Alprazolam for Daily Anxiety

[Florida40Cal]

So, based on advice Ive received from multiple doctors, Ive been told Alprazolam should not be used to treat "anxiety" but rather should be used to help stop or prevent the onset of a panic attack. None of the doctors I've spoken with will prescribe more than thirty 0.5mg Alprazolam a month. They tell me they're not to be taken daily, but only when a panic attack occurs. So that's the doctors advice.

As far as reality, Alprazolam is the only medication that reduces my anxiety throughout the day, and, as long as I take it daily, it reduces my anxiety and stops my panic attacks all together. I'm in a high stress work environment, and as a bsuiness owner Im personally responsibility for my family and the livelihood of 30 others and their families. Of course, works not the only weight or burden on my shoulders, and most days everything feels like the world is going to come crashing down on me if I don't keep holding it up.

Diazapam and Klonopin dull me out for days on end. They give me a horrible hang over feeling and make me want to sleep all day. I can't properly function if I take those medications. So, I take Alprazolam daily, between 0.5 - 2mg daily (average around 1mg), which allows me to function comfortably. Because my doctor doesn't believe Alprazolam is to be taken daily, I have to turn to alternative sources for the medication. 

I have two questions here: (1) Is there another medication I can talk to my doctor about, in which he will be more willing to prescribe for anxiety and panic attacks, that act similar to Alprazolam? I've tried antidepressants and SSRi's which are supposed to also reduce anxiety (so says my doctor) however all they did was give me "racing thoughts", low sex drive, and incredible highs and lows in mood if I skipped a day. I stopped SSRI's completely. The withdrawal was horrible.

My second question: Is Alprazolam a "life long" medication? Or can it be used "life long". I often feel like my doctor is feeding me lines of bullsh*t, but he explained to me that this isn't a medication that someone can stay on for their life, and that I need to seek some sort of counciling or therapy which will "solve my anxiety issues". He's actively reducing my prescription amount at the moment, and so I'm actively ordering the medication myself. FYI- As my doctor is aware of, I've been to multiple therapists and councilors. I've learned some ways to reduce stress and amxiety, but nothing compares to actively taking Alprazolam. Am I in the wrong? All the professionals tell me I can't take this medication forever. Why not? Maybe the pill is the easy way out, but the truth is that it works, and it works wel..

 

[PTFC]

So, based on advice Ive received from multiple doctors, Ive been told Alprazolam should not be used to treat "anxiety" but rather should be used to help stop or prevent the onset of a panic attack. None of the doctors I've spoken with will prescribe more than thirty 0.5mg Alprazolam a month. They tell me they're not to be taken daily, but only when a panic attack occurs. So that's the doctors advice.

As far as reality, Alprazolam is the only medication that reduces my anxiety throughout the day, and, as long as I take it daily, it reduces my anxiety and stops my panic attacks all together. I'm in a high stress work environment, and as a bsuiness owner Im personally responsibility for my family and the livelihood of 30 others and their families. Of course, works not the only weight or burden on my shoulders, and most days everything feels like the world is going to come crashing down on me if I don't keep holding it up.

Diazapam and Klonopin dull me out for days on end. They give me a horrible hang over feeling and make me want to sleep all day. I can't properly function if I take those medications. So, I take Alprazolam daily, between 0.5 - 2mg daily (average around 1mg), which allows me to function comfortably. Because my doctor doesn't believe Alprazolam is to be taken daily, I have to turn to alternative sources for the medication. 

I have two questions here: (1) Is there another medication I can talk to my doctor about, in which he will be more willing to prescribe for anxiety and panic attacks, that act similar to Alprazolam? I've tried antidepressants and SSRi's which are supposed to also reduce anxiety (so says my doctor) however all they did was give me "racing thoughts", low sex drive, and incredible highs and lows in mood if I skipped a day. I stopped SSRI's completely. The withdrawal was horrible.

