Australian TGA win over Xanax

[Guest [to...]]

What about people who need the drugs to taper? ?

 

 

Hi Bird,

 

 

There will be authorised Dr's that people will be sent to, this will cut down on Dr shopping.  The same act was passed 2003 for Klonopin/Rivotril, it is no longer advised for therapeutic purposes and I believe difficult to get on the street.

This is what will happen....

 

 

Alprazolam

A guide for consumers

What is alprazolam?

Alprazolam belongs to a group of medicines called benzodiazepines. It is used for short- term relief of anxiety or for treatment of panic disorder. It is a prescription only medication.

Common brands include Xanax®, Ralozam®, Kalma®, and Alprax®. To learn more you can read the Consumer Medicine Information (CMI) available

Changes to alprazolam prescribing

From 1 February 2014 alprazolam will become a Schedule 8 (S8) medicine in all Australian States and Territories. This step has been taken due to the growing level of misuse of alprazolam and concerns for the safety and wellbeing of those who take it.

What is a Schedule 8 medicine?

Schedule 8 medicines have a high risk of abuse and addiction. They have extra legal restrictions on how they are stored, prescribed and dispensed.

How will these changes affect you?

For most patients, you should notice little change. You will still be able to receive alprazolam for valid medical conditions. There is no change to Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS) funding.

Prescribing

Your medical practitioner must inform the Health Department if prescribing alprazolam for each patient who requires a prescription for a long period. Only one practitioner (or medical practice) can prescribe for a patient at the same time.

Prescriptions

Alprazolam prescriptions may not be written on the same prescription form as other medications. If you are prescribed other medications they must be written on a separate prescription to alprazolam. Prescription repeats must remain at the one pharmacy and may not be dispensed early unless instructions are provided by the prescribing doctor. Alprazolam prescriptions are valid for six months. These rules apply from 1 February 2014, regardless of when the prescription was written.

Dispensing

The pharmacist must confirm any handwriting on Schedule 8 prescriptions and may need to contact your prescriber. Alprazolam must be stored in the pharmacy safe and extra records kept. Owing prescriptions for Schedule 8 medicines are not permitted.

What should you do?

Talk to your medical practitioner before 1 February 2014 to see if alprazolam is still the right treatment for you. If so, you will need to discuss how to ensure that you have continued medicine supply under the new rules.

Pharmaceutical Services Branch

 

 

 

 

Pfizer the makers of Xanax are pulling it out of the Australian market.  There is no press release as yet.  It will effect all that are on this medication.

[Guest [...]]

towardsthesun:

Pfizer the makers of Xanax are pulling it out of the Australian market.  There is no press release as yet.  It will effect all that are on this medication.

 

This is absolute crap and pure scaremongering. I would like to know what special connection you have with the drug manufacturers that gives you this inside information. And don't ask that people PM you for it. If you legitimately know something that it seems pharmacists and doctors don't know, you should share it in the public forum.

 

I have spoken to my own GP (and pharmacist) and have been assured  that for people like me who are not doctor shopping and are staying on the same dose there will be NO PROBLEM.

 

Ronnie: Thank you so much for posting this information.

 

I am not quite sure why people want to cause further anxiety to people who are already suffering from it.

 

[[Ro...]]

Xana,

 

I am in a full blown "Panic Attack" to-day! I could not go to work as it turns out I have a Drs Appointment today anyway for a review. I did not sleep all night and am virtually ready to throw up. I don't like been on this drug but it has saved my life. I was on 5mg at one stage and have tapered down to 2mg.

 

I have never abused it, my prescriptions have alway been kept at my pharmacy with my request. I was tried on many different drugs and as it turns out this one made me functional. I would love nothing more than not to have to take it, carry it around with me for when "Panic Strikes".

 

Thank you Xana for you post I haven't been active on the forum but I am here on regular basis reading and doing this on my own. No one knows what hell I have been through and what brought the drug into my life, only me.

 

R

[[Di...]]

Is this a case that Pfizer will take Xanax itself off the market, but there are 'generics' available? Sorry I don't know anything about Xanax, but this is what happened when Roche took valium off the market. Valium is no longer available, but diazepam is.

