Xanax

[seattlebottom]

Has anyone had experience with this drug? After 5 trips to the emergency room in 1 month due to cardiac type symptoms (chest pressure/pain, fatigue and dizziness) a doctor prescribed this to me. I'm not sure what is causing the stress though and I would hate to treat the symptoms without finding out why I have them in the first place. I'm mostly interested in knowing about the side effects (or no side effects) anyone has had. Thanks much for any responses.

[josephga]

I worked with a girl back in the late 90's that took it. she suffered from panic attacks. She said it increased her appetite and there was some drowsiness I noticed sometimes she would have a slurred speech but not often

[Guest greatness]

Did your doctor figure out

 

what caused your cardiac symptoms? I don't think that's the case. Is that right? Did he do at least ECG and ultra sound scan on your heart and check your chest x-ray?

 

Has anyone had experience with this drug? After 5 trips to the emergency room in 1 month due to cardiac type symptoms (chest pressure/pain, fatigue and dizziness) a doctor prescribed this to me. I'm not sure what is causing the stress though and I would hate to treat the symptoms without finding out why I have them in the first place. I'm mostly interested in knowing about the side effects (or no side effects) anyone has had. Thanks much for any responses.

[Guest Wetnwildbear]

A Member of the Family

 

Xanax is a member of the family of tranquilizers such a valium, ativan and restoril which is for sleep.

 

They are all related to diazipan or its cousins. While restoril is expenisve and does nothing

 

for me to help me sleep - when the mind won't stop racing - 1/4mg of Xanax which I

 

believe is the smallest dose - relaxes the mind train and allows a full night of sleep.

 

 

Plus they are great as salad croutons with a glass of white wine - if you want to

 

find out who, REALLY was Cousin Angie's Father!

[imrthr]

Has anyone had experience with this drug? After 5 trips to the emergency room in 1 month due to cardiac type symptoms (chest pressure/pain, fatigue and dizziness) a doctor prescribed this to me. I'm not sure what is causing the stress though and I would hate to treat the symptoms without finding out why I have them in the first place. I'm mostly interested in knowing about the side effects (or no side effects) anyone has had. Thanks much for any responses.

 

 

Here is your answer:

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alprazolam

[seattlebottom]

what caused your cardiac symptoms? I don't think that's the case. Is that right? Did he do at least ECG and ultra sound scan on your heart and checked your chest x-ray?

 

I've had 7 EKG's, 4 enzyme tests (tests for dead heart tissue), 2 chest x-rays, 1 contrast chest ct scan (normal blood flow) and 1 head ct scan (checking for stroke due to facial numbness and arm paralysis). So basically a heart/lung/brain problem has been looked at and discarded. I did an abdominal ultrasound (results pending) and more blood tests than I can remember (found deficient in vitamin D with a level of zero).

 

Esophageal spasm has been surmised (I do have GERD and am on Zeregid). Had an endoscopy and colonoscopy in 2008. The endoscopy showed slight inflammation of lower esophagus, stomach and small intestine. In addition, one ployp was found in my intestine.

 

Holy cow.....I'm a mess.

[Guest greatness]

well

 

You should always ask your doctor about the drug that he or she prescribed. You can always get a second opinion by another doctor whether the drug is really necessary or you want to get a professional opinion about it. I hope you feel better soon.

[+ ArVaGuy]

I suffer from similar symptoms and have a family history of heart trouble. My dad died at 49, now I'm 47, so you can bet I pay close attention to any such symptom. To top it off, I have a very high pressure job and tons of work related stress.

 

Nearly three years ago my primary sent me to a cardiologist for a nuclear stress test. Good news, no heart related issue, bad news overstressed work environment. Xanax was prescribed on an as needed basis and that has worked well until recently. Usually I take it prior to entering a stressful situation such as a meeting with our Chief of Staff.

 

Unfortunately, due to layoffs I'm literally doing the work of four people these days and the pains are back. Not quite with a vengeance but a bit more constant and bit more intense. Hence, another visit to the cardiologist six months prior to a regularly planned test.

 

It's always best to be safe than sorry so the ER visits were a good idea in my view. I suggest you think back on what you were experiencing prior to these incidents. Were you in a physically stressful environment such as a workout or doing manual labor? Were you in a stressful work situation that causes these symptoms to appear? Or are you suffering from some general anxieties that are getting you worked up thus causing a muscular skeletal spasm mimicking "the big one".

 

Pay close attention to the circumstances if there's another incident. Go to the ER if you feel the need. (Better safe than seriously dead.) However, you should discuss this with your primary care physician. Perhaps a stress test is in order just to establish a base line measurement for the future.

 

In regard to side effects, this drug can become addictive. They are almost like candy and have a near-immediate effect. They are not called “tic tacs” for nothing. Early on, it may induce a bit of drowsiness but for me that wore off pretty quick.

 

 

Has anyone had experience with this drug? After 5 trips to the emergency room in 1 month due to cardiac type symptoms (chest pressure/pain, fatigue and dizziness) a doctor prescribed this to me. I'm not sure what is causing the stress though and I would hate to treat the symptoms without finding out why I have them in the first place. I'm mostly interested in knowing about the side effects (or no side effects) anyone has had. Thanks much for any responses.

[seattlebottom]

Thank you all so very much for your responses. Slurred speech would definetely be a problem with my job. The wiki article was great and thanks for the summary provided by Wetnwildbear. I do have an appointment on March 5 with my primary and a stress test is scheduled for March 16. For ArVaGuy, I have been keeping a "pain record" to share with my doctor which includes dates, times, symptoms and what I was doing when the pain occurred.

[+ azdr0710]

the wiki article probably will help a lot, but wanted to comment: I think it's more for anxiety than sleep...very addictive, I think....

 

gotta say I backpack a lot and always have trouble getting a solid night's sleep out there....several years ago, on a backpack, I mentioned this to a fellow backpacker in the group and she gave me a Xanax that night....I remember getting in the sack and just drifting off into a wonderful deep sleep for the entire night....never was able to repeat the feat, despite my doctor (also a backpacker) giving me a prescription....I'm always a tiny bit anxious on backpacks when trying to sleep, so it may've been the anti-anxiety qualities of Xanax rather than some sleep-inducing feature that did it for me....

[Boomer]

Xanax is not usually prescribed for sleep. Typcially it's prescribed for anxiety and panic attacks. It is addictive if taken over a period of time. The side-effects would depend on the dosage. The smaller dosage .05 would probably have little effect and may help you deal with your anxiety. Anxiety is a part of life. We all deal with it differently. You are right in wanting to find the source of the anxiety. In the meantime Xanax may help you deal with the effects.