Is alprazolam used for vertigo?
Question posted by sholle on 17 Nov 2012
Last updated on 29 December 2023
8 Answers
It works beyond question!!! Using it has saved my life from misery!!! It is hard to get prescribed now, psychiatrists steer away from it even though it works basically all the time with a proper dosage,
I haven’t heard that about psychiatrist. In fact, I know several people that take it and their psychiatrist is more than happy to give them however much they need. My family doctor on the other hand will only give me 30 pills that has to last me anywhere from 90 to 120 days or more (and I suffer not only from vertigo, but generalized anxiety disorder, social anxiety, and panic attacks) .
People that have abused it for pleasure have made it very difficult for people that really need it to be prescribed it. It’s very effective for my vertigo. My ENT said Doctors are not sure why benzodiazepines help with dizziness, but they definitely do.
I haven’t heard that about psychiatrist. In fact, I know several people that take it and their psychiatrist is more than happy to give them however much they need. My family doctor on the other hand will only give me 30 pills that has to last me anywhere from 90 to 120 days or more (and I suffer not only from vertigo, but generalized anxiety disorder, social anxiety, and panic attacks) .
People that have abused it for pleasure have made it very difficult for people that really need it to be prescribed it. It’s very effective for my vertigo. My ENT said Doctors are not sure why benzodiazepines help with dizziness, but they definitely do.
100% - Unfortunately, not every doctor knows this and I have no idea why! My family doctor is a migraine specialist and a sleep specialist and is well known. He said this is one illness that when doctors get together they can not definitively tell you what is causing the vertigo in most people. Yes there are the attacks with the crystals floating in your fluid and messing up your balance and the Epley Maneuver works and then there is the other that is not caused by that. Antivert works for some but has never for me. Some Doctors try sterroids, that does not work for me. He prescribed Xanax instant release at first .25 and I honestly can't remember how many I took but it worked within a couple hours. I have been taking .50xr (extended release) before bed for three years and have been fine. Lots of stress lately and it has gotten worse. I take .50 instant release for spin in am and go back to sleep and it's gone in an hour or two.
The majority of my attacks have always come on when I am actually RELAXED after all the stress is gone. No idea why. Had MRI's, Cat scan nothing there to be causing it. If your doctor says no it doesn't FIND A NEW DOCTOR! But as with anything be careful how much you take. Increase slowly and do not abuse. If at any time you feel jumpy like you need it and you do not have vertigo... don't take it you don't need it.
Love the sentence at the end... ”don’t take it if you don’t need it”. How true that sentence really is. Great post too. Helping others is what a lot of people do on the Drugs.com app and you are one of those contributors. Thanks for sharing what you know to be true & to that which has helped you in defeating this vertigo issue. People suffering really need to hear real answers.
UPDATE... someone comment on my post and here it is 2021. I want to say I have had a lot of things going on in the last nine years. I have tracked this and wanted to share some things. While I had Vertigo from Stress and the Xanax worked, there are other types of Vertigo. While it has not worked for you there are many people that I have talked with that simply take an antihistamine and it helps them. Weather and allergies cause their Vertigo. Since this date I have suffered Benign Positional Vertigo. That is where the room is literally upside down. This is from the crystals in the inner ear that break away and are in the fluid disrupting your balance. I simply get to my doctor who knows the Epley maneuver, he does it and it take it away. However, he first has to give me a shot of anti nausea medicine before he does it and it is very sickening and scary. You also know that you have this type because you have nystagmus in your eyes. You can feel it and the Doctor can see it.
Fast forward to this past year. It was happening every three weeks out of nowhere. Went to the doctors and the Epley Maneuver did not work and we both noticed something. I did not have nystagmus. Hmm... I kept track of it. I also notice it was when I put my head back or forward and to the side, yet I could walk around. HORMONAL!! I started menopause and there is not other explanation. After it goes away within a week I slowly start to get amazing energy like I'm in my 20's. It's horrible but hopefully you will find which one yours is. It is a horrible feeling.
I have been dealing with vertigo for over two months and have also dealt with it three years ago. I am reading that Xanax helps but my question is white dosage? Please help Thank you
When you first start taking Xanax, they generally prescribe the lowest dose possible. Which is .25 mg. It is a small white pill that is scored in the middle.
I too suffer from vertigo, almost on a daily basis and I accidentally found out how Xanax can help with the symptoms of vertigo when I took it for something else and it cured the symptoms of my vertigo. I only take it when it gets bad but it helps tremendously.
