Psycho-Babble Medication Thread 4061

Shown: posts 1 to 14 of 14. This is the beginning of the thread.

 

I'M AFRAID TO TAKE THE XANAX

Posted by Chris on March 27, 1999, at 7:48:03

I recently had ovarian cyst surgery since the surgery which turned out fine--I have been having hot flashes, chills, sense of dread, racing thoughts, extremely upset stomach, gagging, etc. after extensive blood tests, hormone tests, etc. my doctors (gastrologist and internist) have concluded that I am having anxiety attacks--first tried prozac, which made me stay up 48 hours straight, then buspar, which made me have a stiff neck and extreme muscle spasms, NOW XANAX (0.25 mg) to be taken twice a day "as needed". I am scared to death to try this because I have no idea what will happen next. Any suggestions? She also gave me Hyoscyamine for stomach pain (an antispasmotic). I have never taken much medication in my life. I'm the kind of person who suffered through childbirth, even a headache because I hate meds. Please help!

 

Re: I'M AFRAID TO TAKE THE XANAX

Posted by Annie on March 27, 1999, at 11:14:15

In reply to I'M AFRAID TO TAKE THE XANAX, posted by Chris on March 27, 1999, at 7:48:03

Chris, after I had my ovaries removed, I also began to experience the same symptoms you describe. I won't go thruough the myriad of mis-diagnoses that were offered at that time, but eventually I was given Xanax and the horrendous feelings stopped within 30 minutes. I can't tell you the relief I felt. I only took the Xanax for a few days if I felt like the anxiety attack was returning and then stopped. I believe my dosage was rather higher than you mention. I had no unpleasant side effects from the Xanax. Good luck.


> I recently had ovarian cyst surgery since the surgery which turned out fine--I have been having hot flashes, chills, sense of dread, racing thoughts, extremely upset stomach, gagging, etc. after extensive blood tests, hormone tests, etc. my doctors (gastrologist and internist) have concluded that I am having anxiety attacks--first tried prozac, which made me stay up 48 hours straight, then buspar, which made me have a stiff neck and extreme muscle spasms, NOW XANAX (0.25 mg) to be taken twice a day "as needed". I am scared to death to try this because I have no idea what will happen next. Any suggestions? She also gave me Hyoscyamine for stomach pain (an antispasmotic). I have never taken much medication in my life. I'm the kind of person who suffered through childbirth, even a headache because I hate meds. Please help!

 

Re: I'M AFRAID TO TAKE THE XANAX

Posted by sean on March 27, 1999, at 12:46:28

In reply to I'M AFRAID TO TAKE THE XANAX, posted by Chris on March 27, 1999, at 7:48:03

> I recently had ovarian cyst surgery since the surgery which turned out fine--I have been having hot flashes, chills, sense of dread, racing thoughts, extremely upset stomach, gagging, etc. after extensive blood tests, hormone tests, etc. my doctors (gastrologist and internist) have concluded that I am having anxiety attacks--first tried prozac, which made me stay up 48 hours straight, then buspar, which made me have a stiff neck and extreme muscle spasms, NOW XANAX (0.25 mg) to be taken twice a day "as needed". I am scared to death to try this because I have no idea what will happen next. Any suggestions? She also gave me Hyoscyamine for stomach pain (an antispasmotic). I have never taken much medication in my life. I'm the kind of person who suffered through childbirth, even a headache because I hate meds. Please help!

I've been there w/xanax and being afraid to take
it but totally miserable and panic-stricken
without. I can also relate to major insomnia
on the SSRI's.

While xanax is not a great long-term strategy,
it can help "turn down" the anxiety signals in
your brain and help you reach a state of
stability. Other meds (which take longer to
work) can then take over. Are you seeing
psychiatrist? They are much better at this
sort of thing than regular docs.

I also found that I had a form of bipolar
illness, which in several studies, has shown
to be linked with panic disorder. There a
few medication trials where meds for this
disorder were helpful in panic. This is
good news because these drug are not addictive
in the sense that xanax is, and if you are
also dealing with bipolar-like symptoms on
antidepressants, it may help there as well.

But I'm not a doc... Good luck.

