Xanax XR? finding the right med....

[panic moth]

Hey, Everyone!

I'm a 26 yr old male dealing with some reasonably new anxiety issues. I have a long, long history of ADHD and depression but last year I started to have unexpected panic attacks out of the blue (ranging from irrational sweaty reactions with racing thoughts & a tight feeling in my chest to feeling like I was dying/going insane). I decided to see a doctor about 6 months ago and she put me on Mirtazepine for GAD/Depression, which helped a lot with agoraphobia issues/general feelings of anxiety in every day life. However, I'm still dealing with occasional, unexpected panic ATTACKS and when I mentioned this to my doctor she prescribed me Vistaril, which has proven to be essentially useless in my case.

To get to the point, I've been doing some research on anxiety medications and I came across XanaX XR. Is anybody here taking this on an "as needed" basis? I'm not looking for something that I would need to take every day (such as BuSpar or any antidepressants), just something to take when I'm having an "attack". The long duration is what appeals to me the most about this, as an "attack" usually puts me out of comission for 6-8 hours. It also seems like it would effectively reduce the risk of "rebound" anxiety I've read about as a result of other benzodiazepine drugs. I don't have any history of drug or alcohol abuse, so I'm not worried about becoming addicted. So, any thoughts on this medication?


Thanks for reading this long post!!!

(P.S. I'm not looking for advice on meditation or herbal remedies, I've tried it all)

[DarrinsDad1688]

i heard it stops the panic attacks in its tracks.....

[chrisz]

You may not become psychologically addicted, but over time
you will become physically dependent. This seems to hold
true with all mood-altering meds. Even SSRI's.

I've been on Xanax for 30 years. I have inherited panic
disorder. The xanax has worked well, but it lets me know
when to take another.

The safety/side effect profile seems to be the best with
Benzo's. BUT DON"T ABUSE THEM !!!!!

Xanax is the shortest acting and is the hardest to get off.
But you can get off. But then the anxiety disorder may still
be there, or maybe you will think it's still there.

I also take Inderal regularly and Visteril as needed. They also help
alot. But I still have varying degrees of anxiety, nothing as bad
as those God-awful panic attacks

[TinfoilxTouch]

I'm not sure I understand the point of Xanax XR. I mean for some people, who no other Benzo works, I suppose it's a better option than six or seven small daily doses. But for someone who has sudden attacks and needs instant release, any XR is going to be a bad idea.

Why? Because even if it's a 2mg XR, you can bet no more than 1/4 of that will be entering your system upon consumption. So basically during the worst part of the problem, you're getting a really small dose.

If you have sudden attacks, the correct dose of Xanax (it might even be a large one) should stop it flat. If you're having them often enough to need 8 hours of help, I think you should consider something like Valium or Klonopin and just take the guess work of waiting for the attacks out.