My second question: Is Alprazolam a "life long" medication? Or can it be used "life long". I often feel like my doctor is feeding me lines of bullsh*t, but he explained to me that this isn't a medication that someone can stay on for their life, and that I need to seek some sort of counciling or therapy which will "solve my anxiety issues". He's actively reducing my prescription amount at the moment, and so I'm actively ordering the medication myself. FYI- As my doctor is aware of, I've been to multiple therapists and councilors. I've learned some ways to reduce stress and amxiety, but nothing compares to actively taking Alprazolam. Am I in the wrong? All the professionals tell me I can't take this medication forever. Why not? Maybe the pill is the easy way out, but the truth is that it works, and it works wel..

There is much discussion about this med on the site. As with other meds in this class, the longer you take it the less effective it usually becomes, unless the dose is increased. Where I am, the long term prescribing of these meds is discouraged,  the mantra is,  "the lowest possible dose for the least amount of time". Your med purely treats anxiety and is very effective at doing so, but other options are available, beta blockers, non SSRI antidepressant (I found Mirtazipine very helpful in times gone by). There is plenty to read both here and on the Web. Your doctor has a point in some respects I believe, counselling and such isn't for everyone but maybe trying it and getting to the root of the issue could lead you to a more fulfilling and stress free life. Please note, I am not judging you in any way. The key thing is that you lead a fulfilling and as stress free life as possible, but it's also important to realise that everyone has different base levels of anxiety and indeed some use it to "push" or inspire themselves. 

 

[Florida40Cal]

There is much discussion about this med on the site. As with other meds in this class, the longer you take it the less effective it usually becomes, unless the dose is increased. Where I am, the long term prescribing of these meds is discouraged,  the mantra is,  "the lowest possible dose for the least amount of time". Your med purely treats anxiety and is very effective at doing so, but other options are available, beta blockers, non SSRI antidepressant (I found Mirtazipine very helpful in times gone by). There is plenty to read both here and on the Web. Your doctor has a point in some respects I believe, counselling and such isn't for everyone but maybe trying it and getting to the root of the issue could lead you to a more fulfilling and stress free life. Please note, I am not judging you in any way. The key thing is that you lead a fulfilling and as stress free life as possible, but it's also important to realise that everyone has different base levels of anxiety and indeed some use it to "push" or inspire themselves. 

Thanks for your response. I've asked for different options from my doctor, however his only two options have been SSRI's or Alpralzolam. Ive never heard of Beta blockers or the other medication you listed, but I'll check into it and ask him about it. I've typically gotton all my healthcare information from my doctor and haven't really questioned things until now. Especially since he's asking me to find alternatives as he becomes more unwilling to prescribe, he's put the resolution on me. Which is perfectly okay, I've just always relied on professionals advice, as I'm not one.

Unfortunately my mind feeds off of anxiety, it's how my I manage my life and my business, and I've done it for years and years. So, sure, I use it to push and inspire myself, but typically it's to the extreme. I think my obsessive and compulsive nature plays a part in that. 

One part that struck me in your message, was stating that this medication purely treats anxiety. Which is exactly what I want it to do, right? As far as resolving the anxiety all together, I've lost hope there long ago. The only options I've been given are councilors and therapist, but where Im from, these people are quacks.

I'm guessing there's a general consensus among doctors that this medication should be prescribed in as low a dose as possible for the least amount of time as possible, because that's how my doctor prescribes. I assume their concerned about dependency. I'm not physically or mentally dependent on any medication what so ever.  I will say, on the flip side of things, my anxiety level is so severe, I could care less about developing a dependency on a medication. Ive never experienced additction in my life, so that may be irresponsible to say, but the anxiety I feel daily is unbearable at times. "At the edge of a cliff" unbearable.

Regardless of whether it's medication or some alternative form, I will do whatever it takes to reduce my anxiety. That's my end goal. That's what will make me healthier. 

Thanks.

