Dose - Daily Alprazolam dose for panic attacks

[Str8]

My friend Meg has had panic attacks starting about a year back. When she initially went in for her first visit, she described her sypmtoms--how many panic atacks she gets per week/month. Meg told her about 2 or 3 per month.

At the office the doc was contemplating out loud whether or not to put meg on them everyday. Meg being scared of getting addicted said she would prefer the as needed basis. But is now biting her toungue since Meg truly feels like she does need them daily at this point.

Meg's question is how would she go about trying to get the doc to bring up the dosage to everyday again ? Should she tell her she is having more panic attacks on top of the original 3?

Meg's goal is to have herself a legal prescription for xanax, or valium.. whatever as long as it levels out her head. Any suggesstions on which method to use ?

[wespawloski]

SWIM suggests she tells her doctor that she has been feeling apprehensive often. She has tried a daily dose and experienced a great improvement to her quality of life, she thinks she would benefit from a daily prescription. Most doctors will understand, because this sounds to be a relatively new experience, her honesty should be alright

She might want to talk to her doc about an "as needed" setup. She might take her Alprazolam often, but will attempt to pace herself; on days where she has little to do, or is feeling good, she will refrain.

SWIM did a quick google search, and SWIY might consider an extended release benzodiazepine, possibly a low dose daily, or even a single dose every two days. SWIM would advise she stay away from ambien (Zolpidem, it has an extended release form, but SWIM had a rough relationship with that mistress :/ and its not a real benzodiazepine). SWIM doesn't know if any popular benzos come in ER form, its worth a chat with her doctor.

heres a random chart and some info anxiety medication, she may take a look and talk to her doc about a longer-acting alternative.
http://www.aolhealth.com/conditions/...e-alternatives

Heres a better resource, which cites a "Xanax XR"
http://www.drug3k.com/drug/Benzodiazepines-39595.htm

She should feel free to discuss with her doc how medications affect her. She should not be afraid to talk to her doc about experimenting with the array of benzodiazepines, if necessary. Each medication may have distinct, but subtle, properties that can prove to be a better fit. BUT, if she finds something that works well, its best not to mess with it :P

If you have any other questions, feel free :P Best of luck!

BTW : What dose is she on currently?

[Str8]

She is prescribed 5mg xanax currently (for panic attack only or as needed, whatever that means). Meg also forgot to mention that she is terrified of having the script stopped for some reason. This makes up most of her reluctance to go on full time. She knows how incredibly difficult it is to WD from these things but at the same time she really needs them to the point that everything in her life is affected by anxiety. Do most doctors put people on these things and then cut swiy off or even taper swiy off or would it then be swiy's decision at that point ?

[gundrun]

Str8,

I took xanax for about twenty years varying my daily dose according to how I felt. I developed tolerance and began having tolerance withdrawal symptoms. (no fun)The dose was increased which fixed the problem for a while. When I hit 5 mg X per day my doctor wanted me to talk to a shrink saying we couldn't just keep increaqsing the dose indefinitely. At this point I was taking them mostly to ward off withdrawal symptoms. I studeied and found that clonazepam often worked better for panic attacks and the effects lasted much longer. So i convinced my doctor to switch me over to clonazepam. I did a slow switch over, reducing the x while i added an equal amount of clon. It took a little while to finish the switch and get used to the different effect of the clonazepam. But i found it definitely worked better for controlling panic. At this point I am doing a liquid titration off the clon to become benzo free I make extremely small reductions daily. I have experienced no withdrawal symptoms. It is a time consuming process in about a year I am half way there. Slow and gentle gets the job done.

gundrun

gundrun added 2 Minutes and 33 Seconds later...

Sorry that should read ten years not twenty.

G

Reputation Comments on this post:

Great information and well articulated.