Drug Ratings for XANAXAverage Rating: 3.9 (900 Ratings)
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Results are sorted by Date Rating Was Added Key to Ratings: 1=LOW (I would not recommend taking this medicine.) |
Charts & graphs: Reviews Summary for XANAX | Top 10 Adverse Effects (reported to FDA)
| RATING | REASON | SIDE EFFECTS FOR XANAX | COMMENTS | SEX | AGE | DURATION/ DOSAGE | DATE ADDED |
  | F M | | | | |||
| 5 | Anxiety | Sleepiness about 2 to 3 hours after initial dose. It also gives me an "I don't give a crap" attitude towards people trying to apply too much pressure to me at work. | I have a VERY stressful job and I lost my Mother, Grandmother, and Uncle over the past year. I let everything pile up and eventually started having chest pains that I thought were heart disease. I had an echocardiogram, thallium stress test, EKG monitoring, and even an angiogram to check my heart out. All of them cam back clear. I take Alprazolam (Xanax) whenever I feel the tightness in my chest and it goes away. I take it only when I feel overwhealmed with anxiety and only when I have chest pains. I take about .5mg to 1 mg per episode. Usually about 5 times a month. I think I am fortunate that I havent developed a dependancy on the drug. | M | 35 | 1 years | 7/24/2007 | 1 | self medication | sedation, aggression, and euphoria or sometimes a paradoxical combination of all 3. long lasting hangovers or loss of soul feeling, depression the next day, agitition when effect wore off, severe short term memory impairments. | I've slept better on cocaine than I did the 6 days it took me to withdrawl from a benzo binge. I did not sleep, AT ALL, for 6 days straight while withdrawls from xanax. I had severe withdrawl symptoms, basicly everything the drug is prescibed for I had accutely. I was a wreck, the only thing that got me through it was vodka (I had scored some Xani's to get off the vodka lol) and no way to get more xanax. It took a long time to develope the addiction, as I used them sporadicly for 4-5 years without going through withdrawl. But also I was not prescribed and was taking unsupervised street doses, which resulted in a severe addiction. Do NOT F**K around with this drug, take it ONLY as recommended by your doctor, the withdrawls are a living hell and could definately push someone to suicide. Akathesia or whatever its called where you want to keep walking is terrible, especially when you want to go to sleep and find yourself shooting out of bed to stand up for no reason whatsoever at al | M | 32 | 5 years | 7/23/2007 | 4 | Fear of flying | I take Xanax only when flying. I take it about an hour before the flight leaves. It eliminates the severe feelings of anxiety I used to experience when flying. It makes my drowsy, but that's a good thing, so I can sleep on the flight. | I've noticed vivid dreams for a night or two after taking it. Also, I do get irritable for a day, 2 or 3 days after taking it. | M | 59 | 6 years | 7/15/2007 | 2 | Panic attacks/PSD/?ADD | Initially wonderful relief from anxiety and panic attacks. Then suffered increasing dependency and tolerance to medication. OK for 2-3 years. Then curve was classic 'hockey-stick' in that before I was admitted to psych hospital with Alprazolam dependency, my dosage had skyrocketed. On Xanax, I felt fine if dose was enough to ameliorate symptoms, but my family seemed to sense that I 'was not myself'. Withdrawal symptoms were extreme: severe nausea, vomiting, dry retching, vertigo, visual delusions and halucinations. | The short-acting nature of this benzodiazapine made me take it IN ADVANCE of its action. Also the fact that it took approx one hour to 'kick in' forced me to take it in advance to prevent anxiety. It DID allow me to focus on the task at hand (without drowsiness) for which I was grateful at the time. But the gradually increasing tolerance to the drug led to higher and higher and doses needed, eventually leading to hospitalisation. BTW it has been the only drug so far that has allowed me to FOCUS on the work at hand! Now I am off it I feel less able to work constructively. I have since been diagnosed with Bipolar disorder and GAD. Current med: unsatisfactory. | M | 48 | 3 years | 7/15/2007 | 5 | anxiety | sleepiness | F | 80 | 18 years | 7/13/2007 | 4 | Panic attacks and anxiety | Memory loss, sleepyness. Depression if I take too much in a day. | This drug really well during panic or anxiety attacks. | M | 43 | 3 months | 7/11/2007 | 4 | anxiety | none | F | 53 | | 7/1/2007 | 1 | my aunt takes this for panic | My aunt takes this neurotoxin for panic attacks. She still has panic attacks. Also, a relative of mine is a pharmacist. In the Compendium of Pharmaceuticals and Specialties there is a Xanax study which claims the placebo subjects had higher rates of akathisia (a drug-induced condition) than the subjects who were ingesting