I personally think all xanax is the same.when I get what I think is a bad batch,I chaulk it up to old meds.That is why i personally like blister packs.I also think that the heat during shippent can affect potency.

xanax is the best drug for anxiety out there.
my doctor told me some people don't build up a tolerence if they stay on low dosage/ whats peoples thoughts on this?

I've taken Xanax, mostly 1mg for years, 20 or more off and on. I've always gotten them from my doctor. Never had any problems with generic. In fact I could take half of a blue football, 1mg and just calm right down. However I got a consult a couple of months ago and the doctor gave me the 1mg's that I requested. I could not even tell I was taking anything! And it had been at least 2 yrs. since I've taken Xanax, so I know it wasn't a tolerance thing. So the next month, which was last month, I ask him if he would switch me to 2mg's and he did. Same ol' same ol'. I could take two and not even tell I had taken anything! The brand says :Geneva." I flushed about 70 of them down the drain yesterday. I pray that my next order is better. That's a lot of money to dispose of!

Every OP I have ever ordered 2mg xanax from has sold the generic brand Sandoz ,they are the bars scored on one side for breaking up into four parts if desired ,the other side has a GG at the top with the #249 going down the rest of the pill, this seems to be the most common generic I've seen people recieve ,unless they are using a IOP ,in that case you get the non generic upjohn's ! Whats up with the popularity of Sandoz generic's, among the pharmacy's filling these scripts ?

Kammi, I just so this post so I don't know if you have found out what the problem was or not with throwing up. I found out with me that when I take a sleep aid that I sleep so hard and I know this is gross but everyone has sinus drainage. Well, the sinus drainage and snoring would make it thick when it went down and finally hit my stomach that was what made me sick. So I have found when I take a sleep aid (only then because during the day it doesn't seem to bother me) I take a little cough syrup with it to thin the mucus down. But that just seems to work for me and laying on my side and not my back. I hope you found the answers you needed because not sleeping, hurting, and being nervous just doesn't cut it in any neck of the woods!

Unfortunately, I found the Sandoz genric 2mg to be very weak compared to another generic (also 2mg) I still have a few of. The other one I have are oblong small white pills (forgot the name), but they pack a punch.

hello,everyone does anybody have any feedback on retan 2mg
alprazolam?
any feed back will help thanks

I agree with you ,I have found the Sandoz brand of 2mg aprazolam to not be up to par ,and it seems this is what you get from 99% of the pharmacy's .I can only guess that like anything else its a money thing ,they are most likley the most cheapest generic and thats why most OP/Walmart etc use them when you request a generic brand .I have had the brand name xanax bars by upjohn and found them to be definitly more potent then the sandoz generics !

Xanax make me hungry....

I thought those 2mg with the GG and scored in 4's were Geneva ? I think they're fine but maybe why my tolerance seems to have increased since using the 2mg with that GG are you guys sure it's Sandoz not Geneva ? or is that the same co ? just wondering , i think most reputable pharms will substitute for another generic if they can and have advance notice, i wonder if that can be requested during a consult ? Just wondering, now i'm wondering if i should request 1mg of a different generic next time to see if 2 of those are better than the 2mg bars i get. hmmm

It is the same company. Sandoz bought out Geneva a while back.

My favorite - ever - are the round mylans. Anyone w/ me?

Hey folks.

I'm a newbie -- about two months.
This is all just my experience, I'm no doctor and I'm giving out NO medical advice. I hope I'm not breaking a rule by writing this.

I don't want to put a downer on this XANAX thread, but I feel a need to share my horrible and life-threatening experiences with XANAX.

One 2 mg Xanax bar is equal to 30 mg of Valium and heavy withdrawal can occur very quickly if you get addicted to this stuff.

It's not just "regular" benzo withdrawal -- if there is such a thing. It's not just feeling anxious,irrtable or depressed or unable to sleep and having a racing mind or being confused.

It's 20 times worse.

You can die from Xanax withdrawal -- especially if you've been abusing it. YOU CAN NOT STOP TAKING IT SUDDENLY IF YOU'RE ADDICTED . You can substitue another benzo for it, but look at a conversion chart, and you'll see: 4 mg of Ativan is equal to 2 mg Xanax, and on and on.

