XANAX Reviews (ALPRAZOLAM)Average Rating: 3.9 (928 Ratings)Filter ResultsCompare XANAX with similar:
Type: Rx Drug
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Results are sorted by Gender males first. Key to Ratings: 1=LOW (I would not recommend taking this medicine.) Page: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 |
More on XANAX: Reviews Summary | Drug Safety Information
| RATING | REASON | SIDE EFFECTS FOR XANAX | COMMENTS | SEX | AGE | DURATION/ DOSAGE | DATE ADDED |
| 1 | anxiety | Withdrawal was a nightmare - heavy limbs, extreme irritability, depression, heart palpitations, extreme fatigue, confusion, crying, insomnia for days - all this after only six months of .5 mg a day. | Xanax is highly addictive. After only 6 months of .5 mg a day I quit cold turkey and nearly had to be hospitalized on account of my physical symptoms alone. I know you're supposed to wean from this med, but that alone should tell you how addictive it is. I also ended up suffering extreme short term memory loss and word confusion in addition to the side effects mentioned. This drug is the worst! It mimics panic attacks as a side-effect of coming off of it, thereby making you want more of the drug. If you can, stay away! | F | 36 | 6 months | 7/3/2008 | 1 | generalized anxiety disorder | mild vertigo that increased to frightening levels with dosage decrease or long-periods between dosages; tinnitus; muscle weakness; cognitive impairment; eye muscle twitching; eyes couldn't focus; extreme light and sound sensitivities; increased anxiety between doses; alternating hypothyroid and hyperthyroid-like symptoms | THis medication worked at first but during the last year the vertigo was debilitating to the point I was housebound because I couldn't nod my head or ride in any vehicle without horrible dizziness; couldn't listen to any kind of music; irritability with no cause. Withdrawal was difficult but worth it. Sugar and sugary foods and alcohol made withdrawal symptoms worse. Prescribing physician insisted that these were thyroid-associated even though numerous blood tests came out normal. It was only after the xanax dosage was slowly decreased did the tinnitus and vertigo start going away within a couple of weeks. Four months post-withdrawal, I finally feel like my old self; irritable only with cause; enjoying going out; listening to music. I still have anxiety attacks but deal with them using biofeedback techniques. I would urge that anyone taking this medication be very aware of all the possible side effects. The website benzo.org.uk was a great help during this difficult time. | F | 49 | 4 years | 9/1/2008 | 1 | anxiety | I was on the lowest dose and took it twice daily. Worked very well in controlling anxiety. Downside to this drug is when it comes time to wean off....GOOD LUCK there! | I took this drug for about a year and it worked great! It's when my doc said it was time to wean off when the horrific problems began. I followed instructions on weaning perfectly but was unable to handle the withdrawals and had to be hospitalized as doc thought I was having seizures. Believe me, the withdrawals are the worst ever! Severe nausea where you are constantly hanging over the toilet, itching to the point where I had my skin ripped open, tremors from head to toe. The ER doc informed me that its harder to come off Xanax then Heroin and should not be taken for more then 3 weeks. I was put on Klonopin while hospitalized to get through the Xanax withdrawal. Please consider withdrawal symptoms before taking this drug. I WILL NEVER EVER take this again! | F | 54 | 1 years | 9/9/2008 | 1 | anxiety | No side effects while taking the drug! It was like a miracle.....until my doctor quit practice and no other doctors would prescribe it. The addiction factor is NOT WORTH IT! Too bad, because it does deal with anxiety 100% with no other side effects.......until you try to stop. | I bought that lie about | F | 50 | 10 years | 6/2/2004 | 1 | i suffer from panic attacks | Many side effects: i was drowsy during the day, had problems getting peaceful rest at night, had terrible stomach cramps with gas and feeling bloated but yet i was constipated. | I knew Xanax was a very addictive drug but trusted the psychologist who prescribed it for my panic attacks related to anorexia. I am only glad i felt early on like 3 doses a day was too much for me (i am a mum and HAD TO BE ALERT AND FULLY AWAKE for my children);I decreased the dose to one a day only. That way, the wean-off wasn't as bad as some patients experienced, who were on the full recommended dose. Weaning myself off this drug was difficult for about 5 days, with withdrawal effects such as diarrhea, terrible migraine, feeling panicked, cold and hot at the same time and dizzy first thing in the morning. But i am glad i am now OFF Xanax and will never in a lifetime take this drug (or any other such addictive one for that matter!) again. | F | 37 | 2 months | 3/24/2004 | 1 | For anxiety | Tachycardia, flushing, chills, heavy menstrual bleeding, anxiety, problem concentrating, weight gain. | This medication should be banned. Because of this medicine I