Xanax versus hydroxyzine

[Tigertail58]

Hi mxray.  By all means speak to your doctor because if you've been on Xanax for years, you must taper down.  Never go cold turkey off a benzo especially Xanax.  You could die from that.  I was on Xanax for over 20yrs & when I went off it I went very slow & it took me almost 2 years to quit.  My doctor scripted me the Hydroxzine too for anxiety  & panic attacks during my taper.  Personally, I found it useless for anxiety & panic attacks., so  I didn't even bother with it.

Good Luck!

Thanks Roses I’ve been on it along time but only small amounts like .50mg a day. I just need it when I start to feel really anxious. It really helps take it away.

Hi, mxray. I might be violating my "newbie 5-post" rule here, but I'm willing to risk it for this one....

First, if you've been taking alp at that level, only occasionally, then IMHO (and IANAD, so this is just my input) you are probably at pretty low risk of suffering from the most lethal of withdrawal consequences from this medication, so that's a good thing, for you. I hope. But,

Any licensed medical doctor who would willingly transition a patient from Xan (a benzo) straight to Hydroxazine (an antihistamine) is someone I would not trust to treat a goldfish!! These meds aren't even related, in a pharmaceutical way. Some of the side effects from Hydrox (also benadryl, and a few other antihistamines) for many patients include drowsiness, which can seem to also include a reduction in anxiety symptoms, under some circumstances. But these meds are not substitutes under any reasonable circumstance. (And I actually do occasionally take hydroxazine for severe allergies, and it doesn't affect me at all, as far as I can tell.)

So, yes, PLEASE talk with your doctor, express deep sympathy for the current circumstances under which docs are being subjected to scrutiny for any of their Rx-s, but also advocate for your own rights to be properly treated for your own, actual, medical condition. Ask for the medication(s) that you (and your doctor) know work for you, tell him/her you understand their predicament, express a willingness to stick to a low-dos regimen, whatever. And then if the doc says "no," start looking for a new doctor. This "No addictive drugs" attitude is horrible, but I want to believe it will ease up in due time. But in the meanwhile, we have to live through it....

Anyway, good thoughts, and good luck to you!

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Okay so if you have been on alprazolam for more than 30 years , 3 mgs a day, how do you get off? What else is out there? Does anything else work?