Xanax

[LittleFluffyCloudz]

Just wondering if anyone could tell me about any experiences with this. Why someone might be using it, instead of prescription medication. Any side effects? Long term issues.

Anyone?

Lots about it if you Google. Commonly misused/abused, for example:
www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-43431453

I went to my doctor for help with my fear of flying - it was getting to the point of having panic attacks during flights so I needed to do something to help me calm down. She prescribed me Xanax (I'm not in the UK, it's a controlled substance here that you can get on prescription but I don't think that's the case in the UK). It has been a game changer for me. I only ever use it the day before and of a flight to keep me calm. I know it can be addictive so I keep it strictly for flying - we travel quite a lot as we moved abroad for my husbands work so it's not as if I can totally avoid flying. It can make me sleepy if I take 2 in a day - my gp advised me to take one 8 or so hours before flying and then another when boarding and i tend to just sit down, put some headphones on and fall asleep, which would have been unthinkable a year ago. But just because it works for me doesn't mean it will work for you though - you definitely need to talk to a doctor or pharmacist about the pros and cons of it and also about the potential addictiveness of it. I don't think it's advised as a long term solution to persistent anxiety if that's what you want it for.

Thanks. I'm in the U.K., it isn't prescribed here. I saw some at a friend's house. A friend I'm worried about.

@Cookerhood

Im worried about a friend and saw some at her house. She hid it but it was after I had seen it. I didn't mention I'd seen it.

God knows what it is. Could be wildly varying doses of any one of the weird and wonderful black market benzos sold as Xanax. Or it could be real Xanax. Either way, without the limiting factor of having to convince your doctor that the prescription is necessary and safe, benzo dependence is a very real risk and it is not a nice thing to be dependent on. Withdrawals are physically and psychologically foul. I'd be worried too.

I'd be worried too - knowing how effective and powerful it is, I would be worried if a friend was being secretive about it. If she was open and said "oh it's for so and so" then that wouldn't be so concerning, but the fact shes trying to hide it is a bit of a worry.

It's massively addictive and thereby damaging. My SIL abused it for over a decade and was like the walking dead. She once passed out on it, in an awkward position for hours and permanently damaged the nerve endings in her legs.

Unless your friend is using it for something like the PP who takes it for flying, I'd be very worried too. Even so, few GPs will even prescribe it for short term use these days, it's that addictive.

Dusty — no NHS GP can prescribe Xanax. It can only be prescribed on a private prescription, and even then, I'd struggle to see many private GPs being happy to do it unless it was for someone from abroad who's usually treated with it. My guess would be that even private doctors would see asking for Xanax specifically, rather than one of the many commonly-prescribed benzos, as a bit of a red flag.

To add to that, it's not that Xanax/alprazolam is necessarily that much more dangerous or addictive than the benzos commonly used here (though compared to some others it does kick in fast and wear off fast, comparatively, which can affect how difficult it feels to wean off), more that asking for Xanax specifically might suggest that you heard about it in a non-medical context.

Sorry I should've said I'm in Australia. GPs here can prescribe it but it's highly controlled and monitored. GPs here too would see asking for it as a flag, and infrequently benzos in general.

Prescribe benzos in general, I meant.

OP was there a prescription label on the box, or you mean she's bought it somehow?

Fair enough. All of what you say is true here too, with the exception of that specific benzo, which you have to go privately to get prescribed (dunno how familiar you are with the UK but most people don't use private doctors at all). I'm sure there are people who get it prescribed privately for specific reasons, it's just that going to a private doctor and specifically asking for the one benzo that's not available through normal routes and that also happens to be a well-known street drug is a bit… suspicious. Benzos are hard enough to get as it is 🤣

I hope they are ones she was prescribed by a private doctor. The worrying thing if she's bought street benzos labelled as Xanax is that they can contain unpredictable doses of strong experimental benzos, which adds extra risks on top of the usual ones you get with prescription benzos. I don't even know what you get if you buy from illegal online pharmacies. I'd be way less concerned about seeing something like a lorazepam packet because there's an extremely good chance that would be something pharmaceutically regulated, and that she's at least taking it under the supervision of a doctor (though I know it's still possible to experience problems).

I don't think it's necessarily inherently unusual to put medication or drugs away when other people are around? I would probably not leave my lorazepam visible around other people. Firstly, I might not particularly want to prompt a whole conversation about my mental health and the medication I use, and secondly you don't know who might be tempted.

But from OP's description it sounds like this isn't exactly medication prescribed by a doctor for a mental health condition… and in that situation, I wouldn't be leaving my illegal drugs on show around other people either, for quite a few reasons.

It was in a blister pack laballed Xanax? I looked because I had a headache and thought it might be ibuprofen. It was on the side of the kitchen sink. When I walked past later it had gone.

So a blister pack, silver with black writing.

Having read up on it, it explains some forgetfulness, confusion and missing days.

Could she be self medicating anxiety?

She could be, that's generally what benzos are for.
As clumpingbamboo said though, if she were being prescribed a benzo it'd far more likely be something like lorazepam. The Xanax is likely to be ill-gotten.

Not sure what you should do about it, however. I was never able to do much for my SIL, other than stop her being a danger to herself and others. She had a frightful addiction for a long time though, some people do manage to use benzos sensibly. Others lose any semblance of a life.

I don’t think you should have been rummaging through her stuff.

My father lives in a country where it is prescribed. He takes it 3 times a day for severe anxiety. He is like a zombie on it

Erm, I wasn't. Have you read the thread?

I looked because I had a headache and thought it might be ibuprofen. It was on the side of the kitchen sink

You shouldn’t have been picking up her things and going through them. Would you have picked up a letter and read it?

This is what concerns me. It's not being prescribed by a GP, so she isn't being supervised by qualified medical staff. So she won't have a dosage that's been worked out.

Now you've said it might not even be pure Xanax but could be laced with all sorts, I'm even more worried.