 

Towardsthesun, you really shouldn't be posting such alarming information without providing the source of your information, or providing the full story. People in benzo w/d are already sensitive and vulnerable enough, without you using scare tactics to make yourself seem like you are privy to some kind of "inside information".

[Guest [...]]

Ronnie,

 

I am so sorry that you are having such a bad day today. While I don't know if I have ever had 'proper' panic attacks I have experienced pretty bad anxiety attacks and I understand the nausea - it's like morning sickness when you are pregnant and throwing up is a big relief.

 

I believe lives have been saved by this drug. As you say, yours was. My ex psychiatrist says he has seen many lives absolutely destroyed by panic disorder. And he has seen suicides. He told me that even though he was trying to help me get off Xanax, that he had a patient that suffered from panic disorder who had been on 2mg Xanax per day for 10 years and was doing very well.

 

I held off taking any medication for a long time when this all started, but eventually life became so difficult trying to be 'normal' with 4 kids that I took a sample a GP had given me (when every other test and examination had been done to try to figure out what had suddenly gone wrong to a fun loving, happily married, outgoing person). Like you, and most people here, I didn't want to take it. I too tried many antidepressants but most made me more anxious or did nothing.

 

I feel guilty and 'weak' sometimes. But, as I just read on another forum which I stumbled onto when I was googling something, no one seems to feel guilty for taking BP pills or hormone replacement or any other treatment for something not working right in their bodies. We should not feel guilty. I accepted taking it for a long while as specialists said I would be on it for life. I think when the psych said it was time to come off, I was a bit taken aback. Also being on this forum has caused a feeling that I should be stronger. I did have a signature until recently when a couple of members were judging me about my failure as a form of argument, so I removed it. I did reduce from about 4-5mg Xanax to 1mg Valium over a year but my quality of life was dreadful.

 

I decided to begin using Xanax again at a much lower dose than before. I manage pretty well most of the time.

 

I first saw this planned rescheduling of Xanax here on this thread and it caused instant anxiety. The first pharmacist I asked didn't even know about it so I don't think they regard it as a 'big deal'. I hate that the fact that recreational abusers have led to people who need something feeling hassled and worried about their 'habit', which is actually a treatment that we should not feel ashamed of.

 

We don't want to carry pills around with us. They don't give us a high. They just make this one life we have just that bit more liveable.

 

I hope your doctor's appointment went well. They are always an anxiety trigger for me and I have often walked in and burst into tears. My kind GP has taken snotty tissues out of my hand on occasion, and I am usually laughing when I leave. I tell him he should be a psychiatrist.

 

I hope you have an understanding doctor, Ronnie.

 

And I hope to see you around here again. You have done amazingly well to get down to 2mg X from 5mg. That is awesome. You should feel very proud of your achievement.

 

Warm Wishes

 

Xana 

[Guest [...]]

Thanks for your support here Diaz.

 

Valium is no longer available, but diazepam is.

 

Is this something new? I only ask because I used to buy the 'real' Valium up to about 18 months ago when I stopped using it. I have packs of it here still.

 

I was thinking the same as you about Pfizer and generics taking over.

 

People in benzo w/d are already sensitive and vulnerable enough, without you using scare tactics to make yourself seem like you are privy to some kind of "inside information".

 

This is so true. When I first read the beginning of this thread I started bawling my eyes out. I had just been having problems getting a referral through to my oncogynaecologist while my GP was about to go on holiday. My message hadn't been given to him, it turns out, and what was nothing turned into drama. This thread was sort of the last straw.

 

My husband said I was overreacting and just calmly looked it up and printed off the actual documents about the change proposed to the scheduling.

 

I would really like to get off this stuff but the thought of someone FORCING me when I have always been honest and not abused it just seems unfair.

 

Everything takes on huge proportions when you are in a sensitive state!

 

[[Di...]]

I'm not sure exactly when valium was taken off the market. I just read about it here earlier this year. When I googled it I got this, but it doesn't give a date. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-97526/End-Valium-little-helper.html

 

"Roche said last night: 'It is not unusual for research focused companies like us to discontinue a medicine after its patent expires.

