19 replies to this topic

[Uncreate]

I'm used to taking benzos.  I'm currently on Valium.  I've taken Ativan, Serax, Klonopin, and Xanax before in the past.

Here's the story - I didn't take my valium at all last night.  I noticed I had a xanax left over.  So I took that to try and get some sleep because I was restless.  I don't really know what made me decide to take it over my valium... but anyway... I take it... go to sleep pretty soon after that.  I wake up, normal time and everything... and boom... it feels like I was drunk last night!  I've never had this happen before... it was weird.  I mean - I take valium... if anything that would give me a hangover feeling right?  Has this happened to anyone else?  Or maybe someone can give a reason a little 1mg of Xanax could do this?

[another one ...]

I get the hangover from Xanax (at .5mg) also, Klonopin (up to 2.0mg) does not give me that feeling either.

Edited by another one ..., 15 April 2008 - 05:14 AM.

[AirMarshall]

No surprise here about hangover effect.   I find it stronger when I don't take xanax for a while and then first take it again.  If I take it several days in a row it decreases or becomes less noticeable.

Why?  A couple possible reasons.  First you are hitting two pathways simultaneously.  The Valium probably hadn't fully cleared your system, and then you add the xanax.  Two benzos working at the same time.   Secondly, it may be that the liver enzymes aren't up to speed in clearing the xanax at first and thus the blood levels stay higher, longer than normal when taking it every day (upregulation/downregulation is probably the buzzwords).

cheers, a.m.

[leadinglady]

So could this be why I'm so tired every morning and can't wake up? I take 2 mg of Xanax (sometimes up to 4 mg) to sleep at night and when I get up the next day, cannot function until about 3 in the afternoon.  

If so, this makes total sense!

But my pdoc was like "oh no, Xanax doesn't do that."  

[Stormienite]

My "hangovers" are different.  I'm on Niravam (xanax) .5 three times a day.  Sometimes I will forget to take my dose at night so the last dosage would have been around 4pm.  When I wake up I feel sick to my stomach until I can get the meds wrking in my system again.  Usally takes about 15 min and I feel better.  I'm just assuming it's an addiction thing because I've been on them about 5 months now.

[jgirl71]

 leadinglady, on 11 May 2008 - 07:58 PM, said:

So could this be why I'm so tired every morning and can't wake up? I take 2 mg of Xanax (sometimes up to 4 mg) to sleep at night and when I get up the next day, cannot function until about 3 in the afternoon.  

If so, this makes total sense!

But my pdoc was like "oh no, Xanax doesn't do that."  

I recently started pristiq and xanax and I cant function it is all I have got to get out of bed.  I use to take ativan and never felt this way.  Could it be the xanax.

[MarkP]

 Stormienite, on 25 November 2009 - 09:20 AM, said:

Usally takes about 15 min and I feel better.  I'm just assuming it's an addiction thing because I've been on them about 5 months now.

Why don't you just get swapped to clonazepam or diazepam if you're doing 3X a day.

Tell your pdoc.  There's no reason why you should have to suffer from withdrawal symptoms when longer-acting meds are available.  

I can't figure out, at all, what the prescribing rationale is for regular, and repeated doses of alprazolam, other than doctors being ignorant of the alternatives, or otherwise being married to their Upjohn rep.

[Stormienite]

 MarkP, on 01 December 2009 - 12:17 AM, said:

 Stormienite, on 25 November 2009 - 09:20 AM, said:

Usally takes about 15 min and I feel better.  I'm just assuming it's an addiction thing because I've been on them about 5 months now.

Why don't you just get swapped to clonazepam or diazepam if you're doing 3X a day.

Tell your pdoc.  There's no reason why you should have to suffer from withdrawal symptoms when longer-acting meds are available.  

I can't figure out, at all, what the prescribing rationale is for regular, and repeated doses of alprazolam, other than doctors being ignorant of the alternatives, or otherwise being married to their Upjohn rep.

The problem with me is that I can't take pills so my choices are extremely limited.  I overdosed when I was 16 and have never been able to take a pill after that.  My throat closes up.  The xanax I take is actually a newer med called niravam.  It's a disolvable form.  I take 20 doses of meds a day.  They're either chewable, disolvable or liquid.  A lot of doctors get pissed off when you tell them you can't swallow pills.  I've heard "Ugh you can if you WANT to".  Great bedside manner.  But one of my docs has a wife that can't take pills either so he knows what it's like.

