Is Atarax(Vistaril/hydroxizine) addictive?

HI Sharann! Thats strange i just posted you some feed back on your question and some how it got lost! Anyway i've been taking Hydroxizine 50MG for anxiety and sleep along with other meds for years.As a matter of fact i just posted a thread about it the other day,i dont know if you seen it or not.I was told by someone the other day that it was not good to take long term.So i asked my Pdoc about it.She said that it was fine to take long term because it has minimum to no side effects and it was not addictive.She also said she felt that it was a better alternative to alot of other meds perscribed for sleep like Klonpin and xanax. There have been times i have went long periods of time without taking it and have not had any problems.I wouldnt be caught without it, not because i'm addictive but because it has such a calming effect.It's only a anahistamine! So i think you will be fine with it. And your'e right it is God sent.(smile)

Sharann, I would have to ask what other medication you are taking...Vistaril and Atarax both increase the effects of other medications for central nervous system depressants (pain medications and anti-anxiety drugs, to name a few)...so it could actually be that you are feeling the effects of your other medications stronger.

Hello There Sue how are you!! I hope you're taking care hun! I hope you're having a good evening!!!

Hi Sue,
Shar here. I get horrid palpitations and anxiety from Benadryl. Took me awhile to fig that out!
Atarax doesn't do that. I only need it a night and when home and not driving. Not for itchies.
Thanx:)

Hey Sharann, It is so hard to fine the perfect combo.............

The potentiating action of Hydroxyzine must be considered when the drug is used in conjunction with Central Nervous System depressants such as narcotics, barbiturates, and alcohol. When central nervous system depressants are administered concomitantly with hydroxyzine their dosage should be reduced up to 50 per cent

Your best choice is to always ask your physician when you take more than one med or add a med .

Panike since Kitt posted this I will let her answer k
Do be careful IF mixing this with alcohol or other meds like Benzos.......Just my halk panny worth

Luvs ya
Lyn

OK, I have been on .5mg of Ativan for about 7 months. I didn't know it was an anxiety drug, I was just looking for something to help me get to sleep without tossing and turning for a couple of hours at times. Well, it did help with dozing off. At that time, I was a heavy drinker, and in September I had a couple of mild seizures. My physician sent me to a neurologist who put me on 300MG a day of Dilantin. No more seizures. the Neurologist did a couple of EEGs, and I drank a good bit the night before the first one. He said that the EEG showed mild seizure activity. I have since quit drinking, and things were going along pretty well, until last weekend. An MRI brain scan, and a subsequent EEG showed everything to be normal, a couple of weeks ago.

I don't know what happened last weekend, but I could not go to sleep, I started hyperventilating, and I suppose I was having a panic attack. I got out of bed, and tried to sleep in my recliner, as the bed was scaring the crap out of me. The next night I got maybe 4 hours of sleep in the recliner in two-two hour sessions. Monday morning I was a wreck, and went immediately to see my physician. He doubled my dose of Ativan to 1 MG. That helps with the anxiety at bedtime, but I feel a lot more anxious during the day, and if I sit still in a comfortable chair I tend to nod off. I don't seem to be able to keep enough of an attention span to watch a TV program. I'm thinking that 1MG is too much Ativan for me, but what do I know. My wife thinks this is all due to the combination of Ativan and Dilantin, both of which I'd like to get off of. I know that I can't just quit either all at once. My neurologist is gone for the holidays, so I can't see him about tapering me off of the Dilantin, but i will talk to my physician in the morning about how to get off of both of these drugs. He didn't tell me that Ativan is addictive when he gave it to me about 7 months ago. Years ago, a doctor put me on Paxil, and it drove me nuts, I didn't like the feeling it gave me so I stopped taking it after a month or so. Now, I feel a lot like I did on the Paxil, which I think was ill advised to start with, but I didn't know what it was when the doctor gave it to me.

Also, I have not been really active since probably June, and I get short of breath walking across the house. Worse, I feel really weak. My wife says that this might be the side effects of one or more of the two drugs. I know that I'm out of shape physically, and we're working on that. We are on a diet, which I stick to, and we are exercising, at least to the degree that I can. We started mall walking, doing some heavy duty house cleaning for our daughter who has a two story house and messy kids, and tomorrow we are going to check out the local senior center as they have an exercise room with some varied equipment. Yeah senior, I'm 69, and my wife is 67. All I really want to do is feel normal, and I just don't know the best way to get there, aside from not being on these drugs.

Any comments?

I started the Ativan way before I quit drinking. Perhaps it was the drinking that brought on the seizures at least I think so. I've not had any problems related to stopping drinking, but then I was on .5MG of Ativan at the time. I have a fairly strong mind when it comes to some things, like stopping drinking, and 15 years ago I quit smoking, and never went back. That strength hasn't seemed to help with my current difficulties. I'd rather go back to a little tossing an turning than feel the way I do on the 1MG of Ativan and 300MG of Dilantin. Hopefully, my physician can get me off without any serious effects.

I forgot to mention that I've been suffering a loss of appetite for the last few days. That is VERY unlike me. While I don't have any trouble following my diet, I did enjoy every morsel, up until a few days ago. I don't know if this is related to the drugs, or something from within me, but it's pretty scary to me, as I'm normally a foodie.

Hi I'm new to this site but found your comments to be very informative. I have been on Niravam (zanax) for about 4 years. I used it mainly for anxiety which started after my dog died. When things calmed down I began using it to sleep. the doctor gave me 1mg 3 times a day. So if I didn't take it in the morning I would take all three at once at night for a good nights sleep. It became a habit because I don't really recall ever really sleeping that great. I had no idea this stuff was addictive. I thought it was a sleeping pill that could also work to combat anxiety. I have reduced my dosage to 1mg per day since last Friday and have been really suffering withdrawl symptoms such as dry mouth, nausea, headache and fatigue. The worst is over though and I think I am out of the woods. It was hard but I want out of this horrible medication. Today when talking to my doctor she talked about giving me Atarax to combat the withdrawl symtoms. Now I'm wondering if this Atarax is addictive? And what is the difference between that and Benedryl?

Thanks

Edit: Biker, I started you a thread of your own.......please look for you name in the title of the thread.  This is an old thread.

 

Post Edited By Moderator (stkitt) : 11/4/2009 5:35:00 AM (GMT-7)

I've been prescribed Vistaril and can't say that it does much for me...wish it did!
jl

iggybeans posted to a very old thread responding to Biker000, a new member in 2009 who only post the one time.

I am going to lock this thread down and if anyone wants to make a new thread re this topic, please feel comfortable in doing so.

Kindly,

Kitt