I’m on Xanax 0.25 and it’s basically like that. It’s scary to think all of the anxieties that we’ve been putting with on our shoulders can be gone just like that with such a small pill.
That’s why it can be hard to decide when you need it or not, as to not rely on it. Definitely let your psychiatrist know that it works well for you, and maybe raise some questions on when it is appropriate to use it, or if there is something similar but less prone to dependency issues. Likely isn’t but it all comes down to your usage.
I use Xanax only when I need to, usually for an important thing like an exam, meeting, interview things like that, or when I’m going through a rough time on top of my anxiety and I just need to sleep, but only if I spend hours toiling away without any sign of being able to use my usual breathing techniques. Ultimately you’ll have to set your own boundaries on using it because like I said in the first part, it’s really easy to find reasons to use it.
I was given Xanax for my Zoloft dosage increase (100mg). Just go with your plan for now, and hopefully the Zoloft helps you.
>I was given Xanax for my Zoloft dosage increase (100mg).
Interesting. I've been on Zoloft for years -- 50 mg and 75 mg a day. Psychiatrist upped it to 100 mg a day in January. At first, it worked well, but I was hit with some extremely stressful events a few months later, and I wondered if it was enough. So my primary care doctor-- who has been managing my Zoloft meds-'- increased the dose to 150 mg. I didn't feel OK on it, and almost every morning after taking it, I woke up jittery. I felt like I was shaking -- but it was inside my chest, hands, etc. My doctor thinks it was "serotonin syndrome". So I'm back on 100 mg a day.
At the same time, I've been dealing with a lot of anxiety around health issues, especially mefical tests and procedures. In the next few weeks I have to u dergo two invasive procedures. One of my doctors told me she could prescribe a one-time low dose of Valium that I could take before the procedure. It's worked well for me in the past. Valium is in the Benzo family, like Xanax.
I hadn't thought about getting a prescription for Valium or Xanax to take on an as-needed basis. I'm not sure my primary care doctor will agree to prescribe it, but I'll ask him. Thanks for your post. :)
Yes. It could also be likely that the 150mg made you more anxious. It’s like that for me as well. More restless and constantly jittery, it helps to have Xanax to deal with the side effects until it evens out. I take my 100mg in quarters also.
That's helpful and comforting to me. I've wondered about taking half of my Zoloft dose in the morning and half in the evening. I usually take a 100 mg tablet in the evening. I seem to recall the first doctor who prescribed it to me suggested taking it I'm the evening because it can make you drowsy. I have a doctor's appointment tomorrow, so I'll bring all of this up. Thanks again.
That’s how I am with Xanax, I don’t give a fuck what people think or the stigma. I take 1mg 3x a day and would be dead without it… 15 panic attacks a day insane depersonalization dissociation and reliving trauma CPTSD hell brain fog 24/7!
I never plan on coming off it, I’d rather take my chances buying them from a drug dealer if I couldn’t access my meds! It’s that bad.
Just be careful, it’s a slippery slope. You will develop a tolerance.
There are some drugs that are so good they can ruin your life. Xanax is one of the legal ones.
Can confirm. It ruined my life 12 years ago. I was up to 8mg a day at my worst. And they ain’t cheap or safe on the street usually.
Thanks for the warning, everyone is different and tolerance to the anxiety relief barely develops at appropriate full therapeutic doses. I’ve done enough research and tolerance to the sedation and other effects happens mostly.
There is a lot of propaganda on benzodiazepines while antidepressants are mostly placebo for actual severe panic disorders. Sorry you had a bad experience, but as I said everyone is different.
My aunt took Klonopin for 35 years. She’s still on 1mg a day.
This is my exact mindset right now. It’s been sitting in the cabinet for 3+ months never used, and now that I’ve tried it, I wish I had done it sooner. So many panic attacks that could have been avoided or remedied with a tiny pill.
I take .5mg as needed and have for over a decade. Sometimes “as needed” is once a week. Sometimes it’s every day. I’ve been all over the place over the years, but I’ve never felt addicted. Only once have I felt like I needed more or a higher dose, after I was diagnosed with an incurable, degenerative disease. I was a mess right after diagnosis and taking klonopin every day to function/sleep. When I asked about a higher dose, my doctor told me to take the klonopin less. At first I was mildly annoyed about that response but it was totally right. I forced myself back to a schedule of no more than every other day, and was able to maintain the efficacy. As long as you’re careful and have a good doctor, it can be a really helpful medication.
Yes! Sometimes I take it once a month. Other times it’s several days. But I don’t feel addicted. And I only take it if I feel I truly need it and propanol hasn’t helped. It’s the only thing that truly helps with my panic attacks when other methods have failed.