 

[US Army Veteran]

I 

So, based on advice Ive received from multiple doctors, Ive been told Alprazolam should not be used to treat "anxiety" but rather should be used to help stop or prevent the onset of a panic attack. None of the doctors I've spoken with will prescribe more than thirty 0.5mg Alprazolam a month. They tell me they're not to be taken daily, but only when a panic attack occurs. So that's the doctors advice.

As far as reality, Alprazolam is the only medication that reduces my anxiety throughout the day, and, as long as I take it daily, it reduces my anxiety and stops my panic attacks all together. I'm in a high stress work environment, and as a bsuiness owner Im personally responsibility for my family and the livelihood of 30 others and their families. Of course, works not the only weight or burden on my shoulders, and most days everything feels like the world is going to come crashing down on me if I don't keep holding it up.

Diazapam and Klonopin dull me out for days on end. They give me a horrible hang over feeling and make me want to sleep all day. I can't properly function if I take those medications. So, I take Alprazolam daily, between 0.5 - 2mg daily (average around 1mg), which allows me to function comfortably. Because my doctor doesn't believe Alprazolam is to be taken daily, I have to turn to alternative sources for the medication. 

I have two questions here: (1) Is there another medication I can talk to my doctor about, in which he will be more willing to prescribe for anxiety and panic attacks, that act similar to Alprazolam? I've tried antidepressants and SSRi's which are supposed to also reduce anxiety (so says my doctor) however all they did was give me "racing thoughts", low sex drive, and incredible highs and lows in mood if I skipped a day. I stopped SSRI's completely. The withdrawal was horrible.

My second question: Is Alprazolam a "life long" medication? Or can it be used "life long". I often feel like my doctor is feeding me lines of bullsh*t, but he explained to me that this isn't a medication that someone can stay on for their life, and that I need to seek some sort of counciling or therapy which will "solve my anxiety issues". He's actively reducing my prescription amount at the moment, and so I'm actively ordering the medication myself. FYI- As my doctor is aware of, I've been to multiple therapists and councilors. I've learned some ways to reduce stress and amxiety, but nothing compares to actively taking Alprazolam. Am I in the wrong? All the professionals tell me I can't take this medication forever. Why not? Maybe the pill is the easy way out, but the truth is that it works, and it works wel..

Man I know exactly what you mean. I have high levels of anxiety and none of the other benzodiazepines help me. Diazepam and Clonazepam make me sluggish and LoraZepam just doesn't work well.

Doctors over the years have told me the same thing about Alprazolam as well as other benzodiazepines. I've tried the anti depressants as well that are suppose to reduce anxiety but I never found one that truly helped. Like you I also experienced some bad withdrawals from SSRIs.

a lot of my anxiety stems from PTSD and a TBI I got while in the Army. Not to mention like you I own a business as well and have not my own family to worry about my many others as well.

A doctor once gave me hydroxizne(something like that) and it worked good but taking it as prescribed it end up counter acting some of my other meds and gave me a seizure. So perhaps try that hydroxizne. Buspar also caused me seizures I cannot take that either.

So man I know exactly what you saying and feel for you.

 

[Florida40Cal]

I 

Man I know exactly what you mean. I have high levels of anxiety and none of the other benzodiazepines help me. Diazepam and Clonazepam make me sluggish and LoraZepam just doesn't work well.

Doctors over the years have told me the same thing about Alprazolam as well as other benzodiazepines. I've tried the anti depressants as well that are suppose to reduce anxiety but I never found one that truly helped. Like you I also experienced some bad withdrawals from SSRIs.

a lot of my anxiety stems from PTSD and a TBI I got while in the Army. Not to mention like you I own a business as well and have not my own family to worry about my many others as well.

A doctor once gave me hydroxizne(something like that) and it worked good but taking it as prescribed it end up counter acting some of my other meds and gave me a seizure. So perhaps try that hydroxizne. Buspar also caused me seizures I cannot take that either.

