Treating Xanax Addiction with Compassion and Science

What started as primarily abuse-related prescriptions has become a much bigger issue involving patients taking the drug recreationally and coping with stress and anxiety.

In the most severe cases, Xanax can produce problems urinating and weight changes. 

Psychotic episodes, substantial cognitive loss, chronic depression, impulsive, aggressive behavior, and delirium are among the long-term effects of Xanax. 

These are sometimes irreversible. Some people have to deal with them forever. 

Some people don’t seem to realize that Xanax can be about 15 times stronger than Valium (Diazepam). 

Teen drug use during the summer often goes unnoticed. When school starts and students nod off in class, exchange pills in the restrooms, and fail tests, the problem becomes visible. 

Some teens view Xanax as a safer alternative to prescription opioids and heroin with almost the same euphoric effects. 

The pills kids take, often found in their parents’ or grandparents’ bedrooms, can be as deadly as opioids such as heroin, especially when mixed with other drugs or alcohol.  

Like opioids prescribed for pain, benzodiazepines for anxiety eventually stop working, forcing users to take higher and higher doses to get the same effect.  

Three FDA-approved medicines are available to treat the symptoms of opioid addiction: buprenorphine (Suboxone), methadone, and Vivitrol, a long-acting injectable drug that blocks the euphoric effects of opioids and alcohol. 

But no medicines exist to blunt the withdrawal symptoms and cravings caused by benzodiazepine addiction. Instead, patients typically enter residential treatment, where a specialist gradually tapers them off the medication so benzodiazepine withdrawal doesn’t result in seizures and death. 

As more adults are prescribed Xanax, Valium, Ativan, and other benzodiazepines calm their nerves and fight insomnia, these pills are more available for teenagers.  

Fentanyl today is replacing much of the street heroin and is a problem in itself. Some of them claim that heroin and Xanax are made for each other. Xanax’s high lasts longer than the dope’s (heroin), hence its increasing popularity. Learn more about our Fentanyl rehab.

Xanax is similar to other benzodiazepines. It increases the availability of the most potent and common inhibitory neurotransmitter in the brain, known as GABA. GABA produces a sedating effect. It gets rid of stress, relaxes the muscles, calms the nerves, and stops anxiety. In search of reducing panic or anxiety, many people can become addicted, among other disorders. 

Xanax modulates the functioning of the GABA receptor, further inducing the calming effect.  

The best way to understand how Xanax works are to think of it as a super tranquilizer. Taking this drug even in small doses can significantly reduce anxiety and panic.

Xanax sometimes is prescribed as a substitute medication. The most common substitutes are other benzodiazepines including Ativan (florazepam), clonazepam, and Valium (diazepam). The only important distinction between the different kinds of benzodiazepines is how long they last. Ativan and Xanax are both short-acting benzodiazepines. Clonazepam and diazepam are long-lasting. Nevertheless, all benzodiazepines produce the same kinds of effects. 

Drugs like Ambien, Lunesta, and Sonata (BRAs: benzodiazepine receptor agonists) are becoming alternatives to treat insomnia, panic disorder, and anxiety because of growing concern about benzodiazepine abuse. 

Some doctors replace SSRI antidepressants for patients suffering from panic attacks and anxiety. Zoloft is one of these pharmaceuticals. 

Unfortunately, most of the substitute drugs are potentially addictive as well. Thus, moving from Xanax to another medication does not equal overcoming addiction. Switching pills do not change the core problem.