Use of occasional Xanax for GAD/OCD

November 17, 2008

Last weekend my husband and I were able to go out alone with not even

one phone call from home for the first time in many years. It was the

first time in a year that we have gone out together for social

purposes at all and the reason is the right dose of Xanax. I am

obviously troubled to give my 14 year old son an addictive

tranquilizer in order to be able to go out, but lo and behold, not

only did it work, but it gave my son a confidence boost that I haven't

seen in a very long time. The confidence was not Xanax induced in the

sense that it mostly displayed the next day when he started thinking

about how non-anxious he was the whole time we were gone. He was

beaming! The question is, how many of you have experience using Xanax

occasionally for more high-anxiety situations with your children? Our

P-Doc said in his many years of using Xanax with his patients, he

typically sees people who use it occasionally usually end up not using

it at all once they repeatedly see that they can cope with their

high-anxiety situations. I have read here that there are those who

believe it is a highly addictive drug with tough withdrawal regimens.

Do you think there is a danger in using it, say once or twice a month

for school tests, or other incidents, which for him, are high anxiety?

He currently takes an average daily dose of Prozac which just takes

the edge off enough to make him able to function. But the Xanax is

the first medical intervention that has really made him completely

anxiety-free in over 4 years of trying various things. I would love

to hear your feedback/comments.

November 17, 2008

Hi,

My 9 y.o. DD had an OCD flare up (after we weaned her off Prozac over

the summer) at the beginning of school year. It was a nightmare.

Her fear is throwing up - but another fear became school and the

classroom. She would fight us to go to school and once there, it

would take 3 teachers to get her in the school. She would sit in the

regular room and just cry. It was a really bad time for her - not

only considering the OCD - but also socially. Just not good for a

4th grader to sit in school crying. Her anxiety was off the charts.

We put her back on the Prozac - but it takes several weeks to get

back into her system. At the advice of several on this board, I

asked the psychiatrist if we could try Ativan or Xanax for a short

time - just to help DD get through the day. It really worked wonders

for her. Like your son, it gave her confidence that she could be at

school, in the regular classroom and not worry the entire time. I

really, really struggled with the fact that my 4th grader had to take

an incredibly strong med like Ativan just to get through a day of

school. But, I just kept telling myself that OCD is a disease that

had truly taken over her mind and was robbing her of any type of

quality of life. The mix of the Ativan and Prozac worked great and

helped in those few weeks while the Prozac was " ramping " back up in

her system. Honestly, if I remember correctly - we only wound up

using the Ativan a few days overall. On the days of the biggest

changes/transitions - we used the Ativan to help get her over the

humps. Thank goodness, the Prozac now seems to be at a therapeutic

level and she is doing well at school once again.

Hope this helps,

Anne

November 17, 2008

I don't see anything wrong with the occasional use of these meds in

highly anxious situations. I had a sudden onset of insomnia 5 yrs. ago

and started waking up in the night in a full blown panic attack because

I knew I wouldn't be able to sleep the rest of the night. I took Xanax

for a couple of weeks when I'd wake and then didn't need it anymore. It

changed the situation for me in a positive way.

I'm happy that something helped him!

Dina

November 17, 2008

So glad to hear this wonderful update!

Re: Use of occasional Xanax for GAD/OCD