Question about Xanax dosing

I lurk a lot, sorry I don't post much. :(

I have a question. I don't want to sound like an addict or anything.

I have HORRIBLE neuropathy. I have been through EVERY medication there is. The only one that helps is Xanax or things of that sort.

I'm up to 2mg 3x daily. Tolerance is horrible. I'm already seeing that it's not working like it used to.

I have a question and please be honest. If any of you take Ativan, Klonopin, or Xanax....how much did you take.


I'm under the impression that docs can only rx the amount I'm getting. To function and get out of this terrible pain....I think I need to up my dose.

How much has you dr. rxd you....or is there another way around this? I suffer so much, I have little children and I miss running and planning with them.


This isn't anxiety at all, it's an attack on my nerves and it makes my life miserable.

Up?

waitingtobehealed,

I had terrible neuropathy in my lower legs also. Neurontin did help some but nothing really worked completely and it was pretty bad for a along time. I assume you have tried higher doses of neurontin - you can start with 100mg every 4 hours and work up to 200mg. At night I would take 600mg and found that in the morning my neuropathy was not as bad (probably the med plus getting off my feet and sleeping).

Neurontin can take several weeks to start working so do not expect immediate relief. I got to where I did not take anything during the and just put up with the bad neuropathy. I do not have children though and boy was I irritable at times. Pain does that.

Some on the forum take Cymbalta (prescribed for neuropathy as well as depression) or Lyrica. Others use herbs and supplements.

I found that eventually I needed to be able to get some support and I found a psychologist who worked with cognitive behavioral therapy and met with them once a week. Not only did they support me but they talked about practical steps to take to help get you through. Meditation, visualization, aromatherapy, resting, scaling back on expectations, changing thoughts and just good practical advice. They try to have you become more cognitively aware of thoughts and behaviors and incorporate the as best you can in to your daily routine. All sounds very ideal and I know that with children you might be screaming you got to be kidding!

At night I do take .5mg of Klonipin - which helps with the muscle twitching. It also helps with sleep and anxiety. That is the highest I am willing to go. I have not taken the others. Typically, Xanax is not used for pain or neuropathy.

Are you also experiencing a nervous feeling during the day? Like you might jump out of your skin? High dosages of any of these drugs can do that. You need to tell your doctor exactly what is happening to you so they can help you. It will take time and believe me I kind of lived through the pain for a long time. I have mentioned before that I think Clindimycin is what really worked for me in getting rid of the lower leg pain and neuropathy.

So, to sum it up I used neurontin, some pain pills a few times when it was just intolerable (I hate the way they make me feel), 30 mg of Cymbalta at night, and the therapy support. It has been a long road and I think the most frustrating part is that there is no instant answer to it all.

Hang in there and I hope you can get some measure of relief soon.

I've been on Xanax for over 6 years. I have went from 1 mg a day up to 5 mg a day. My psychiatrist is willing to go up to 6 mg a day, but has told me he is not OK with prescribing more than 6 mgs. per day.

I finally bit the bullett (not literaly.... at least not yet!) and am going to pain management doctor on 11/11/08. I realized that (especially in the past 6 - 12 mos.) that I've been using Xanax to help with the physical "pain".... and it doesn't work for that, because it's not made for pain.

Hope this helps.

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We'll get through today - Jennifer