There shouldn't be any stigma attached. Only the patient knows what truly works for them. Doctors should simply monitor and guide.

Yeah, you are not up on exactly what we have decided a doctor should do. A doctor is liable for your health, even if you decide to go and hurt yourself. It is part of the society we live in. So if you want a drug, and you shouldn't have it, yeah, it is there job to know the difference of who needs it and who gets it. Be happy about that, and if you aren't, well tough luck.

Only the patient knows what truly works for them. Doctors should simply monitor and guide

This could result in meth labs being closed.

I too take Xanax.

Doctors have tried other drugs such as Prozac, Zoloft, Welbutrin and the like and those make me feel very strange. It was only recently that my doctor told me that the ingredients that were in those types of drugs was like a very, very low dose of what is in the hallucinogenic "acid" that was so popular in the 70s.

I see my doctor regularly, work a steady job (have been my entire life) and I have had no issues with it. Just take as needed.

Just like all prescriptions drugs, your doctor needs to monitor each patient for signs of addiction.

jsn1971 yeah nothing else works on me either only XanaX, how can they just cut everyone off.

wow substituting one benzodiapine for another less addicting one is like the methadone program. I don't see the difference between heroin or Methadone either.

everybody should be addicted to water you can shoot it up, drink it make a emema out of it and it will give you the same high, if you ingest enough water

"Gayle Mink, a nurse practitioner at a community mental health center here, had tired of the constant stream of patients seeking Xanax, an anti-anxiety drug coveted for its swift calming effect."

Well isn't that just too bad? Gayle Mink is in the wrong profession.

There are abuses of all sorts of substances including Listerine. I don't recall having read of any concerted effort to pull that from the shelves.

There are no 2 identical metabolisms. As has been testified to here, Xanax may be the only drug that works for some. I am one of those people. It has enabled me to reclaim my life. Like jsn and Upset, I take it only as needed.

I was berated by a mental health social worker for my 'addiction' to Xanax and instructed to wean myself off. Instead, I dumped the social worker. I know people who take meds as soon as they have the first sensation of a pending migraine. Should they wean themselves off?

I use Xanax in the same fashion : if I know I'm going into a situation fraught with triggers and if I have the first unsettling sensations of a panic attack.Xanax stops the chemical flood to my brain and allows me to use additional tools to control or overcome the panic or anxiety.

The problem with Xanax is that everyone builds up a tolerance meaning you need more and more of the drug to get the same effect. It is dangerous and probably should only be used on a very short term basis, if at all.

Here's what is going to happen to these heroic doctors: One or more of their patients is going to kill themselves and the families are going to sue the pants off of them for malpractice. They will settle out of court for tens of millions, and quietly put Xanax back on the menu. The big pharmas will probably find and support the lawsuits - they hate this kind of meddling with lawful prescriptions.

One can become addicted to anything that they believe helps them. Sometimes they're right in thinking that the actual substance is helping, sometimes it is simply the fact that they are doing something that they feel will help.

I think the psychological adiction may well be worse to kick than the physical addiction.

That being said, the body will inevitably develop tolerance for almost any substance over time, and will require larger and larger doses to accomplish what the small initial dose originally accomplished.

The real question is whether the drug is the right treatment for the patient. If the answer is yes, then tolerance and the need for increasing dosage is unfortunately a factof life for both patient and provider. If i is not the right treatment, sadly, with the current practice of scheduling three to four patients every 15 minutes for every provider is not going to allow either the patient or the provider to figure that out and determine what might work more efficiently.

Sharktopussie

The problem with Xanax is that everyone builds up a tolerance meaning you need more and more of the drug to get the same effect. It is dangerous and probably should only be used on a very short term basis, if at all.

This is true of every single substance out there (Tylenol, Tums, NSAIDS, anti-depressants, etc, etc). Anyone can build a tolerance to anything.

phusi

jsn1971 yeah nothing else works on me either only XanaX, how can they just cut everyone off.

wow substituting one benzodiapine for another less addicting one is like the methadone program. I don't see the difference between heroin or Methadone either.

everybody should be addicted to water you can shoot it up, drink it make a emema out of it and it will give you the same high, if you ingest enough water

Since you seem to (sarcastically) "know" all about benzodiapines and other medications used for anxiety, I'm sure you know that they can't all be substituted for one another. Certain anti-depressants (especially popular and effective ones such as Lexapro and Elavil) shouldn't be taken with any benzodiapines with long half-lives due to drug interactions. Xanax has the shortest half-life and the fewest drug contraindications of any anti-anxiety drug on the market. When taken properly, it's completely safe. So is methadone (it's also prescribed as a pain killer, but I bet you knew that too).

