This post is going to be a Xanax review and answer all of the common questions about Xanax such as how long does Xanax stay in your system and can you drink alcohol with Xanax. At the end of the post I will discuss an alternative way of treating anxiety and panic attacks that doesn’t involve the use of medication.
Xanax is also known as alprazolam and is a benzodiazepine, the same class of drugs as Valium. Xanax is used to treat anxiety disorders and panic disorders. It can calm the nerves and give a feeling of relaxation.
How Long Does Xanax Stay In Your Urine?
This depends partly upon how much of the drug you have been taking. For those who only use Xanax occasionally, urine tests will show the drug in your system for up to 4 days after taking your last dose.
How Long Does Xanax Stay In Your System?
As well as urine tests, saliva, hair and blood tests can also be used to detect Xanax in your system. Saliva tests are only effective for 2 and a half days after your last dose of Xanax. Blood tests are even shorter, being effective for just 1 day after your last dose. It takes time for Xanax to accumulate in the hair follicles, so doing this test too early may lead to a negative result. Typically, Xanax is detected in hair follicles for up to a month.
Xanax Half Life
Xanax has a half life of approximately 11 hours (ranging from 6 – 27 hours). That means after 11 hours your body will have processed half of the drug out of your system.
How Long Does It Take Xanax To Work?
Xanax is a drug that is absorbed quickly into the bloodstream. Usually, it takes up to an hour for Xanax to work, however you may begin to feel its effects after just 10 minutes. Xanax is at its peak impact between 1 and 2 hours after taking it.
How long it takes for Xanax to work on you will depend on a few different factors, including your weight and metabolism, other medications that you may be on as well and also your age plays a factor.
How Long Does Xanax Last?
The effects of Xanax wear off quite fast. Usually, it lasts for between 2 and 4 hours. Sometimes you may feel some lingering effects of the drug for several more hours afterwards.
How Many Days Can You Take Xanax In A Row?
It is recommended that Xanax only be taken for up to 6 weeks as it is a powerful and potentially addictive drug.
It is a sad truth that American doctors continue to refill prescriptions beyond 6 weeks which has led to a high number of people seeking treatment for addiction to this powerful benzodiazepine.
Xanax Side Effects
Xanax comes with a long list of possible side effects that you should be aware of. If you are experiencing any of these side effects while taking Xanax, you should inform your doctor who may adjust your dosage or take you off the drug completely. They are the experts in your treatment, so it is important that you let them know everything you are experiencing with Xanax. It is also important to note that Xanax has interactions with other drugs, including some antidepressants, so make sure your doctor knows everything that you are currently taking before you start taking Xanax. Some of the potential side effects are listed below:
Sleepiness
Tiredness
Headaches
Dizziness
Muscle cramps
Confusion
Weight loss or weight gain
Dry mouth
Difficulty walking
Blurred vision
Decreased appetite
Nausea
Vomiting
Diarrhea
Irregular heartbeat
Low blood pressure
Xanax And Alcohol
You should never drink alcohol while taking Xanax. There is a danger that your breathing may slow or stop altogether if you combine Xanax with alcohol.
Xanax will increase the effects of alcohol and alcohol will increase the effects of Xanax, including exaggerating the side effects. This can lead to an inability to function, and can have very dangerous consequences.
Xanax Addiction
Xanax has a powerful effect and is one of the most addictive benzodiazepines on the market. This is why it is recommended to only take the drug for 6 weeks. Prolonged use, especially at higher doses, may lead to a Xanax addiction. This then brings about a whole new set of problems when trying to withdraw from the drug.
Xanax Withdrawal
Even if you have only been taking Xanax for a few days, you may have developed a dependence on the drug. It is a very powerful medication and is quite addictive, which hopefully your doctor made you aware of before you started taking it.
You should never stop taking Xanax abruptly. This can increase your risk of experiencing withdrawal symptoms. Under the guidance of your doctor, you should be tapering off the drug slowly by reducing your dosage and extending the time between each dose until you are completely off this medication. For some people, withdrawing from Xanax may require a stay in a mental hospital or specialist clinic.