the drugs. This study demonstrates the willingness of Big Pharma to fudge results in order to pass dangerous drugs. Please don't take this--it is highly addictive when used daily. | M | 45 | 0 days | 7/1/2007 | 4 | [Social] Panic Attacks/Agoraphobia | I sometimes felt invisible, like nobody could notice anything I was doing. Occasionally it would make me fall asleep if I had to stay in one spot for too long. After a fairly short period of time I would feel moderate rebound anxiety. | I have periodic panic attacks, particularly at social gatherings, riding in cars, and walking into rooms full of people (i.e. late to class). I felt that the medicine worked, but I felt that it created urges to take more than directed when the rebound anxiety hit, so I switched from alprazolam to clonazepam (Klonopin). I think xanax is great for airplanes and adjunctive treatment with ssri's, but by itself I don't think xanax has much too offer except as a short term treatment for panic attacks, klonopin is less sedating and seems to prevent future anxious episodes without causing cravings, and tolerance seems to build up much slower than xanax does. | M | 19 | 60 days | 6/30/2007 | 4 | pre | none | M | 49 | 1 days | 6/25/2007 | 5 | Meniere's Disease, PTSD, Anxiety | It makes me very thirsty (dry mouth) but seems to work well in combination with other drugs for my conditions with no ill effects. | In working with a wonderful doctor and therapist, I have learned Meniere's Disease is an anxiety=provoked condition, and is the worst thing I have ever suffered in my life. To manage this, I take a low dose of Wellbutrin everyday and have a 1mg Rx for Xanax, which I am supposed to take 3x-a-day, but to be honest, I usually only take about 3-1mg a week, so only taking it when I honestly feel "too anxious". I also take Meclizine for the Meniere's attacks and those are only as needed as well. I feel the Xanax is better to have around than not, for my personal conditions. It took me a long time to balance out my meds, and taking too much xanax feels as horrible as the withdrawl can be, as I've experienced both. Now, after much time in getting to know what my body needs and how I am feeling (like with anxiety), and removing the 'stigma' of having to take a drug to manage my conditions is now over, taking just a few pills a week seems to work beautifully. I'd rather have it than n | F | 45 | 2 years | 6/23/2007 | 1 | anxiety and panic attacks | in 15 min I felt lightheaded...Couldnt think straigh, felt disoriented...extremely tired for 2 hours...lost balance, then after that I got rebound anxiety twice as bad as before I took the pill | I had to take .25 whenever I needed it...It just didnt work for me. | M | 18 | 1 weeks | 6/21/2007 | 5 | anxiety disorder / panic attacks | none | excellent for quick relief when having a panic attack. i've also used it when i was having periods of constant anxiety, taking .5 mg 3x daily. this was effective except during one extremely difficult period when it took paxil to pull me out. unfortunately paxil had nasty sexual side effects and withdrawal symptoms. i've never experienced difficulty going off xanax when i was using it daily. so while i agree w/ those who say stay away if you have an addictive personality, if you don't, i don't think addiction is a problem, it least it wasn't for me. in fact i used .75 mg at night to help me sleep for years and tapered off over a couple weeks. no problem. so i think xanax is a great medicine. | M | 46 | | 6/18/2007 | 5 | panic attacks/anxiety | (oops, i just posted the last one, put in the wrong info on how long i have been taken it) i take 1-2MG for panic attacks and for anxiety. if i take 2, it usually makes me just a little drowsy. | I suffered from panic attacks for about a year and my doc put me 1-2MG per day as needed and it completly knocks out my panic attacks. For anxiety I typically take one and I'm good. The only problems i have experienced is taking more than 2MG for many days then my body going thru withdrawl, i learned, take only as directed! | F | 24 | 10 months | 6/15/2007 | 5 | panic attacks/anxiety | i take 1-2MG for a panic attack and for anxiety. if i take 2, it usually makes me just a little drowsy. | I suffered from panic attacks for about a year and my doc put me 1-2MG per day as needed and it completly knocks out my panic attacks. For anxiety I typically take one and I'm good. The only problems i have experienced is taking more than 2MG for many days then my body going thru withdrawl, i learned, take only as directed! | F | 24 | 9 days | 6/15/2007 | 3 | anxiety | nausea, sleepiness | I've taken it on and off for several years. I take it for anxiety attacks, usually when I wake up in the morning. It is hard to take sometimes because the anxiety causes me to feel sick to my stomach and taking a bitter pill on top of it doesn't