XR in combination with Inderal has changed my life. I firmly believe that for people with severe anxiety who are genuinely looking to improve the quality of their lives, Xanax XR is the right medication. You seem to be on the right track! Although, I am a bit surprised your doctor prescribed you such a high dosage. Mine told me that the highest dosage they could prescribe was what I am currently taking—3mg XR daily. If your dosage is what you feel you truly need though, by all means go with it (as long as you are being logical, of course). We are not all wired to have good nerves!

Anyway, best of luck with your situation!
 
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klonopin + lyrica (used in combonation) are the best for round the clock relief for all anxiety disorders imo
 
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