 

I would say this could be the case with Xanax and Pfizer, because I would find it very hard to believe that an addictive medication would just be taken off the market without there being some kind of substitute or generic to take its place.

[Guest [...]]

I'm wondering if that was a UK article as I just checked Chemist Warehouse (Aust pharmacy chain) and they still list it in their current stock list, with Roche as its manufacturer:

 

http://www.chemistwarehouse.com.au/product.asp?id=8249&pname=Valium%205mg%20Tablets%2050

 

 

[Guest [to...]]

My information is not speculation it comes straight from the Drs that call the shots here in Australia

[Guest [to...]]

The protocol know is "Do initiate, taper and terminate".

 

 

Again if anybody wants information or help that is NOT speculation please p.m. me

[Guest [...]]

towardsthesun:

 

My information is not speculation it comes straight from the Drs that call the shots here in Australia   

,

 

Once again, WHO are they?

 

Again if anybody wants information or help that is NOT speculation please p.m. me

 

WHY are you trying to keep information secret and mysterious?

 

The protocol know is "Do initiate, taper and terminate".

 

I don't even understand what this means! You are making this a quote. Who said this?

 

 

 

[[In...]]

I can't imagine why one person here would have the "inside track" on this government ruling unless they were part of the government who was involved in the ruling or a doctor also involved in the ruling.

 

And it does seem to me to be very inconsiderate of one member of a benzo forum to inform other members who are expressing some trepidation over this ruling that they do have this "inside track" and will only share it through PM.

 

I would say that the ruling, however it goes, is certainly available from an informed source like doctors and pharmacists, and perhaps local government officials.

 

People who play "cat and mouse" like this make me wonder about their motivation.

 

 

Intend

[[Di...]]

I'm wondering if that was a UK article as I just checked Chemist Warehouse (Aust pharmacy chain) and they still list it in their current stock list, with Roche as its manufacturer:

 

http://www.chemistwarehouse.com.au/product.asp?id=8249&pname=Valium%205mg%20Tablets%2050

 

You could be right. I’ve been on “valium” now for going on 3 years now, but I’ve always just had diazepam dispensed to me, so I assumed it was the same here in Australia. I’ll have to remember to ask my chemist next time I’m there if it is still available.

[Guest [to...]]

 

This information is no secret if one is working with specialist Doctors. I have shared this information as it comes from the specialist  Alcohol and other Drugs Doctors in Australia. I am sharing information to help people.

 

 

For those who choose to stay on Xanax it would be wise to seek a qualified specialist Doctor in Australia and stop lurking around this thread and scaring people.

 

 

All that is here is fact and again if you want to be put in contact with reputable Doctors to help you please ask.

[Guest [to...]]

Diaz this has nothing to do with Valium it is Xanax that is being phased out.

[Guest [...]]

Diaz this has nothing to do with Valium it is Xanax that is being phased out.

 

We all know that. You may need to read back over the last few posts!

 

[Guest [to...]]

Just like in 2003, when Rivotril/Klonopin Clonazapam was phased out.  That is extremely hard to prescribe now and is seldom seen on the streets.

 

 

 

 

My information comes from the Drug and Alcohol Doctors that are saving lives.  I dont make my posts based on anything I have read on the internet.

[[Di...]]

The protocol know is "Do initiate, taper and terminate".

 

 

Again if anybody wants information or help that is NOT speculation please p.m. me

 

If this information does exist, then PM it to me, instead of me having to PM you. I’m not playing your silly game of “ooo I’m so important because I have so much inside information”.

 

If you want to be all mysterious and cryptic, then goody for you, but don’t expect other people to play your game. As far as I’m concerned, if someone isn’t prepared to post openly on the forum supposedly important information that directly affects people’s tapers, then I think that information either doesn’t exist, or that person is grossly overstating the importance and validity of the information.

 

Quite frankly, I think you are being very cruel to other posters towardsthesun. You profess to be such a “love and light” person, but then you purposely post this kind of cryptic information that is only scaring people who are already scared enough, and that is not a very caring or compassionate thing to do.

 

So if you aren’t prepared to post whatever information you have, for everyone to see, then, as they say in the text-speak world, STFU. Take your scaremongering somewhere else.

