1mg. xanax not working...alternatives?

[pinkpad]

.5mg use to work...doctor upgraded me to 1mg at my request. Been on it since Nov. 2008. I had back surgery in December and am doing fine, now.  I know the anxiety was due to stress at home which ultimately causes my back to tnse up.  I still get very short of breath and the 1mg doesn';t seem to calm me down at all.

Do you think I've built up a toleratnce? I was only taking PRN, but that was about 2x/day. Should I switch meds? What are the best choices? I need to function during the day - with 2 elementary age kids.

I do plan on discussing with the doctor later this week. Just wanted some info to go on, before the appt. Thanks.

[heartfluttersflyawayplz]

yes your body has built up a nd now wants more so as it gets used to the 1 it will want more and more , you need try get off of it, its a bad drug and there are others out there are long term meds that will help you , klonopin is a great one see if dr will switch you to it and wing you off the xanax, my mom was on it for years it stop working but she still needed it , it caused her to be short of breath and more anxiety as her body wanted more shes on klonopin now and doing so much better.   its also a  short acting med where klonopin works lots longer. plz talk to dr . good luck

[pinkpad]

I'm also actually on wellbutrin 150 (forgot to mention it). I take the xanax 2-3x/day, depending on the day. It only seems to work about an hour.  Since the back problems, I'd like to switch to valium instead of xanax.  Thoughts on this?

[phtgrapher]

I am also on Xanax.  My questions would be, since I know how long you've been on it, how many times a day do you take it?  I have been on Xanax, .25mg, three times a day, far less than your dose, for about 8-10 months and I can tell you that I have build up a tolerance to it.  In very stressful situations I will need to take an extra .25mg or .5 just to get some relief.  Xanax is very addictive, hard to get off of, in clinical trials it's only really supposed to be used on an as needed basis.  Now, I started on Xanax because I had a lot of anxiety and stress myself.  Then my doctor started me on an anti-anxiety/ anti-depressant medication in hope of taking me off the Xanax.  I know you might not want to hear it, and believe me I don't like taking medication if I don't have to, but you might want to think about going on an anti-depressant that works on stress and anxiety symptoms.