Xanax ups & downs

[Anxiouskittyx 0]

Hello, this is my first post here. I'm looking for some input from others that may have been or may be in the same situation that I'm finding myself in now. Sorry if I ramble, but I'm a mess right now. I've had Gen. Anxiety and dermatillomania my whole life, tried many meds in the past but was off all meds for years until this past summer when some postpartum depression crept in and made my anxiety spike.

I have been back on Prozac since July and it makes me feel so great. I feel "normal".....until night time arrives. My main source of anxiety (even on the Prozac) comes at night when it's time for bed (even with my husband home and in ebd with me), or if I'm alone in the house at night for any reason. I have a crippling fear of someone breaking into my home and either hurting my baby, stealing her, or killing me. The Prozac has actually made that time of the day WORSE for me, to the point where I get little to no sleep. Also, since starting the Prozac, my dermatillomania has gotten worse, I have basically destroyed my fingers, toes and scalp. And, on top of that, I find myself BITING, clenching down on my tongue until it feels like its going to fall off, I don't even realize I'm doing it until its hurting A LOT.

2 weeks ago I started taking .5 mg of Xanax at night in hopes that it would help. Sure enough, it did. I was having NO anxiety, NO panic attacks at night, I was sleeping and my dermatillomania went away. But, I noticed a few days ago that it was starting to make me feel like a zombie during the day, it was also giving me extremely vivid, terrifying dreams with a few episodes of sleep paralysis. I realized I was less interested in daily activities and had almost no emotions at all.

I didn't take a Xanax last night and I had an awful night, head aches and panic attacks all night, barely slept. BUT, today I felt amazing, "normal" again. I had all my energy back, wanted to clean and play with my baby and cook and all that jazz. But, the tongue biting and dermatillomania are already in full swing again and its night time once again and I'm basically constantly on the verge of another panic attack and am DREADING bed time.

What am I to do? Without the Xanax, I'm in a fabulous mood all day, active and happy but my dermatillomania is awful and then I can't sleep and have panic attacks all night. But on the other hand, WITH the Xanax, I can sleep at night, no anxiety or panic attacks, no dermatillomania BUT I'm basically an emotionless zombie with no energy or motivation/ambition all day. Isn't there some sort of happy medium in all of this?!

[Mike L 86]

I find that Klonopin works better and isn't as addicting. It stays in your system longer. See if you can have that instead.

[jonathan123 2368]

Hi Anxiouskittyx. Welcome to AC. .

Sorry to hear about your problem. Sorry about the delay in answering. Prescribed drugs are for symptom relief not cure. Drugs give you a respite to gather yours thoughts and try and reason, which it's so difficult to do when in an anxiety attack.There are no drugs that 'cure' anxiety because it's caused by the way we think. Changing the way we think changes our behaviour and hence our symptoms. Now I am not minimising how you feel, God knows, I have been there, but if you can get to the root of the anxiety then you can work on it. Never stop taking medication without your doctors advice. It is a great mistake to 'cold turkey' on drugs. Coming off suddenly can cause problems.

But, as I say, try and get to the cause of the anxiety. The root cause. This is often in the unconscious and needs counselling or therapy to find it. Have you tried CBT? (Cognitive Behavioural Therapy). It's designed to change our way of thinking. Anxiety is an illness of the way we think. Our body responds to our feelings and thoughts. Negative thoughts cause negative feelings which in turn cause negative symptoms.

You are obviously reacting to the drugs you have been given. Have you told your doctor how you feel on them?

Sorry if I ramble, but I'm a mess right now.

NEVER apologise for how you feel with anxiety. It's not your fault, and you do NOT ramble. Have a good look round the site and come back and have a moan, a vent or just let off steam. We don't mind in the least. Honest!!

[Valkyrie 15]

I would definitely recommend speaking to your doctor about your feelings and seeing if they have other options for you to try. I also would agree with the counseling recommendation. Sometimes medications help but sometimes a combo of medication and counseling is better. CBT is great for mental health. 

Medication can take away the affects of anxiety but it still doesn't change our mental processes. Good luck