 

[Guest [...]]

 

This information is no secret if one is working with specialist Doctors. I have shared this information as it comes from the specialist  Alcohol and other Drugs Doctors in Australia. I am sharing information to help people.

 

The information you have shared is not substantiated. You haven't actually 'shared' it as you have suggested people PM you!

 

For those who choose to stay on Xanax it would be wise to seek a qualified specialist Doctor in Australia and stop lurking around this thread and scaring people.

 

'lurking around this thread' ? What the? This is insulting. We are having a discussion here. Not 'lurking'! I believe that it is YOU who are doing the 'scaring', with your claims of Xanax being banned in Australia! 

 

All that is here is fact and again if you want to be put in contact with reputable Doctors to help you please ask.

 

This is like the secret service where you have all these 'specal connections'. I think you need to disclose how you exactly have privy to this inside information that the rest of we mere mortals do not have!

 

 

[Guest [to...]]

Oh darlin, Im so sorry this information is not of help to you. 

[Guest [to...]]

This forum offers support and a sounding board for people.  Please be aware that not everything the Media says is true.

 

 

Again my information is substantiated by Doctors, there is no press release as yet on this.  I have shared a small piece of information to help our community. I am always mindful of what I share in future I wont be sharing as it seems to upset those here that are still on the drugs

 

 

Our specialists are doing great work to chip away at the huge drug and alcohol problem we have here in Australia.

[Guest [to...]]

Diaz when you come off the Valium I hope you are not as mean as you are now. Benzos changes ones personality like nothing else. 

 

 

This is not the place to constantly fight with people, those of us who are recovering are far more fragile emotionally. 

 

 

 

 

[Guest [to...]]

Xana - the PM was for Drs names and details.  It is not appropriate to post peoples real names on the forum.

 

 

Im sorry if my information is not clear.

[[In...]]

I'm in the US, so I am simply "observing." But once again, I wonder at the motivation of people who would post just enough info to provoke curiosity and outright fear in other members.

 

And after succeeding at this, then proclaim that they are delicate because of being in recovery and others are "mean."

 

Actually, anyone in withdrawl whether doing so by CT, detox, or slow taper is in recovery of some stage.

 

And yes, the secretive way you have "shared" bits of info is upsetting to people on these drugs. Contrary to what you posted in the beginning of this thread, this is not an anti-benzo forum. And many are on these drugs simply to taper off of them as there is no safer way to do this for most.

 

Perhaps this thread and the manner in which you have presented it is "mean" also, and gives you some sense of self importance at the expense of others who are still wondering what this all means for them and when those "press releases" will finally come out.

 

Intend

[[Di...]]

I'm mean am I? I'm the one concerned about the welfare of our members who may be worried about you posting so much scaremongering. You don't seem to be too concerned about that, so maybe you're the "mean" one.

 

Frankly, the Xanax situation has no effect on me at all, because I don't take it, but I don't like seeing people like you purposely scaring people, but all the while telling yourself that you’re "helping" them.

 

Thank you for being so concerned about my brain and personality. This is the second time you have expressed concern. Do it again and you’ll be reported.

 

I HOPE WHEN YOUR BRAIN HEALS YOU REALISE I WAS'NT HAVING A CRACK AT YOU!!!!!!!!!!

 

Just so you know, diazepam hasn’t changed my personality at all. I've always tried to be compassionate and non-judgemental. In fact, being on BB has probably helped make me even less judgemental. I spend most of my time on BB helping people and trying not to judge their symptoms, which is what I have always done in life. I suppose that must make me mean……

 

My problem is that I’ve never suffered fools gladly, and I will always call a spade a spade. I also don’t have any time for people who use passive aggressiveness to make a point. I also don’t like it when people get nasty when other people express opinions they don’t like (ie like how I expressed an opinion that I have no time whatsoever for the naturopathic community, after my own personal experiences, and what ultimately lead to your “I HOPE YOUR BRAIN HEALS” crack).

 

Now, towardsthesun, if you can't stay on topic, and not post defamatory comments about people, then maybe you should just bow out of this discussion.