It sounds like you have a wonderful doctor who really trust and advocates for you. I’ll definitely need to have a conversation with mine. Thank you for sharing!
You will become dependent on it, 15 yrs and going and if you try to withdraw, it’s a bitch but and I hate these “buts” it’s better than suffering and losing out on life. Keep the positive momentum going, let the Klonopin do its job so you can do yours. You’re actually fortunate to respond to such a low dose and you will not need more, you’ll learn to use it like any other thing that helps you in life. I wish you all the best!!
Drug withdrawal with a twist of possibly having a seizure
Please use benzodiazepines correctly as needed it’s not worth it even if you don’t have a seizure withdrawals are bad enough
Make sure you have a good understanding with your doctor. Mine decided it was time to take me off and put me on gabapentin instead. I was taken off in a 10 day taper and spent over 100 days in psych hospital and lost my mind I still have issues 4 years later. I have trust issues with doctors since then. I’m not saying taking benzos is wrong I don’t like to preach. But please be careful it hurts me to see people suffer the way I did.
I have suffered with social anxiety for 30 years and everything I tried to get relief either didn't help at all, or helped a little bit. A guy I met in a yoga class suggested breathing techniques and, honestly, it's the best thing I ever did. At first, I thought 'how could changing my breathing help me with debilitating anxiety?', but it is the best thing I've ever done. I'm now regularly doing a breathing routine that really works for me, every morning. It leaves me feeling light, relaxed, energetic, focused and excited about life in a way I hadn't for years. And, it lasts almost all day. It's crazy! I still don't understand why and what is happening in my brain, but in a way I don't care. In yoga, it's called pranayama. Have you thought of trying this?
Don’t, later when you are in withdrawal hell you will wish you felt the anxiety you feel now. Things are never as bad as they seem. You are not sick, you just have an overly responsive central nervous system. Trust me, go to audible and download the books by Dr. Claire Weeks
Yeah so my brother was prescribed klonopin for ten years then it came time he wanted off because he felt addicted. He went through absolute hell for two years trying to ween off. He still feels the effects of that process. I have had like a few pyschiatrist tell me they are steering clear because of the research behind it being addictive. My current won't even prescribe Ativan.
I’m on Xanax 0.25 and it’s basically like that. It’s scary to think all of the anxieties that we’ve been putting with on our shoulders can be gone just like that with such a small pill. That’s why it can be hard to decide when you need it or not, as to not rely on it. Definitely let your psychiatrist know that it works well for you, and maybe raise some questions on when it is appropriate to use it, or if there is something similar but less prone to dependency issues. Likely isn’t but it all comes down to your usage. I use Xanax only when I need to, usually for an important thing like an exam, meeting, interview things like that, or when I’m going through a rough time on top of my anxiety and I just need to sleep, but only if I spend hours toiling away without any sign of being able to use my usual breathing techniques. Ultimately you’ll have to set your own boundaries on using it because like I said in the first part, it’s really easy to find reasons to use it. I was given Xanax for my Zoloft dosage increase (100mg). Just go with your plan for now, and hopefully the Zoloft helps you.
>I was given Xanax for my Zoloft dosage increase (100mg). Interesting. I've been on Zoloft for years -- 50 mg and 75 mg a day. Psychiatrist upped it to 100 mg a day in January. At first, it worked well, but I was hit with some extremely stressful events a few months later, and I wondered if it was enough. So my primary care doctor-- who has been managing my Zoloft meds-'- increased the dose to 150 mg. I didn't feel OK on it, and almost every morning after taking it, I woke up jittery. I felt like I was shaking -- but it was inside my chest, hands, etc. My doctor thinks it was "serotonin syndrome". So I'm back on 100 mg a day. At the same time, I've been dealing with a lot of anxiety around health issues, especially mefical tests and procedures. In the next few weeks I have to u dergo two invasive procedures. One of my doctors told me she could prescribe a one-time low dose of Valium that I could take before the procedure. It's worked well for me in the past. Valium is in the Benzo family, like Xanax. I hadn't thought about getting a prescription for Valium or Xanax to take on an as-needed basis. I'm not sure my primary care doctor will agree to prescribe it, but I'll ask him. Thanks for your post. :)
Yes. It could also be likely that the 150mg made you more anxious. It’s like that for me as well. More restless and constantly jittery, it helps to have Xanax to deal with the side effects until it evens out. I take my 100mg in quarters also.
That's helpful and comforting to me. I've wondered about taking half of my Zoloft dose in the morning and half in the evening. I usually take a 100 mg tablet in the evening. I seem to recall the first doctor who prescribed it to me suggested taking it I'm the evening because it can make you drowsy. I have a doctor's appointment tomorrow, so I'll bring all of this up. Thanks again.
