Well I was on wellbutrin for mild depression and it has been working well for me. I found out that my depression was probably related to social anxiety disorder that I have had for as long as i can remember. I heard that xanax can be of help for these certain flare ups of anxiety and my Pdoc prescribed 90 pills as .25 3 times a day as needed. At first I decided I would only use these in certain situations, but now I find myself using them pretty much everyday, sometimes a little more then the .75 a day. I have decided that I am going to control myself and def not use them everyday anymore, but I was wondering if anyone has any other experiences with xanax like this, or even klonopin. ive heard the horror stories of life threatening withdrawal and I would never let my doses get to those levels, however it is tempting having them around. I do think they help me very much, im just scared. Also I tried lexapro for anxiety but had to stop after only 3 weeks because it adversely effected my athletic performance as a runner. I was thinking of trying another SSRI perhaps, and maybe that could lesson my temptation to use xanax everyday. Id greatly aprreciate opinions, thank you

xanax is fine, its jsut short acting, benzos shouldnt be a concern if your life quality is enhanced by them. dont abuse them
klonopins pretty good too, not as abuseable

good luck

Xanax seems to work pretty good, my doc has me on the same .25 3x a day as needed, I've been on it for 2mnths now and could quit without having to have it but it does make me feel better. The doc recently gave me a script for klonopin said that I could take a lot less and have longer lasting effects so i don't get the rebound anxiety from xanax. Klonopin has a longer half life and is suppose to have a smoother feel to it. I am also on zoloft, as an mountain biker I wouldnt want something to impair my athleticism either, the zoloft took awhile and had a few side effects, but nothing as bad as dealing with the anxiety. Hope you find out what works best for you.

hi al, ya i have taken zanax in the past for the same symptoms. i knew it was a problem when i started taking it for every little hiccup. because i did this it made me even weeker in social situations, for example i was more sensitive or i would misinterpret a person. zanax are the best there are at the moment, i think i just had an abusive and addictive personality to start with. to me they were an easy way out.

my advice is to use them sparingly. be aware of how many you on a day. i hope that you feel much better soon. take care.

I'm using .5 mg of Ativan (also called Lorazepam), before going to bed. Another benzo that has a longer half life than Xanax. I've been on it for about 2 months now and I don't think I'm getting addicted to it. It just takes the edge off when I try to fall asleep. I did take it more than once a day at first, like 2 or 3 times at the most. But I'm starting to feel better, and I'm on Lexapro!

Hi Alkalineashes,

Hate to bring this up but by definition you are already abusing this medication. But that is not uncommon, Xanax is well known for its abuse potential. Of all the benzos out there it is the most abused. But I am concerned that you are using more than the prescribed 3X. Please get a hold on yourself and try to reduce your intake, remember they were for specific situations, not everyday use and certainly not more than prescribed.

"I would never let my doses get to those levels" are famous words of the addict but before long you will be hiding your use. So, now is the time to address this, believe me, you don't want to go through benzo withdrawal, I have been there, and they are rough, it takes several weeks to fully get over them. And the proper taping schedule recommended by Addictionologists is 26 weeks, that should tell you something about how hard they are to quit. That is why I am hoping you get a handle on this now.

You just may not be the type that can have this type of drug around. I am not, I will gradually increase my dose until I am in the hole again. Keep us posted and please address this as soon as possible, see if you doc can prescribe something without the addiction potential of Xanax. And please don't take my concern the wrong way, I just would hate to see you get caught up in them.

Peace and Love.... wayne

thanx wayne. well I ran out of my prescription about a week early, averaging about 4 a day instead of 3. The phram said next time my insurance wouldnt cover it if I was early. However, I think im gonna get back on an SSRI, like celexa and hopefully this will reduce my need for the xanax. Sometime i feel like the .25 has little effect on me and id be better of with the .5. I was on lexapro but stopped cause it interfered with my running, but now that the seasons over I may get back on Celexa as i said cause its cheaper. I felt it was effective. I also want something that will make me not feel tired all the time tho, as that is a main reason I am on wellbutrin but I feel the SSRIs overpower it. I will ask my Doc what he thinks next time I go in. And yes if i see the xanax escalate more then another month or two im sure I will switch to Klonopin.

