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can't get xanax from either doctor

Are there any prescription authorized professionals in az willing to help?
My liver turned yellow last time I had several beers
Both drs afraid to prescribe xanax
'it's addictive'
I said 'so is alcohol.  When sad, disappointed, or irritated, it helped every time.  It's legal, and it helped.
But now when sad, deflated, or otherwise triggered, what should I do doctor?
'Well, AA or mental health or breathing or group therapy.'
What about the billions spent on a drug still on your formulary, and you won't prescribe it to me?'
I drank a lot years ago.  Drinking always worked for me.  For the last ten years, it's about once a month.  In that time, it still helps me to relax, and process things from a different perspective, calm down, and feel better.  I have to quit, now, it's a shock and I want some temporary, but effective, pharmacotherapy.  No, they say, it's addictive.  We try hydroxyzine.  Sleeping pills.  Gabapentin.  Nothing.  Buspar.  Nothing.  Sertraline.  Nothing.  'I think alprazolam will help me.  Can we try it?'
'No, too dangerous and addictive.'
  
I have no intention nor desire to become addicted to anything.  I don't like opiates.  I know what I need, and I told the doctors.  Instead of thanking me for making their job easier, they refused, and were unsympathetic.  I successfully reduced my drinking, but not in time or sufficiently to prevent damage or worse.  I do not want to die.  But I will be tried again.  The temptation is there, on every corner, on every tv.  Why not allow me to use something that does less damage?  I told my doctors, 'I need what most makes me feel like I'm drinking.  That's Xanax.  I took it once years ago and I said, 'this is like a few beers' I liked it no adverse effects, no addiction, and no desire as I was drinking then.  Now, I'm honest, make it easy, say exactly what I need, I only want 10-20mg for 2-3 months..when needed.  Literally, 2-4mg/month.  You know, this way I thought she and he would show compassion and help me.  No.  Fear, policy, God knows why else.  What could I do?  This is not optimal care.
I have panic attacks, sleep poorly, feel anxious, shaky, scared in public-- all indications for Xanax.  These are heightened when tired, irritated, or other times.
If anyone can accept this truth and help, lmk.  I'm covered, but I am also willing to pay out of my pocket.  If I see you I will tell you exactly what I just wrote.
M
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Avatar universal
You have encountered this problem at the wrong time in history, unfortunately.  There was a time not so long ago when Xanax would have been recommended for you.  Not now.  Benzos are addictive, and if you think quitting drinking is hard, and it is, don't try stopping benzos if you're addicted to them.  On the other hand, you can take them in a way they are not addictive, which is to only take them as needed, not on a daily basis.  Unfortunately, because you have proven you weren't able to do that with alcohol, you're stuck.  If you had only taken a drink or two when you needed it, you wouldn't have developed liver disease from it, assuming it is from drinking and not from, say, chronic use of medications such as statins or acetaminophen or a host of others.  Doesn't matter, you do have to quit drinking no matter the cause once you have liver problems, but again, if you have been determined to be an alcoholic, you will have a hard time getting any controlled substance because we're now in a recurring phase of great caution with addictive substances due to the opioid "epidemic."  I'm guessing if you shop around, however, you can find a psychiatrist who might just give you a very small amount of a benzo, though it might not be Xanax, they like clonazepam these days, but again, a very small amount you can't refill often enough to get addicted to it.  They did used to use benzos to help recovering addicts, so again, times change.  I wish I had not been put on benzos for my anxiety, however, to take twice a day many years ago.  I wish it had been as needed or just rely on the antidepressant which I was also put on at the same time, which is also not very logical since you'd think, in hindsight, that it might be best to see if one drug works before they put you on two of them.  If you have a chronic anxiety problem, therapy is the best first choice.  The alcohol obviously did not solve your problem, did it?  Neither will benzos or antidepressants, they, like alcohol, can only mitigate the symptoms.  Therapy, when it works, is a cure.  But if that doesn't work for you, along with all the usual things you can try that don't involve drugs, such as exercise, meditation, hypnosis, lifestyle changes, job changes, geographic changes, relationship changes, etc., you might think about talking to a psychiatrist about antidepressants.  While they are as hard to stop taking as addictive drugs for many people and have their problems as do all drugs taken regularly, they are not classified as addictive and therefore are much easier to get than controlled substances.  By way, benzos can make you pretty sleepy too, especially when they wear off -- they do not give long lasting relief.  When antidepressants work for anxiety, they work all the time.  As for irritation and sadness, alcohol and benzos make that worse in the long term.  My advice?  Try to actually fix the problem, which means therapy.  If that doesn't work for you, though, inquire about antidepressants.  Peace.
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And if getting high is really your only resort at this point, inquire about CBD oil or medical marijuana.  Also not addictive, but do know that marijuana can cause anxiety in many people, although these days they supposedly have bred strains that don't do that, but I emphasize supposedly because it depends on the person.
yes
thanks
you seem to have the authority of experience
except I have proven I can take them in a way they are not addictive...not on a daily basis
and if, as does happen, the doctor assumes I'm lying or wrong about my own usage, that is just a waste of time,  and forces me to go elsewhere
like I have to do now
I get it now
admitting to heavy alcohol use, in the past, is a barrier to my treatment of choice- because of my history of alcohol use, that is, dependence, and saying so, is the wrong thing to do to get alprazolam
even if it was ten years ago
I'm sure you are correct - but it is still prescribed
going to the doctor now is like the police, incentivizing people to lie to obtain temporary relief
yes everyone has issues including myself but that is not truly the reason for my post
I am familiar with psychiatry and I've developed a self-treatment program that actually works in conjunction with limited or temporary pharmacotherapy
so knowing myself and my body, I feel I am capable of determining what is best for me, and I will take responsibility for any therapeutic outcomes-I will sign a liability release
what is the difference between offering a choice of cancer treatment protocols and offering a choice of
1) pharmacotherapy, or not
2) specific drug
when someone's life is threatened, as I feel it is, in my case
in some cases, the health of the patient is not paramount to the doctor, the administration, the insurers, and others, through ignorance, regulation, or fear