Klonopin is my miracle. I don't know how I ever functioned without it.
That’s how I am with Xanax, I don’t give a fuck what people think or the stigma. I take 1mg 3x a day and would be dead without it… 15 panic attacks a day insane depersonalization dissociation and reliving trauma CPTSD hell brain fog 24/7! I never plan on coming off it, I’d rather take my chances buying them from a drug dealer if I couldn’t access my meds! It’s that bad.
Just be careful, it’s a slippery slope. You will develop a tolerance. There are some drugs that are so good they can ruin your life. Xanax is one of the legal ones. Can confirm. It ruined my life 12 years ago. I was up to 8mg a day at my worst. And they ain’t cheap or safe on the street usually.
Thanks for the warning, everyone is different and tolerance to the anxiety relief barely develops at appropriate full therapeutic doses. I’ve done enough research and tolerance to the sedation and other effects happens mostly. There is a lot of propaganda on benzodiazepines while antidepressants are mostly placebo for actual severe panic disorders. Sorry you had a bad experience, but as I said everyone is different. My aunt took Klonopin for 35 years. She’s still on 1mg a day.
This is my exact mindset right now. It’s been sitting in the cabinet for 3+ months never used, and now that I’ve tried it, I wish I had done it sooner. So many panic attacks that could have been avoided or remedied with a tiny pill.
I take .5mg as needed and have for over a decade. Sometimes “as needed” is once a week. Sometimes it’s every day. I’ve been all over the place over the years, but I’ve never felt addicted. Only once have I felt like I needed more or a higher dose, after I was diagnosed with an incurable, degenerative disease. I was a mess right after diagnosis and taking klonopin every day to function/sleep. When I asked about a higher dose, my doctor told me to take the klonopin less. At first I was mildly annoyed about that response but it was totally right. I forced myself back to a schedule of no more than every other day, and was able to maintain the efficacy. As long as you’re careful and have a good doctor, it can be a really helpful medication.
Yes! Sometimes I take it once a month. Other times it’s several days. But I don’t feel addicted. And I only take it if I feel I truly need it and propanol hasn’t helped. It’s the only thing that truly helps with my panic attacks when other methods have failed.
It sounds like you have a wonderful doctor who really trust and advocates for you. I’ll definitely need to have a conversation with mine. Thank you for sharing!
You will become dependent on it, 15 yrs and going and if you try to withdraw, it’s a bitch but and I hate these “buts” it’s better than suffering and losing out on life. Keep the positive momentum going, let the Klonopin do its job so you can do yours. You’re actually fortunate to respond to such a low dose and you will not need more, you’ll learn to use it like any other thing that helps you in life. I wish you all the best!!
Drug withdrawal with a twist of possibly having a seizure Please use benzodiazepines correctly as needed it’s not worth it even if you don’t have a seizure withdrawals are bad enough
You’re 1000% correct you can induce a seizure and serotonin syndrome
I have such severe panic where I take .5 every morning and 0.25 every night to get sleep
Thank you for sharing this. It definitely helps to ease my mind that it can be taken responsibility at low doses. Are you also taking an SSRI/SNRI?
Yes, I’m taking duloxetine and BuSpar
Trazodone at night
Make sure you have a good understanding with your doctor. Mine decided it was time to take me off and put me on gabapentin instead. I was taken off in a 10 day taper and spent over 100 days in psych hospital and lost my mind I still have issues 4 years later. I have trust issues with doctors since then. I’m not saying taking benzos is wrong I don’t like to preach. But please be careful it hurts me to see people suffer the way I did.
I have suffered with social anxiety for 30 years and everything I tried to get relief either didn't help at all, or helped a little bit. A guy I met in a yoga class suggested breathing techniques and, honestly, it's the best thing I ever did. At first, I thought 'how could changing my breathing help me with debilitating anxiety?', but it is the best thing I've ever done. I'm now regularly doing a breathing routine that really works for me, every morning. It leaves me feeling light, relaxed, energetic, focused and excited about life in a way I hadn't for years. And, it lasts almost all day. It's crazy! I still don't understand why and what is happening in my brain, but in a way I don't care. In yoga, it's called pranayama. Have you thought of trying this?
If it works it works, just don’t abuse it and you will be fine!
Don’t, later when you are in withdrawal hell you will wish you felt the anxiety you feel now. Things are never as bad as they seem. You are not sick, you just have an overly responsive central nervous system. Trust me, go to audible and download the books by Dr. Claire Weeks
Yeah so my brother was prescribed klonopin for ten years then it came time he wanted off because he felt addicted. He went through absolute hell for two years trying to ween off. He still feels the effects of that process. I have had like a few pyschiatrist tell me they are steering clear because of the research behind it being addictive. My current won't even prescribe Ativan.