Estazolam vs Xanax??

I have been on 1.5mg of xanax per day for many years. I have managed to wean myself down to .5 per day for about 4 months now. I don't sleep much...I mentioned this to my psych doc and he prescribed prosom. I just picked up my med called eastazolam and it says it is a benzodiazepam....

Why would he give me the same medication?,

Does anyone know if this Estazolam is a benzo?

Why not just take the xanax?...he was so happy that I was able to get down to a much smaller dose and then he prescribes this???

Any thoughts?

Mary

Hey Msry,

The link provided gives you a bit of info on the drug:

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmedhealth/PMH0000894/

It seems that Estazolam is a Benzodiazepine. I'd suggest not taking it, as you don't want to hinder the healing process or quite possible get hooked on another benzo. Have you tried melatonin? It's a hormone in the body that helps induce sleep. You can pick it up at a Walgreens or any local pharmacy near you, I'm sure.