 

Re: I'M AFRAID TO TAKE THE XANAX

Posted by Elaine on March 27, 1999, at 14:29:54

In reply to I'M AFRAID TO TAKE THE XANAX, posted by Chris on March 27, 1999, at 7:48:03

Chris - I take Xanax .25 mg "as needed" for anxiety. I must say, though, that I am not sensitive to meds. Anyway, I find it helps when I'm very anxious, it calms me down and makes me sleepy. I'm not quite sure why you were on Prozac for anxiety - my understanding is it is primarily an anti-depressant that has been known to cause anxiety, being "hyper", violence, etc. (in addition to possible suicidal depression). Xanax, to my understanding, is much more of an anti-anxiety agent, and I would certainly encourage you to try it. If you are still hesitant, you can try half a pill - I take 1/2 to 2 pills depending on how anxious I am and how willing I am to be drowsy. Hope this helps.

 

Re: I'M AFRAID TO TAKE THE XANAX

Posted by George Gershwin on March 28, 1999, at 2:20:42

In reply to I'M AFRAID TO TAKE THE XANAX, posted by Chris on March 27, 1999, at 7:48:03

Weird advice: here's what I did the first time I had to take a benzo. I crushed it up on a plate and took a tiny amount over the course of two hours. Seriously!!! Next time I took like an eighth of a pill every ten minutes, next time a quarter. BTW, in my experience it took .5 mg xanax to even FEEL IT. I take a mg. now. It takes about a half hour to come on. You won't feel nervous once it hits you! It will make you completely relaxed, in all likelihood, and the worst reaction I've had to xanax has been oversedation (at 2 mg) like my arms were noodles. Occasionally you feel too relaxed to breath without minor effort, but that is the very worst ever effect. Usually it comes on like a back rub, a warm, very gentle flush and no real mental effects except dis-inhibition and mood elevation. I have had bad panic attacks from ambien, with palpitations, but only rarely. Other benzos have only had good effects too. That's why they give them to panic patients! Halcion can be a little intensely mental, that's the only one. I think I've tried them all, and then some. Even IV ativan at the hospital was just pleasant. Did have bad reaction to IV nembutal in the hospital (mental type reaction of discomfort). Zoloft gave me mental effects of panic for two weeks, all the other psych drugs side effects have been mainly physical. If you are really nervous, you can always take the pill in your car in the parking lot of the ER! This is a tactic used by many medication phobics. Once you realize you're not going to die, you can go home again:)

> I recently had ovarian cyst surgery since the surgery which turned out fine--I have been having hot flashes, chills, sense of dread, racing thoughts, extremely upset stomach, gagging, etc. after extensive blood tests, hormone tests, etc. my doctors (gastrologist and internist) have concluded that I am having anxiety attacks--first tried prozac, which made me stay up 48 hours straight, then buspar, which made me have a stiff neck and extreme muscle spasms, NOW XANAX (0.25 mg) to be taken twice a day "as needed". I am scared to death to try this because I have no idea what will happen next. Any suggestions? She also gave me Hyoscyamine for stomach pain (an antispasmotic). I have never taken much medication in my life. I'm the kind of person who suffered through childbirth, even a headache because I hate meds. Please help!

 

Re: I'M AFRAID TO TAKE THE XANAX

Posted by Elizabeth on March 28, 1999, at 4:56:49

In reply to I'M AFRAID TO TAKE THE XANAX, posted by Chris on March 27, 1999, at 7:48:03

> I recently had ovarian cyst surgery since the surgery which turned out fine--I have been having hot flashes, chills, sense of dread, racing thoughts, extremely upset stomach, gagging, etc. after extensive blood tests, hormone tests, etc. my doctors (gastrologist and internist) have concluded that I am having anxiety attacks--first tried prozac, which made me stay up 48 hours straight, then buspar, which made me have a stiff neck and extreme muscle spasms, NOW XANAX (0.25 mg) to be taken twice a day "as needed". I am scared to death to try this because I have no idea what will happen next. Any suggestions? She also gave me Hyoscyamine for stomach pain (an antispasmotic). I have never taken much medication in my life. I'm the kind of person who suffered through childbirth, even a headache because I hate meds. Please help!

