Re: PANIC: Please help
Originally Posted by
Lizzy84
Hi,
I have been having panic attacks for over a week now about taking prescribed medications. I take 25 mg of Luvox (Fluvoxamine) daily, and last Friday, I took two and a half .25 mg of Xanax (so about .65 mg of Xanax) over 8 hours. I was so groggy and out of it. I had to call off work and slept for most of the day.
This was a week ago, and I'm still feeling very anxious with panic attacks that I took too much Xanax and now have damaged my brain. My mind feels slow, and I don't feel right. I called my pharmacist, and he said that the Luvox can enhance the Xanax and make it stay in my system longer. I am absolutely terrified that the Luvox doubled the amount of Xanax, and I have done irreparable damage.
The standard alprazolam (Xanax) dose is 0.25-0.5mg 2-3 times a day with a 24 hour maximum of 4mg so you were well below that. Fluvoxamine might haver slowed the rate alprazolam is metabolised a little, but wouldn't have doubled the amount in your blood stream. It is a very short lived benzodiazepine (BZDs) with an average elimination half-life of about 11 hours (range 6-26 h) so almost all of it will probably have been completely out of your system within 2-3 days. BZDs rarely do any harm even in massive overdose.
Are you taking fluvoxamine for anxiety or another indication such as nerve pain? If for anxiety then be aware that 25mg is a sub therapeutic dose for most which is usually too low to initiate and sustain the mechanism by which ADs work. The usual starting dose is 50mg and most take 100-150mg/day for good results. Those with OCD often need high doses to get a positive result as the OCD spectrum disorders tend to be resistant to both medication and therapy. The recommended daily maximum is 300mg.
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The opinions expressed above are based on my observations and, where applicable, interpretation of cited data and are general in nature. Consult your physician before acting on anything stated.