help. Will smoke pot in combination for best relief. The pharmacist said not to drive while on it. How am I supposed to function in life without driving!? I try to take it only when really necessary. | F | 46 | 5 years | 6/15/2007 | 5 | Panic attacks | None so far, I have been taking .25 every day for 1 month | I was on Lexapro for one week, it was horrible. I had nightmares, dry mouth, sexual disfuction, laziness, just not feeling good. I have no negative side effects with xanex, I take .25 maybe two or tree times a week. I hope it is not addictive. I do not want to become addictive to any medication. I was taken to the ER recently, diagosed panic attack, I thought I was having a heart attack, please email me your experiences or call me @ 919.518.0911 | M | 43 | | 6/14/2007 | 5 | Panic attacks/ anxiety | Ocassional drowsiness but lessens after time. Also possibly some memory loss (or maybe it's my age?) | This has been THE wonder drug for me. Having suffered from anxiety and panic attacks since I was about 17, I was on and off of Valium until this came to market and I've been on it for probably 20 years. I have never seen the need to increase the dosage over time, have pretty much stayed at about 1mg a day total, split into 3 or 4 doses. I've heard withdrawal is tough, but at this low dose hopefully it won't be bad. Anyway why would I want to stop, it has given me my life back. Some doctors tend not to want patients to take this for long term and want you to try antidepressants instead, but some of those can have some nasty side effects and withdrawal symtoms. | M | 48 | 20 years | 6/9/2007 | 5 | Sleep | Relaxed enough to sleep. | I've been taking Xanax semi-regularly for several years now. It stops my brain from cycling around so I can fall asleep. It does tend to wear off after about five hours for me, so I will sometimes wake up too early. If I have enough time before I have to get up (a few hours) I might take part of a pill and go back to sleep. Generally I can go to sleep with half of a .25 pill, though there have been periods when I take a whole one. But I don't do this for too long, I've found that if I seem to be needing a higher dose, it's best to go off it for a little while even without sleep so that I can reset my body's tolerance back to a lower dose. Antihistamines enhance the effect of Xanax. | F | 43 | 5 years | 6/5/2007 | 5 | panic attacks | Get drowsy, sometimes feel disassciated | This drug is very helpful for managing panic attacks/anxiety. I typically have poor reactions to most drugs I take, but have none using xanax except feeling sleepy. The drowsiness is usually mild enough to continue working if I want to, or allows me to get some rest. it's a godsend! | F | 25 | 12 months | 6/5/2007 | 5 | Social anxiety/panic attacks | I rarley have any side effects from this drug. Sometimes drowsy/dizziness. | Helps a lot! | M | 19 | 6 months | 6/2/2007 | 5 | drowsiness, dizziness | Thank god for this stuff. Anyone who has experienced panic attacks knows how utterly horrifying they are; xanax usually begins to work within a few minutes, and soon after i'm back to normal (occasionally with a bit of drowsiness). | M | 1 years | 5/27/2007 | 5 | GAD, PD | none | I was recently diagnosed with GAD & PD. I wish I wouldn't have waited so long to seek help. I take .25mg on an as need basis. This drug is a God send and I definately recommend it to anyone! As long as you take it ONLY when you feel anxious or feel a panic attack coming on, you will not become addicted. 30 pills usually lasts me 60 days. God Bless and good luck! | F | 39 | 3 months | 5/25/2007 | 5 | Major sedative. Sometimes I find myself dosing in meetings. | Works great. Just beware of the sleepiness. | M | 44 | 4 years | 5/17/2007 | 5 | Panic Attacks | Sometimes sleepiness, but not always | Xanax has been a God send for me. I use to take anti-depressants every day and I still had them terribly....worst feeling I think anybody can ever imagine. I suffered with panic attacks most my adult life. I haven't taken anything for them for about 13 years....(Thanks to faith in God) except Xanax as needed. 30 pills will last me a year. Only take them in stressful situations such as seeing my ex. Anyway....I've taken them every day for a week or none at all for months. Never felt habit forming or losing effectiveness. (.25). Love the drug....why don't doctors want to prescribe....I had to talk my new doctor into it!!!! Finding someone you can talk to and who understands what you are going through.....helps wonders too :) | F | 39 | 21 years | 5/14/2007 | 3 | Anxiety | dry mouth, feeling of depression/sadness and irritability when coming off of a dose | Surprisingly, Xanaz does not make me tired when I first take it. A lot of people say that it makes them drowsy and tired. Xanax really makes me feel a lot better for the first few hours