Benzos Don't understand my xanax and sleepiness

been dealing with this for a while and i just don't get it. when i have a major task/place to go where extreme panic/anxiety will will high, i take 3mg xanax. some times, it is perfect and i can function well and don't feel much anxiety (sometimes still struggle with it). but SOMETIMES i cannot for the life of me stay awake!!! i was trying to sit through a meeting and literally just kept falling asleep sitting up. or, i get my lashes tinted/lifted and i usually fall asleep if i've taken my 3mg of xanax that day! i ALSO seem to get the sleepiest when i should be "coming down" from it. like, 4 or 5 hours after taking it. but then again, some times i have the normal pep i have and don't get sleepy at all! i just don't get it. i never know when/if i take it if i will be able to stay awake or not. a friend took me out to lunch after a meeting the other day and i was so on the edge of passing out i could barely hold a conversation and i do not remember anything that was said! so i go from having clarity and functioning fine to passing out like a drunk. this is on THREE mg so not THAT high of a dose. i've been taking it off and on for a few years. i used to abuse it with alcohol and would totally black out. have been sober for 2 years now.
so why do i pass out and fall asleep at the drop of a hat at times and am wide awake and feeling good at other times???
perhaps depends on if i'm sleep deprived? i DO LOVE the sleep time though when i can actually make it to a bed and nap! the best refreshed feeling after a xanax nap!

I?m sure it depends on a lot of things and while 3mg isn?t a huge dose it?s not a small dose either. Do you drink coffee? Maybe you?re crashing off coffee at the same time or maybe you just don?t get enough sleep. It?s hard to say, even the same dose of the same drug can have slightly different effects depending on the state of your body.

Maybe try taking less, i don?t know your tolerance situation so if that?s not a viable option then forget about it.

Three milligrams of Xanax would make me pass out if I had to sit through a boring presentation, no question. If I had to give a presentation, it would take twice that to knock me out, even if I had to sit through an hour of other boring presentations first (I wouldn't, I would be chain smoking and pacing outside for the entire hour, take a snort off a flask, forget that I hadn't eaten, then dry heave and be asked not to go on stage after all--problem solves itself! I've done this before).

I think three milligrams is honestly a lot if you don't take it regularly. Also remember that it wears off fast (less than five hours) so it may be smarter for you to stagger your doses, depending on what the task is.

These things do make you stupid (people, generally) and if you did have to give some sales pitch or something, you don't want to sound like you're a little drunk, and you don't want your judgment too impaired. So try an initial dose, like 1.5mg, then give yourself 0.5mg boosters every hour as needed (up to like 4mg, and have someone drive you back to the hotel afterward).

I'm really sorry to have to tell you this dude, but you're not actually sober and you haven't been sober for two years. Again, I'm not happy to tell you this, but if you're going to truly understand what you're dealing with, we need to get real here.

3mg Alprazolam (Xanax) is a getting-fucked-up dose, plain and simple. The typical dose for someone who has a limited experience with the drug would be in the ballpark of .5mg-1mg. All you are doing is completely numbing yourself. You have to understand that Benzodiazepines are not meant to be used in this way. There is a clear-cut reason, tolerance develops and they lose their effect, leaving you with the same anxiety you had previously (probably worse) and a dependence upon Benzodiazepines.

This is not sobriety. The reason you're falling asleep is because you're taking an inappropriately high dose of a powerful sedative. It is par for the course.

It all depends on how often he takes it, Keif.

If he was a serious, pro-drunk before and hasn't had a drink in two years, gets fucked on Xanax once a month when the heebie-jeebies come; if he doesn't have to chase it the next day--that's called sobriety, straight up, and he can get on his knees and praise Lady Benzo for letting him get away with it.

But OP, if you can function on 3mg because your tolerance for hooch never went down*, and you get fucked on Xanax four times a week--then you've just made a trade. A progressive trade, don't get me wrong. Benzos may not have been made to be used this way, but innovation is a sign you're at least as a smart as a crow, and you're moving in the right direction. Just realize the mystery of why three doubles in one situation makes you a witty social superstar and a slurring wreck in another, is the same mystery behind your Xanax.

For that, there's no answer except actual Sobriety.

That's just the way of benzos. 3mg isn't a small dose. Have you tried taking less? Maybe you've lucked out so far, but if you're falling asleep or blacking out in situations where you need to be awake, it's going to have consequences. You can be slurring and nodding out and be generally benzotarded and absolutely not know it. People on here have said that it's impossible to tell how high/sedated you are on benzos, and that you're the absolute last to know, and I find that this is very true. So even if you don't end up getting pulled over and ending up with a dui/dwai from taking so much xanax, like has happened to people I know who were just taking legitimate medical doses, there will likely be social consequences. If you lose your job because you keep nodding out at meetings, how anxious will you feel then?

Just something to think about. Reduce the dose, find something to augment it if you have to, try counseling, etc.

Congrats on quitting drinking, btw!

Yeah 3mg is a lot , .5 puts me to sleep nicely . Don?t take that much unless you plan on staying home and chilling it?s obviously too much at work and people will notice and talk when they see you passing out nodding in meetings .

I think the previous posts cover some really important ground. 3mg of Alpraz is not a small dose - have you explored other benzos? Everyone is different: I for one get nothing out of Ativan - The stuff will make me forget what I'm doing mid-go long before it relieves my anxiety.

I think you also need to take an honest look at what you're expecting from the medication. It helps relieves anxiety which is just one expression of fear that usually stems from a much deeper complex of problems. I hate to be the guy to say this, but if you want to be truly healthy, you might need to double down on (or find a more effective) psychologist/psychiatrist to talk to.

3mg is a lot dude. I take 1mg for anxiety or 2mg to knock me out when nothing else will. Take less.

3mg at once is a pretty high amount. Obviously your situations are playing a huge factor. I would try using less even during stressful times and see if you?re able to stay awake better.

My boyfriend has been prescribed Xanax for years, and he can function totally normal on 1-2mgs. But once he starts taking 3-5mgs, he?s a goner.

I agree with Keif on this one, 3mg is an absurd amount to take during the day. A bar, which is 2mg, is enough to make a novice blackout for 1/2 a day. How long have you been taking 3mg? How often? I'd go to your doctor and discuss tapering off, seems like it is not mixing well with you and also seems like you are using it too often. Xanax will not help you fix the underlying stress/anxiety issues, it simply masks the issues short term, and in your case it's causing side effects that hinder your professional and social life. You may also be using it as a crutch since you've quit alcohol; you talking about how much you love the feeling and the sleep you get makes me think you may be using it as a means to squash your desire for a drink. In short I'd go to the doctor and get off xanax, safely, with a taper. Then go see a therapist regarding your anxiety.