Hi...New Here

[Tardis12480]

Hi all. I'm new here after looking for a community that's not on social media.

I've been up and down with my anxiety/panic disorder for ten years now, ever since being diagnosed with cervical cancer. My oncologist put me on Xanax to use as needed, and I've been on it ever since. I still use it as needed, but that's become every day this last year or so. I was actually doing really well and making progress on starting to ween down the prescription, but when COVID hit my anxiety suddenly went crazy, which has caused things to only get worse.

But it's been a tough few years. My father has dealt with heart issues and leukemia, my father-in-law had cancer, and my husband has an autoimmune disorder. My family is super supportive, but sometimes I don't want to burden them with my feelings, so I don't always go to them to help when I'm feeling things.

So my anxiety has been linked to a form of medically induced PTSD because of issues I had getting diagnosed properly with my cancer. I've been relatively healthy since then but freaked out over the summer with some chest pain and went to the ER. No heart attack signs or clots. But I'm still worried about my heart, so I'm seeing a cardiologist in mid-November. But I saw a doctor in the normal practice I go to earlier this week, one I don't normally see b/c mine was on vacay, and she only made me feel worse. She focused on my medication and how I shouldn't be on it this long (even though it's been helping me for years), more than the concerns I had about my heart. It upset me and has made my anxiety even worse this week. It's awful right now and it's every day that I'm feeling way off. I just need to feel better and stronger and able to control this.

[Dolphin14]

Tardis12480

Welcome to the community. I'm very sorry for all you have had to go through. I'm glad you found HU. I hope we can give you the support you need.

As far as that Dr commenting on your Xanax. She is not the one that prescribed it, she doesn't know you and her opinion doesn't matter.

Hang in there. We are here to support you

🐬

[DontJudge]

Hi, 👋 I welcome you to the community firstly and I'm so sorry you're going through this. I hope you are able to share you're feelings here with us, I'll gladly listen. We all are here to help each other out ❤️

[Sloat]

HI. I have been taking Xanax at night to sleep. I take 1/2 dose but sometimes wake up at and have to take the other half for a full nights sleep. It was my last resort. I tried everything natural including gummies but this is what works for me. It's individual and it's a process that takes time to find something tha tworks for you. It's also ever changing depending on what is going on. Mornings are the worst for me with anxiety to the point I am nauseous and shaking so I take some over the counter stress meds because the Xanax makes me sleepy. You just have to find what works for you and you can change your Xanax does depending on how it makes you feel and are you taking it to sleep or function during the day. Just my thoughts. I wish you the best.

[Tardis12480 in reply to Sloat]

Thank you for your ideas. I've been on the xanax for 10 years. On my worst day, I take a total of 1mg (spread out). But there have been days when I only take one pill (0.25 mg), though lately most days are bad days. I'm going through a really bad period lately. I just wish I could feel normal again. There are days when the xanax barely works, but I refuse to increase the dosage, so I guess that's a start.

[AndrewAK]

Hi there,

A lil back ground (I won’t go into detail) . I was diagnosed with PTSD and sever anxiety. Also have a previous diagnosis of ADHD. These 3 together make one heck of a downward spiral for me and before I got help and proper medication management I was a complete disaster. Having ptsd episode be triggered by almost any form of stress. A very scary time in my life where I felt like I was just dying everyday and that I was slowly just falling apart. I was put on Xanax to help stop these violent episodes I their tracks. It worked amazing. Now I was prescribed at and as needed basis. That turned into a daily dose situation and then progressed into 2 doses a day. At its peak I was on a few mg every morning and every evening to the point that I never noticed any effect when taking the drug only when I missed a dose. My advice from my experience to you is to take with a psychiatrist specifically about your Xanax use. There are other alternatives that are non habit forming that will take your anxiety. I take propranolol 40mg 2 times a day. This drug u can forget to take and nothing bad happens. But where it’s magical is what it does to my anxiety and fight or flight response. It tames it. For me it was a miracle drug. Once switching to this I was able to start a titration program off Xanax. I will mention this process can take some time to complete depending on your dosage right now. For me I started it over 2 years ago and I’m very close to finishing it. Now I will retain a prescription for Xanax as a in case of emergency type thing but I will never allow myself to fall into a daily dose of it. The thing to understand about Xanax is that it’s not a daily dose medication. I fact daily dose if it is a very dangerous move especially if it’s not being actively monitored and managed. To sums it all up here what you should know. First is your not alone in this struggle. Talk with a psychiatrist specifically about your medication management and discuss alternatives. Some things that really helped me along cause medication is not a on click solution; regular exercise at a gym, going for walks/runs/bike rides, etc. and meditation. Meditation was a huge help. I encourage you to read this book by Dan Harris called 10% happier. Also he has an app with the same name that has guided meditation, which is what I use regularly. Give this a try as you navigate through the medication side of things. I wish you the best on your road back to good health and I hope that I was able to provide you some comfort, clarity , help or all the above.