I have been taking Xanax for the past 4 months and now have elevated liver enzymes. Do any of you have any first hand knowledge with this? This is the only medication I take but I was told Xanax wouldn't have any effect on my liver enzyme levels. I am worried about it to the point I am thinking of stopping taking it at all. Please respond if you have any knowledge of this. Thanks.
I think this is something that only your Dr can answer! I take xanax as needed,and I have never heard of it affecting the liver like that! Do you take a large amount? I hope you see your Dr and discuss your concerns,so you can either try a different med,or have peace of mind taking xanax knowing it isn't hurting you! Take care and I hope all is well!! Kristi
I just responded to your post(it's not here!!?? lol) then had a realization and came back!! lol
Do you eat or drink anything grapefruit?? This could cause some liver disfunction! If you do ,stop! Taking most antidepressants and xanax with it can be harmful! But like I said in the ghost post(lol) See your Dr and talk your concerns out with him! You may need a new med or even just having him tell you it's not the med will give you peace of mind! Take care and I hope all is well!! Kristi
How did it come about that you had your liver enzymes checked? You must have had some problem for a test like that to be done. What did the doctor who told you your liver enzymes were elevated say about the xanax causing it? How much xanax do you take a day? <IMG SRC="http://www.healthboards.com/ubb/smile.gif">
I had a complete blood workup because he wanted to put me on Zoloft and needed a baseline liver profile. After seeing I had elevated enzyme levels he decided not to give me Zoloft and told me Xanax very rarely caused this but it was remotely possible. Since this is the only med. I am taking, I just wondered if anyone else had any experience like this with Xanax. I don't drink any alcohol or smoke. I am disabled and rarely leave the house. I am allergic to citrus so I don't drink any fruit juices. Thanks for your responses.
I see. <IMG SRC="http://www.healthboards.com/ubb/smile.gif"> Yes xanax can cause elevated liver enzymes. Your liver gets rid of xanax by making enzymes which destroy it. After you are on xanax for awhile it is as if your liver says, "Hey we sure are getting a lot of xanax these days. Let's make more xanax-destroying enzymes." And so it does. This is one reason that when you take xanax for a long period of time, that you need to reduce your dose slowly. So that your liver will also make less enzymes slowly. As a result you have less withdrawl symptoms. If you decide to go off xanax, I'd advise to talk to your doc about it so that you can slowly taper off. Stopping too fast may give you nasty withdrawl symptoms. If the xanax is working well, stick with it as it is more likely to help your anxiety than zoloft will. Good luck.
Let me warn you about the following. You said that you want to just come off of Xanax if you believe that it is causing elevated liver enzyme levels.
Well, Xanax (Alprazolam), and ALL Benzodiazepines for that matter, are just not the sort of drugs that you can abruptly come off of if you have been taking them regularly for more that a few weeks. You will get VERY severe withdrawal symptoms !!!! And these symptoms will not go away for weeks (months in some individuals).
You need to come off Benzodiazepines very very slowly. I advise you read the "Ashton Manual" by Professor Heather Ashton (of the University of Newcastle, UK), which is (arguably) the world's leading specialist on stopping Benzos. It can be found free online, just Google it, and read the whole thing carefully.
Once again, do NOT stop Xanax (Alprazolam) abruptly if you have been taking it more than a few weeks.