Rx drug abuse is certainly a valid concern for prescribing doctors, but "banning" certain medications because of the inability to control what every patient does during every waking moment is ridiculous and hurts more people than it helps. It's a bad policy. Like many others posting here, I take Xanax in addition to an anti-depressant. My last rx for Xanax (45 pills) lasted me almost 6 months. My doctor keeps records and knows this and therefore has no problem refilling my prescription when needed. It's the prescribing doctor's responsibility to watch all patients for addiction or abuse of any medication. Disallowing certain medications seems to be becoming way to alleviate that responsibility. That's sad!!

I took Xanax for a little over a year and I took them responsibly for severe anxiety attacks. The anxiety attacks were unbelievably severe and the Xanax helped but I was always cautious to make sure I never took more than I was supposed to and I only took it as a last resort.

I wound up going to a NP who specialized in mental disorders and he put me on Zoloft which turned everything around. A couple months later I had my thyroid tested and it wound up I was hypothyroid so I take meds for that now too.

It took a few months but eventually everything stabilized.

Xanax helped me through the rough spots but You have to be disciplined when you take it.

Plus I'd like to add that my primary doctor prescribed it to me for a while but hated it and always kept an eye on how much I took. In fact every doctor, nurse or shrink I've ever talked with hates the stuff.

Vicodin on the other hand seems like it's given out like candy.

There IS such a thing as Xanax Extended Release - I take it every day. Instead of it being quick acting like normal Xanax, it gets in your bloodstream and is released all day and stays at a therapeutic level. Yes, I sometimes still have panic attacks, but they are not as frequent nor at the level of intensity that they were before I began taking Xanax XR. I wish these articles would mention that there IS an extended release version of Xanax. Not many people are aware of it, because its only been out for a little over a year.

Can someone describe what happens if you have a panic attack/anxiety attack and you have no meds to treat it at that very moment?

For my wife, who has Multiple Sclerosis...stress is a major trigger for her episodes, and so we treat the stress - not the MS. She smokes marijuana to manage stress and keep the levels low, in the same way that I imagine taking xanax keeps the anxiety low.

But when the stress is too great, and even marijuana cant help - an episode is triggered. For people with MS, episodes can be very different depending on where the nerve damage is occuring on the brain. For my wife, it's mostly vision/fatigue/loss of facial muscles. Her largest "spot" that can be seen on her MRI, rests right on the brain stem - which is bad, bad news...some day, if that one grows or ends up causing the trouble it's capable of...she'll likely become wheel-chair bound.

So i'm curious, what happens to people who can't take meds to treat their anxiety/panic attacks? What happens to people when the meds aren't working for a specific attack?

When I read about people crying about no access to their xanax, I think...yeah, well we gotta risk going to prison to buy our marijuana...and sometimes, we cant even find any because our contacts are all dry...and we've no meds to treat her disease either.

Except, if we dont treat her disease - real consequences follow.

So what are the real consequences that follow not treating anxiety/panic issues? Surely there must be something more worrisome than having MORE panic/anxiety attacks?

This country has a real problem with "the happy pill" pushers. Too many individuals are prescribed these meds and become even more disfunctional. What business owner in their right mind would hire a paxil, xanax, zoloft soaked med head? They are a liability. Which begs the question, where do these people get their revenue? It's a vicious cycle of dependency and abuse.

marksman - you're likely working with a few "med heads" and dont even realize it, and you probably think they are great workers...

I smoke pot, every single night...I work a full time job, im damn good at my job, never abuse sick/vacation time...and my boss continually praises me for how hard I work and how well I do my job.

I wonder, if he knew how much pot I smoked (or that I smoke at all)...would he think entirely differently of me, based on his flawed perception of reality? That would be pretty pathetic if he did...I am no more a liability than my coworker, who uses her kids as an excuse every week so she can miss work...or Bible Becky, the other coworker who's constantly distracted by her cheating husband (pentecostal to boot!)...or the sales rep I work for, who averages about 3 hrs of sleep every night because he's worried about money (he's dutch too, and jokes about his love of money all the time...and yes, he's cheap and knows it) and specific jobs and did he set the margin right so he rip his customer off...

Me, I get my full 8 hrs of sleep a night...I have no personal issues (aside from the stress of having a wife with MS and not knowing what our future will be like in 5, 10, 15, 40 years)...and I show up at 8 am every day and work til 5 every day, and I get my work done on time and with few errors.

But yeah...im plague on society huh mark?

@marksman-3550582 - Some factories will hire them. I have a friend who used to work for a local factory where he could get any drug you can imagine.

He just got out of rehab a few months ago but when he was pill popping it wasn't unusual for him to take 50 or 60 vicodin a day. From what he says a lot of the people he worked with did the same.