made numerous (sometimes) embarrassing trips to the E.R. Diagnosed with SVT no known reason given. I traced it myself to the use of xanax....stopped taking it and had a seizure. I never took more than 1mg at a time (daily) this medicine does more harm than good and docs don't always share important info with you. It took me a long time to figure out that it was the xanax causing me so many problems. | F | 48 | 7 years | 10/5/2004 | 1 | in bad Kaiser hospital | Confusion, insomnia, hyperactivity | This drug is on the | F | 39 | 3 days | 11/26/2004 | 1 | stress induced insomnia | Temporary relief of insomnia only to grow into worse insomnia, anxiety, depression, TMJ, intrusive obsessive thoughts. | Do not take this drug or any benzodiazepines. They are extremely dangerous. It took me many years to withdraw and left my body and mind in a state of carnage. Educate yourselves. www.benzo.org.uk | F | 39 | 5.5 years | 10/24/2008 | 1 | insomnia | confusion, clumsiness, lethargy, memory loss | Taken only at night for sleep, but still I feel very tired in the daytime. Have had several falls since in the last months taking it, I am so tired I'm not walking right. I have loss of focus, I just go through the motions all day, and enjoy nothing. Occasionally suicidal thoughts. I am also having memory loss and I have trouble making decisions. I have increasing anxiety and fear. I feel my family is against me. These things all began shortly after I began the Xanax. I wish my doctor had given me something else for the insomnia because it is helping me less and less and I am afraid to increase the dose for sleep and afraid to quit, but I know I am not myself on this drug. I don't know what to do. | F | 79 | 1 years | 10/9/2006 | 1 | anxiety/sporatic pranic attacks | I am a psychologist myself who currently feels that people really need to be educated about the chronic use of xanax. I do belive that it is o.k. for people to use on an "as needed basis" so they don't get physically addicted. I have had occasional panic attacks since college. I also have some anxiety and decided to try Paxil in 2000 when it was advertised as a great drug. It didn't work but I had no problem getting off it. In 2003 I had a unpredictable panic attack and decided to see if any other med. would help. My general doctor gave me Lexapro -which made my anxiety worse so I called him and he called in xanax. I picked it up and the bottle said take 1mg ever 6-8 hours. I had immediate relief and so my starting dose was 3mg. I asked my doctor if it was good to keep taking it and he said if it works take it. It was great for a year..then stopped working..I was upped to 4 which stopped working and so began a constant withdrawl between doses. I am currently wean | Use of xanax changed my personality to the point that it was apparent to people close to me and nobody liked what it did. I was more moody and just not myself. Doctors need to tell patients about the physical addition and the horrible withdrawal. I am just floored that I was given a starting does of 3 mg (didn't even know much about the drug at the time). My story may be rare because I think it was likely a mistake that it was called in for everyday use and not "as needed". Be careful!! | F | 34 | 3 years | 3/14/2007 | 1 | Anxiety, panic attacks | Didn't notice any side effects | I gave this med plenty of time to try to help, but never really felt any benefits from taking it. Have switched to Valium, and so far, no benefits there either | F | 51 | 8 months | 8/19/2007 | 1 | recreation | This drug is simply horrible. I took it for four days and that lead to hallucinations and a lot of seizures while trying to sleep. I wish some one had warned me about this, hallucination and seizures isn't some thing anyone needs and i think you can all agree with me. | F | 25 | 4 days | 4/23/2006 | 1 | Anxiety | Rebound anxiety, depression, insomnia, pacing, racing thoughts, wired feeling. Then later, heavy depression, hopelessness, delusional, suicidal thoughts. | Was taken for six weeks, everyday at the lowest dosage, .25 or less just once per day. Was not told that it should only be taken everyday for two weeks at the most. Unbeknownest to me, I started experiencing withdrawals from this after about two weeks, and I just thought the drug was not working anymore, so started taking less towards the last of the six weeks, and that's when the withdrawals really kicked in. It's been over two months since I "withdrew" from this drug and I still have some side effects from it, I just do not feel right. This is a very dangerous drug, there should be major warnings given by the doctors that prescribe this because tolerance is reached very quickly and it stops working unless you increase the dosage. I learned all of this way after I got off Xanax, unfortunately. I never would have taken it had I known these things first. | F | 43 | 6 weeks | 11/2/2008 | 1 | Anxiety | memory loss and out of control behavior, no inhibitions, wild sex, addictive behavior. | I was having bad panic attacks and was prescribed this medication. At first everything was fine and I was taking the medication as