Xanax.. I'm confused out of my mind

[r32faisal]

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[r32faisal]

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[RabidBadger]

Hi

Xanax is a benzodiazepine that is well known for it's addictive qualities. Like most tranquilisers, you become "addicted" to the feeling of calm or normality that it gives you and feel like crap when you can't get it.

Withdrawal from xanax should be gradual and managed to avoid things like panic attacks, severe agitation and even siezures. I would strongly urge you to discuss this with a doctor.

Chris

[britk282]

I myself have struggled whether to be on meds or not

my doctor started me on lexapro and I was on it for about a year.
and I really did feel much better.
I almost felt like I could be more myself.
but it made me tired and I had no sex drive and I decided to try and go off for awhile.
that lasted about 2 months (like you said of hell)

people hated to be around me and could notice a difference... but I struggled so much because that is me.. you know.
my boyfriend begged me to go back on medication which pissed me off for some reason.
I understood that I was more strange and difficult but that is me not on any drugs and it's like I wanted to be accepted for who I was not on medication.
I finally decided to try another med.
so my doctor put me on cymbalta
but I hated it.
it makes me feel so numb....
I mean I DO feel better but it's like a catch 22
you feel better but you almost don't feel like yourself.
I struggle with... would I rather feel like me and be miserable or feel numb but be happier.
it's like I'm happier because I don't care about anything as much.
I don't think about things as much.
but is that how most people feel?
ahhh it's so confusing!
and so hard to explain and put into words especially to those who havent experienced it.

[britk282]

I really dont know how this site works
i just joined today
but I am currently not taking any medication so my thoughts are all fucking over the place.
and like you I feel like a mental case.

you know what I think we need.
is someone to tell us how a normal person is supposed to feel.
well technically what is normal?
but that aside what is a non mental case supposed to feel like.
when I'm on meds is that what I am supposed to be feeling like?
ok anyways message me because when I read your posts I keep going oh my god I know exactly what he means!

[dave1979]

I can relate to both your storys.I feal like a freak because i have to take a pill to feel normal.Well we are all here because we obviously have a problem and need help!!! Am i right or wrong. Common sense tells me i'm mind fucked and just need to get on the right meds to make my mind calm down and stop thinking of a million things at one time and concentrate on one thing.If you feel that bad you need medical attention!!!!! Hopefully one day we can all feel good.There is definately a problem that we have to live with and we need meds.The only problem is,is to find one that works for you.If xanax makes you feel normal then maybe take xanax as prescribed and don't abuse it.xanax has made me feel normal for 3 years but now i need a higher dose so they put me on klonopin.Now i'm feeling like shit.If xanax worked for me for 3 years why change something now when it worked so good for me.I don't get doctors,,,,and there explanation for things just confuses the fuck out of me even more.

[The Melody of Rain]

Its difficult to define, but generally a normal state of mind is that which the majority of people find them selves in - calm and content.

Look, if you're liable to over analyse, weed will fuck you up. I smoke the odd joint I'll admit, but apart from alcohol hash was the only substance that ever suppressed my anxiety. Xanax had literally no affect, despite after quitting cold turkey after seven weeks. In fact no medication ever has any effect on me.



2) when I started taking and abusing xanax for recreational reasons I began getting panicky about my flaws and how my whole life was a disaster

Realisation is the first step towards change. The second (and final) is acting upon that which you've realised. This particular thought you have had is actually rather positive. We cannot fix a problem when we have no knowledge of its existence. I would consider this thought a revelation. A gift.

[isis2383]

My advice kick the recreational drugs. I smoked weed everyday for 5 years. I also tampered with hash, opium, shrooms, and even coke and weed mixed on the rare occassion. One night while getting high I had the worst panic attack ever (never happend to me before, hell I had been getting high daily for years) and I was never the same. A whole new set of medical issues appeared. My breathing became chaos... I found out I had mitral valve prolapse, acid reflux, bile reflux, gastritis, and a colon that barely worked. I used and abused my body for years. I smoked too much and drank myself into mini comas on a constant basis. I consider that major attack that changed my life a rude awakening or karma so to speak. I had to quit everything cold turkey because I literally could not drink, use drugs, or smoke without going into major panic and strife.