@marksman-3550582 - Actually I have another friend I haven't seen in while who is a CPA for a large company that used to drink a six pack and than pop a handful of vikes or percoset all the time. Like almost every day.

I am sure that there are people out there that have genuine issues that require medication for significant anxiety/panic issues, but do that many people need Xanax? What ever happened with dealing with the stresses in your life?

@Jessica-1170252 - You can learn to cope with anxiety attacks mentally but people really need therapy to help learn to cope. Anxiety attacks aren't deadly but people still have serious physical reactions to them.

The first severe attack I had I wound up in the hospital because I had no idea what was happening. In fact the hospital put me on blood thinners and nitro just in case.

In my a case I lucked out because the doctors I have knew what they were doing and manged to figure out what was wrong. But everyone's situation is different.

Derek-381097 - not exactly sure where your comment came from. I was talking about the patient and doctor working together to determine what works. A doctor IS in some ways liable for the patients help but by the same token so is the patient. I don't need a doctor who thinks he/she is God telling me what I HAVE to do. As an intelligent person, I should be able to #1-research my condition and #2-be an active participant in my treatment by keeping myself and my doctor informed. It might be THEIR job to prescribe it, but it is my job to report factually and not abuse my medications.

phusi - Are you for real? Your comments only solidify the belief that stronger drug controls must be put in place to prevent addicts from getting drugs they don't really need.

Sharktopussie - If you use medication irresponsibly, you can build up a tolerance to any medication. I have a relative that cannot get any relief out of Advil unless he takes 800 mg at a time. Point is that if you absolutely MUST have a medication you need to use it responsibly. If you have benzo prescription for 30 pills and at the end of the month you have zero pills you have will build a tolerance. If you have a prescription for 30 pills and it lasts you a year the odds of building a tolerance are low.

John in NW PA - I agree with you! Xanax - I can take it or leave it unless I have a major panic attack - meaning debilitating attack. I deal with day to day with stress with techniques I learned in CBT and current therapy.

To all of the "med heads" here. The jobs that involve machinery are dangerous to someone lucid and in full possession of their faculties, so, YES a liability is exactly what a doper, drunk or med head would be. Perhaps you will relinquish the workers compensation after your injuries you acquire on the job as a result of being under the influence.

The problem stems from doctors prescribing it to people who are just temporarily stressed out by life and end up abusing it. It seems to be the popular answer to peoples problems these days, if you are not 100% happy with life get a prescription for drugs to change how you feel instead of dealing with the actual problem.

Xanax was given to me by a friend when my husband went missing last year. At the time, I was shaking uncontrollably and unable to even think. It calmed me down immediately, and I was then able to sleep. Talk about a wonder drug.

BTW, my missing husband was eventually found safe and sound.

People who really need it? Please. Drug addiction is just that addiction. You don't need it you want it?

130 million scripts in the US alone. It doesn't help if you need it it only works because you want it...

Jake319

People who really need it? Please. Drug addiction is just that addiction. You don't need it you want it?

130 million scripts in the US alone. It doesn't help if you need it it only works because you want it...

I'm going to go out on a limb here and assume that you have never experienced anxiety or panic attacks. I'm not talking about "butterflies in your stomach" before a big event. I'm talking about full blown attacks that can raise people's heart rates to the point of heart attack (yes, people have died from panic attacks), that incapacitate you, make it hard to breathe and can send you to the ER because of the emotional toll and the physical symptoms that occur. Yes, there are people who need Xanax. I'm not saying that every single person who has been prescribed it truly needs it, but who the heck are you to say that those who do need it to manage a very real disorder (panic and anxiety) are actually addicts??? Oh that's right, you're no one to claim that.

Hey Jake319 - Bet you have never taken a prescription either, right?

You sound angry....I got angry also. Had no idea at once a day I was addicted until the withdrawal started. Absolutely worse thing I've been thru in my life. So glad I overcame it, tho.

Anger got less over the years. Still feel snookered. It's pretty bad when a PDR lists one of the effects of withdrawal as death!

I was looking in the article to see if the fact that Xanax was originally introduced as a non/less addictive type of benzodiazepine (Valium like) drug would be mentioned. Conventional wisdom at the time was that because it has a much lower half life in the body (in other words, your body gets rid of it faster) patients wouldn't have time to become addicted. Turned out that having to take it more frequently meant both that it reinforced the addictive behavior and that tolerance (and thus escalating doses) developed faster. It became apparent to the overwhelming majority of the medical community within a couple of years that it was really no different than the rest of the benzos...

Truth is that addiction is an extremely complicated process that has as much to do with personality type as anything, including the drug that you are taking.