after I take, but I start to feel cranky and irritable when the does starts to wear off. I also sometimes feel depressed and worse than I did right before taking the medication. I think I am going to switch back to Lorazepam, which did make me somewhat tired but not at all depressed. I only take this medication as needed. | F | 25 | 2 years | 5/13/2007 | 3 | anxiety | physically addicting | when i first started taking xanax i thought it was great(i was taking .25 2 or 3 times a day)..it took away my anxiety completly but after about two weeks of taking it i started to go thru withdrawl when i was coming down from it(irritable,anxious,uncaring,depression)..I definently recomend only taking xanax once in awhile or only when you absoulutly need it..because the dependency for it is really intense and makes you feel worse then what you felt like before you started taking it..i definentily only take it once or twice a week now...be careful | F | 28 | 3 months | 5/12/2007 | 1 | panic attacks | anterograde amnesia, an intense return of anxiety after several hours. | Due to its short half-life, Xanax is more likely to lead to dependence than any other benzo. It is also the hardest to taper from. I have found clonazepam to be a more effective anxiolytic. Under no circumstances would I ever recommend drinking while using Xanax. | F | 31 | 90 days | 5/9/2007 | 3 | Anxiety/Panic attacks | I only take 1/2 of a .5mg pill occasionally when my symptoms get bad. It does make you very drowsy. Also for me, when it started to wear off in about 3-5 hours, I would have one hell of a crash where the anxiety and panic would get unbearable for a few hours. Even if I took it when I went to bed, as soon as it wore off, I'd be woken up with massive anxiety and panic. It also produced VERY vivid dreams, a lot of times nightmares, when I took it before bed. That combined with the panic/anxiety when I would wake (see above). | I find this drug a double edged sword. While it really does do a VERY good job at easing the anxiety while it's working, I'm really trying not to take this drug. The crashes when it would wear off were horrendous and made my anxiety worse. I'm sure if you don't abuse this drug, and you don't take it often enough to get addicted, it's definitely worth it because it definitely does work on calming anxiety as long as you don't get the wierd side effects that I get. | M | 37 | 4 days | 5/3/2007 | 5 | Sleep aid | Cotton mouth, munchies, having too much fun to want to go back to sleep | Xanax works best for me as a sleep aid if I smoke half a joint immediately before taking it. The Xanax must be real not generic, just as the weed must be good haze or chronic, not "dirt". My problem before I started the xanax with weed combo was waking up too early and not being able to fall back asleep. I would be useless at work; tired and cranky. Regular sleeping pills left me feeling groggy after I woke up -- for the whole day. Now, If I wake up too early I smoke a little weed and pop a xanax. I have a half hour window where I can enjoy myself, watching TV, snacking, listening to some tunes, and most significantly feeling confident I will get the extra couple hours of sleep needed to feel great when I wake up. If you wake up too early, try the weed and xanax method. It works for me. | M | 36 | 4 years | 5/1/2007 | 5 | Chronic Lower Back Pain | Tiredness, immediate relaxation of the spinal cord and surrounding muscles. immediate relaxation of the brain and other muscle groups. | This drug worked wonders, originally took it for inability to eat very much at one setting. Doctor called it anxiety only because I worked 7 days a week for 12 to 14 hrs per day. I was just used to eating once a day for dinner only 2 hamburgers from BK then just a snickers for lunch and 2 pop tarts for breakfast X 1 1/2 years. Not on on purpose, just did not place much importance on eating. I found that like alcohol it relaxed my back allowing me to rest from the constant pain and sleep comfortably. I never take more than 1 mg. usually .5 and only occaisionally. 1 30 day supply lasts 3-6 months. | M | 41 | 1 years | 4/25/2007 | 1 | Anxiety, Depression, OCD | Fatigue | Tried a variety of dosage levels, none of which impacted my anxiety, depression, or OCD. For instance, I took 2 MG prior to going out, and I felt as uncomfortable as I would have without taking anything. | M | 22 | 1 months | 4/24/2007 | 1 | Anxiety | Dont give a Sh*t attitude, groggy, cursing | Went in to work and called my boss a Fu**ing A**hole. Got fired. HATED THAT JOB! | F | 25 | 12 days | 4/18/2007 | 2 | insomina | Next day grogginess, feeling numb. | I'll take the regular kind, if I have to take it at all. Be warned..this stuff is HIGHLY addicting. If you have ever had any kind of dependency issues, avoid this drug class like a plague. It can cause more problems than it can