Xanax Withdrawal Symptoms
There are many potential withdrawal symptoms when stopping Xanax, both physical and mental. Some of the physical symptoms may include:
Headaches
Racing heart
Muscle spasms
Insomnia
Shaking or tremors
Seizures
Excessive sweating
Hyperventilation
Some of the mental side effects of withdrawing from Xanax may include:
Increased anxiety
Increased irritability
Depression
Delirium
Hallucinations
Restlessness
Difficulty with concentrating
Because Xanax is so powerful, the withdrawal symptoms can be quite intense when compared to other benzodiazepines. Sometimes the symptoms you were suffering before taking Xanax, such as anxiety and panic attacks, will be worse when trying to withdraw from the medication.
How Long Does Xanax Withdrawal Last?
Depending on what dose you were on, how long you were taking it and a few other factors, you may begin to see withdrawal symptoms within 8-12 hours of your last dose of Xanax.
These withdrawal symptoms will usually peak at their worst around the second day of withdrawal and you should begin to see improvements by the fourth or fifth day.
It is not uncommon for these withdrawal symptoms to last for longer, even months, especially if you failed to taper off the medication slowly.
In order to reduce the withdrawal effects of Xanax, your doctor will often prescribe you a different benzodiazepine, usually Valium. Having the Valium in your system will somewhat counteract not having Xanax in your system and can make withdrawing from Xanax a lot easier. Your doctor will then need to taper you off Valium as your symptoms improve and although Valium is addictive, it is generally far easier to withdraw from than what Xanax is.
My Experience With Xanax
I have been a sufferer of generalized anxiety disorder and panic attacks for over 10 years. At one stage, my psychiatrist wanted me to try Xanax to treat my anxiety.
Before agreeing to take the drug, I did my research and read a lot of web pages just like this one which detailed all of the potential issues with taking Xanax and how effective it may be to treat my anxiety.
In the end, I decided I would rather try to deal with my anxiety using other drugs such as Valium, and other methods such as CBT because I was quite frankly very scared about having to deal with the withdrawal effects of Xanax, and it wasn’t a drug I could stay on long term to help me. I’ve had bad experiences with withdrawing from some of the antidepressants that I have been on like Effexor, and I didn’t want to have to go through a similar experience.
An Alternative To Xanax Without Side Effects And Withdrawal Effects
Although I elected not to go on Xanax to treat my anxiety and panic attacks, it did not stop me from searching for other treatments. Mostly, I was reliant on Valium but over time the effects of that grew less the more I took it. So I kept looking for ways to treat anxiety and eventually came across a product that claimed it could eliminate panic attacks and anxiety altogether. It sounded a bit far fetched to be possible and I was certain it was just a big steaming load of poop, but they offered a money back guarantee so I figured it won’t hurt to try it and get my money back when it fails.
I downloaded the course not expecting much and read through it. By the time I got to the end, and very surprisingly, I was extremely confident that I could now get on top of my anxiety and panic attacks. So confident in fact that I deliberately went out and put myself in a situation that I knew would trigger my anxiety. I wanted to experience a panic attack because I now knew how to handle it successfully.
It’s been a while since I first bought that course, and I can happily say that I rarely suffer from panic attacks anymore (and when I do I can handle them quite easily) and my general anxiety level has been significantly reduced. I’m talking about a previous anxiety level sitting at about an 8 out of 10 is now sitting at around a 3 out of 10.
I also no longer use Valium or any other medication to treat my anxiety. It is simply not needed and I just rely on what I learned in this course to get me through.
The course I am talking about is called Panic Away and you can learn more about it by using the link below. Yes, I will receive a small commission if you buy it, however I don’t promote any product that I haven’t tried and used myself. In fact, I only promote 2 products on my website (excluding a few books on Amazon) because so many of the options out there are just rubbish.
Click here to learn more about Panic Away
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