prescribed, a few months later, I realized that I was abusing this medication, not intentionally, but I was hooked and my small dosage was just not enough. I realized there was a probblem when there was 3 days I could not account for, I spent (with a friend) $2000 on drinking and partying (which I do not remember, nor would have done, otherwise). I had wild sex with my boyfriend (thank god, because it could have been with anyone, I would have not remembered). I was not myself, doing things I wouldnt normally do. Sexual acts in public, etc. I do not live life on the wild side, so this was completely out of character for me. I quit Xanax and had the worst withdrawls. It was like I was Bi-Polar. My moods changed by the second and I was evil. This drug brought out the worst in me. I don't recommend it. | F | 24 | 1 years | 10/17/2007 | 1 | Anxiety | Took .25 mg. Just 1 dose. First I got really sleepy and later felt sort of "rung out". I had no anxiety but felt emtionally drained. This lasted from 2pm till I went to bed. The next day I had some agitation. I had this same feeling once when I took a tiny bit of Klonipin. It's now 11pm and I feel high and can't seem to calm down. I don't have regular anxiety. I took this pill because I lost my job, was about to split up with my boyfriend that night and had some other trauma and was really distressed. I just wanted a little break from all the anxiety so planned to take the pill maybe a few days. I only took .25 mg. That's a tiny bit though I am ultra sensitive to drugs. Even with the agitation I'm feeling I can see how you'd get addicted to this stuff as there's something about it that makes you want more. My anxiety is gone...but I feel like I've had 300 cups of coffee and it's a horrible feeling. I will never be taking it again. | F | 44 | 1 days | 10/24/2007 | 1 | anxiety | Initially..great..never felt more relaxed, confident and happy. I thought that I had found something for anxiety that I should have found years ago; however, after being prescribed 3 mg a day for a year it was not working. My dose was upped which worked another year and then it stopped working. Trouble sleeping happened after several months and got progressively worse. I later became a "slave" to the pill and took it just to feel normal for a few hours only to wait for the next dose because it wears of very quickly. The WITHDRAWAL is horrible. I am getting off it because it is now a sugar pill and I would not wish this on my worst enemy. I constantly have muscle aches, flu like symptoms, horrible anxiety (100 times worse than initial anxiety) and depression about a week after I cut each dose..not to mention the insomnia. I used to sleep great but after xanax I wake up every night and take a while to fall back to sleep. | DO NOT TAKE THIS DRUG! People on this board have great things to say because they have not been on it long enough to get to the bad part. I do think it is great for short term or as needed but please do not take this regularly unless you want your life to change to the point that you are a slave to the little pill which will only give you a short period of relief followed by extreme agitation and panic. | F | 30 | 3 years | 8/24/2007 | 1 | Panic Attacks | Extreme fatigue, feelings of uselessness, dry mouth. | I hated Xanax so much that I quit it the first day I took it. I can see why it's addictive, I felt as though I was in a drug-induced haze the whole time I was on it. It made me feel like doing nothing but just sit around and try to stay awake. To be honest,I'd take a panic attack over Xanax any day. I eventually stopped my panic attacks by cutting all caffeine out of my diet. | F | 23 | 1 days | 8/27/2007 | 1 | panic attacks | anterograde amnesia, an intense return of anxiety after several hours. | Due to its short half-life, Xanax is more likely to lead to dependence than any other benzo. It is also the hardest to taper from. I have found clonazepam to be a more effective anxiolytic. Under no circumstances would I ever recommend drinking while using Xanax. | F | 31 | 90 days | 5/9/2007 | 1 | insomnia | Muscle pain, dry itchy painful eyes. Very addictive and I wasn't warned about that. | Stopped taking it over a year ago and still suffering. Had a seizure after I stopped, even though I withdrew gradually. | F | 65 | 3 years | 4/10/2005 | 1 | insomnia/ fibromyalgia | At first none, but soon after heart palipitations acid reflux, depression, weight gain, muscle twitching and numbness | The first while I was on it I did not know the heart palipitations were from that , so I ended up on a beta blocker, then acid blocker, I took it for 8 years , and all hell broke loose when I tried to stop. I lost 45 pounds had agoraphobia, Suicidal, burning body parts, seizures halucinations , and on & On.At 5 months off I finally had to go on a benzo with a loger half life , and it took over a year to wean myself off. 8 months clean and i still suffer physical symptoms.It is a drug from hell. If you don't take it do not start, and if you do don't stop, go to benzo group@yahoo you'll find over 2000 people in similar situations | F | 44 | 8 days | 4/10/2005 |