Preventing Xanax Abuse....

The best way to avoid abusing Xanax is the avoid using it.

There are two other benzodiazepines commonly used for acute anxiety-Klonopin(generic name, Clonazepam) and Ativan(generic name, Lorazepam). The primary reason these are safer medications than Xanax is that they have longer half-lives.

With the very short half life of Xanax, your body is more like to experience a sudden loss of the drug with rebound anxiety (ie., anxiety simply from the Xanax leaving your body). Even during a brief course on this medication, a person can begin to have 'clock-watching' with rebound anxiety between doses. Also, Xanax has an initial effect of mild euphoria than none of the other benzodiazepines appear to have. This also increases the addictive potential of Xanax.

My recommendation is to save Xanax as a 'rescue' medication for severe anxiety from a trauma or panic disorder-and only after a safer medication in the same class is tried. My favorite alternative is Klonopin. It is not very sedating, has a good anxiolytic effect, and has such a long half life that the body tolerates terminating treatment with little to no withdrawal anxiety.

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