Xanax?

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I have been on 1mg twice a day of Xanax for over one year now for anxiety but now I think I may be addicted as I really stress out if I don't take them. Don't get me wrong I like the feeling when on them and no longer self medicate with alcohol to get the same result that I do from Xanax. My question is that it is suppose to have a short half life but in the year or so I've been on them I have followed the doctors directions by taking the two a day and am quite happy to do so has any one been on them for longer? Do the effects lessen with time ? What has your experience with Xanax been like? Thanks.

its a benzodiazepine so yes it is very addictive and you do build a tolerance over time.

id like to know basically how long can Xanax keep working without upping the dosage. iv been on them for a while and don't feel like the effects are getting less and have no desire to take more than prescribed. so as long as this is happening i don't see any need to go off them. has any one been on this drug for longer than a year? if so are you still taking it or what other drug was given to get off Xanax.

I took Xanax XR for about eight years, until about a month and a half ago. I pretty much kept the same dose, which actually lessened over time and with other meds, the entire time. I never seemed to notice decreased efficiency. However, I did not like how I felt if I did forget to take it. Of all my meds, the Xanax did not get forgotten bc of that--my head would feel like it was swimming, or my body would feel sick. My doctor suggested I get off of it due to a large study which linked increased dementia in older people taking it long-term. The doctor just had me wean off of it, and gave me a script for Neurontin as a replacement (the jury is still out on how I feel about it though). Surprisingly, I had no issue with Xanax withdrawal, yet that may have just been luck.

Here in South Australia you would be pretty hard up to even find a doctor who would consider prescribing Xanax these days. My ex had huge issues finding a doctor to prescribe him with it, when his regular doctor moved her practice. It is pretty dangerous stuff so whatever you decide, seek guidance from your doctor.

My doctor prescribed me .5 mg three times a day. I function best when I only take them as needed and not on a set schedule. I took them three times a day at first, but I got damn cranky and testy if I missed a dose, so I cut back and now only take them if absolutely necessary.

I think it's a very useful and helpful medication that's been maligned by a medical community that's been taught that it's dangerous. Personally I find most newer medications far worse, far more dangerous to the body and mind than Xanax.

In my opinion, the truth is that the pharmaceutical companies don't stand to gain from people buying a prescription that's about fifty dollars for 90 1mg tabs when they're trying to sell people medications that cost hundreds of dollars. My ex used to take Risperdal and at the dose he was taking, it cost about 400 dollars a month. He functioned poorly on Risperdal and was apathetic. He just sat on the couch or the bed for hours like a lump. He takes Xanax now and he functions much better and actually feels better as opposed to just scraping by enough to get the necessary stuff done. When did it become anathema to take a medication that made you feel good as opposed to just barely masking your symptoms and turning you into a depressed and apathetic dullard?

In the past I used to take 3 .5 mg Xanax's a day and when my doctor cut me off I was cranky and felt flushed and dizzy for three days and that was it. I still had to deal with my anxiety but it wasn't the dramatized media-hyped nightmare Hollywood would have us buy.

It's far more dangerous to come off a medication like Effexor or other Reuptake inhibitors. It took me a whole month of tears, suicidal ideations, violent behavior and screaming and a hospitalization before I began to feel normal. Their answer to that was to switch me from Effexor to Cymbalta which stopped working after six months. I only take it now to avoid the hell of coming off it, much the same way that heroin addicts often end up taking heroin just to keep from getting sick when it doesn't even get them high or make them feel much better. It's just keeping the wolf at the door.

I wasn't prescribed Effexor for depression to begin with. It was for OCD. But I ended up with depression and still have depression. And the pharmaceutical companies get hundreds of dollars a month from draining my Medicare insurance [and taxpayer money, mind you] for their worthless and dangerous Cybalta.

Xanax is an effective medication that works a long time without having to up the dose when used responsibly. It's never not worked for me.