everything you know about me is what I told you
but what if I told you something different
I can go to a doctor, lie by omitting all mention of drinking, detail all my symptoms, which is not a lie, and I have a better chance of getting xanax
he or she can lie to me all day; nothing I can do about it
yet I am expected to be truthful, for my own good
I just tried that
but the reality is not what it is not
doctors are afraid, doctors are told not to, it's not worth it, etc.
except it's worth it to me, the patient
in this case this therapy is appropriate for me as you said, occasionally, as needed
I would never take xanax daily
yes, you're right, and I know times and prescription practices change
I have no intention of using xanax often or long term
for me it is another step
I will tell you, if your quality of life depends on lying to a doctor, lie to the doctor.  Or really, not lie, but what you tell a doctor is up to you.  The problem is the reason you have to stop the alcohol is your liver, and most if not all pharmaceutical products have some or great toxicity to the liver.  So for you, there is a reason to tell the doctor because you will have to have your liver monitored even if the drug has a very small chance of harming it.  The human body may some day evolve to accept drugs as food, but so far evolution has made our bodies only know how to deal with food and food used as medicine.  It has not evolved to handle medication, and so it can and often does try to protect the body from the drug.  It's why it's hard to engineer a drug to get past the body's defenses, and one of them, one of the biggest of them, is the liver, which is why virtually all medications have some potential for adverse effects on the liver.  Which means, yeah, you can lie, and Xanax isn't likely to adversely affect the liver, but again, there is always that slight possibility the body reacts to the drug by fighting against it and stores some of it in the liver to protect you.  Which in your case, would be bad.  But it is your life, not your doctor's.  They are afraid of getting sued and losing their license to practice medicine, so do cut them some slack.  You can also buy Xanax illegally, but you won't be certain of the contents or the dosage.  I don't say this because I'd do it, but I've come to the belief that some people have to do things most don't to survive and it is your life.  I bet if you look hard enough and explain yourself well enough, you can find a psychiatrist who will help you out, but another thing to be aware of, if you ask for a specific benzo your doc is likely to be suspicious about abuse as opposed to asking for any medication to help with your anxiety, in which case you will be prescribed an antidepressant and/or the benzo that doc knows about and uses the most.  Peace.
20620809 tn?1504362969
This group forum talks about anxiety disorder.  I agree that often drinking alcohol and taking opiates or benzodiazepine temporarily help. But the key word is temporary.  Addiction and mental health issues go hand in hand.  Most doctors won't give a controlled substance to someone who is fighting alcoholism for the same reasons they say they drank.  This puts you in a bind and I do really feel for you because this is hard. If you weren't taught actual coping skills for the things that make you want to drink, what do you do when this happens?  Psychotherapy could be helpful.  And I know you won't want to hear this but addiction help.  There are different levels to rehabilitation from residential to inpatient to outpatient to just going to meetings.  It helps to know your triggers and to eliminate them too.  Are these things you'd consider at all?  Do you have family?
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