Xanax?

Lately, the past year I am unable to control my panic attacks with exercising or breathing so my doctor put me on Xanax.  At first I was only taking .25mg when I felt my chest getting tight or light-headedness occured.  Presently it seems that everytime my heart beat raises i feel the same symptoms but they are getting worse.  I now need at least two (.5 mg) to feel the calm I am looking for.  I am very worried as I don't want an addiction but I also don't want to feel like I'm going to die-the way I feel when a panic attack hits.  

[worried878]

Do u have a histroy of alcohol or drug abuse?

Xanax is often rx-ed for panic attacks//it hits quick and is gone quick//making it the big daddy of benzos addiction wize

other benzos that r safer like valium or librium do not have the fast onset xanax does..they last longer and r safer than xanax//but until u have experienced a panic attack urself....there is no trued feeling of how "fast" u want to get out of one!  NO FUN AT ALL!
Thankful i only had a few in my 20s//was never medicated fo9r them//and they passed///i do know for some they do not.///including my daughter...she manages it with zoloft....managing it with an anti-anxiety type AD is much safer than using xanax..fact is...u will become tolerent to xanax and it will take more and more

hopefully this will pass soon/ the panic attacks..if it does not//u need to find a different way of managing them....alot of this is up to u...keep posting

[SophieShine]

Panic attacks are truly horrible but they're treatable. Did you ever consider therapy, like CBT? I had terrible panic attacks when my mom passed, I felt like I was going to die or, at least have a heart attack... I was prescribed lotsa benzos long acting and short acting like Xanax. They made of zombie of me and my life was sooo dark. I kept it up for 9 years, I had a lot of issues to solve and the benzos were numbing me so that I didn't have to face the facts. I have been tapering them off ~you have to with benzos~ and my life took a drastic turn, I started therapy and it does wonders to me, I didn't have any panic attacks for months now. I'm 222 days free of the short acting benzo and about to make the big jump off the long acting one and life is wonderful.
You will have to face your issues too, benzos are just postponing the time when it's gonna happen and in the meantime, you have no life or a very dark one...
Best of luck to you. sophie.