Very well said Oxy80 !

Thanks 70727487

yeah you might have to watch out here on `DB because there are allot of members snapping off. I herd that they actually banned one guy for 1 year from here.

Wow!!!!!!!! i think his name is stits

Does anyone know how long a 2mg will give you relief. I have never taken this medicine and have recenlty been put on it. Just wondering how long i cna expect it to last once i take it. thanks for your help

If you have never taken this medication, I find it crazy that your doc started you at that dose. It is huge. I would suggest starting with a quarter of the bar. Should work for 4-6 hrs. If you have never taken alprazolam, 2 miligrams will knock you out cold in about 20 minutes.

All day and probably some of the night in theory, if you don't fall asleep in the first place. It's a huge dose, and tolerance is likely to develop rapidly with doses that high.

As usual, nephro is correct. I also agree with breaking it up. Tolerance will build up quickly, and it's a very addicting drug, especially at 2mgs per dosage. It is also hell to detox. Withdrawals are terrible (I want to use a stronger word, but don't want to get banned)! A word from someone who has been there, pls. be careful!

Hi there,

There's no need to leave email addresses here, you'll end up getting millions of crappy/stupid emails... just fill your inbox up... if you need to know just ask and maybe someone will give you a direct answer or go to the search link, type in what you're looking for and a load of threads will come up, look around and you'll soon find one.. Check the feedback and dates of the posts and you'll know how good they are or arent..

I am about to hit the sack otherwise Id leave a few, Im not sure if you're looking for generics or brand name etc or were you live, it all has an impact on who you use.. have a look around..

Enjoy searching..

Ballerina59

How'd you get off because my tolerance is through the roof and if I dont have at least 4mg in the morning and at night I get these bad migraines and it really sucks. I stopped doing every drug from weed to exctasy because of alprazolam and at 1st it was a miracle drug I ate well slept like a log n could say whatever was on my mind. Now I dont sleep still eat good say way too much and drink a WHOLE lot more when Im barred out. Any suggestions would be appreciated

PeterPann - first, let me be clear, I'm not off (wish I was). My WD came as a result of my Doc. being out of town for a funeral the week I had an appointment to schedule new refills. It was the worst week of my life, and even doing a slow taper was hell. I don't drink, but was slugging Vodka like a sailor. Don't suggest mixing alcohol with benzo's, but it did take the edge off. I'm now scripted clonozepam, because it stays in my system longer. Wish I could get off any benzo. Have heard that a long, slow taper is the best, with the benzo being Valium. Good luck to both of us!!!

Ballerina59
SO HOW DOES VALIUM EFFECT YOU COMPARED TO XANAX BECAUSE I DONT GET THE SIDE EFFECTS ANYMORE EXCEPT WHEN I TURN THE TV OFF TO GO TO SLEEP. BUTI REALLY ONLY STARTED BECAUSE OF THE SLUGGISH FEELING. IT WAS LIKE SMOKING WEED WITHOUT THE NASAL CONGESTION AND BEING DRUNK WITHOUT WORRYING ABOUT THROWING UP. I'VE READ AN OLD VERSION OF A WITHDRAWL CHART FROM LIKE THE 1950'S AND IT DOES SAY TO TAPER OFF WITH VALIUM BUT ITS LIKE A 26 WEEK PROCESS AND I DONT KNOW IF THAT'LL WORK FOR ME. WHAT SIDE EFFECTS AND HOW FAST ACTING ARE VALIUMS? AS LONG AS I DONT SPAZZ OUT AND GET MIGRAINES I'M WILLING TO SWITCH OVER I'VE ALSO HEARD KLONOPINS ARE GOOD BECAUSE THEY STAY IN YOUR SYSTEM LONG SORRY I'M RAMBLING SO MUCH ITS THE 4MG I EAT EVERY MORNING. I JUST WANT TO BE A drug FREE PERSON AT LEAST NOW I DO BUT IT SEEMS SO OUT OF REACH AND ITS NOT LIKE IM ON METH OR CRACK I'M ON XANAX FOR GOD'S SAKES

I hate to tell you, but a drug addiction is a drug addiction, I had my fair share of problems. You do realize that a Xanax withdrawal has been considered at times to be up there with heroin withdrawal?

Diazepam is actually the fastest-acting of the benzodiazepines. When dosed regularly it becomes a long-acting drug due to a complicated metabolism. 26 weeks is by no means a long time. It's better to withdraw slowly than too fast.

This chart

http://www.benzo.org.uk/manual/bzsched.htm#s1

shows one way of converting from alprazolam to diazepam one dose at a time, which lessens any withdrawal effects if the conversion is not spot-on for you. It's not the only way, and clonazepam has also been used if you can find a chart for it, but it's tried and tested by many.

Of course seeing a doctor is the official advice, though they have been known to do crazy things to people on benzos.

Hell doesn't even come close to describing it. I went from 6mg/day for about 2-3 years and cold turkeyed it. My withdrawal from it lasted well over a month!!!

I hear that withdraws from benzodiazepines are much worse than opiate withdraws is that true ?

Also Alprazolam is a very strong benzo as it is, 1mg Alprazolam = 20mgs of Diazepam

6mg is hell-o-lot. I have no doubt withdrawing from it was pure hell for a month, but can you describe what the withdrawals were like? Was it profuse shaking, sweating, and intense anxiety?

I only ask because the withdrawals from opiates are very well described on this board and many other pieces of literature.

All I hear about on this board is seizures from Xanax withdrawal. The medical literature says this is extremely rare.