cure, and you won't even know it until you are long gone. (I worked in the substance abuse field. We saw a lot of problems with this.) | F | 42 | 4 days | 4/15/2007 | 5 | anxiety | drowsiness at first...crazy dreams(not bad ones tho), increased sex drive | I've been on xanax for 2 months now .25mg 4 times a day and I haven't had a full blown panic attack in the last 2 weeks. i also can't remember the last time i didn't get a great nights sleep. this is a miracle drug i don't care what they say about it being addictive i'll take it forever it has given me a new life. | M | 25 | 2 months | 4/11/2007 | 4 | anxiety | great sleep, quick reduction of anxiety, bad depression after taking the pill more than three days in a row . . .withdrawal | Xanax is a wonder pill that is exceptionally easy to get addicted to. I was prescribed xanax while my Grandmother was in hospice - watching her die was difficult. Doctor prescribed me .50. She told me take them as needed. After i started taking them and realizing how much they helped I didn't want to go a day without one. Then I didn't want to go more than 12 hours without one. After my Grandmother passed I stopped taking the pills and went into a very severe depression. Some may say it was due to the death of my Grandma...the withdrawal symptoms included an extreme irritation/aggitation, lack of focus, not caring about the thoughts and feelings of those around me. drinking while on xanax is a HUGE no no - unless your purpose is to forget everything you are about to do.If you have an addictive personality AT ALL xanax is not advisable as a good treatment for anxiety or any other reason | F | 30 | 18 months | 4/11/2007 | 4 | M | 1 months | 4/10/2007 | 5 | Panic attacks | Slight drowsiness | Even though this medication is addictive, I cannot say enough about how much it helped me when I needed it so badly 15 years ago. 15 years ago, during the same month, I found out I could not have children and my mother was diagnosed with colon cancer. 6 months from her date of diagnosis, my mother passed away. It was more than I could bear at the time. That's when I started having panic attacks. Unless you have experienced one, you cannot imagine how terrible they are. My family dr. prescribed Xanax for me at that time and I have taken it off and on since then. It did wonders for me. The feeling I was having that I was losing my mind went away and it was wonderful! I could function normally again. I take one every once in a while when I feel an attack coming on, but I don't have to take them on a regular basis any more. On the average, I take 1 per week. You have to weigh the benefits vs. the addiction; for me the benefits far outweighed the addiction. If you have panic att | F | 52 | 15 years | 4/9/2007 | 4 | Anxiety & disorientation driving | Sleepiness for hour or two. | I get very anxious and stressed when drive on interstate over 50 especially. Xanax has really taken the edge off and gives me a feeling of contentment when sleeping. 1/2 mg twice a day seems to work. 1mg at once seems to knock me out. On it for 2 weeks. Also on Prozac for depression and mood swings. It also works. | M | 54 | 2 weeks | 4/6/2007 | 5 | anxiety | none | This has long been a life saving drug for me. I have suffered with severe anxiety and panic attacks since I was 12 this has been the drug that has carried me through most of my life and helped me be a functional part of society. I only take it "as needed" and have never had to increse my .25 dose - unfortunately, due to its bad rap for addiction, I have often had doctors who refuse to perscribe it I tried to get along without having it as a back up which resulted in MANY emergency room visits for panic attacks. I changed doctors till I found one who acknowledged my need for it, saw that from my perscription history that 30 pills could take me up to 6-9 months to finish, thus he didn't fear addiction and he never treated me like junkie pill seeker, which has happened to myself as well as others I know who have found Xanax to be a life saver. | F | 37 | 17 years | 3/29/2007 | 5 | anxiety, panic, social anxiety | Anti-D effects (Bonus)! | xanax (alprazolam) has been the only medication for the past 8 years that actually works for my horrible anxiety issues. It is very addictive but for me there is nothing else that gives me the relief alprazolam does. My dose has gone from 3mg/day to 12+mg a/day over the past 7 years. However, IT WORKS! | M | 32 | 7 years | 3/26/2007 | 5 | stress after work+to relax & sleep | Coming from classical Benziadozepine (Lexomil)which used to relax me little bit but which was making me fell down while starting getting up during the night (I was taking more than a full tablet 1/2 h before going to bed (N.B : a full Lexomil tablet is usually splitted in 4 doses)Then a friend made me discover the Xenax -and I have to recognize