I've taken all the benzos - and Xanax is different from any of them, both in terms of how it affects the mind and how our body reacts when we stop using it.

I've been taking Valium -- often in very high doses -- for 30 years for muscle spasms. I've gone cold turkey on large doses of Valium and it sucked with W/D -- but I never had a seizure.

The first time I ran low on Xanax after being on it for a year or so, I suffered a Gran Mal seizure.

I don't want to come off as a know-it-all, espcially since I"m new to the group.

BUT I DO KNOW ABOUT XANAX

A pain doctor had me on 20 mg a day -- that's 10 2mg bars.
Waaaaaaayyyy too much -- for five years. I feel like I was in a coma for five years. Suddenly, when I got off it, it was like I was waking up from a bad dream....

My doc kept me on that much Xanax because they were the only things that relaxed my back muscles and I had horrible spasms.

Still, he knew what horror I was living in with Xanax. I think he wanted to spare me the W/D, and even said so. I tried to wean, but it's impossible, because sooner or later, the amount you're taking isn't going to take away the W/D symtpoms -- and you're stuck.

I actually detoxed myself over a few months from 20 mg a day to 11 mg a day -- still in the overdose range. That was when I realized I couldn't go any lower and not lose my mind.

Sure, I had a REALLY high tolerance, but 10 of those bars a day and I was a walking zombie.

I had short term memory loss. I acted and said things that made no sense. I wasn't violent, but I was abusive and aggressive. I've never seen a video of me on Xanax, but I've read things I've written while on Xanax.
It's like some crazy person got on my computer:
For instance: I wrote this:

The whole point of the this problem is to make sure your nurse doesn't watch too much TV and get all caught up in those soap operas because the food will spill and her eye makeup will smear and you may turn into an alcoholic, and and she may rob the nearest ABC store if she ever got on crack.

On and on it went -- making no sense at all .
It was like an idiot wrote it and signed my name.
I don't even remember writing it. Yet I posted that email on ADH -- I was SO embarrassed. I got a lot of "ha-ha you're high" replys, but I don't think it was funny.

Part of the problem was that Xanax has a short-half life.

I can feel the effects of Xanax on my body for about 4 hours. Then it ABRUPTLY ENDS and I become increasingly nervous and fearful -- even to the point of shaking and worrying about things that are stupid, i.e. terrorists outside my window, all kind of irrational thought, pure parinoia.

With Valium and the other Benzos, they just kinda of wear off. No so with Xanax. I was having mini-withdrawal symptoms every four hours because of the short half life.

I read a lot of research about Xanax, and they listed -- correctly -- some of the more stranger w/drawal symptoms:
I suffered em all. ANd the worst thing about it is: IT'S ALL IN YOUR HEAD, BUT IT FEELS SO REAL

Fearing you're about to die or have a heart attack; profuse sweating; shaking; high BP; confusion and fright; talking with a lisp; inability to sit still, racing brain, agoraphobia, BEREAVEMENT -- meaning that you feel like someone close to you has just died.

The list goes on and on.
You also feel like there is no use in describing how you feel because you are unable to explain it properly. And forget about driving.
You'd wreck.

Anyone can say " Oh well, look at those doses, anybody would be going through hell on that amount. "
True.

But I've talked with others as well who don't take that much. They get the same horrible W/D -- and it last for more than two weeks.

DO NOT STOP TAKING XANAX COLD TURKEY OR WITHOUT SWITCHING TO ANOTHER BENZO.

(They say that for all the benzos, but this is one that should be heeded and treated very seriously. You'll be VERY SORRY.)

Also, unlike Valium and all the rest of the regular benzos, Xanax is different in that it is specifically made to
PREVENT AND TREAT PANIC ATTACKS

The others are just anti-anxiety meds.

If you've ever had a panic attack you know there's a HUGE difference between a full-blown panic attack and severe anxiety.

