Anyone use Xanax or had problems?
Member
Join Date: Aug 2014
Posts: 72
My doctor gave me Xanax to help me stop drinking a couple of times and I got so addicted to it. All that happened is I abused the Xanax and kept drinking. Your brain screams for more like it does with alcohol and drugs.
I would like to share my story with benzo's. I have suffered a lifetime of anxiety and panic attacks. (Almost 30 years) I drank alcohol to self medicate my anxiety and panic disorder. I was given valium for my panic attacks and the magic happened. I was free of my panic attacks! (or so I thought) I was prescribed .5mg, 3 times a day. Seems like a low dose, right? I thought so. I never abused my medications and stuck with the prescribed amount...for years.
The problem is that the "small dose" allowed my alcoholism to really take off. I did not feel the terrible anxiety you get from hangovers, from over drinking and just in general. I still had the terrible anxiety, but the panic part where I thought I was going to die was medicated now.
When I chose to get sober, I stopped the valium as well. I had a few to get me through the initial alcohol detox, then I was done. What I was not prepared for is what happened next...
Around three to four months sober, I started to hallucinate. Things did not look or feel "right". I started to itch like crazy. I had night sweats. I was basically wigging out. A month or so later, I started to want to die. I knew I didn't want to commit suicide, but the thought of making all the craziness in my head go away came up often. It got even better...I started to want to take others out with me. I wanted to hurt my dog because of how he "felt" when I held him. Noises were so loud, it felt like someone hit me with a 2x4 in the back of the head.
This was TERRIBLE!!!!! The worst part about it is that nobody told me that what I was experiencing was valium withdrawal. I had not even considered that since I was taking such a "low dose". I never abused the pills...always took as prescribed.
My withdrawal peaked around six to seven months and slowly (and I mean S-L-O-W-L-Y) I returned to normal. This took over a year.
Now that I am 100% chemical free, I received an added bonus. My anxiety and panic attacks are GONE!!! If I had known that eliminating the stuff I was putting into my body to combat anxiety/panic would make it completely go away, I would have quit a long time ago.
From my experience, I say STAY AWAY FROM THE PILLS!!! They never make you quite "right" anyway.
The problem is that the "small dose" allowed my alcoholism to really take off. I did not feel the terrible anxiety you get from hangovers, from over drinking and just in general. I still had the terrible anxiety, but the panic part where I thought I was going to die was medicated now.
When I chose to get sober, I stopped the valium as well. I had a few to get me through the initial alcohol detox, then I was done. What I was not prepared for is what happened next...
Around three to four months sober, I started to hallucinate. Things did not look or feel "right". I started to itch like crazy. I had night sweats. I was basically wigging out. A month or so later, I started to want to die. I knew I didn't want to commit suicide, but the thought of making all the craziness in my head go away came up often. It got even better...I started to want to take others out with me. I wanted to hurt my dog because of how he "felt" when I held him. Noises were so loud, it felt like someone hit me with a 2x4 in the back of the head.
This was TERRIBLE!!!!! The worst part about it is that nobody told me that what I was experiencing was valium withdrawal. I had not even considered that since I was taking such a "low dose". I never abused the pills...always took as prescribed.
My withdrawal peaked around six to seven months and slowly (and I mean S-L-O-W-L-Y) I returned to normal. This took over a year.
Now that I am 100% chemical free, I received an added bonus. My anxiety and panic attacks are GONE!!! If I had known that eliminating the stuff I was putting into my body to combat anxiety/panic would make it completely go away, I would have quit a long time ago.
From my experience, I say STAY AWAY FROM THE PILLS!!! They never make you quite "right" anyway.
I have taken Ativan (Lorazepam, a “benzo" drug similar to Xanax) over an extended period, in a moderate dose occasionally as prescribed.
It helps alleviate the physical symptoms of whatever it is in my nervous system that got knocked permanently off kilter by chronic alcohol abuse (I’m currently 19 months sober). I’m grateful to have it as an adjunct to exercise, meditation, and other non-medicinal remedies in my arsenal against the crippling effects of anxiety.
Unlike with alcohol, with Ativan I have experienced no increased tolerance, no dependence, no cravings, no mental obsession, and no withdrawal symptoms during periods when I don’t use it.
As with alcohol, a potential for abuse and addiction exists, and as with alcohol, horror stories of the results abound. Because some cross-tolerance does exist in the receptors for alcohol and benzos, people with a history of alcohol dependence do need to be extra careful when using benzos.