Since an average dose is 0.25 mg, up to 3 times in 24 hr, then 2 mg is 800 percent of a recommended dose. You weren't exactly following the prescribed dosage!! Yes, Xanax can be addictive. You found that out the hard way and I am glad to hear that you are feeling better. Still, people who follow the prescribed dosage frequency and amounts should not encounter that problem.

Mike that is BS. First comes the tolerances, then the addiction. Get with it!

I take .5 mg twice/day "as needed". Sometimes I go up to 2 or 3 weeks and don't take any. I have been taking this for 2 years now. When I don't take any for 2-3 weeks, I haven't had any withdrawal symptoms.

To have the cost of my meds covered by my insurance company, I must order from their on-line pharmacy where I must get a 90-day supply each time I order. Now isn't that a lawsuit just waiting to happen? What if someone decides to OD on the stuff? Their surviving family will say the insurance company let it happen because of their own policies.

I was prescribed 1mg at night for my anxiety and as a sleep aid. It's marvellous! I sleep deeply and wake up refreshed. I never take it during the day because it is so powerful, but I can certainly see how one can become addicted.

jbird

Mike that is BS. First comes the tolerances, then the addiction. Get with it!

Tolerance and addiction are two totally separate things. Yes, it's true that you will never find an addict of any substance without a tolerance to that substance, but you will find long-term users of certain substances who have tolerances with no addiction. Tolerance is a physical thing--your body has gotten used to the initial doses of a substance and does not physiologically react in the same manner to dosages are increased. Tolerances to substances like ibuprofen, acetominaphin (Tylenol) and anti-histamines (Benadryl, Allegra, Zyrtec, etc) are extremely common, as are tolerances to prescription medications such as anti-depressants (Prozac, Zoloft, Lexapro, etc), anti-anxieties (Valium, Klonpin, Xanax, etc) and pain killers (Vicodin, Percocet, etc). Addiction to some of these substances is virtually unheard of (ever hear of a Tylenol, Prozac or Benadryl addict?). Addiction has more to do with behavior and propensities towards addiction (science has proven that there are addiction "genes"). ie: are you taking that extra vicodin because you are truly in pain, or is it because you like the rush? That's behavior, not physiological tolerance. I'm not saying that there aren't a fair number of addicts out there, but tolerance does not inevitably lead to addiction. Tolerance does inevitably lead to withdrawal though--troll the net, you'll see entire websites devoted to dealing with the withdrawal from meds like Zyrtec (for allergies) and NSAIDs (ibuprofen).

Mine was a medical scare. My family wasn't dysfunctional. But it sounds like youre a bit cold, callous, and have all the "answers".

Rontron, you really don't know that much about history, do you? If you think this is new, go back to the '50s and '60s, when every housewife was on "moma's little helper." At the same time, depression was being treated with speed. Go back a little farther, and most of the drugs that are illegal now were in common use by anyone having problems. Go back even farther, and you find that alchohol (which is still the most widely used drug for combatting anxiety for people that can get nothing else) was being used by everybody. The human species has always had a problem coping with life sober. The question we need to ask ourselves, then, is are people that take these drugs to cope, functional. Do they benefit society. If they do nothing but leech, they have a problem. If they work they don't.

As a society, we have this strange (probably protestant) idea that if it makes you feel good, it must be bad. The anti-depressants that they mention in this article are helpful to some people, but not everyone. I take an SSRI for depression. But they talk about the dangers of withdrawl. If you stop taking and SSRI, you can die, and if you don't, you wish you would. Drug companies are pushing expensive SSRI/SNRI combinations over cheap, generic drugs (like the old SSRI that I practically had to beg for), because they make their money there. So take your pick, increase seritonin in the brain, or increase other chemicals in the brain, like endorphins or dopamine. It's all pretty much the same racket.

I don't know what this country wants to be when it grows up, but I wish it would. When it matures, it may start balancing the benefits of feeling good enough to go on with life against the stygma of perceived abuse or actual abuse, and pick functionality over cookie-cutter policy. Only a PCP can make that judgement, through direct patient contact. No larger organization can just flip a switch and make the solution.

That's why Every Child Left Behind doesn't work.

theCavalier
I lived in the 50s & 60s we had the Beatniks, the Flower Children, the Hippies,the Woodstock Crowd etc. most of whom were losers that did every form or drug legal or otherwise they could get their hands on to escape the reality of their lives. Many ended up dead or in prison, some straignten up and made something of themselves, others produced children who ended up the same as their parent(s).

The human species has always had a problem coping with life sober.

Baloney!