[MarkP]

 Stormienite, on 01 December 2009 - 08:40 AM, said:

The problem with me is that I can't take pills so my choices are extremely limited.  I overdosed when I was 16 and have never been able to take a pill after that.  My throat closes up.  The xanax I take is actually a newer med called niravam.  It's a disolvable form.  I take 20 doses of meds a day.  They're either chewable, disolvable or liquid.  A lot of doctors get pissed off when you tell them you can't swallow pills.  I've heard "Ugh you can if you WANT to".  Great bedside manner.  But one of my docs has a wife that can't take pills either so he knows what it's like.

There's dissolvable clonazepam ("Klonopin Wafers"), and liquid diazepam available.  A pharmacist can also convert any benzodiazepine into a suspension by crushing the pills and mixing with an appropriate suspension fluid.  Interesting problem though, and I'm glad you've found a doctor who cares.

[Stormienite]

 MarkP, on 03 December 2009 - 01:26 PM, said:

 Stormienite, on 01 December 2009 - 08:40 AM, said:

The problem with me is that I can't take pills so my choices are extremely limited.  I overdosed when I was 16 and have never been able to take a pill after that.  My throat closes up.  The xanax I take is actually a newer med called niravam.  It's a disolvable form.  I take 20 doses of meds a day.  They're either chewable, disolvable or liquid.  A lot of doctors get pissed off when you tell them you can't swallow pills.  I've heard "Ugh you can if you WANT to".  Great bedside manner.  But one of my docs has a wife that can't take pills either so he knows what it's like.

There's dissolvable clonazepam ("Klonopin Wafers"), and liquid diazepam available.  A pharmacist can also convert any benzodiazepine into a suspension by crushing the pills and mixing with an appropriate suspension fluid.  Interesting problem though, and I'm glad you've found a doctor who cares.

Oh nice!  I'll give those a look then!

[crtclms]

My p-doc says that Xanax is the only benzodiazepam that isn't interchangeable with the others, if you are on Xanax, you can only take xanax.  You *can* switch back and forth between clonezapam and lorezapam, for example. Clonezapam give me "Klonopin rages," though.

And my dad, who is also a p-doc, refers to Xanax as "Super Valium," and says it is *much* stronger, and much more addictive than Valium.  I am on Xanax, 1 mg am/pm, plus 1 mg prn, and my p-doc is urging me to be less timid about the 3rd mg.  I know it will take me months to titrate off of it, but I need it right now.

[cairn]

The difference is how fast it takes to clear your body.

It takes Xanax about 6-8 hours, so when you wake up your body is going, "Where's the benzo?!" It's used to having it there. That's the hangover you're feeling.

Clonazepam is like two or three days. The let down is much more gentle and you don't notice it nearly as much.

(Note! If you're just starting a benzo, Xanax is good for having a short elimination time. It's mostly gone in the morning and you feel more normal. Clonazepam would still be there and you'd still feel that. Then you would consider that a hangover. So it depends on what your "normal" is for having a benzodiazepine in your system as well, too.)

This is why Xanax can be more addictive for some people. It's like the difference between smoking crack cocaine and sniffing the powder. Smoking it it goes "boom" straight to your brain in like 10 seconds and then eliminates over the next fifteen minutes or so, and you're ready to go again. The process with powder is much longer, a couple of hours or so, so you don't get as intense pull to use immediately again.

It's also why you take Xanax a few times a day where clonazepam you only need once, maybe twice, generally. It's about keeping the blood levels as steady as possible.

Edited by cairn, 07 December 2009 - 07:17 AM.

[AirMarshall]

According to the PI sheet, the mean half life in healthy adults was 11 hours (with a range from about 6.5-60 hours).  That means that it takes about 55 hours or 2.5 days for a single dose to clear your system, or for a dosage change up/down to reach a steady blood state.  Obviously Xanax is NOT a short acting agent.

Drug interactions, liver problems, smoking and being elderly can significantly affect Xanax blood levels.  For PI info check http://www.rxlist.com/ and http://www.drugs.com/ has a good interaction checker.

Cheers, a.m.

[colinmichaels]

 jgirl71, on 30 November 2009 - 12:02 PM, said:

 leadinglady, on 11 May 2008 - 07:58 PM, said:

So could this be why I'm so tired every morning and can't wake up? I take 2 mg of Xanax (sometimes up to 4 mg) to sleep at night and when I get up the next day, cannot function until about 3 in the afternoon.  

If so, this makes total sense!

But my pdoc was like "oh no, Xanax doesn't do that."  

I recently started pristiq and xanax and I cant function it is all I have got to get out of bed.  I use to take ativan and never felt this way.  Could it be the xanax.

I had similiar effects from Xanax 25 years ago-hated the drained feeling it gave me-so asked the GP about somthin different and he gave me Ativan (lorazepam) and I knew I had hit gold.

Colin