would you try this med combo?

[clay]

as my previous thread has described, I missed 1 dose of my meds last week and I am suffering with severe anxiety symptoms ever since. and they seem to get worse every day. I called in to work "sick" today because I was afraid to go in case the anxiety got too bad.
I left a voicemail for my doctor this morning describing it. but my doctor's receptionist did not call me back until after the doctor had left for the day (she always does this).
I asked her if it would be alright if I took one of my husband's pills (0.25mg alprazolam) if the anxiety gets bad. she thought about it for a minute then said that I could try one tomorrow then call them back on Thursday (their office is closed on Wednesdays).
obviously the receptionist is not a medical professional. she shouldn't give out medical advice on behalf of the doctor but she does. it's wrong but she does it.
so my regular med that take daily is 37.5 mg of venlafaxine XR (like effexor xr). what do you think if for one day I took 1 0.25mg alprazolam alone with the venlafaxine xr? would it make a difference? would it be bad if I took it just once? would it make things worse? is there anything I should worry about?

my husband actually takes both 37.5mg of venlafaxine XR and 0.25mg alprazolam daily so it must not be an unusual mix (both the family doc and a psychologist told him this is fine). but you know, you aren't supposed to take someone else's drugs.

you know me - I'll be anxious about taking it, then when I take it, if it doesn't help immediately then I'll be anxious continually about it.

[clay]

after reading about alprazolam online tonight, I don't think I will take it even on the "very educated advice of a receptionist".
I didn't realize that alprazolam is zanax. I think my sister was on zanax before.
with the terrible stuff I read about alprazolam and pregnancy, that's scary to me. I have been trying to get pregnant for a long time so I wouldn't want to screw that up if I don't have to. I'll have to talk to the doc about it on thursday, if I get the chance.

[clay]

If you are going to get pregnant again would it not be best to do it with no drugs in your system .

There are alot better more safer ways to handle anxiety than just to take these pills .

cheers kev

that is my ultimate plan... I was really hoping to get off the pills soon... like within the next month or two. after this week's experience, who knows how long it will take me to get off the pills. but I'm 30 years old, I'd like to have children some time. and I'd rather not be on medication, especially anxiety meds, when/if I do get pregnant.

[clay]

So why not start to drop off them now . How was your anxiety before you forgot to take the pill ? I am guessing that the fact you forgot it is a pretty good sign that anxiety was not always on your mind .

I think that no matter what it is going to suck coming off them and its just a matter of finding the best way for your .

cheers kev

yeah, while on the pills, my anxiety had calmed down a lot. initially it took weeks for the pills to really do their thing but once on them for a bit, my anxiety was managed much better. I would still be anxious when faced with things that should cause anxiety but I wasn't totally crippled the way I am now, or the way I was before starting the meds or the first week on the meds. I thought things were going really well.