Anxiety Medications & Side Effects
Both antidepressants and antianxiety medications are used to treat anxiety disorders. The broad-spectrum activity of most antidepressants provides effectiveness in anxiety disorders as well as depression.
Overview of Anxiety Medications
The first medication specifically approved for use in the treatment of OCD was the tricyclic antidepressant clomipramine (Anafranil). The SSRIs, fluoxetine (Prozac), fluvoxamine (Luvox), paroxetine (Paxil), and sertraline (Zoloft) have now been approved for use with OCD. Paroxetine has also been approved for social anxiety disorder (social phobia), GAD, and panic disorder; and sertraline is approved for panic disorder and PTSD. Venlafaxine (Effexor) has been approved for GAD.
Benzodiazepines
Antianxiety medications include the benzodiazepines, which can relieve symptoms within a short time. They have relatively few side effects: drowsiness and loss of coordination are most common; fatigue and mental slowing or confusion can also occur. These effects make it dangerous for people taking benzodiazepines to drive or operate some machinery. Other side effects are rare.
Benzodiazepines vary in duration of action in different people; they may be taken two or three times a day, sometimes only once a day, or just on an "as-needed" basis. Dosage is generally started at a low level and gradually raised until symptoms are diminished or removed. The dosage will vary a great deal depending on the symptoms and the individual's body chemistry.
It is wise to abstain from alcohol when taking benzodiazepines, because the interaction between benzodiazepines and alcohol can lead to serious and possibly life-threatening complications. It is also important to tell the doctor about other medications being taken.
People taking benzodiazepines for weeks or months may develop tolerance for and dependence on these drugs. Abuse and withdrawal reactions are also possible. For these reasons, the medications are generally prescribed for brief periods of time -days or weeks and sometimes just for stressful situations or anxiety attacks. However, some patients may need long-term treatment.
It is essential to talk with the doctor before discontinuing a benzodiazepine. A withdrawal reaction may occur if the treatment is stopped abruptly. Symptoms may include anxiety, shakiness, headache, dizziness, sleeplessness, loss of appetite, or in extreme cases, seizures. A withdrawal reaction may be mistaken for a return of the anxiety because many of the symptoms are similar.
After a person has taken benzodiazepines for an extended period, the dosage is gradually reduced before it is stopped completely.
Commonly used benzodiazepines include clonazepam (Klonopin), alprazolam (Xanax), diazepam (Valium), and lorazepam (Ativan). The only medication specifically for anxiety disorders other than the benzodiazepines is buspirone (BuSpar). Unlike the benzodiazepines, buspirone must be taken consistently for at least 2 weeks to achieve an antianxiety effect and therefore cannot be used on an "as-needed" basis.
Beta Blockers
Beta blockers, medications often used to treat heart conditions and high blood pressure, are sometimes used to control "performance anxiety" when the individual must face a specific stressful situationÑa speech, a presentation in class, or an important meeting. Propranolol (Inderal, Inderide) is a commonly used beta blocker.
Natural & Alternative Methods
Alternative methods existing for stopping and preventing anxiety. These can include hypnosis, self help books, self help courses and natural supplements.
Medications
Most Anxiety disorders have at least some biological component and this will often respond well to certain forms of medication. Anxiety medication and particularly anti-depressants can be very effective in treating anxiety and are often used in a combination with other forms of therapy such as cognitive behavioral therapy.
Although to achieve complete remission of these symptoms, which is the obvious goal within any treatment, you may need to make some very important changes in your life.
Most often people can manage there anxiety well if it can be initially reduced by medication.
Psychiatrists often prescribe one of the benzodiazepines, a group of tranquilizers that can reduce debilitating symptoms and enable a person to concentrate on coping with this illness. This medication is highly addictive and should not be taken for longer than a month at a time.
Because of problems of dependency, doctors usually prescribe some form of tranquillizers and sleeping pills only as a temporary measure for severe or disabling anxiety. They are given at the lowest possible dose, for the shortest possible time, and not longer than about four weeks. The side effects can include feeling sluggish, unable to concentrate, and not caring about anything. Withdrawal symptoms may occur, if you take them for any length of time. These can seem worse than the original feelings of anxiety. The long-term use of tranquillizers has also been linked with having panic attacks.
Sometimes alcoholism, depression, or other coexisting conditions have such a strong effect on the individual that treating the anxiety disorder must wait until the coexisting conditions are brought under control.
Anti-depressants were developed to treat depression but are also effective for anxiety disorders. Although these medications begin to alter brain chemistry after the very first dose, their full effect requires a series of changes to occur; it is usually about 4 to 6 weeks before symptoms start to fade. It is important to continue taking these medications long enough to let them work.
Which medication you are prescribed depends entirely on your previous medical history and the severity of your anxiety. The physician treating you will take all of this into account before issuing you with any form of medication to treat your illness.
Types of Medications:
- Anti-Anxiety Drugs such as benzodiazepines, Buspirone, Clonazepam
- Beta-Blockers such as propranolol
- SSRIs also known as selective Serotonin re-uptake inhibitors
- MAOIs also known as Monoamine Oxidase inhibitors
- TCAs also known as Tricyclic anti-depressants
- SNRIs also known as Serotonin and Noradrenaline re-uptake inhibitors
Medication Types and their Side Effects
Anti-Anxiety drugs have largely turned from traditional anti-anxiety agents, anxiolytics, to antidepressant therapies. In current use, the benzodiazepines, the best known class of anxiolytics, have been largely replaced by serotonin reuptake inhibitors which have a milder side effect profile and less risk of dependency.
Benzodiazepines have been known, depending on dosage prescribed, to take effect within 40 minutes unlike the SSRIs which can take as long as three to four weeks to take effect. Benzodiazepines are highly addictive and should not be administered to patients with substance abuse disorders.
With Beta-Blockers, some form of this medication can reduce physical symptoms associated with anxiety, such as palpitations and shaking although these drugs are more often prescribed for heart conditions. Beta-blockers take only a couple of hours to take affect but you should not stop taking a beta-blocker suddenly, as your symptoms could worsen and you could even induce a heart attack.
The SSRIs and other newer medications that affect neurotransmitters such as dopamine or norepinephrine are prescribed more commonly as they generally carry fewer side effects than many other Anti-Depressants. Whilst taking this medication it is known to affect you carrying out tasks that require skill and coordination.
When taking MAOIs, you must be aware of avoiding taking other certain medications that you can buy over the counter such as Sudafed. Alsothis medication has shown effective results when quiting smoking. Also this form of Anti-Depressant is mainly used whilst treting agrophobia it is known for it's calming and sedative compoundment.
Forms of TCA's are one of the oldest medcations for treating Depression and are often still prescribed by GP's for there effectivness but unlike the more newer medications they are known for ther effectivness in overdose. When taking this medication you should avoid alcohol as it increases the risk of accidental injury.
SNRI's are a very modern Anti-Depressant and Venlafaxine is the first and only drug in it's class to be available on prescription in the UK. This medication should not be issued to children of the age of 18 years as it increases the risk of self-harm and suicidal thoughts. There are other SNRI's in development that may not have Venlafaxine's cardiovascular toxicity.