Hi again,

That is one of the issues with this drug, rapid tolerance. What worked so well yesterday is no longer working as well as you would like. And shortly behind tissue tolerance is tissue dependency. But as long as you follow the recommended amount, this is acceptable. But when you start taking more than necessary or not taking them once or twice so you can take a big dose are all pitfalls of addiction.

Work with your pDoc, there should be a dose of SSRI that works well with the dose of bupropion (Wellbutrin) that you are currently taking. And here is a kicker, if you are feeling tired, you need to factor in that Xanax will cause this as well, especially once you have become tolerant to a specific dose. And you know, if you are experiencing all this now, why wait another month or two to switch to Klonopin. You really need to have a sit down with your dox and make some informed decisions about your treatment options. This is something you probably should do now. The longer you wait, the deeper you will get if you continue to abuse XanaX. Your Pharm knows what they are doing, they know what to look out for, and you probably have already set off some concerns. And I tell you (because I have been there) that once your record has a note in it saying that you are drug seeking, it will be very hard for you to get meds that you need because they will assume that you just want drugs for self-medicating.

But I hope everything turns out well for you, I am only expressing my concerns. Keep us posted, this is a caring community.

Im pretty sure I'll be ok. Since I got my prescription refilled I only have taken 1 pill. I think part of me was just curious about the effects so that may be why I took more then needed. I had issues with low energy before I took the xanax so I don't think thats part of it. I am thinking about asking my doc about replacing wellbutrin with provigil. Hopefully it will be affordable.

Take benzos(Klonopin, Xanax) on a prn basis and you wont develop dependence or addiction(unless you have prior addictions or an addictive personality).

im starting up prozac 10mg to go with 300 mg of wellbutrin and .5 2x a day if needed xanax. Hoping the prozac will reduce xanax intake

lambert, you seem to know alot. well im at a very bad time in my life right now, my gf of 2 years breaking up and cutting all contacts with me. I have 2 rx for xanax one for .25 3 x a day, which i have no more refills and 1 for .5 2 more refills. I have been taking no more then 1.5 pretty much everyday which I dont feel is abuse. My doc said anything over 1 is addicting, which may be correct but ive shown I can control myself in such a difficult time. I just got a prescript for klonopin, .5 twice a day, but I cant really tell what it does. Sometimes I feel i have to take a xanax after the klonopin cause i feel like i want to feel ok now and later. I guess when since my refills ran out ill have to deal with my doc and see if i can get one for over 1mg of xanax a day. But i was wondering if you had experience with klonopin and how it worked for you. I would be giving it more of a try without the xanax but like I said, I feel horrible and its the only thing that takes my mind off her. (besides alcohol which is a whole another story

I was offered Xanax but opted for Klonopin, I had heard too many bad things about Xanax. Now it sounds like there are similar risks with Klonopin. I had some very serious anxiety issues going on, chronic, not acute. The Ativan I was prescribed didn't do much. I was prescribed Klonopin 0.5 3x per day, but I only take it as needed really, since much of my anxiety has subsided since my AD is now up to treatment levels.

I haven't noticed any urges related to the Klonopin, but I'm not an addictive person generally. YOu might give it a try as an option.

i dont feel effects of klonopin. maybe its just cause im used to xanax?

I think that you are used to the quick onset of xanax. Xanax also has that sort of feel good (antidepressant) tendency in addiction to helping anxiety. Klonopin doesn't kick in as fast and it has a much longer duration of action. I take Klonopin and I don't tend to notice it kick in like I could feel with Xanax. I also don't feel it stop working. It is much smoother. If you really like Xanax you might want to ask for the once daily Xanax XR.

I mentioned my addiction worries once (about all of the benzodiazepine group of drugs, known to be addictive) to a psychiatrist who gave me a one-month-only prescription for midazolam and he said to me "I'll tell you how NOT to get addicted to these things. You will take 1, as I have precribed, for a few days and then you'll feel the effect will start to lessen, and you will feel as if you really need to take 2 to get the same effect, and then after a few more days, you'll want to take 3 and that is how addiction develops. Just *don't ever* take that first step down the slippery slope of increasing the dose over what was prescribed, and you'll be okay."

I've always been so grateful that he said this to me, and heeded this advice. My father was alcoholic and I think I can see an addictive personality in myself and I SO do not want to go down that road.

And of course, the difficulty is that these things make you feel so NICE.... darn it.