I NEVER had a panic attack in my life until I got on Xanax -- then i was having them sometimes three or four times a day as I struggled to keep my mind in synche with the drug.

Also, when I started on heavy doses of Xanax -- I found that the others -- Valium in particular -- just didn't do the trick anymore. It wasn't strong enough. I was STUCK with Xanax.

Finally, I consulted an additionologist, who prescribed me Tegertol and some Clonodine and told me to STOP TAKING XANAX NOW and go on this stuff and only take 40 mg of Valium a day --two in the morning two at night.

He said the Tegertol would keep me out of seizures, and it was also a good "mood stabilizer" and it actually turned what would surley have been a failed attempted to get off Xanax bearable by turning it into just a "really bad Valium-type W/D."

It's those PANIC ATTACKS - which get worse and worse the longer your W/D goes on that make it impossible to stop Xanax without some other medication.
I've not been able to go more than an hour.

Don't try to do it alone. Seek help. Not a treatment center, but just someone who knows about Xanax and how to get off it.

There are tons of stuff on the net,and if you send me a PM I will be glad to share more experiences and give you more info on how to get off it safely. PLEASE SEND ME A PM IF YOU"RE ALREDY GOING THROUGH THIS. I can help

It was tough but I got through it.I simply could no longer live taking Xanax. IT was playing HUGE HEAD GAMES ON ME and I thought I was going insane.

I say to folks: take your Valium, Ativan, Clonopin if you like it, and all the other benzos, because they are very effective for anxiety and muscle relaxation,

BUT STAY CLEAR OF XANAX it will just blow up in your face and make it so you can't get any benefit from the other less powerful benzos.
This is just my opinion.
Stay safe and play smart [color:"blue"] [/color]

I tried starting a new post but am unable to. so this one may be the place.. Anyone have exp with Skelaxin?

What class does this belong to. I don't like the tired feeling. Is there a non-narcotic muscle relaxor out there?

Skelaxin is a non-narcotic. Any muscle relaxer you take is going to give you a sluggish feeling, hence muscle "relaxer". If you take them as prescribed then your body will build up the chemicla and get used to it. Then teh sluggish feeling should go away.

quote "You can die from Xanax withdrawal -- especially if you've been abusing it."



sorry hate to rain on your parade but please try and refrain from posting misinformation. you can not die trom xanax withdrawal no matter how hard you try. yeah its hell but it WILL NOT KILL YOU. basically, the only withdrawal that can kill you is from alcohol. the rest just make you wish you were dead. not to be rude, but i just needed to correct that.

Ummmm...Think again, you are at risk of having a seizure from
taking Xanax over 4mg per day and yes some do have problems under 4mg per day. So you have a seizure and complications resulting from that could (although unlikely) down the road cause a very serious health problem. Then you start to take meds for
your seizure complications and by chance you have some sort of
reaction, from meds or from the damage that the seizure did.
So that all leds back to XANAX. It's called cause and effect.

rigggghhhhhtttttt.......please give me documentation. to date no one has died from benzo withdrawal. sorry. but what you are talking about is a bad reaction to a supposed anti-seizure medicine. not a direct death (wait you didnt even mention death) from the xanax. i dont care about cause and effect i am just saying that the xanax withdrawal itself can not kill you. please show me some documentation if you are so sure otherwise

could some enlightin me I revecied xanax from my local pharmacy.It says not to take with grapefruit juice?I did not realize this untill the pharm was closed.I had A deadline for a construction job I am on and was not able to contact them.Any help would be appreciated thanks

In a nutshell some say that it increases the overall effect.
I would do research on it before you mix the two together. IMO Xanax does fine by itself without having to add something else in order to get a buzz*.

thanks,rotceps I am not looking for a (buzz) I was just woundering if the to could harm my health.Do you have any suggestings on where to find this info? I tried rxlist which was useless.
please excuse my spelling I am a contracter and I am very computer illiteret

Sorry, I did not mean to imply that you were. I would google it. My PDR is in a box under 5 other boxes so I'm not pulling
it out right now. No I don't think you are going to harm your self. If you must drink grapefruit juice then watch your intake. I would google it first. I did do a real quick search and came up with this:

"Grapefruit is said to slightly decrase the way alprolazam is excrited from your liver because it is an cyp 3a inhibitor,meaning that it will help slow the elimination process from your body. Other drugs in this catagory are prozac,propoxyphen,tegamet.the most potent of the CYP 3A is Nefazodone {serzone}
which when co-administered with alprolazm increased alprolazm concentration two-fold."