I don't think it's kids being raised improperly, I think our culture here in the U.S. is unnecessarily harsh, judgmental, and we do not value holding out helping hands to people. It's harsh out there. I think if we all tried to be nicer and friendlier to each other, rather than at each other's throats, a lot of this stuff would disappear.

theCavalier
I lived in the 50s & 60s we had the Beatniks, the Flower Children, the Hippies,the Woodstock Crowd etc. most of whom were losers that did every form or drug legal or otherwise they could get their hands on to escape the reality of their lives. Many ended up dead or in prison, some straignten up and made something of themselves, others produced children who ended up the same as their parent(s).

The human species has always had a problem coping with life sober.

Baloney!

If you think that only hippies and beatnicks are doing drugs than you are completely clueless. It's every walk of life sweety. Even Rush Limbaugh was poppin' 300 oxy-contin a day for a while.

You'd be surprised how many men and women that go to work in business attire come home at night and snort a few lines.

Men, woman, republicans, democrats of every race and creed. You'd be surprised.

Funny how people make unsupported comments and then apply them to the entire population. Above: just another valueless post.

Even if you disagree with his premise, show a little sensitivity to the loss of his mother. That in itself adds at least some "value" to his post.

Truly twisted post. Are you sure you aren't taking something right now? Get rid of doctors. That's just an approach that doesn't occur to many thinking people.

your comment is very much in keeping with the deviciveness of our current culture.

Back in the 60 the dope man had all the business. Big pharma saw profits . They created these drugs created the ailments to treat them, bang everybody is paying them..

This is about profits not health. They legalized addiction and reduced liability.

Pharma does not like the marijuana being legalized. That can be grow by the user. How will they profit?

Xanax, like librium, are niche drugs. Perscribing them as a maintenance drug is foolish. Abuse wouldn't happen if they were prescribed in small amounts to ward off the worst attacks. If they were used with something to maintain a level calmness that affords fuctionality, there would be nothing wrong with them. Perscribing them 90 a month is a problem. 10, maybe 15, plus whatever works for a particular patient would be fine. The issue I've seen over my lifetime is that doctors either don't have time, or won't take time to work with individual patients, so they just throw a boatload of drugs at them, hoping they will go away. In light of the current situation, I've taken the time to create my own treatment plan, taken it to my doctor, explained it, and we've both signed off on it. It works.

People, it's time to know your own body well enough to tell the doctor what will work when you get their, because if you don't, and this is my life long experience with Asperger Syndrome talking, you'll just end up being bounced from whatever drug the pharma pushers have convinced your doctor is the new cure all, and paying through the nose for it.

All my drugs are older, cheaper generics, and used in small doses. No "dosage creep" allowed by my plan. Take charge of your own health.

ME-776231

As a family doc that treats a lot of anxiety - I wish xanax was never made. It works quick and can help better for panic attacks. However its abuse potential is enormous both for the patient and if someelse is given or sold the medication. I will be watching this case to see how it turns out. I may do the same in my practice. Xanax is not the only benzodiazipine that we can use - just the most potential for abuse.

So as a doctor, you wouldn't want to prescribe a medication that works wonderfully for some people and they don't become addicted or abuse it? I'm glad you're not MY doctor. I have never found any other medication that works one whit for acute panic or anxiety attacks (and I've taken other short and long acting medications like diazepam, clonazepam, trazadone, etc, etc). I take the Xanax as directed by my physician (in fact, I take far less of it than I could) and have never experienced tolerance or withdrawal symptoms. Oh, I also have a recovering alcoholic father, so my chances of becoming an addict are 4 times that of a non-addict's child (and those are scientifically conservative rates). I'm not the only person like me, Dr. There are thousands and thousands of responsible medication takers. But you should probably take the Xanax from all of us, because there's "potential" for abuse. There's "potential" for abuse of a lot of drugs. As the prescribing doctor, it's part of your job to make sure that you're not refilling prescriptions sooner than they should be and educating your patients about possible side-effects. If you prescribe it to a patient who seems to be taking to much, then don't refill it. Have them try something else and refer them to therapy as well (private, group, whatever). If someone asking for it seems sketchy or you think they would do just as well on something else, then say no to the Xanax and prescribe something else. You don't have to just throw out Xanax as a possible medication for some patients. That's just the lazy way of doctoring, if you ask me.

And as for Xanax having the most potential for abuse as far as anti-anxieties go, I seem to remember there being issues with diazepam back in the day too. Xanax has taken the place of the new devilish anti-anxiety medication in recent years, but it's far from the only medication that can cause problems for people.

ridiculous post. First rule of medicine is do no harm. this med causes harm. The drug company minimized its addictive potential when it was released. Your comment on clonazepam acting like prozac has no basis at all. Fear not - you can get pleanty of xanax off the street so you won't be cut off.