So man I know exactly what you saying and feel for you.

I'm sorry you experience similar anxieties, but to be honest, It feels like a weight is lifted off my shoulders to hear someone I can relate too. Especially another business owner. I lie awake at night, thinking about work. When times are good, I'm anxious about keeping us prosperous, and about doing better quality work, and when times are bad I'm anxious about meeting payroll and finding the next contract. 

I haven't been in the military, but I'm certain the psychological and physical stress that puts on the body is extremely intense. I had a severe car crash years ago (I was a victim of road rage) where the SUV flipped, I was ejected, and the vehicle landed on my legs. I experienced a form of PTSD, such as reoccurring nightmares from that incident, but I couldn't begin to compare it to someone whose been in our armed forces. 

I'll check out the medications you listed. Buspar was prescribed to me a couple years ago, but only for a short 1 or 2 month period. I'm not certain why my doctor stopped prescribing it, and I cannot remember if it helped (it likely didn't, if I can't remember it). I've never heard of hydroxizine, but I'll look it up.

It feels damn good to relate to someone on this issue. Thank you so much. 

 

[US Army Veteran]

I'm sorry you experience similar anxieties, but to be honest, It feels like a weight is lifted off my shoulders to hear someone I can relate too. Especially another business owner. I lie awake at night, thinking about work. When times are good, I'm anxious about keeping us prosperous, and about doing better quality work, and when times are bad I'm anxious about meeting payroll and finding the next contract. 

I haven't been in the military, but I'm certain the psychological and physical stress that puts on the body is extremely intense. I had a severe car crash years ago (I was a victim of road rage) where the SUV flipped, I was ejected, and the vehicle landed on my legs. I experienced a form of PTSD, such as reoccurring nightmares from that incident, but I couldn't begin to compare it to someone whose been in our armed forces. 

I'll check out the medications you listed. Buspar was prescribed to me a couple years ago, but only for a short 1 or 2 month period. I'm not certain why my doctor stopped prescribing it, and I cannot remember if it helped (it likely didn't, if I can't remember it). I've never heard of hydroxizine, but I'll look it up.

It feels damn good to relate to someone on this issue. Thank you so much. 

I felt the same way when I read your post late last night not being able to sleep for similar reasons you just mentioned. I looked up that med and the correct spelling is hydroxyzine name brand Vistaril. It worked good for me but it counter acted another Med of mine and I had a seizure so I stopped taking it. 

 

[ElectroNymph]

It tends to work brilliantly for a while and then lose a lot of its beneficial effects. The best thing to do is take it for a short time, then substitute it with something else for a period, then when you return to the Xanax, it will be more beneficial again.

 

[Rec]

Hi I have read this thread and am about to order some of s Ls 0.5 French alprazl lam just was keen to get any advice on how good they are, thanks in advice 

 

[Ipon]

It tends to work brilliantly for a while and then lose a lot of its beneficial effects. The best thing to do is take it for a short time, then substitute it with something else for a period, then when you return to the Xanax, it will be more beneficial again.

I tend to agree with you. I alternate between five benz. It seems to work out pretty well for me.

 

[PeaceFiend]

The best bet for long-term daily use without tolerance issues is as others have stated, alternating between different anxiolytics that don't have much of a sedative effect. There are some non-benzo gaba drugs like etifoxine and pregab@lin which increase gaba output without much sedation for most people. The reason I mention pregab@lin over the other gabapentinoids, is that it supposedly doesn't agonize the gaba receptor whatsoever but still decreases anxiety; phenibut and gab@pentin both have some affinity for gaba-a or gaba-b if I'm not mistaken and can also be fairly sedating for some people.

There's also phen@zepam if you can source it from Ru in Rx form. It's predominately anxiolytic, but unfortunately it has strong amnesia as a side effect. It is like clonaze but without the sluggish feeling in exchange for more pronounced memory issues and a really long duration. When I take it I can't feel anything but the anxiolysis and amnesia at a 1 mg dose. I don't notice sedation and muscle relaxation but the memory problems can become pretty annoying. Somehow I get less memory impairment now probably due to some tolerance to that effect, but I haven't noticed a decrease in its anti-anxiety potential.

