Ok girls, here goes.... I see that many of us use Xanax in our difficult anxiety states. But, I notice that it seems a lot of women take barely a chip of a piece of xanax or 1/4 of a .25 or whatever, very minimal amounts and they get good responses on it. Is it because they are more for lack of a better word "timid" about medications. Reason I say this is I'm starting to wonder if I'm the only one who takes as much as I take.

The most I ever take in a day is 1.5mg. In general I try to just take .75 and that is at night. On occasion if I have morning anxiety I will take the same. Morning anxiety is becoming less and less of an issue but before the period it comes around. Admittedly, it isn't unbearable, but, nonetheless I don't like it and don't want to wait for it to morph into something worse. Cause I HAVE had nightmarish worse. No thanks. I don't feel any ill effects or addicted but I wondering if I am taking too much? Do any other women take this range or something close or am I the only one. I do not want to give up taking it when I need it, it is really helpful with the Lexapro I take. I feel better an better each day Though I am becoming a lazy (not lady, lol) bug having the luxury of just relaxing and doing what I feel. I honestly think that has helped my nervous system tremendously. I took myself out of the fray of daily life to a certain degree, no work, no big decisions, just being. I have spoken with my Dr. and I will again, I just want to make sure I am not setting myself up for something ugly. When I stop taking the morning dose, I didn't have any major issues whatsoever, if I feel I don't need it I don't take it. I guess like I said I would love to hear of some women who take it on a daily basis or several times a week basis and are ok doing that. I want to feel well but I don't want to set myself up for some kind of addiction. Thanks all for your responses. Mich

My phychiatrist told me anything over 1mg. of xanax you can get addicted on.If thats true or not i don't know but for some reason i been able to control my anxiety with a peice 1/4 of one every three days now. I really don't think your taking too much also depends on your anxiety level too. Terry

I think I may start forgoing my morning dose unless I am writhing in anxiety, or just take .25 in the am if needed to take the edge off and .75 at night to help sleep, then that will be 1mg, which doesn't seem excessive. Thanks Terry

Hi again Mich do you take your leaxpro in mornings or evening? Reason why i am asking is i noticed taking my zoloft right before bedtime it helps me to sleep maybe if you can try taking yours at night you might be able to cut down alittle on your xanax. Don't worry bout your dose i really don't think your taking too much. hugs Terry

I actually take the Lexapro in the morning at about 10:00, I feel a little tired but never enough to sleep. The sleepiness part has for the most part has left. I don't think the Lexapro would help me sleep but maybe if I am already a little tired it would, just not sure about changing the timing from morning to night and how it would affect me.

The last week or so I have been waking up every two hours and body is getting some aches and pains, haven't had that for a while. I can feel the period is coming next week. So my sleep habits always get screwy. My only real complaint right now is how darn lazy I feel. I gotta shake this, lol.... but, I'll do that tomorrow...haha!!

Thanks again.
Mich

I take .25 because thats what my doc said to start with. That means I break my .50 tabs in half (dang their already small enough),, I have taken an whole one once ,, I fell asleep at my desk. I think if you can physically function with 1.5 and its what your body needs then your fine. We are all different metabollically ,, so we do what we need to do.

Hi Mich! Thank God for Xanax. It was like a fire extinguisher for my anxiety. I was taking .75 a day (3 x .25) and would occaisonally take 2 (.25) tabs at a time if I was in a panic. I did this for a couple of months this Spring. I never want to feel as bad as I did with those day long panic attacks.

Are you at your recommended Lexapro dose yet? Have you been taking it for a while? I am on Celexa (and bcps) as I have typed on these boards before. I now rarely need a xanax--maybe one a week--but plan to have an emergency supply around for the rest of my life. I am so grateful to xanax but my doc's attitude was "Let's use this until we can get something less addictive to calm your body and mind down." I got the sense he was going to get more reluctant to keep writing me scripts. I don't think addiction was so much an issue as was building up a tolerance so I would need more and more to get the same effect. Maybe the lexapro will eventually get you to the place you don't need it as much either. But I have also read that anxiety tends to be seriously undertreated, esp by family docs.


I did have very very vivid dreams on the Celexa at first--it was like watching a movie and I could remember all of them, not just snatches. Maybe the sleeping issues are your body getting used to the Lexapro

I have been taking the lexapro for about 5 weeks, I'm at 20mgs, Dr. wanted to up it to 30mg but I'm willing to give it more time. I do feel better, it has helped my compulsive thinking, I can redirect my thoughts easier than I could before. I had such terrible health anxiety and it is a relief to be able to not get stuck in the loop of thought which made me go into major anxiety/panic mode. I can take each day one at a time. So in that respect it is working. Right now I am a bit anxious for whatever reason probably cause my period is due next week, it's not unbearable, but, wouldn't mind taking a xanax but I'm not. Just can't risk building up a tolerance and relying on it too much. I will say the Lexapro and Xanax seem to be a good mix for me. I feel way better than I did over a month ago, still have some stuff to work on, but, overall better. I didn't have too many side effects from Lexapro a little nausea and kinda tired, but that's it. Started at 10mg and upped to 20mg the next week. Pretty seamless overall. I've had sleeping issues prior to the anxiety/panic/depression. I was taking Ambien but when the anxiety/panic kicked in I didn't want to mix xanax, ambien and AD's. I tried the Ambien but it didn't work anymore made me anxious whereas before it didn't. So, I use the Xanax for sleeping. I hope I get to the point I only need Xanax occasionally too. I hope you feel better. I think my Dr. is cool with writing the Xanax. The last time I went in he was gonna write me another 2 month script but I told him I still had a refill, so I think he knows I am not "jonesing" lol for xanax. I think he is watchful but will give me what I want. Take care and I hope you feel better each day. Mich

Just wanted to add that I think it took me maybe closer to 8 weeks to feel better on the Celexa--not the two weeks I was promised! You are right to wait and see how you do on that dose I think..Thanks for your good wishes--I am feeling much better (KNOCK WOOD!!!) but of course worry I could feel bad again in the future hormone roller coaster..

I'm with you on that. I am hoping it's the Lexapro thats working and not my hormones being nice (I've said this on many a post, lol) I don't trust my hormones, the lexapro seems like the safer bet. I'm feeling better so hopefully I will feel even better as the weeks move forward. Here's to both of us and all of us here on PS in getting through this roller coaster ride from you know where

it took me like 8-10 weeks to feel alot better too!!!Maybe you just need a little bit more time.Hugs Terry

I'm on my 6th week of Zoloft and this is the first week I can honestly say I'm really feeling better. I still take the .25 of xanax 3 times per day and. .5 at night. Michu, don't skip that morning dose if you think it takes the edge off. I think that morning dose for me is the most important one. I want to nip and bit of anxiety in the bud that I can. I often skip my evening dose though, because by 4:00 I'm feeling fine and then I don't feel guilty if I take an extra .25 in the middle of the night if I wake up. But I agree with you all it has taken several weeks for the ad to kick in!