Posted by Viridis on July 30, 2003, at 0:02:24
In reply to Xanax, Xanax XR, and addiction, posted by MissouriGal on July 29, 2003, at 13:21:38
Addiction is the situation in which you keep increasing the dose of a drug (or anything else) despite it having a harmful effect, let the rest of your life fall apart just to get a "fix", become obsessed with the substance, crave it, etc.
There's no credible evidence that Xanax causes addiction for the vast majority of users; this is simply a myth that's often repeated by people (including doctors) who don't know any better. There is a good deal of evidence, however, to indicate that anxiety patients in particular are unlikely to become addicted to Xanax and other benzodiazepines.
What most people really mean when they talk about "addiction" is medical dependency, and this is very common with benzos and a lot of other drugs. If you take Xanax regularly, it can be dangerous to simply stop, because your nervous system gets accustomed to it. So, you have to taper off gradually or you may experience withdrawal. This is also the case with most of the expensive, still-patented antidepressants that drug companies and doctors now push for anxiety, and often the withdrawal from these is much worse than that from Xanax etc. For example, you're taking Zoloft -- that has the potential for a serious withdrawal syndrome if you quit it after using it for a while, so are you addicted to it?
Dependency isn't limited to psychiatric drugs; insulin, various blood pressure meds, and so on are dangerous to stop suddenly if you've been taking them for a while, but no one talks about an "addiction" to insulin, for example.
There are people who abuse Xanax and some who actually become addicted to it, but this is pretty rare for those who have a legitimate prescription and a good reason for taking it. Given your cautious approach, I seriously doubt you're a candidate for addiction.
If you do start taking it regularly and find yourself craving it, escalating your dose, and letting it interfere with your life, then that would be a cause for concern. If you use it regularly at the same dose and feel uncomfortable if you miss a dose, well, you're medically dependent just like someone who takes Paxil, Effexor, Zoloft, insulin, etc. is. It might not be an ideal situation, but it sure beats constant anxiety and certainly doesn't represent "addiction".
If Xanax is a highly "addictive" drug, as some people say, then a huge segment of the population who use various medications for other long-term ailments (blood pressure, arthritis, depression, migraines, diabetes, etc.) would have to be considered addicts too.
poster:Viridis
thread:246484
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20030728/msgs/246651.html