I have an upcoming surgery.

For all of my doctor appointments leading up to this (past 2 years), I was prescribed alprazolam (xanax) to get through my panic disorder, ie, MRI/CT Scans, etc. I usually need around 2mg for severe panic but this was only taken on occasion as needed.

Recently, I was cleared for surgery and I started to panic everyday. My doc upped my prescription frequency to 0.5mg 1-2x a day as needed (60 qty for 30 days).

I started taking the 0.5mg every morning, as it would help me get through the day. After a few weeks, I noticed I started to have some anxiety return during the day. Now I’m having trouble sleeping. I’m kind of forced to take my second dose to feel normal but I force myself not to. This seems like it might be an in-between dose withdrawl but I am also super stressed to the gills.

I messaged my doctor to maybe look at clonazopam since I’ve read it has a longer half life.

I’ve been on the alprazolam for 5 weeks now. Does this sound like withdraw or just that my baseline anxiety has increased as I near my surgery. It’s easy for me to get into my own head and obese and stress myself out.