I am bipolar as well as ADHD and have been manic/mixed for the better part of the last month and a half. I was up for the entire week last week- no sleep and I was horribly agitated, restless, irrational and suffering from severe anxiety. I went through all the atypical anti-psychotics already and can't take any of them due to weird, rare side effects. In a horrendous, agitated desperation, I called my psychiatrist (I was on my way to the psych ER) and he called me in an emergency prescription for Xanax.

Sunday night I took .5 mg. and it got rid of my anxiety, agitation within 15 minutes; however, I was totally uncoordinated and confused. I did fall asleep though. Yesterday, I awoke extra manic. By 4pm, despite speedwalking countless dogs the entire day, I couldn't take it any more and took .25 mg. of Xanax along with my afternoon adderall (usually take 30mg, but only took 20 instead). I was less restless a few minutes later, but started yawning like crazy. I again got uncoordinated, confused and this time got extremely depressed. I managed just barely to function, but I realize that I really can't take it during the day or if I have to do anything at all. I am so frustrated right now because, at this point, I just want some relief, but nothing seems to work. Anyone else have this problem with Xanax?

I was on .5mg alprazolam 3x daily and it made me forgetful, uncoordinated and hungry all the time but it helped me with my GAD problems. I was prescribed Niravam for about 6 months and that worked so much better than generic Xanax. The big problem with this med is that it is so addictive so withdrawl is harsh.

i hated xanax just like you do. the withdrawal is a real *****. took me a minimum of 10 days to get over it - the first 3 days i didnt sleep at all.

Seroquel knocked me right out. what rare side effect did you experience on anti-psychotics?

what about lorazepam? did you try that? maybe a good alternative

XANAX has a terribly short half life. So does ATIVAN (lorazepam).

A person can be going in and out of withdrawal hell with both of the, as they wear off quickly. It's as bad as nicotine, that way, really.

Dr. X was just commenting on it the other day, in fact.

Staff were mystified why patients were getting agitated and upset and anxious when their ATIVAN wears off several times per day.

LOL. Not what you want on a forensic ward!

(The answer was pretty obvious. Use a longer acting drug, so there is not this coming on and going off the drug... constant waves of drug withdrawal can cause terrible instability, emotionally, autonomically, seizure risk, etc...)

NB Ask your Doc about Clonazepam. It has a half life similar to Valium's. (LONG) But no euphoric or addictive potential. Like, 24-30 hrs plus.

(Just don't drive on it!)

~Emma

HEY!
....that's my nick name! LOL! ...One of em.

suzZanneX

I am not defending benzos, but the short half-life of Xanax is actually an advantage when making the regular days off of Xanax in order to regain sensitivity. After three full days you will have less than 1,6% left in the body (calculated cautiously with a half-life of 12 hours) and thus regain sensitivity to Xanax more quickly. I have had withdrawal hells from both Clonazepam and Xanax, and getting reasonably well off of Clonazepam took about two weeks compared to Xanax with one week under almost the same circumstances. So, it is very easy to get stuck in a vicious circle, where it gets almost impossible to quit the drug and you need to escalate the dose (thereby increasing the side-effects).

I am not sure yet - still experimenting - but it seems like you will have to do three days off at least once a month. Otherwise the brain forgets to produce GABA by itself and you will be having terrible withdrawals instead of "just" hightened anxiety + a tiny risk of getting a seizure.

To avoid getting anxious during the day I split the pills into parts of 0.25 mgs and spread them evenly over the working days. That is not convenient, but flexible.

Xanax is a very effective pill for all this issue. I’m also using it. My doctor also prescribes me for this. If you want you can find more information about it at http://www.xanax-effects.com (http://www.xanax-effects.com/)