Hi Chris. Wow, you've been through a lot, and I understand how hesitant you're feeling about starting this med. But you don't deserve to be suffering so much, and I really do think that Xanax could help a lot with the symptoms you're describing without making you more uncomfortable.

Xanax is a great med for people who are sensitive to side effects (as most people who have panic attacks are!), because Xanax hardly has any side effects! The main ones are things like sleepiness and dizziness. (Don't drive after taking it.) If you take it regularly, you'll get used to this and after a while you probably won't notice anything. It's a very easy med to take.

And it is known to work very well for the kind of anxiety you're experiencing, the feelings of dread, etc. - even the physical symptoms like hot flashes and the GI stuff may get better once the anxiety is dealt with.

People do say that Xanax is addicting. This is true in a sense, *but* it is certainly possible to take Xanax and not get addicted, if you take it "as needed" rather than all the time, and keep the dose low (basically, don't abuse it!). For some people, it is necessary to take Xanax every day at a set dose (usually divided into three or four doses, as Xanax is pretty short-acting). In this case, the only "addiction"-like thing is that you can't stop taking Xanax all of a sudden. You have to decrease the dose slowly under a doctor's supervision, and it can take quite a while. It can be perfectly comfortable, though, as long as you and your doctor do it right (and don't try to go off the med before you are ready).

I hope that you'll be willing to give Xanax a try, just once. Unlike BuSpar and Prozac, Xanax will work right away - within an hour, possibly even a half hour. Let yourself get relief from this - you're worth it.

 

Re: I'M AFRAID TO TAKE THE XANAX

Posted by Chris on March 28, 1999, at 6:54:35

In reply to Re: I'M AFRAID TO TAKE THE XANAX, posted by Elizabeth on March 28, 1999, at 4:56:49

I'm sorry to hear about all you've been through. I'm also to hear you were given BuSpar for panic, and that (I'm guessing) were started at too high of dose on Prozac.

I'd take the Xanax and let yourself feel better. If you're going to be taking a drug for panic long-term, you might consider a longer-acting benzodiazepine (Xanax is a shorter-acting benzodiazepine) like Klonopin. Or, you might want to consider an SSRI, started at *low* doses and titrated up to a target dose (which generally will be lower than a dose for depression) *slowly*. (What dose of Prozac did your doc start you at, anyway, 20mg?) It can be easier to come off Klonopin than Xanax. But for the short term, I'd take the Xanax and allow yourself to feel better. You've already been through enough--you don't need panic attacks on top of everything else!

I hope you feel better.

Matt

 

Re: I'M AFRAID TO TAKE THE XANAX

Posted by Toni on March 28, 1999, at 16:46:27

In reply to I'M AFRAID TO TAKE THE XANAX, posted by Chris on March 27, 1999, at 7:48:03

> I recently had ovarian cyst surgery since the surgery which turned out fine--I have been having hot flashes, chills, sense of dread, racing thoughts, extremely upset stomach, gagging, etc. after extensive blood tests, hormone tests, etc. my doctors (gastrologist and internist) have concluded that I am having anxiety attacks--first tried prozac, which made me stay up 48 hours straight, then buspar, which made me have a stiff neck and extreme muscle spasms, NOW XANAX (0.25 mg) to be taken twice a day "as needed". I am scared to death to try this because I have no idea what will happen next. Any suggestions? She also gave me Hyoscyamine for stomach pain (an antispasmotic). I have never taken much medication in my life. I'm the kind of person who suffered through childbirth, even a headache because I hate meds. Please help!

Like you I do not like to take any meds that I don't have to. I was given Xanax myself once to take before an MRI, to help avoid an anxiety attack, I REALLY hate tight inclosed spaces. It worked well, at least I was able to get through it. I only took it that one day, 11 mg 1 hour before the test.

Several years later my husband had had major neck surgery and had to be in a Halo for sveral months which caused sever anxiety attachs. His neuro surgon proscribed Xanax I think 2mgfour times a day but I'm not sure on this,for this and all seemed ok for about the first week. Then I started noticing some personality changes, he seemed to be more "touchy", eaisly angered. Then he started going into what I can only call rages. Exterme negitive responses to the smallest things. This would happen just about 45 minutes after taking his medications, he was also taking Percacet for pain. After being married for 15 years at this time this was extermly upsetting. Fortunatly the rages stoped just short of phyiscal harm to persons (wasn't so great on the furniture though).

