fear of alprazolam

i have taken alprazolam 0.5 mg thrice a day.but not much improvemen.then i again went to doctor and tlod them alprazolam is not helpng me .he told nothing to worry.take 1mg alprazolam thrice daily.doctor is not ready to stop it and tell me to keep on taking the dosage.
1mg alprazolam thrice a day is harmful?what is maximum potency and maximum dosage of alprazolam can one take safely?

[jakegorzen]

Please talk to your DR about a longer lasting benzodiazapine like Valium or Klonopin.
What your taking is generic Xanax, If you need them that much, then Id HIGHLY SUGGEST getting a longer lasting benzo.
Taking .5-1mg 3 times daily is a pretty high dose, and is going to make your body addicted quick, and tolerance to build fast too.
Plus if you take a longer lasting benzo, it will keep a constant state in you preventing the yoyo roller coaster anxiety.
If your anxiety is that bad, then why not just take a longer lasting benzo that is proven to be ALLOT safer and tolerable as well as work better in the long run compared to Xanax.
And has less chance of making your body more tolerant of the medicine because of the longer half life.
Of course I suggest talking to your DR about it and see if the benefits outweigh the risks.
In my opinion, if you have to take that much Xanax in a day, it would probably be allot safer on your body to take klonopin then Xanax.
the only problem is the time it take for it to work compared to Xanax, but good news, they have rapid release klonopins that you place under your tongue.
And to truly feel a difference you will need about 2 weeks for the K's to reach a steady plasma state, achieving a steady "even keeled" effect  other then the "yoyo" effect that short acting benzos will do.
good luck

[greenlydia]

You've been given some good advice here regarding the different types of benzos, and you DO need to discuss the various options with your doctor. One thing you said that makes me question your doctor is how easily he/she simply DOUBLED your dose when you said it wasn't helping that much. That's a big jump for Xanax!
If you are taking Xanax on a daily basis, you should not be on it longer than four months and then you will have to taper very slowly from a 3mg qd dosage. Even if your doctor does switch you to a longer acting benzo like Klonopin, you will STILL have to taper when the time comes. You can be on Klonopin for a much longer time than Xanax, but as was pointed out, you will have to wait a few weeks for it to reach a therapeutic level in your body.
I also recommend that you get some adjunct therapy while taking these meds. If you don't deal with what is CAUSING the anxiety, the pills will do nothing except mask the symptoms. When you come off the meds, your original anxiety will still be there. These pills do NOT cure anxiety.
If you still have questions, post again.
Best of luck
Peace
Greenlydia  
  
  

[HealthMinded]

Please check out the attached link...

http://meds.queensu.ca/~clpsych/orientation/Benzodiazepine%20comparison%20chart.pdf

Itll give ya all the info ya need.

Ill just say I was was on benzos for a while...hated them, made my memory go to junk.

The other poster is right, these pills just masks symptoms...and it sounds like your doctor is putting you on a regimine which isn't great for any benzo...although clonazepam(klonopin) would be the best.

honestly...ive taking every med there is...and when it comes to anxiety there are a lot of limitations with meds....you gotta go talk to someone and figure out the root of your anxiety and learn some tools and tricks on how to deal with them...

check on my journal post...might help ya