 

[Ipon]

The best bet for long-term daily use without tolerance issues is as others have stated, alternating between different anxiolytics that don't have much of a sedative effect. There are some non-benzo gaba drugs like etifoxine and pregab@lin which increase gaba output without much sedation for most people. The reason I mention pregab@lin over the other gabapentinoids, is that it supposedly doesn't agonize the gaba receptor whatsoever but still decreases anxiety; phenibut and gab@pentin both have some affinity for gaba-a or gaba-b if I'm not mistaken and can also be fairly sedating for some people.

There's also phen@zepam if you can source it from Ru in Rx form. It's predominately anxiolytic, but unfortunately it has strong amnesia as a side effect. It is like clonaze but without the sluggish feeling in exchange for more pronounced memory issues and a really long duration. When I take it I can't feel anything but the anxiolysis and amnesia at a 1 mg dose. I don't notice sedation and muscle relaxation but the memory problems can become pretty annoying. Somehow I get less memory impairment now probably due to some tolerance to that effect, but I haven't noticed a decrease in its anti-anxiety potential.

I am very interested in knowing about alternative methods to relieve anxiety and panic. My question is. Will the compounds you mentioned keep people from going into withdraw from their normal schedule? Thank you very much for your insight into this topic.

 

[PeaceFiend]

^ I'm not sure as everyones situation is different and I'm not a medical professional, but I'll give my take.

In some detox centers here they use pregab@lin to get alcoholics through their acute withdrawal and it is sometimes used to alleviate mild opioid withdrawals where the person isn't strongly addicted in place of methadone maintenance therapy or subutex. It gets them through the physical withdrawals by combating RLS, lack of appetite, and temperature fluctuations in addition to its anti-convulsant, anxiolytic and mild anti-depressant effects. They used to choose mostly Valiyum for detoxing alcoholics and to manage mild cases of physical 0pioid addictions so I suspect if Valiyum can be substituted for pregab@lin than pregab@lin might help with Valiyum and other benz0 withdrawals, as they produce a sufficiently similar profile of effects through a different mechanism. I could be completely wrong though so don't take this as concrete info.

Etifoxine I'm almost sure won't help with someone physically dependent on benz0s. It agonizes the gaba receptor but not at the same sub-units as benz0s do; benz0s work on gaba-a sub-units located on the BZD target site possessing various different levels of affinity at alpha 1, a2, etc. depending on the BZD, while etifoxine agonizes gaba-a at a different site entirely. I can't remember the exact name of the sub-unit but it isn't located on the BZD target site. Not only that, but etifoxine seems to only be capable of producing anxiolysis without any anti-epileptic or muscle relaxing action so it could be dangerous to experiment with it imo if you're physically dependent on benzos. If you only use benz0s as needed it provides a clearheaded but fairly mild anti-anxiety effect. I'm too tied up atm to dig around for the study they did on etifoxine finding it was just as effective as lor@zepam for mental anxiety symptoms without the shitty impairing side-effects that benz0s produce, some people like that clean feeling kind of drunkenness that comes with the anti-anxiety effect of them though, so different strokes for different folks. The study might be cited on wiki or tripsit with a link to the study on pubmed, I wish I could remember where I found the link off the top of my head.

