Posted by chemist on August 21, 2004, at 18:46:05
In reply to pdoc insists i stop xanax, posted by justjustine on August 21, 2004, at 17:53:46
hello there, chemist here....you did ask for opinions, and i have never failed to deliver in that regard. first, the factual information: xanax is not amenable to a comfortable cross-taper with klonopin or, for that matter, any 1,4-substituted benzodiazepine (valium and ativan being other common examples in addition to klonopin). thus, klonopin will help ease the switch, but it won't be smooth. further, on a dose/dose comparison, klonopin and xanax are indicated (in at least one source i have) as being equivalant at best (in terms of potency) or with klonopin being twice as potent as xanax. given the chemical disparity, and the 1:1 to 1:2 potency range, one would hope that (at least) 1 to 2 mg klonopin would be prescribed to supplant almost 1 mg xanax/day. xanax may in fact be doing something with your depression, namely, alleviating it: this is well-established in the literature. in my opinion, your doctor is ignorant of the pharmacologic inequity as well as the andidepressant properties of alprazolam (adinazolam is another one that has similar anxiolytic/AD properties, for instance) that are beneficial to you. as for being on xanax or a benzo long term, why not? clearly it works for you: the doctor is proferring an alternative for a situation that appears not to be in need of a fix. in my opinion - since you asked - i'd get another doctor sympathetic to your successful treatment regimen. all the best, chemist
> i have been taking xanax for years (1mg or less a day) and recently had to switch doctors. my new doctor is insisting that i taper off of xanax, she put me on wellbutrin, and wants me to take .5mg klonopin at night because she says this will help me taper off the xanax.
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> thing is, without the xanax i'm a wreck, whether i take klonopin or not. now she says the xanax is "masking" my depression and i need to add lexapro to the mix. i can't seem to get below .75mg/day, which isn't much, but when i take less i just cry all the time? just thinking about being forced off it makes me upset.
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> opinions? xanax seems like it works to me, and i'm not very interested in more ssri's after going through effexor withdrawal for over a month this past winter... is it really that bad to be on a benzo long term? why can't i keep a medication that seems to work?
poster:chemist
thread:380515
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20040821/msgs/380535.html