You have absolutely no idea as to what you are talking about.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmedhealth/PMH0000635/

U.S. National Library of Medicine - The World's Largest Medical Library

"Clonazepam can be habit-forming. Do not take a larger dose, take it more often, or take it for a longer period of time or in a different way than prescribed by your doctor. Take clonazepam exactly as directed. Do not take more or less of it or take it more often than prescribed by your doctor.

Clonazepam may help control your condition, but will not cure it. It may take a few weeks or longer before you feel the full benefit of clonazepam"

So ME776231 - I rest my case!

This is EXACTLY the reason NOT to have Obamacare.

This could be a real problem. Xanax was to be the primary treatment for most things under ObamaCare.

ME is right about one thing...there are plenty of prescription drugs on the steet. More than illegal ones.

@ mike-637267

rest your case??? "problem with clonazepam is that it its much more like taking Prozac at 20 mg to ward off panic attacks" What does your follow up post say to address a connection between clonazepam vs prozac? All you did was post more info on clonazepam. I'm glad your not prescribing any of these meds.

I agree that lots of prescription drugs are abused, stolen and sold on the streets. That said, should we ban manufacture of cars that are stolen frequently? Ban glue because idiots sniff it? Ban aerosol propellants because idiots try to get a high? Bad people and stupid people will always team up to do harmful things illegally. Shall we ban fire? I say, if people INTENTIONALLY abuse narcotics, tranquilizers, amphetamines (including ADHD drugs) let them suffer the consequences. Stick them in a drunk tank and let them withdraw painfully. And if you want to prevent prescription abuse, stop direct marketing of prescription drugs by companies to citizens on TV and in mass advertising. That would do more good than banning any particular drug.

I concur that this is a ridiculous post. The sales(drug pusher) people influence the treatment more than the docs now days. Kickbacks are a potent thing.

So ME776231, I said that Xanax was fast acting for handling a current acute panic attack. A drug that weeks to build up to its effective level is not for an acute anxiety situations. I said Clonazepam works like Prozac 20 mg in building up over weeks to be effective:

Here is similar information about Fluoextine (Prozac):

luoxetine (Prozac) is used to treat depression, obsessive-compulsive disorder (bothersome thoughts that won't go away and the need to perform certain actions over and over), some eating disorders, and panic attacks"

It may take 4 to 5 weeks or longer before you feel the full benefit of fluoxetine. Continue to take fluoxetine even if you feel well. Do not stop taking fluoxetine without talking to your doctor. If you suddenly stop taking fluoxetine, you may experience withdrawal symptoms.

The point is that Prozac ( an anti-depressant, and not a benzodiazepine like Valium, Xanax or Clonazepam) has long been used a gradual way to reduce and ward off the tendency to panic attacks. It works really well in the way. Just as Clonazepam would do. But it's not for an acute anxiety attack, as Xanax is. Like Xanax, both Clonazepam and Prozac HAVE risks of addiction. Bad drugs are thoroughly tested and properly prescribed drugs, taken BADLY.

Ok ..... Guess what those drugs don't cure your panic attack mike, never will

People say this was the most prescribed drug any way so that negates Obamas responsibility.

Little advice, drugs will not cure you. They create more physical problems. Americans don't trust what hey feel. They abdicate their personnel responsibility to a doctor that will get a cash kick back from the drug dealer. That's not going to work out

There is no such word as Obamacare. Ideally, the iraq war has ruined our economy, but you dont see people going around calling it Bushraq....there is a difference here, one is called respect. Refuse to even address your other political nonsense MIKE...

Big drug companies are in business to make a profit--why else would they make drugs. Doctors pockets are lined by the drug companies. If it were any other drug, like Viagra, would we be having this discussion?

Classic econ theory: Limiting its use/dosing will cause higher prices, more theft and black market selling/buying. Users will get it anyway they can--including buying it legally in Mexico with out a RX. Look at sudafed, now if you have allergies in AR, you must show your drivers licence to get a decongestant--because of the junkies that use it to make meth. My big complaint is why should anyone have to suffer because of junkies? That is problem we need to solve, and the Dr's? It is their job to screen and monitor their patients. This clinic should have been doing that from the beginning.

@Jake319 - I don't get any kick backs from anyone when I Rx meds - I dont get lunches dinners or anything else from drug companies.

@mike-637267 again I have to point out your using crappy info to make a bad arguement. 1st you suggest clonazepam was the alternative to xanax - not me. second your wrong about how clonazepam works - lord knows where your info is coming from. Clonazepam takes up to an hour to start working not weeks. I would agree it would not be the right benzo for panic attacks but again you were the one suggesting it was

@ME-776231 "do no harm" And not prescribing a needed med does no harm? Your desire to never prescribe Xanax would lead me to find another Doc if I were your patient. There will be some for who that drug is the right and best choice.