Again, I am not being confrontational, but rather just curious what high dosage benzodiazepine withdrawal is like, from a firsthand experience.

i apologize if this has been asked, but when i sleep on xanax i tend to wake up wide awake about 3-4 hrs before i usually do. this doesn't happen on other benzo's just xanax, but with the other's i get groggy the next day. is there something i can do different or is this just the nature of the medicine ex. short half life.

have tried ambien as well and get the same effect.

tia

Yes - Xanax has a very short half life.

Which brings up my question, does anyone have experience with the extended/sustained (not sure of the difference) release forms of xanax? I'm wondering if there would still be a need to taper from the regular form if you switched to an extended release.

I had an extended release Xanax sent as a sample, but the website disappeared and I cannot for the life of me find it anywhere, I'll keep looking. Have a look at the link, that is what it looked like.

http://www.pharmer.org/node/6434

I am rather sorry that I cannot come by them again because it worked really well for me, just like a normal 2mg but it literally lasted from the morning right into the night, so Im sure it would do the same if you used it for sleeping, if you find a source please let me know.

Thanks..

The sustained release probably wouldn't be a good choice for tapering because you can't cut the pills up without defeating the time release coating. Also, do you really need to be sedated for 12-24 hours if these are just for sleep? Extended release is going to make dependence more likely since it's the same thing as taking a xanax every few hours throughout the day.

You could switch to regular xanax or cross taper to valium if/when you decide to taper. Here's a couple sites that sell the generic alprazolam SR (sustained release), I can probably dig up a few more if you want.

http://www.visapharmacy.com (india)
http://www.relaymeds.com (india)
http://www.rxvogue.com (romania)

Have you tried temazepam or nitrazepam which are older, longer acting hypnotic sleep aids? What about Lunesta or Sonata?

i have a close CLOSE friend that went through heroin withdrawl and xanax withdrawl and he told me xanax is more of a head-achey, and heroin is more body achey

I definately agree! I have been on .5 for 2-3 years and that is still sufficient for me. I would personally recommend breaking them in half or quarters and see how that helps.

From what I have read, for a true panic attack, 2 to 4 mg a dose is not uncommon. But we are not talking about a every day dosage here. For general anxiety, the much smaller dosages are what are generally used to start with. But, IMO, for a bloody panic attack, I would Want the doctor to prescribe 2 or 4 mg. JMO of course.

I would have thought that for a panic attack, speed of onset is more important than overall potency. There would be no point taking a very strong dose of clonazepam, for example, as its onset is too slow.

Diazepam is supposed to be the most rapid-acting of the commonly used benzodiazepines; some people say alprazolam is also rapid. But in either case, it's going to take 15 minutes at best for either of these pills swallowed on an empty stomach.

Some people have reported a quicker onset of various benzodiazepines by taking them sublingually. Either way, the only totally satisfactory way of aborting panic attacks, somewhat like epileptic seizures, very quickly, is by IV injection.

Buccal midazolam is used in the UK (as a liquid) to abort seizures quickly, and compares favourably with rectal diazepam tubes. It would seem a candidate for use in panic attacks, where there could be danger for the patient, and less likely, those around him.

Nephro, do you recall anyone that has discussed XanaxER and how it affected them?

I am curious if anyone has used the longer acting xanax and recommends it if the treatment is ongoing. Do you find the dosage to remain fairly constant? I think it's the ups and downs of benzos that can be uncomfortable--the feeling of them 'wearing off' and not wanting to take one ahead of time, etc.

Just looking for feedback from anyone that has tried it.

Thanks.

I remember asking someone if Xanax-XR (nice of them to introduce yet another abbreviation for extended-release) was similar clonazepam. One person said it wasn't and two or three people said it was:

http://www.epharmacywatch.com/freeboard/ubbthreads.php/ubb/showflat/Number/727196/#Post727196

Not wanting to name anyone, but a few of those participating in the discussion have since been banned, though at least one of them is probably back under another name.

It was slightly off-topic, so maybe it's worth starting a thread on modified-release alprazolam?

The drug in its immediate release form has helped some people with panic situations, but caused one hell of a lot of problems for others. It was the first thing that hit me when I started reading the board: how many people were dependent, misusing or withdrawing from alprazolam.

With this in mind, it would seem at first glance that the SR version may address these problems to some extent, but looking at the attached graph it also loses the advantage of rapid onset compared to the IR version, which is something I assumed would be the case due to the timed-release mechanism. The graph also points out the ups and downs of the IR drug as you mention.

Indeed, looking at the graph it may resemble clonazepam or even be longer-acting. If the two drugs prove to be very similar, I would feel that clonazepam would be superior because it has less abuse potential, assuming the timed-release mechanism of Xanax-XR can be defeated.

I think that the only way to find out is to let people feed back to us.

The graph is from the manufacturer, and quite proudly shows a 6mg/day dose. As such, there's no wonder doctors are prescribing these amounts.

I recently ran across this site called askapatient.com that has actual testimonials:

Xanax XR
http://www.askapatient.com/viewrating.asp?drug=21434&name=XANAX%20XR

Klonopin
http://www.askapatient.com/viewrating.asp?drug=17533&name=KLONOPIN

Xanax (for reference)
http://www.askapatient.com/viewrating.asp?drug=18276&name=XANAX

Just glancing at that (I'll have a proper read some time) it appears that the XR version is rated higher than the IR. Also, the variation in rating seems less, which seems promising.

The 9th contributor had a amusing comment regarding the reason for prescription:

Hey guys.

I recently got some Upjohn 90's from an IOP. Football shaped purple footballs, 1mg.

I went about 3 weeks without touching a benzo. My tolerance was so-so before. I've taken 1.5mg thus far and really feel little to nothing compared to the US P&U 66 pills I had been taking. Those pills were blue.

Is it safe to say US versions are stronger? I feel slight relief from my anxiety, but NOWHERE near what I did when I took the blues.

Thank you for that information, very informative.