After stoping the Xanax this all stoped. It turned out that some people, more common in males, have a sensitivity to drugs in the benzo family. The medical doctors didn't mention this, but the phych. doctor informed us that he should avoid these.

About a year ago I started having anxiety attachs after a bad trauma and was given Benadryl, an over the counter antihistamine. This worked wonders. Took effect in about 20 minutes or less and was out of the system in 2-4 hours. I only have thes attacks every great while now and they are not anywhere as bad as at frist.

Of course you should talk with your doctor before taking anything.

Toni
toni@pacbell.net

 

complete digression

Posted by Dr. Bob on March 28, 1999, at 16:49:54

In reply to Re: I'M AFRAID TO TAKE THE XANAX, posted by Annie on March 27, 1999, at 11:14:15

Annie,

I just had to tell you, your email address made me smile. :-)

Bob

 

Re: I'M AFRAID TO TAKE THE XANAX

Posted by Matt on March 28, 1999, at 18:09:21

In reply to Re: I'M AFRAID TO TAKE THE XANAX, posted by Toni on March 28, 1999, at 16:46:27

Benzos can cause some people to go into "rages," though this is uncommon. (They also can cause people to feel more anxious and agitated--another uncommon side effect.)

Matt

 

Re: I'M AFRAID TO TAKE THE XANAX

Posted by Carole on March 28, 1999, at 20:00:35

In reply to Re: I'M AFRAID TO TAKE THE XANAX, posted by Annie on March 27, 1999, at 11:14:15

Hi Chris. Everyone reacts to drugs differently, what helps one person or causes side effects may not in someone else. Saying that, I am very drug sensitive and had side effects to both buspar and prozac. But I've been taking xanax with no problems at all for years. I break the .25 mg tablet in half, it just takes the edge off the anxiety at that dose. Of course always check with your physician. A suggestion, the first time you take a new medication, do you have a friend or family member who could sit with you? This might help! Also even though nothing was found on blood tests with your hormones, after that type of surgery, I believe (remember, I am no professional, just my opinion) there could be an inbalance and it might straighten out soon for you, will look forward to your feeling better! Carole

 

anxiety about Xanax

Posted by anonymous (as if!) on March 29, 1999, at 10:01:20

In reply to Re: I'M AFRAID TO TAKE THE XANAX, posted by Carole on March 28, 1999, at 20:00:35

Anxiety about taking anxiolytics. Hmm. That's ironic. I'm sorry- I don't mean to be insensitive, really. But I don't think that your fear of medications is a little irrational. Take the Xanax and you'll see why. It sounds like you need it.

 

mistake

Posted by anonymous (as if!) on March 29, 1999, at 10:04:00

In reply to anxiety about Xanax, posted by anonymous (as if!) on March 29, 1999, at 10:01:20

> Anxiety about taking anxiolytics. Hmm. That's ironic. I'm sorry- I don't mean to be insensitive, really. But I don't think that your fear of medications is a little irrational. Take the Xanax and you'll see why. It sounds like you need it.

I meant to say "But I think your fear of medications is a little irrational."

 

Re: I'M AFRAID TO TAKE THE XANAX

Posted by laura on March 29, 1999, at 22:49:27

In reply to Re: I'M AFRAID TO TAKE THE XANAX, posted by Matt on March 28, 1999, at 18:09:21

> Benzos can cause some people to go into "rages," though this is uncommon. (They also can cause people to feel more anxious and agitated--another uncommon side effect.)
>
> Matt

Chris--
I was on Xanax for axniety attacks-- took .5 mgs as needed for years. Only adverse affect I had was fatigue. I went on prozac after that and had many side effects--too numerous to mention. I sometimes take Clonzapam (sp?), it doesn't tire me out as bad as Xanax. Beta blockers (Atetnol) also help with no side effects that I've ever experienced. Good luck and I hope you feel better.


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