However, also as with alcohol, the majority of people who use benzos in non-addictive quantities and frequencies do not suffer any ill effects. The fact that some people reacted badly to them or became addicted to them doesn’t mean everyone will.
The potential for addiction, or a few apocryphal horror stories, or even your own individual negative experience does not justify categorically broad-brushing these drugs as “bad.” Your Mileage May Vary.
It helps alleviate the physical symptoms of whatever it is in my nervous system that got knocked permanently off kilter by chronic alcohol abuse (I’m currently 19 months sober). I’m grateful to have it as an adjunct to exercise, meditation, and other non-medicinal remedies in my arsenal against the crippling effects of anxiety.
Unlike with alcohol, with Ativan I have experienced no increased tolerance, no dependence, no cravings, no mental obsession, and no withdrawal symptoms during periods when I don’t use it.
As with alcohol, a potential for abuse and addiction exists, and as with alcohol, horror stories of the results abound. Because some cross-tolerance does exist in the receptors for alcohol and benzos, people with a history of alcohol dependence do need to be extra careful when using benzos.
However, also as with alcohol, the majority of people who use benzos in non-addictive quantities and frequencies do not suffer any ill effects. The fact that some people reacted badly to them or became addicted to them doesn’t mean everyone will.
The potential for addiction, or a few apocryphal horror stories, or even your own individual negative experience does not justify categorically broad-brushing these drugs as “bad.” Your Mileage May Vary.
Member
Join Date: Aug 2013
Posts: 204
I have taken Ativan (Lorazepam, a “benzo" drug similar to Xanax) over an extended period, in a moderate dose occasionally as prescribed.
It helps alleviate the physical symptoms of whatever it is in my nervous system that got knocked permanently off kilter by chronic alcohol abuse (I’m currently 19 months sober). I’m grateful to have it as an adjunct to exercise, meditation, and other non-medicinal remedies in my arsenal against the crippling effects of anxiety.
Unlike with alcohol, with Ativan I have experienced no increased tolerance, no dependence, no cravings, no mental obsession, and no withdrawal symptoms during periods when I don’t use it.
As with alcohol, a potential for abuse and addiction exists, and as with alcohol, horror stories of the results abound. Because some cross-tolerance does exist in the receptors for alcohol and benzos, people with a history of alcohol dependence do need to be extra careful when using benzos.
However, also as with alcohol, the majority of people who use benzos in non-addictive quantities and frequencies do not suffer any ill effects. The fact that some people reacted badly to them or became addicted to them doesn’t mean everyone will.
The potential for addiction, or a few apocryphal horror stories, or even your own individual negative experience does not justify categorically broad-brushing these drugs as “bad.” Your Mileage May Vary.
It helps alleviate the physical symptoms of whatever it is in my nervous system that got knocked permanently off kilter by chronic alcohol abuse (I’m currently 19 months sober). I’m grateful to have it as an adjunct to exercise, meditation, and other non-medicinal remedies in my arsenal against the crippling effects of anxiety.
Unlike with alcohol, with Ativan I have experienced no increased tolerance, no dependence, no cravings, no mental obsession, and no withdrawal symptoms during periods when I don’t use it.
As with alcohol, a potential for abuse and addiction exists, and as with alcohol, horror stories of the results abound. Because some cross-tolerance does exist in the receptors for alcohol and benzos, people with a history of alcohol dependence do need to be extra careful when using benzos.
However, also as with alcohol, the majority of people who use benzos in non-addictive quantities and frequencies do not suffer any ill effects. The fact that some people reacted badly to them or became addicted to them doesn’t mean everyone will.
The potential for addiction, or a few apocryphal horror stories, or even your own individual negative experience does not justify categorically broad-brushing these drugs as “bad.” Your Mileage May Vary.
I'll echo what's been said here many times. It is addictive!! It's a very fast acting benzo, which is part of the reason why it's so abused.
I, too, was prescribed it for a couple of years, and unfortunately I also had access to additional pills as well. As time went on, I noticed that I was not feeling the effects as much, so I would increase my dosages without the doctor's knowledge.
I subsequently put myself in the position that I had to 'ease' off of it under a doctor's care.
I, too, was prescribed it for a couple of years, and unfortunately I also had access to additional pills as well. As time went on, I noticed that I was not feeling the effects as much, so I would increase my dosages without the doctor's knowledge.
I subsequently put myself in the position that I had to 'ease' off of it under a doctor's care.
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