Just planning ahead

[bosch man]

...my dog is taking .25 alprazolam for severe anxiety 3 times a day, only just started, he plans to take for 2 weeks to give himself a rest from 19 years of being really disabled by fear, then he will be without for 2 weeks then start up again. Will he have any problems just stopping from this dose or should he ween off over a couple of weeks then have a 2 week break. Does this sound a good plan for not becoming tolerant and major future problems in your opinions? (he will never abuse it)

[Drats]

Regular alprazolam is prescribed for a short time (in Germany they say 2-4 weeks maximum). Also these are the low dosaged ones, so 2 weeks shouldn´t be problematic for the dog. But a tolerance is slowly growing, so even after one week the effects are not the same anymore. And this could lead to a problem, even if there is a break for 2 weeks after 2 weeks taking them. The day will come where the dog feels the necessity to raise the dosage and alprazolam is not the final solution for anxiety at all. So SWIMs advice is to take it 2 weeks and work on the problem which is responsible for the anxiety. If 2 weeks are not enough, the dog should make the mentioned break of 2 weeks and than continue for 2 weeks to finally solve the problem. But SWIM must advice that the dog should stop for a longer time after 2 periods if the problem still exists, maybe 8-12 weeks.

Reputation Comments on this post:

Alerting OP to deal with issues surrounding drug use, good advice.

[SmokeRings]

SWIM wonders if the OP is getting this through a doctor? If so, why would one not talk to the doctor about this?
SWIM knows a person who was addicted (heavy, heavy amounts) of Xanax and decided to quit cold turkey. SWIMs friend had a stroke at age 26. SWIMs friend was told that even on low doses, this type of medication should be carefully monitored by a heath care professional.
Again, the amount SWIMs friend was on was astronomical, so SWIM doubts the same could occur, but still wanted to throw that out there, all in the name of harm reduction!

Reputation Comments on this post:

Harm reduction, good advice.