There is nothing wrong with restricting who and how much you prescribe to. You can even try all the other drugs first. But refusing to give Xanax if truly needed is just wrong.

The real problem is Doctors handing out a script without requiring the patient to be under psychiatric care to help deal with the underlying issue.

No drug will "cure" an anxiety/panic disorder. You can use them to supplement therapy and behavior modification, but they should never be used to cure... it will never happen. Bash me if you wish, but I don't think that a family doctor should be prescribing psychotropic medications in the first place in much the same way that I don't think a psychiatrist should be treating me for a cold or doing my pap smear.... it isn't your specialty.

So many times I see patients for ER followup for relatively minor things and they're prescribed oxycodones, 20 to 30 for a sore throat??

The problem is that for a while we got into this whole 'doctors undertreat pain' so we, of course, were more aware of this and probably overcompensated for it. Just had a 26 year old girl come in with a five year history of back pain, wants me to prescribe narcotics because it just 'kills' her. ReallY? You appear to be moving about just fine. Check some labs, check some x-rays, refer you to PT even....but you're not getting narcs from me, sorry.

See it's Dr's like you that "run some labs" and "check some xrays" that really piss me off. Not everyone is seeking narcotics because "their back just kills them". I am a 27 year old mother of 4, who fractured her butt bone when she was 13, has size 36 HH (or god knows what) breasts - adn my shoulders are permanently indented from my bra straps. When I was 23 - I started suffering from pain all over and started trying to find a doctor who would tell me what was wrong. I didn't want meds, I wanted an answer. They all thought I wanted meds, got pissy with me - said I wasn't getting narcs - and that all they would do for me was your plan, I got pissed and found another dr. Finally I found an NP - thats right - NOT a DR - who started testing me - for everything under the sun - I got my diagnosis - Fibromyalgia - after being referred off to a rhuem for the positive diagnosis - oh and guess what? Both of those dr's are the only ones who gave two craps enough to actually give me a referral off to get a breast reduction done through my insurance to take the strain off my back - which has caused herniated and slipped disc. So - a patients age doesn't matter when it comes to pain.

nibor, time to go get your paycheck now, troll. Stay on topic.

Nibor, your comments need to be thought through before posting. And, please try to stay on topic and not inject your personal political agenda into the discussion.

And your comment about Xanax being the drug/treatment of choice by President Obama's health plan is asinine at best..care to provide any proof to back up your claims??

It is cheaper to give a pill than what really works - Cognitive Therapy.

Guess who made that choice for us? BIG PHARMA.

Most of these companies should have been given the CORPORATE DEATH PENALTY years ago for their off-label shenanigans and the officers of the company that got OXYCODONE onto the market by LYING about it should have gotten the PERSONAL DEATH PENALTY.

Srs
Thats what I'm talking about

Please don't confuse people who medically need this medicine with people who are just looking for a quick calm down

The problem is these people have now become interchangeable.

The problem with its mere presence being a calmer in your life, means you are on track for psych addiction to it before even consuming it. Dump it!

Yes, a 'Miracle Drug' for the minority of those who truly cannot use other medications and therapies...BUT...see the OTHER comments of those who have had addiction or other problems with this drug.

I can speak with some authority here. I am a Board Certified Psychiatrist, who subspecializes in addictions and pain mangaement. I work in 'Ground Zero' for prescription drug abuse and diversion (Tampa-St Pete, according to both FBI and DEA stats)

Xanax is considered to be the most abusable of the benzodiazepine family of drugs (ie, Valium,Librium,Klonipin,Ativan,Serax,etc), literally, 'freeze dried alcohol' as we were taught in pharmacology and residency training.

It has been identified as being in the top 10 prescription drugs for abuse/diversion/overdose death in nearly every tracking measure in every state..what more proof do you need? I agree the medication is overprescribed by Doc's looking for a quick fix who may not be comfortable using other medications and/or therapies...and the public votes with both it's feet and it's pocketbook..we want it yesterday and we want it in a pill form, therapy be damned.

I don't want to remember any more faces of those who have 'checked out early'.

Jazz, if I may offer some advice. I too went through a spell (PTSD + OCD) of feeling everything was crashing down, and my thoughts got the better of me. I can't tell you how many mornings I woke to overwhelming fear of horrible things. Of course it wasn't real, but I thought they could be at that time. For years I listened to the docs that I had to take pills, including xanax. Yes they made the thoughts subside, but to the expense that I was like a zombie.

