Anti Anxiety Prescription Drugs: What You Have To Know
Patients who are suffering from anxiety disorders, panic attacks, social anxiety fears and other similar characteristics which are identified as mental disorders is in a great deal of pain. Therefore, it is essential treatments are made available to all in order to allow them to lead normal, healthy lives. However, the influx of anti anxiety medication in the market recently simply makes the task of selecting suitable brands most confusing. It is most important that we seek the consultation of a certified medical practitioner to properly assess our situation and prescribe the right medicine.
If you're interested, the medical reasoning behind anti anxiety drugs shows they have certain chemicals within them that produce a calming and relaxing effect on the patient. There are however some side effects from these drugs and it's therefore best to consult with your medical practitioner before you begin a course of treatment with any anti anxiety drugs.
The traditional way to treat anxiety used to be with anxiolytics, which were anti anxiety agents. Today while these anti anxiety drugs are still used there are other methods that are also used. For many people however, treating their excessive anxiety with anti anxiety drugs is the most proven way of reducing their symptoms and allowing them to lead normal lives.
Benzodiazpines is one of the more popular anxiolytics today. Other varities of anxiolytics, Alprazolam (Xanax) and lorazepam (Ativan) are also still in use. The active ingredient desmethyldiazepam which forms Valium (Diazepam) raises a lot of doubts as to its properties and side effects in the medical world. However, this use of this particular drug has not been eliminated and is still widely used to treat certain cases of anxiety.
Other types of anti anxiety drugs are serotonin specific reuptake inhibitors or SSRIs. The brand names that are given include Citalopram, Fluoxetine, Fluvoxamine and others. These SSRIs have milder forms of side effects than that of the usual anti anxiety drugs, and there is also less chance of becoming dependent upon these drugs. The main drawback to SSRIs is that you must take them continuously for up to three to five weeks before any sign of improvement begins to show.
Continued use of Benzodiazepines and Buspirones has recorded side effects and this is normal. People who experience mild side effects need not worry that the drug will have an adverse effect on them or be overly addicted in the long term. Benzodiazepines should be given to persons suffering from anxiety at least 30 to 60 minutes before he is exposed to any stressful situations. Buspirones has to be taken at least 2 to 3 weeks before any improvement is experienced.
Patients should take the initiative to learn about the drugs they are consuming and discover its side effects when consulting a doctor about their anxiety disorder. This is especially vital for patients with special medical conditions, suffers form any allergic or is currently breastfeeding. Only doctors are in the best position to determine our suitability for certain drugs and we should never risk our health by simply any form of medication to cure our panic attack woes.
Published June 26th, 2008
