Hi All,

I have been taking 50mg Zoloft and .25mg xanax 3x a day since may when i had alot of anxiety. Things were up and down for the last 7 months but Ive been able to work and all, some days are better than others. Im currently on 75 mg of zoloft, and still with the xanax, but Im slowly finding that my anxiety is making a return. I can tell because of a rash i get on my palms (dishydrosis I believe its called) that I wold get when anxiety would come back.

I heard that xanaxs' effects wear down after being on it a while...i would think that the zoloft would be enough (and heck, I dont wanna be on xanax forever)....any suggestions? Maybe the zoloft dosage is too low?

Thanks

Adam

Maybe the Zoloft dosage needs to be raised but keep in mind, Zoloft's thereaputic effect can wear down also after a while. Theres no proof that Xanax loses its thereaputic effect quicker or the dosage needs to be raised to maintain the same thereaputic effect. Sometimes this is the case but it's also true of Zoloft. Don't be scared of taking Xanax for life. It's the same as taking Zoloft for life.

My gen. doctor thinks taking xanax is such a bad idea (my psych prescribed it all for me) - because its addictive. So that kind of frightened me as well. I used to be on 12.5mg of paxil right when they had that brief interruption in supply back in the spring, thats when i was put on zoloft and all the crap began. My psych is suggesting i try paxil again - but im afraid to go thru all the withdrawal and stuff....

The withdrawal shouldnt be that bad if you carefully wean off slowly. All psychiatric drugs have to be weaned off slowly. It can be a pain though I know, but it's usually no where as bad as whatever you were put on the medication for in the first place.

Let us keep the anxiety community informed....

We don't want benzos to get a worse name, because they are probably one of the most useful drugs for anxiety sufferers.

Benzos have a bad name because actual addicts use them when they run out of their drugs and need that quick fix.

The fact is, studies show that people are 5 times more likely to abuse "pain killer" type medicine...

Yes, you might become dependant on the medicine.. meaning if you stop it you will experience withdrawal....
But we need to remember this is completely different than addiction.

Addicts will do something regardless of the consequence... Good or bad, they'll find a way to get their fix, regardless of the consequences, and regardless of how it affects their family and the people around them.

I always think its proper to say this because I hate to see that benzos continue to get hit all the time with the "addiction" label.

Truthfully, if used responsibly, they are one of the safest medicines of their kind.

We always need to remember this.. choose words wisely. Addiction/Dependance are two different things! And we should not confuse them as one in the same, because they are two completely different things.

Zoloft never worked for me ( I am diagnosed with depression/anxiety) and I always ended up going off of it. 8 months ago my new doctor prescribed celexa (another anti-depressant that also works well for anxiety). It took about 5 weeks for me to feel the benefits of this drug but when I did it was great! It has helped me immensly and I have had NO side effects. I was also able to go 8 months with no dosage change. Recently I have had some personal problems that have caused an increase in my anxiety level so my doctor raised my dosage, but I think that if that hadn't happened I would have been fine on the same dose.

I'm not saying celexa will work for you... but different drugs work better for different people. Some don't work at all for some people! If you are continuing to have troubles after being on the Zoloft for 7months it may be worth talking to your doctor about making a change and trying a different med.