Drugs for Anxiety Attacks
There are many drugs for anxiety attacks available these days. These treatments definitely help many people. If you have anxiety attacks, they may be part of your treatment.
Before I tell you a bit more about medications for anxiety problems I want to mention my beliefs. I believe these medications are only part of the answer to be used for a limited time to help while more permanent treatments have a chance to work.
Fortunately with proper therapy, the vast majority of people can free themselves from the suffering of panic attacks.
These days, a therapist will recommend a drug for these problems that is likely to be one of two classes: sedatives or antidepressants.
Most of the sedatives prescribed are derived from Valium. The different specific medications differ in how quickly they start to work and how long their effects last.
Different drugs work best for different people. Everyone has a different response to a given medication. A drug that is extremely effective for one person may not work at all for someone else.
These drugs work quickly, so they are useful in “taking the edge off” if a person is going into a situation that they have had a panic attack before or if they feel one coming on.
The other type of drug used is an antidepressant. The frequently used antidepressants are serotonin uptake inhibitors.
Serotonin is a compound in the brain that’s part of the way nerve cells communicate with each other.
Decreased serotonin levels may be a cause of depression and anxiety. Serotonin uptake inhibitors increase the levels by slowing the resorption of the chemical after it has been released.
Most people have heard of Prozac. It is a serotonin uptake inhibitor. There are lots more. They all have their own characteristics of effects and side effects.
Often finding the medication that works the best is a matter of trial and error.
One thing Prozac-type medications have in common is that they all take a while to work. Usually, it takes at least one or two weeks to start to see results.
Obviously with that type of time framethese aren’t medications to use when you need quick action.
There are some other types of used, but they aren’t used often. These drugs either aren’t as effective as the ones already mentioned or have way too many side effects for most people to tolerate.
Even though the types of medications I talked about above usually don’t cause problems, you still should find out about the side effects of antidepressants used to treat panic disorders. That link takes you to a page with more information.
Again, remember that it is best practice to use medication as part of an over all treatment plan using other forms of therapy. The medications definitely have their role, but they aren’t the whole answer.
One issue that can come up is what amounts to a psychological dependence.
As I’ve mentioned, a person will use other forms of psychotherapy as well as the medications. As the therapy starts to work, they might think their improvement is due only to the drugs.
This can make them nervous about coming off the medication since they think it’s the only reason they got better.
A skilled therapist helps work through this.
It’s a good idea to ask even before you start taking the medication what other types of treatment they recommend, how long they think you’ll need the medications and how you’ll go about stopping it.
Use medications to treat anxiety episodes wisely and you can reap their benefits while avoiding their problems.
Of course it’s best if you can get to the point where you’re fine drugs.
You can read a review of an extremely effective way to do just that at Panic Away Review.
Get more information about panic attacks in general and what you can do about them at Panic Attack Release.