it myself- has changed completely my life, everything is going well and the morning when I get up I feel even that I am different, better mood + more energy at work etc.. | no other comment that's all. | M | 45 | 7 days | 3/22/2007 | 5 | nerve pains from cord compression | none, drowsiness of course but not severe. | just a great and safe drug. have been taking for over a year at high and now very low dosages. i only take a mg a day now. it helps me with my pain and go to sleep. it helps with anxiety that comes along too. tried klonopin first and almost killed myself, i never had any of these problems with xanax. it works well for me and a lot of other people. | M | 22 | 1 years | 3/16/2007 | 5 | Depression/Anxiety | None | If you suffer from anxiety or panic attacks, Xanax "takes the edge off". It basically calms you down so you can deal with whatever is happening. It is an absolute life saver to people like me. I do not take it every day, so I can not speak to dependency concerns. On a side note, my dog is severely phobic of thunderstorms. To the point that I can see her heart beating through her chest. My vet perscribed Xanax for her and it helps her tremendously if I can get it in her prior to the thunder getting loud. Please talk to you vet before administering to your animal though! | F | 36 | 3 years | 3/14/2007 | 1 | anxiety/sporatic pranic attacks | I am a psychologist myself who currently feels that people really need to be educated about the chronic use of xanax. I do belive that it is o.k. for people to use on an "as needed basis" so they don't get physically addicted. I have had occasional panic attacks since college. I also have some anxiety and decided to try Paxil in 2000 when it was advertised as a great drug. It didn't work but I had no problem getting off it. In 2003 I had a unpredictable panic attack and decided to see if any other med. would help. My general doctor gave me Lexapro -which made my anxiety worse so I called him and he called in xanax. I picked it up and the bottle said take 1mg ever 6-8 hours. I had immediate relief and so my starting dose was 3mg. I asked my doctor if it was good to keep taking it and he said if it works take it. It was great for a year..then stopped working..I was upped to 4 which stopped working and so began a constant withdrawl between doses. I am currently wean | Use of xanax changed my personality to the point that it was apparent to people close to me and nobody liked what it did. I was more moody and just not myself. Doctors need to tell patients about the physical addition and the horrible withdrawal. I am just floored that I was given a starting does of 3 mg (didn't even know much about the drug at the time). My story may be rare because I think it was likely a mistake that it was called in for everyday use and not "as needed". Be careful!! | F | 34 | 3 years | 3/14/2007 | 5 | Generalized Anxiety Disorder | some sleepiness goes away with a can of coke...then comes back when you want it to at bed time. | Xanax has saved my life...i have suffered from GAD since i was a teenager and i finally got the guts to go to the doctor and get some xanax. He ended up putting me on 20 mg celexa and .25 mg xanax. The celexa made my anxiety worse and i had the longest lasting worst panic attack of my life. I stopped taking the celexa after 5 days and have taken xanax since then as needed. my panic attacks have all but disappeared and just knowing that i have the xanax stops me from having them most of the time. SSRI's might work for some but i need something that is made just for anxiety and xanax works wonders. Maybe i will try xanax xr in the future but the regular stuff is working fine for now. | M | 24 | 2 weeks | 3/13/2007 | 5 | | 3/12/2007 | 5 | Panic Disorder | Feeling like I'm in a drunk stupor everytime I take it. Lethargy the next day if I take it at night. | I only take Xanax as a last resort anti-anxiety agent when my others fail to provide relief so I only take it as needed. And it works great. It lulls me into a relaxed state... I won't say i'm exactly functional when I'm on it but then again, being pegged by panic attacks every 30 seconds isn't functional either. No dependency has yet formed with "as needed" usage. | F | 25 | 3 months | 3/12/2007 | 5 | Anxiety | NONE! | I would be lost without this drug. Been on and off of it for many years. Have no problems starting and stopping this medication. My Dr said it is only dangerous to people with an addictive personality. I can't say enough about this drug. It's a life saver! | F | 40 | | 3/10/2007 | 5 | To party | Memory loss, hunger, drunk feeling | Xanax saves me money because I don't have to drink as much to get piss-drunk! Thanks, zanax! | M | 26 | 4 years | 3/9/2007 | 5 | insomnia | far 2 addictive. 