What Is Xanax (Alprazolam)?
Alprazolam is a medicament that is presented in pharmacies under numerous brand names, including Xanax. This medicine works as a tranquilizer of the thienobenzodiazepine group. In other words, it’s a mixture of benzodiazepines and triazole.
Mostly, doctors prescribe Xanax for dealing with anxiety disorders. Among them are panic attacks and common anxiety. In most cases, the medicament is taken orally (in the form of a pill). When managing the signs of a common anxiety, the effects will be visible after one week of treatment. When dealing with panic attacks, the results will appear faster.
How To Manage Panic Disorder With Xanax
A panic attack can be described as a sudden feeling of panic or fear. When a person experiences these symptoms frequently, such a condition may be already a panic disorder. For such cases, Xanax is prescribed. It decreases the degree of panic attacks or in some cases, stops them.
Some countries, like Australia, have forbidden the use of Xanax (Alprazolam) for treating the signs of panic disorder. The reason is the possibility of drug addiction. Some patients got addicted to Xanax within the first 10 weeks of use, although the full course of treatment can last for 12 months.
Unlike Australia, the US still believes in the efficacy of Xanax when it comes to managing panic disorder symptoms. There’s just one “if”: the user shouldn’t show any dependence or tolerance to it.
Treating GAD with Xanax (Alprazolam)
Generalized Anxiety Disorder, shortly known as GAD, is a condition when a person experiences too much anxiety to perform simple daily tasks and live his normal life. The constant expectations of despair and disaster concerning health, finance, family are the most common signs.
Xanax has been effective in treating patients with depression and GAD. However, there are not enough studies yet. Any anxiety disorder requires you to take Xanax for 4 months maximum. Any prolonged duration of treatment with Xanax (more than 4 months) could lead to the opposite result because a patient may become dependent on the medicament.
How Do I Use Xanax?
When prescribed Xanax (Alprazolam), always follow the doctor’s recommendations about how much medicine you should take. If your doctor decides it’s the best suitable treatment for you right now, be sure to follow his instructions:
- Never break or crush your pill.
- Don’t take Xanax for longer than prescribed (4 months for managing anxiety and 10 weeks for managing panic disorder).
- If there’s no change in your condition after a week of treatment with Xanax, be sure to contact your doctor. Don’t attempt increasing dosage or switching to another drug without consulting your doctor.
- Xanax may affect your kidneys, so be sure to get tested from time to time during your treatment.
- Don’t quit taking Xanax abruptly! Gradually decrease the dosage with time. In this case, you won’t experience any withdrawal effects.
- Read the instructions on the leaflet to learn how to store the drug properly. It’s advised to keep Xanax away from heat, light and moisture.
When Can I Not Take Xanax?
A truly amazing ability of Xanax to relieve anxiety and panic disorder won’t be the same effective when it comes to treating patients with respiratory issues, previous cases of addictions, suicidal thoughts, depression, kidney or liver diseases.
One more restriction: don’t take Xanax with any antifungal drugs or if you are allergic to benzodiazepine medicament.
Pregnant women should avoid Xanax as well. It could lead to fetus dependency and associated withdrawal signs afterward.
Recommended Dosage
Here, we will provide information about how much Xanax you could take. First of all, we want to mention that your doctor’s advice is the most valuable one and it shouldn’t be ignored or neglected.
Xanax dosage will be different for every patient because of varying medical history, age and gender.
When it comes to grown-ups, the maximum daily dosage shouldn’t exceed 10 mg. Normally, the immediate release tablets with the weight of 0.5 mg of the medicament can be taken up to 3 times a day, and the XR tablets of 3–6 mg are to be taken once a day.
For seniors, the recommended dosage to take orally is 0.25 mg (up to 3 times a day). The XR tablets of 0.5 mg are the starting dosage.
Finally, there are a few things to keep in mind:
- The minimum dose should be prescribed for treating only one condition.
- The first dosage must be lower than any dosage taken during the rest of the treatment.
- The amount of Xanax should be gradually decreased before ending the treatment.
- If taking immediate-release tablets, the daily amount should be evenly distributed.