drcarrigan

I was reading the article over at http://www.quickanddirtytips.com/hea...-flying-part-2 which goes into depth how a group that took xanax on flight 1 had a way worse flight 2 than the placebo group.

Anyone else have any experience with this?

pharmawalk

It has to do with compensatory mechanisms. Artificially (i.e., drugs) try to correct something and the brain will counteract that to maintain homeostasis. Problem is, when the drug isn't on board (no pun intended), there is then more anxiety.

Doc Savage

In other words, there is a hangover.

Proudelitist

No. It's awesome all the time.

CaliforniaSteve

I stopped flying from December, 1978 until January, 2012 because of an incident at O'Hare Airport over Christmas that year. I built up all kinds of reasons that I shouldn't fly and developed phobia after phobia. My fear was so great that my first trip to Singapore from the West Coast of the US was on a series of cruise ships that took me round trip around the Pacific Ocean over a 3+ month period. But that trip opened my eyes to Asia and I wanted to go back. So I had to figure out how to fly there. Fortunately, a good friend of mine told me of his cure. It was Xanax, a sleeping pill and a Benadryl chaser. I told my doc about this and he laughed and said it was amazing my buddy ever got off the plane. He prescribed the Xanax and a mild dose of a sleeping pill.

I made my return inaugural flight in January, 2012 when my wife and I took an hour hop from SFO to LAS. I remember nothing about the outbound flight. But I do remember the acceleration from standing still to takeoff at McCarren and thinking that with all the money Vegas gets in, they could afford to pave the runway a little smoother. But then I also remember looking out the window and seeing Mono Lake, and I was hooked on flying. We took one more flight from SFO to MCO to make sure I was okay on long distance flights. And I was pretty much awake for the whole thing and I was even more hooked on flying.

To get ready for those first flights, I took two 25 mg Xanax when I woke up in the morning and then two more just before takeoff. The sleeping pill was also just before takeoff. After about two or three more flights, I discarded the sleeping pill and now I just go with the two 25 mg Xanax before takeoff.

I had tried a variety of other Xanax-like medications over the years, but none of them helped me and a couple of them changed my entire personality (and not for the better). I don't have a hangover with Xanax, but I also don't take it very often.....only to fly.

The upshot is that all of these meds work on different people in different ways. Xanax works well for me, but might turn someone else into a zombie. For anyone thinking about taking any kind of med like this for flying, my suggestion as a veteran of the medication wars is to first test it out in a non-anxiety producing situation, just to see what the effects are on you, paying particular attention to side effects.

Doc Savage

CaliforniaSteve, if you took 50 or even 25mg of Xanax, you'd be in a coma. In general, a high end dose is 1mg. I'd suspect you were given 0.25mg.

Way too much misinformation gets spread around.

Xanax or other benzodiazepines can help with anxiety or panic reactions that seriously interfere with function, like CaliforniaSteve had, but people should strive to keep the frequency and dosage as small as possible. Mixing benzos with other central nervous system depressants comes with significantly increased risk of bad consequences.

Remember, if you're on a benzo, you're impaired, much like being drunk.

Safe Travels,

Doc

james318

Personally, Ativan works way better than Xanax for me. They are both benzos, and both should be used sparingly as both are highly addictive. As always, avoid alcohol or sleeping pills with them.

frobozzelectric

usually that is my potion.

whisky from the lounge and 500mcg xanax.

the normalizer.

Proudelitist

What I like about benzos, Xanax is particular, is that for long hauls they put you to sleep for a good number of hours and ALSO wipe your memory...making the flight seem shorter. I can remember getting off of flights over 10 hours feeling as fresh as if I had gotten of a 1 hour flight..while everyone else is an exhausted mess.

kb9522

I hope nobody who takes drugs on flights is sitting an exit row seat (or drinks, for that matter).

I don't understand the concept... Why take drugs instead of just getting over it. It's just in your head.

txpenny

Quote:

Does xanax make anxiety worse for other flights?

what an appropriate thread for the TravelBuzz forum.

yytleisure

Would you say that to someone with diabetes? Multiple sclerosis? Cancer?

Many people say they have anxiety/depression/etc but have no actual medical condition. But telling someone with a true phobia or anxiety disorder or any other mental illness "it's just in your head" is inaccurate, rude, condescending and, tbh, a total move of someone I liken to a satchel of summertime feminine cleansing products.

StartinSanDiego

I'll take a part of Xanax... maybe 1/4 of .25 to help me get to sleep. I definitely feel the hangover the next day, so I don't take them very often.

Proudelitist

I don't take it for anxiety. I take it to sleep and wipe out a good portion of a boring flight.

kb9522

Those are actual physical diseases. And if it impaired their ability to assist in an emergency, yes, I would say the same.

Being afraid of something is not the same as a real mental illness.

I see that in your desire to lash out over something so inconsequential, you failed to recognize the point of my post is that these drugs are physically impairing, while the "condition" they treat are not. This can be a problem in the case of an emergency.