3mgs puts me 2sleep beautifully. | M | 26 | 6 months | 3/8/2007 | 3 | ptsd, anxiety | It gives me a hangover the next day even at the smallest dose. | It works for me along with Lexapro. I take it PRN which equates to about 2-4x a month. | M | 53 | 1 years | 3/4/2007 | 3 | PTSD | Honestly I think xanax helps people through hard to deal with occurences in life but most people abuse it like me.Docs used 2 give this crap out like candy,and now they are so scared of the government that people who this drug really screwed up can't get it and end up having painful seizures. I went from eating a legal presciption maximum allowable for 10mg daily (150 a month)plus some to 5mg of xanax xr daily. Docs really don't know how people with extremely high tolerences 2 this drug will react and don't believe u when u tell them. I got lucky I found a doc who cared.This drug is dangerous in the wrong hands.i been taking massive doses 4 over 18yrs,believe me the seizures trying to get off are weird,u don't black out,ur awake & ur jaw clenches,teeth break,tongue and throat swell,and ur aware the whole time.The only cure,BENZOS!!I am on a maintance dose because the risks are 2 high 2 remove the drug.Hell,I don't feel any relief when I take it but in 27hrs of not I do.It is a wors | I feel the drug taken in massive quantities the way i abused them,over a long period of time actually ruins the brains chemicals that effect the nervous system.I honestly don't know how I am still alive but I shouldn't be.I have been able to eat up to 28 2mg xanax along with 180mg methadone together and noone would know it if they hadn't seen me take it.I honestly needed, and still do,xanax,but,iwish i never touched a 2mg one.They are different somehow.If u would take two 1mg,henceforth making 2mg,it's just not the same.The 2mg bars are extremely potent for some reason.The xanax xr's saved my life.Anyone that needs a long term regimen should be given these,trust me.If given these though Doc's need to raise the dosage when tolerence is known to weaken,don't be cowards & stick ur patients on a physically dependent drug unless u plan on putting them on a drug that will be obsolete 2 their systems and maintenance probably 4 the rest of their lives.This drug given long term is just like | F | 31 | 18 years | 3/1/2007 | 5 | Panic disorder/generalized anxiety | Other than initial tiredness upon initiating course of medication, none. Not sure "tiredness" is a side effect; in the case of panic it may be a benefit over nervous hyperactivity! | Only med that controls my anxiety attacks. I've taken it sporadically for months between years of not requiring it, which worked well for me over a 20 year span. It has been demonized as highly addictive because it was often given to addicts/alcoholics & over-prescribed inappropriately, much as SSRIs are being now. Clinical studies show people with true panic disorder very rarely become addicted to Xanax. I'd used it in the past, didn't need it for years; then recently when panic resurfaced found it difficult to get adequate treatment. My family doc gave me 0.25 mg #30, which helped but did not control it. I found myself carefully saving them to choose when I would panic or not, or for when I wanted to go someplace. The result triggered anticipatory panic attacks. No way to live! Thank God I found a panic specialist who studies & treats only this disorder & who wrote me 0.5 mg #90. Though I often break them in half, I have enough medication to keep me out of the pan | F | 45 | 2 months | 2/27/2007 | 1 | SLEEP AND ANXIEY | Insomnia, Burning of the forearm, twitches,jumpy nerves, possibly bruises, pychosis, increase panic attack and anxiety, left side chest pinches, nerve tingling on left side of body. | Xanax has caused me so many problems. It does help you relax and go to sleep. I was taking 1.5 at bed time to go to sleep. Although I was given a perscription for 0.5 three times a day, I thought I could use it like valium. I was told by my doctor to go off cold turkey. It was terribleand I don't know why the doctor made me do this !!! I only took xanax for 30 days. I have stopped cold turkey since 12/2/06 and its been two months and I still feel the side effects of twitches, jumping nerves and tingling. Is there anyone out there who experienced what I have or could answer the question why do I still have these side effects. Before the medication and during taking the medication I had zer symptoms. As soon as I stopped..it all started. Will this every go away or is this permanet. Some doctors have said it only last for two weeks? We'll its been two months...Why???? | F | 29 | 30 days | 2/21/2007 | 5 | Genralized anxiety disorder | sleepiness--very addictive stuff--difficult to come off of--but can be done--you need to make sure you don't ever stop cold turkey | I Have been taking this rx for 11 yrs this time--it takes the edge off for me and makes my anxiety ridden life more bearable. I do not