Posted by Shortstop on May 4, 2007, at 13:29:15
In reply to Re: Thanx P! (nm) » Phillipa, posted by Klavot on May 4, 2007, at 13:05:47
I don't know about doctors, but I've been using Xanax as needed for, oh, I think it's around three years now. If I haven't started using it habitually -- that is, taking the pills when I don't really need them -- by now, I doubt addiction will become a problem for me at any point. One of the things that keeps the impulse to reach for a benzo, for me anyway, is that they make me sleepy. I hate being sleepy! My pdoc's advice when he first wrote the scrip was: Always wait to see if your panic or acute anxiety passes within an hour. If it doesn't, go ahead and take a Xanax. That's what I've been doing and so far, so good.
Having said that, I will readily admit to taking a Xanax if I'm wide awake at bedtime and need to sleep in order to be well rested for work the next day. Those are the only times I take Xanax when acute anxiety or panic isn't bowling me over. I'd say this happens around 6 to 8 times a month. (I'm a bit of a night owl.) If a lot of people are addicted to Xanax, surely that's because people are reaching for it when they don't really need it.
I know that this is anecdotal evidence, the weakest form of evidence, but I offer it for what it's worth.
poster:Shortstop
thread:755715
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20070502/msgs/755795.html