Long term use of xanax

I have been taking Alprazolam for 8 yrs. I started off at .25 mg twice daily. In 04 I was under a lot of stress and my doctor upped it to .5 twice a day. Its stayed the same since then. There have been times that I would forget to take it and didnt feel any anxiety or withdraw. On 5/12/10 I started a new job that is extremly stressfull yet ive managed to keep the dose the same but I am having panic attacks, one in the middle of the night was severe. I seem to get mini attacks in the mornings, right as im waking up. I know that its addictive. What im wondering if long term use can affect the brain? Im very forgetful and misplace things all the time. I know that comes with age , I"ll be 60 in Oct. and am told that at that age people usualy lose 55% of thier short term memory. Can alprazolam cause brain problems? I read something about the ventricles inlarging. How lomg can an individual take this drug?? If I stop and replace it with adivan Not sure I have the right spelling. Will I have withdraw symptons. This job is causing it yet it is great pay.

[sway1]

yes. absolutely. short term memory loss is a side effect of all benzos. for me there are big chunks of memory that are completely erased, as if they never happened. i have 2 different scripts i could fill. i have been having a rough time as far as sleep goes, but i am going to tough it out. at least that way i will be present and accounted for in my own mind. i would speak with your doctor about weaning or perhaps switching to something else, though i can't say what. best of luck. peace, sway

[Addict63]

You really should ask the prescribing doctor all of these questions. Especially about stopping one drug and going on another like Ativan. They'll know just what to do to stabilize you and get you into a comfort zone.

Yes, you will get heavy withdrawal symptoms suddenly stopping any Benzo drug, especially Xanax. Benzos need to be tapered slowly.

I find the Benzo websites that refer to the Prof. Ashton manual on Benzodiazepines very helpful. Benzo (dot) org (dot) uk is a very good site with lots of Xanax info.  Learn everything you can.

I wish you good luck.

[gnarly_1]

HI and welcome to the forum....your use of xanex has been light you dont take much at all
so I wouldn't worrie about brain damage ...as for switching it to atavan you would just be trading one benzo for another....xanex in particular has its own brain receptor different then other benzos so the transition can be a bit tricky you might feel a bit funny for a wile
till your brain gets adjusted to the change but xanex is a short acting benzo thats probably why your waking up in the middle of the night with the panic attacks ...
there is no ez fix here the best thing is to ween off benzo slowly if you decide you want to get off do it ONLY under a doctors supervision theirs a risk of seizures coming off all benzo's  if done incorrectly good luck and God bless.....Gnarly