Anyway, that was 10 years ago. I am pill free. I woke up one day feeling so agravated with myself for not kicking this in the butt. What I noticed was that if I put my mind to something, and got engrossed in it, I wasn't thinking about the other racing thoughts. I got into computers, science, and all sorts of studies that required all my attention. In other words, I gave my mind something to think about. I did that while slowly leaning off the pills. Today I am as normal as can be.. NOT. lol. Kidding, but I don't need them. If you have OCD, then you will know what I mean about focusing so much on something that it takes your mind off the bad stuff. You will find me here posting on science articles, because I now wonder more about life's possibilities than the troubles i can have.

I hope that advice helps you.

dbldoc: Of course you don't like the use drugs for mental incapacitation. You are a psychiatrist. First. tell the people the difference between addiction and dependence. Second, tell the people how much you charge per session. As a trained physician, you should know that Xanax DOES help people with anxiety attacks. I for one have been on Xanax a few years and have no problem with it whatsoever. I also take Prozac and Oxycodone. I have been to almost every specialist and have just been reviewed by Drs. at a major hospital pain clinic. They found no reason whatsoever to discontinue my medications. If people would listen to their Dr. and follow the dosage and time of use, there should be no problem unless you find yourself one of the people who have bad side effects. I am 72 years old, retired but still active in the community. I am president of a local Tenants Association and a proactive advocate for senior citizens, disabled and the poor. My daily routine puts me in a position to interact with people who use these types of medications and they work well for some. For others, i find that the only reason they get those scripts is to sell to the local drug dealer for extra income. Xanax is a good drug and used properly under the direction of a physician and drug testing to see if the person is taking the medication or if there is no sign of the drug in the system after drug testing, that should be a warning sign of misuse. Ritalin is another popular street drug. Used by college students to help them cram for exams and keep alert during classes. Medications, used properly, can be beneficial if the patient follows the Drs orders.

Dubldoc, fine. I get that Xanax is abused. But for those of us who don't abuse it, it works wonders when needed. I use it as my emergency break.

Why don't we make alchohol illegal? More people abuse that than anything. Sorry you have to deal with the addict freaks, but that doesn't mean that those of us who use a drug PROPERLY under a specialist's care (yes, I too see a board certified Shrink) should be denied access. And just b/c a drug is addictive doesn't mean it will turn the user into an addict. That's what the Dr. is for....careful monitoring.

No,they had Kesslers whiskey.

" .what did they do years ago before all the prescription medications were used like Skittles" . Answer: They drank and ended up in a gutter. The went to opium dens and died of overdoses. They committed suicide. They beat their wives. It's not the drug that's bad. It's the people who use it badly. Your sister and mother should have tried some personal responsibility.

How do you know that people "just learned to cope with things"? How do you know they didn't end up committing suicide, didn't end up hurting someone else, or end up in a mental facility? While I will admit there are definitely people who abuse certain prescription medicines there are still plenty of people who benefit from the medications and don't deserve to be punished for other people's addictions and illegal activities.

Until a doctor or any legislator and can live inside my body and fully experience the things I have to live with on a daily basis, I don't want people making blanket bans and decisions like this. Why don't the put their energies towards the doctors that will write any prescription you want for the right amount of money. The doctors that have people lined up outside their clinics at 5 am waiting to get in. That is the real problem.

I agree with you...the doctors are too quick to write a prescription...How about trying some therapy before popping a new "coping" mechanism....Sorry I've been thru alot too and I also work in a mental health facility...some are legit...others are not....

As a recovering alcoholic, you should know the difference between tolerance and addiction. Physical tolerance happens with all sorts of things: anti-histamines, illicit drugs, tylenol, ibuprofen, types of exercise (ever plateaued during a workout or weight loss routine??), etc, etc. It happens because of the human body's amazing ability to adapt. Not abusing a medication doesn't mean that your body won't adapt and become "tolerant" to it. I agree that some doctors tend to over-prescribe medications in general and that tendency is driven by pharmaceutical companies.

Again, there is a big difference between tolerance (some resources may call it "physical" or "physiological" addiction, even though it's not actually addiction) and addition (aka: psychological dependency, psychological addiction). The two do not always go hand in hand--you can be tolerant and not an addict, but you can't be an addict and not tolerant.

BTW--congrats on sobriety!!! :)

Its been 9 years, but I remember enough to realize that the drug takes about 20 minutes to hit the blood. So if you wait til you are in an anxiety trigger environment to take it, you have to tolerate 20 minutes of hell. So no, you can't "save it for the attack". thats one of the problems with this drug.

If you do not have a built up tolerance to the drug, the time that it takes to effect is lower. I would say that it takes about 10-15 minutes for me to feel any effect from a pill, but that is because I use them so infrequently. captcrash-1804989 is right... when you have true panic disorder, you save the pills for when you really need them.