I'm 23, and I suffer from horrible panic attacks, anxiety, insomnia. Just thinking about laying down for the night gives me a rapid heartbeat and chest pains. My adrenaline rushes come on so strong I can almost taste it in the back of my mouth.
When I'm having a really, really bad night, I take a .50mg alprazolam. The stress is still in the back of my mind and a chest pain will hit me once or twice when I'm thinking about it too much. But generally, it helps me calm down enough to finally sleep, even if it takes a few hours.
In the last year, I've gained a lot of weight and my stress levels have gone through the roof. I suspect I suffer from estrogen dominance, brought on by adrenal depletion, excess cortisol, and causing hypothyroidism (in other words, that my stress levels throw my hormones out of balance).
I'd like to avoid the drastic, expensive, and unpromising progesterone hormone therapy for estrogen dominance at all cost but have yet to find an effective alternative.
Several other women in my family are taking alprazolam, and I haven't seen any adverse effects. In fact, I've only seen positive effects in their mood. They haven't noticeably lost or gained any weight, but then again, they don't exercise or diet consistantly, whereas I follow a rigorous (but healthy) program.
So I was wondering if possibly taking alprazolam could lower my stress levels enough to bring down my cortisol levels, balance my hormones, help me lose weight and live a generally normal life? Or can alprazolam possibly cause weight gain? Does it have any effect on weight at all?
From the reviews I've read, alprazolam is great for anxiety and depression, and many people are happy with it. I'd like to hope it would help me with my problems, but I can't risk gaining any more weight.
If anyone's been able to lose or has gained weight and believes it is due to alprazolam, please let me know.