As for phen@zepam, it's prescribed in Ru for the same reasons other benz0s are. All I know about it is mostly from experience and it seems like its strongest effect is anxiolysis followed by a pronounced amnesia even at therapeutic doses. If it weren't for the amnesia it would've been my favorite benz0 as soon as I first tried it. I don't get as much amnesia from it as before, but when I first added it to my rotation the memory impairment was much stronger compared to any other benz0 I've tried. Now I get on with it nicely and like its clean anxiolysis at therapeutic doses compared to diaz, clonaz, etc.
When I first try any new benz0 I get curious about what its slight differences in effects are so I have tried up to 3.5 mg of it at once and at very high dosages it produces the same slightly sedating and muscle relaxing properties as all the others, but the active half life is 90 hours! Not the physical half-life, the actual psychoactive effects persist for a couple of days if you dose too much. You have to be careful with it and start at a low dose and wait 3 hours to see where the optimal dosage is at for you if you're new to it because it takes at least 2 hours to kick in, sometimes longer. If you fuck up and take too much with phen@zepam you will be intoxicated for a few days and since it's usually not as sedating for most people you could get into some sticky situations as you can't just sleep it off. Anything above 2.5 mg at a time isn't prescribed in Ru that I'm aware of except for severe cases of acute psychosis or delirium tremons and it's more often prescribed at .5-1 mg dosages for anxiety.
It's not a benz0 for recreational use if anyone reading this does use them that way. The amnesia and subtle profile of effects coupled with its long duration can easily lead to delusions of sobriety and compulsive re-dosing. When it was being sold as an R.C. quite a few people went wild with it and ended up blacking out for weeks at a time, making seriously life altering decisions and usually not positive ones...it does sometimes happen that people make better decisions if their inhibitions are naturally way over the top and they take a benz0 and go into a semi-blackout state and suddenly can get positive things done without the crippling hesitation; that's the rare exception though from what I've read. I sometimes wonder if phen@zepam was manufactured to have such strong amnesia to help people who can't decide on things because they see the subtle nuances in everything or to help people forget past trauma. They utilize benz0s in hospital settings before and after surgery for the memory impairment they can cause in addition to relaxing the patient for example, so the very strong amnesia with phenaz might have been intended to help people forget traumas in their past. Sorry I kind of went on a tangent explaining this compound, it was officially ordered to be designed for the Russi@n cosmonauts iirc, pet theories intrigue me though

 

[Ipon]

^ That was incredibly insightful. I'm practically speechless. I found your info on Phen@zepam very interesting. I see that it has 10 times the potency of Di@azepam. I'm no expert on equivalencies but, it seems even if you took 2MG it would only equate to 1MG Kpin. With a duration of about 18 hours I would be very curious to at least give this a try. No source found but, I have not dug hard. The RC section here is huge and I've only begun to dig. I'm always on the lookout for RC benz0z in pellet form that will make it to the U.S. Feel free to drop me a hint on some good sites if anyone knows. Thank you @PeaceFiend. That was an incredible amount of info in response to my question.

 

[PeaceFiend]

^ As far as I'm aware it's banned in China so you won't have luck getting it from R.C. vendors. I wish I could provide you a link to the IOP I use but he likes to keep low key and probably wouldn't want a post about his website on a forum. It has an active metabolite called 3-OH-Phen@zepam which is nearly as potent, so after it's converted to the metabolite it will still provide anxiolysis beyond 9-18 hours(this is rare as most common benz0s that produce active metabolites have significantly less potency compared to the parent). The pharmaceutical tablets come in dosage forms similar to lor@zepam, topping out at 2.5mg as well. I think potency wise it's close to lor@z, in terms of effects/active duration they couldn't be more different though. I like its lower potency compared to Koalapins, really potent benz0s scare me a bit for whatever reason.

The active metabolite is available from R.C. vendors but I prefer having the actual pharma-pressed tablets rather than some powder that could be impure or cut.

 

[missmolly]

Hi I have read this thread and am about to order some of s Ls 0.5 French alprazl lam just was keen to get any advice on how good they are, thanks in advice 

Xanax and alpraz are the same?? I received Xanax from SL Pfizer brand and don’t like it. At all. Did you receive? Brand? How did you like it?

 

[Trevor88]

Molly, was the french alp that you tried from SL the brand Frontin? If so, how would you rate its quality?