like ssri's and the side effects associated with them--but this rx is hard to get prescribed and I see a dr an hour away that seems more like a clinic just to get this prescribed--I take 2 mg a day --one in the am and one in the pm--I have not upped the dose in 10 yrs. I did take this also in the late 80's for one year but had alcohol and drug problems not associated with the xanax but associated with the panic and had to taper off this while in rehab--they tapered me down from 2.5 mgs a day over two weeks lowering the dose every 3-4 days--it was tolerable- it can be done if you want to come off it--but in a hospitalized setting is best as panic is hell to deal with --'nough said there | F | 38 | 11 years | 2/13/2007 | 4 | Chronic insomnia | After taking it for approx. 8 years, I needed a slight increase in dosage. Otherwise, no side-effects. No morning grogginess. | Xanax is the Angel of Oblivion - not that I take it for fun or escape - but it slows down racing thoughts and alleviates the "performance anxiety" of falling asleep. I'm very sensitive to the onset of sleep, and HATE the advancing Black Wall of Death I sense when I take traditional sleeping pills. With Xanax, I feel like I'm being gently lulled to sleep as opposed to jumping off a cliff. I took it for years when a do-gooder sleep therapist tried to convince me to go off it and take Lunesta instead. What a disaster! Read the side-effects of Lunesta on this site and you'll swallow cyanide before trying it. I suppose Xanax is addictive, but I want to commend the person who stated that you should not feel guilty for taking it if it's needed and it works for you. I feel much better now for going back on my Xanax. Usually .5 mg in divided doses x2 during the night helps me, and while a *small* amount of alcohol can increase its efficacy (e.g. 1/2 glass wine or an ounce of br | F | 55 | 8 years | 2/13/2007 | 4 | Chronic insomnia | After taking it for approx. 8 years, I needed a slight increase in dosage. Otherwise, no side-effects. No morning grogginess. | Xanax is the Angel of Oblivion - not that I take it for fun or escape - but it slows down racing thoughts and alleviates the "performance anxiety" of falling asleep. I'm very sensitive to the onset of sleep, and HATE the advancing Black Wall of Death I sense when I take traditional sleeping pills (which frightens me into fighting their effect). With Xanax, I feel like I'm being gently lulled to sleep as opposed to jumping off a cliff. I took it for years when a do-gooder sleep therapist tried to convince me to go off it and take Lunesta instead. What a disaster! Read the side-effects of Lunesta on this site and you'll swallow cyanide before trying it. I suppose Xanax is addictive, but I want to commend the person who stated here that you should not feel guilty for taking it if it's needed and it works for you. I feel much better now for going back on my Xanax. I usually take a .5 mg dose 1/2 hour before bed, and then again if I awaken during the night. | F | 55 | 8 years | 2/13/2007 | 3 | High anxiety | Felt hungover in the mornings, until I decreased dosage | When I took my first Xanax, I was at a relative's house and she gave me a 1/2 of a 1 mg. I couldn't get up until noon the next day and I would normally get up at 8 a.m. every morning. About 10 years later when I went to see my doctor about anxiety, he offered Xanax and I refused, not only because of the hangover effect, but also because the relative above is highly addicted to them now. Since she can longer find doctors to give her the Xanax, she turned to street drugs. My doctor explained to me that some people just have an addictive personality and as long as I didn't feel I was the same way, I should reconsider. I asked for the mildest of the mild. I only take a "small piece" of a 0.25 mg when I start to get "that feeling of nervousness" or if I can't sleep. They do take the edge off, especially on car trips where I tend to have high anxiety the most. They also help you go to sleep, but only take a very small amount and take it a little earlier be | F | 35 | 1 years | 2/7/2007 | 4 | Social Anxiety | Addictive! | This drug is not intended for long-term use. I started out with .25 mg as needed. It worked wonders for stressful situations, personal interaction, and such. The only problem is that your body gets used to the med (a combination of liver function and the chemicals in your brain), and builds a tolerance. My psych told me it was okay to take it regularly, never telling me about the withdrawal. I was taking up to 3 mg daily, and would try to taper down, causing severe mood swings, depression, suicidal thoughts, sensitivity to light and sound, anxiety worse than what I began with. Now I'm taking Lexapro, and I'm down to 1 mg / day, and some as needed. It's a great drug if not taken regularly. | F | 29 | 2 years | 2/4/2007 |