A few weeks ago I had to go without xnax for three days. I have been on 1mg x 3 per day for 15 years. Never took more, except when flying. Took 2 mg to keep me sane.

The only thing that happened was I could not sleep at night. It did help me notice just how bad my husbands sleep apnea is. He goes to war every time he sleeps and moves all night and snores. Panic attacks were at a minium thank goodness. But I was exhausted.

So, no withdrawls or sezures for me, but I do need the xnax.

Deb

My Mom, most of her colleagues and my own psychiatrist DO NOT permit substitution on benzodiazepines unless their patients tell them they can't afford to pay the difference (as some insurance plans make them do). With Xanax, I've heard my Mom say she and at least a couple of colleagues have lowered their fees for Panic Disorder patients so that they could afford to pay the difference.

I take Xanax for an sub-type of Generalized Anxiety Disorder. When my Internist forgot to write "Dispense as Written," I ended up with 360 generic alprazolam tablets (dispensed by Express Scripts, so they were all US-approved generics)and my anxiety level shot up so much that I ended up seeing a psychiatirst — who prescribed Xanax XR. My Mom, even though retired, called it exactly right.

There is NO comparison between the brand name and ANY generic version of Xanax.

Joey

And exactly where did you go to medical school? My Mom went to New York University Medical School and that's pertinent to my reply.

I was thinking of going to medical school myself (and ended up with a Ph.D. in English, but that's another story) and went on rounds with my Mom a few times. I saw a seizure resulting from benzodiazepine withdrawal that was clearly life-threatening. This was in a drug detox ward, but that's not the point. No, the young lady didn't die. The nurses knew exactly what to do (IV Valium and possibly something else; get the airway clear and all the precautions you'd take with an epileptic having a grand mal seizure) that my Mom, who had admitted her, hardly had to open her mouth except to OK what they were going to do.

Barbiturate withdrawal can kill. That's a known fact. And the addict dies from reeated seizures. Presumably you'd need quite a benzo habit for this to become a possibility with Xanax withdrawal, but I left that hospital with no doubt in my mind — especially after overhearing my Mom confer with the Charge Nurse ("Let's change the withdrawal protocol. A few more of those [seizures], especially if they come one after the other, and she's history." And this was from the CHARGE NURSE, who had an M.S. in Nursing. Nurses, epsecially females, always seemed a lot more open to making suggestions to my Mom, partially because of her decidely non-pompous personality and partially because of the female-to-female thing.

I'm not going to do your research for your. Register for MedLine and look up benzodiazepine withdrawal. I might have only been a college kid, but I obviously made the correct inference that enough such seziures could have killed this poor girl.

Oh, yes, the poster who wrote "no seizures for me" wasn 't taking enough Xanax daily for withdrawal, however, abrupt, to cause seizures. Besides, there's a 48 to 72 hour window — depending on the drug — during which benzo withdrawal symptoms start, so she was probably just a little uncomfortable toward the end of her 72 hours without Xanax.

Joey

Maybe that's why alprazolam does nothing for me!

it must be an individual thing, because I purposefully requested brand Xanax on my last refill to see if it made a difference. It didn't for me, and in fact the generic brand I usually get seem to be stronger? so who knows?

[color:"blue"] [/color]

Try the greenstone brand. It's better than brand or geneva to me. I take less, and it stops panic attacks in it's track, gone in 15 min. I do have to use it sublingual when it's bad.

Joeseph, you are right! That's why I never take more than 3mg a day, exept for extreme painic attack. Then I need an extra dose. I never drink or eat greatfruit juice either. Common sense on meds. Go for that degree, you can do it!

Deb

It starts to hit you after 3 days.