Maybe it’s ok

So I’ve been thinking. The only reason I’ve been trying to get off the Xanax is because of its effects that I’m not able to drive on and when I realized my body was addicted.I started taking it because I’ve been having super bad random panic attacks that make me think I’m dying. I’ve also always been a anxiety ridden person before they started anyways. So my question is, is it really all that bad if I take a Benzo medication if I really need it? I mean I can always find a doctor to get me on a different kind maybe like klonopin where I can still function daily.

There is nothing wrong with taking a benzo, it's a very helpful medication and if you feel you'd be better taking it than not then we'll support your decision, however.....

 

There are some things to consider before making your decision.

 

--Tolerance, what happens if your body becomes tolerant to your current dose and you need more to achieve the same effect.  Will your Dr prescribe more?  What if you become tolerant to the increased dose, will your Dr continue to raise your dose?

 

--Times are changing, the opioid epidemic has caused greater scrutiny on how we got here, many states, insurance companies and Drs are tightening controls on this drug class since it's already projected to be the next big epidemic.  Will you be forced to quit by a Dr who is worried about his license?

 

--Benozodiazepines are known to begin to create the symptoms the person was originally put on them for, how will you know what is being caused by you taking the drug or your original anxiety and panic?  Will the drug insure that you can never come off of it because it's creating the need for it?

 

Switching to Klonopin while a longer acting benzo is still a benzo, and it will turn on you just as the Xanax might.

 

I totally get what you're saying, so many of us here wished we could have stayed on the wonder drug, but after realizing that this little pill had the power to change my brain I get scared.  When you think about our brain and what a perfect organ it is and then we take this pill and because of what the pill does, our brain adapts to it and physical changes are made to accommodate that little pill, it's scary.  The human body is an amazing thing and the brain is the key to it all, its scary to think a little pill made in a factory has the capability to change the perfection of my brain. 

 

Okay, I'm off of my soapbox.    Really though, if you know this is the best thing, then we'll support you.

 

 

 

 

You’re right. I needed to hear ALL of that. I did go back up a lil in my dose, but not as much as I was before and yesterday was the best day I’ve had in a week. Maybe I was going a tad too fast with it and that’s why all the symptoms were hitting me so hard.

Glad to here it Jenika, add a little bit back in, form a new plan and get back in there and be rid of this stuff forever.  Slow and steady is what seems to work the best. 

Dare is a phenomenal book for panic attacks. I started having them out of the blue and found this book and it basically cured. Ironically I ended up on Benzo bc of an anxiety crisis not bc of original panic attacks.

 

Word of caution with benzos. My tolerance sky rocketed and I was taking 6 or more xanax a day. That’s past the point doctors won’t prescribe anymore and your body develops a dependency so you can’t just stop cold turkey. That would lead to a seizure and severe symptoms. So you have to find a doctor to taper you. It took me months to do that. And now months on the taper.

While I think lorezapam may actually have gotten me through a few years I might not have otherwise survived, I wish big-time my doctor had told me that it would take years to go off them. I usually didn't take the whole dose, and skipped days, but I would have been even more judicious had I known.