Now I just started meds because my panic and anxiety order is out of control. Im on day 11 of lexapro (the side effects have been hell) and I just swithced from klonopin to xanax this past weekend. Try not to abuse the xanax and take as needed or speak to your pdoc about the doses and frequency you should be taking this medication at. I can understand where you are coming from. It sux to be on meds but sometimes we have to balance out what we cannot control on our own. Hang in there and definitely set up an appointment with your pdoc to go over these concerns. Im wishing you the best and hoping you get back on track soon!

[r32faisal]

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[r32faisal]

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[plastic_pancakes]

I have an extended history with Xanax use on many different levels, starting at a mostly innocent pharmaceutical prescription and ending in a psychological and phsyical addiction that brought me to, perhaps, the lowest point of my life.

For myself, and I would imagine others with similar anxieties, Xanax is a cure-all miracle drug. Unlike other opiates its anti-anxiety properties are one of a kind and nothing can really replace that instant gratification. I refer to it as gratification because in the long run its positive side effects blur into its nightmarish withdrawl (as you've apparently seen) just as any illicit drug would produce.

Honestly, I do heroin on a regular basis, man, and that shit isn't half as bad as Xanax was, at least for me. Xanax, like any other drug that one becomes addicted to, isn't really responsible for what happens to you, but it is a tool that allows you to wreck your shit. After going through rehab, having a seizure on a staircase and nearly breaking my head in half I realized that I really needed to stop.

Despite a history of drug use, ranging from anything like LSD to coke to, as I mentioned, H, the only drug that ever really made me doubt my control over myself is Xanax. If you can help it stop now before your body is completely hooked on it. YOU WILL develop seizures, and possible even a seizure condition that will follow you even after you decide to help yourself. Good luck.

[isis2383]

Hmmm I dont know if it is factual that you will develop seizures. Couldnt your seizures been a combination of xanax with the other recreational drugs you were using at the time? Did you ween yourself off the xanax or quit cold turkey? If you quit cold turkey then yes seizures can happen. I also dont know how much you were taking and how often. I take xanax once a day on the weekends (half a pill) and twice on the weekdays to get myself to work (I have attacks in the am). I dont intend to stay on it forever it is just temporary till I get on a higher dose of anti-depressants.

[NerveFray]

I have an extended history with Xanax use on many different levels, starting at a mostly innocent pharmaceutical prescription and ending in a psychological and phsyical addiction that brought me to, perhaps, the lowest point of my life.

For myself, and I would imagine others with similar anxieties, Xanax is a cure-all miracle drug. Unlike other opiates its anti-anxiety properties are one of a kind and nothing can really replace that instant gratification. I refer to it as gratification because in the long run its positive side effects blur into its nightmarish withdrawl (as you've apparently seen) just as any illicit drug would produce.

Honestly, I do heroin on a regular basis, man, and that shit isn't half as bad as Xanax was, at least for me. Xanax, like any other drug that one becomes addicted to, isn't really responsible for what happens to you, but it is a tool that allows you to wreck your shit. After going through rehab, having a seizure on a staircase and nearly breaking my head in half I realized that I really needed to stop.

Despite a history of drug use, ranging from anything like LSD to coke to, as I mentioned, H, the only drug that ever really made me doubt my control over myself is Xanax. If you can help it stop now before your body is completely hooked on it. YOU WILL develop seizures, and possible even a seizure condition that will follow you even after you decide to help yourself. Good luck.

Can I ask how much (Xanax) you were taking?

[quadracersteve]

Xanax is one of the best meds for controling severe anxiety and panic attacks among other things.
If you take it:
1.) because your doctor prescribed it to you and
2.) how your doctor prescribed it to you you wouldn't have any problems.
I lived the most productive years of my life on it but, and I'm sorry if I sound like a jerk or a (fill in the blank), people like you make it VERY hard for people like me who need the medication to get it. Doctors become very leery about handing it out after they hear stories like that.