Same here exactly. Helps so much.
I currently suffer from chronic vertigo. I am in the beginning stages of seeing an ENT doctor and a neurologist. Currently I find if I take 2mg xanax before I go to bed it keeps the vertigo under control. If the vertigo appears when I wake up in the morning I will start with 1mg xanax and go up there from there to subside the dizziness, nausea and vomiting. Dr.'s have yet come to a conclusion on what is causing this severe vertigo. CT scan has come back normal. MRI is next.
Yes it can be used for the treatment of vertigo. It works to treat anxiety which can be a major cause of vertigo.
It absolutely works for Vertigo. I have a swollen nerve in my brain causing an equilibrium imbalance, which made me unable to walk or function at the age of 27. I am now 30. I went to neurologists, ENTs, had 5 MRIs, balance function tests, hearing tests, a spinal tap and a great deal of blood work. Steroids were unable to shrink the nerve that caused the "vertigo like symptoms". Valium did not help me or any other medication. I have been on Alprazolam (Xanax) for three years now and can function day to day. So, before you call Alprazolam a drug only used for anxiety do your research, it absolutely changed my quality of life. If you call that addicting than I suppose you are addicted to food, water and shelter.
Xanax is used to treat vertigo. I have three children and was unable to function or care for my kids before being prescribed this medication. Take it at night before you go to sleep. It changed my life.
Hello sholie,
No, it is not , plus alprazolam is very addicting.
Alprazolam is used in the treatment of anxiety; depression; panic disorder; tinnitus; dysautonomia and belongs to the drug class benzodiazepines.
Click on the link for a list of medications for Vertigo:
https://www.drugs.com/condition/vertigo.html
Take care,
maso.-
Xanax definitely helps with vertigo. I started with it over 2 years ago. I had a bad bout that lasted all night. I felt like I was flipping over and over and over. Meclizine aka non drowsy Dramamine (the drug of choice for dizziness ) didn’t even touch it. Because I had taken that I couldn’t take my Xanax which I have for general anxiety disorder. I am very very cautious about drug interactions. So I had to wait till the next day when that war completely off so that I could take one of my Xanax.
After much testing (ear tests, EPLY manuever test, MRIs, Cat scan calcium test to check for blockages in my arteries, with no answers, I (not my family doctor, neurologist, ear, nose, and throat doctor could come up with any solution. Only my physical therapist agreed with me that it was coming from my scoliosis. Whenever my muscles in the left side of my back get pulled completely to the right ( toward the curvature) I get dizzy and nauseous. It happens if I don’t sit in a straight back chair with pillows behind my back to fill in the space (where my back is concave). I’ve been working with a great physical therapist for two years now who does soft tissue work to release all of the trigger points and knots in my muscles, learn various exercises exercises to build up the left side of my back and make it more . It has been very helpful. Again, if I’m not sitting properly supported, I will get dizzy. But not to the degree I had last night or two years ago. When I’m watching TV and will be sitting a while, I usually put an ice pack behind my back because I have chronic fatigue and fibromyalgia also and I’m usually in pain I guess maybe the numbness didn’t alert me to the fact that I wasn’t as properly supported as I needed to be.
Thankfully, I took my .25 Xanax and it went away.
Xanax is very addicting apparently, and that’s why my doctor will only give me a script of 30 pills that must last me for at least 90-120 days or 12-16 weeks. I’ve gone 180 days many times without getting it refilled. (So obviously I do not take it that often). Only when I absolutely need it do I take it, and most times I will only take half of my .25 which is 0.12. When the ear nose and throat doctor asked me if my Xanax helped the dizziness, I told him 100 percent. He said, they are unsure what the component is in Xanax that helps with vertigo, but they do know that benzodiazepines definitely help. When I told him I only took half of my .25 much of the time, he laughed at me and told me that was doing nothing for me. It was more or less a placebo. But I told him that he’s wrong. It definitely helps because I am extremely sensitive to medication.
I only take Xanax if I feel dizzy, but mainly if I know that I’m going to be in a situation where I will be extremely anxious. Ive been taking it for many years and if I had to, could stop completely tomorrow as I try not to take more than a total of (1 ) .25 mg pill per week.
Hello sholle. Yes, it can be. Since Vertigo causes severe panic/anxiety and Alprazaolam is created and used for panic/anxiety situations. Regards pledge
Related topics
Further information
- Alprazolam uses and safety info
- Alprazolam prescribing info & package insert (for Health Professionals)
- Side effects of Alprazolam (detailed)
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