Xanax - very unpredictable

Hi all,

Just wondering what experiences others have had with Xanax. I was prescribed some recently in lieu of Valium, with the idea that it has a shorter half life (not sure why that’s a good thing).

The first couple of times I tried it (at night) it had the opposite effect of what it’s supposed to do. I felt awake/alert, agitated and generally uncomfortable. I’m told by a psych nurse friend that it is not uncommon for meds like this to actually produce the opposite effect.

The next time I tried it I was at work. What a mistake! I was zonked. Could barely string words together and was ready to slide off my chair and have a nap under the desk.

The next couple of times I used it was at night and it was fine. It did the job and the feeling zonked was actually OK as I was going to sleep anyway.

BUT - I took one last night and OMG! I woke up at about 2 am gripped with a powerful panic and fearsome buzzing in my chest and felt like I couldn’t breathe. I tossed and turned in an agitated, terrified state. I got up and paced around, but was still zonked so could barely stand up without lurching into things. Very, very unpleasant. It eventually passed and I fell into a fitful sleep and then could barely get out of bed this morning - felt like a 200 kg lump of stone. And I’ve been feeling zonked all day.

So I have decided that Xanax is a BAD benzo, not like Valium which is most definitely a good benzo for my MAV symptoms and I’ve never had any nasty reactions/side effects. There’s a reason Xanax is known as hillbillie heroin in Australia!

Anyone else had any Xanax horrors?

Vic

I tried Xannax and it did not set well with me either, I do not think it was as bad as what you have experienced but the feeling was very off…jittery, then zonked it was not a smooth medication for me at all.
The Valium does not do that to me …it just calms the symptoms and I do not get hyper or overly sedated on it either. That is why everytime they want me to try another one now I just say no.

Though xanax and valium are in the same “family” of drugs, they do NOT work the same way. Doctors have known for over 30 years that Valium works on vertigo. Xanax does NOT work for vertigo. Due to Valiums nature, Doctors are scared to prescribe it for long durations. Not only is it highly addictive and withdrawals are not pretty but the “valium culture” that Doctors created in the generation of mothers when I was a child produced a lot of zombies because they used to hand it out for practically every female complaint.
You say that they wanted to prescribe xanax because it had a shorter shelf life. If you have MAV, then you do not need a SHORTER shelf life but a LONGER shelf life. Klonopin has similar properties, when it comes to dizziness and equilibrium problems, to valium but you need only take twice a day. I thought Klonopin was a miracle drug for me until they started me on the anti-seizure drugs that I now use in conjunction with Konopin that finally helped me get out of bed after years.

Hi moderateanarchy,

Thanks for your post. The doctor who prescribed the Xanax was a GP and not my regular one at that. I think she was just concerned when she saw my file with all these Valium prescriptions, for the very reasons you mention. Like most GPs she doesn’t know much at all about MAV and was prescribing the Xanax in lieu of Valium for anxiety rather than vertigo. Touch wood - my vertigo is pretty much under control these days.

Vic