Panic Attack Medication

 

Are you currently taking any type of panic attack medication?  Are you currently not taking, but considering any type of panic attack medication? If the answer is yes to either of these questions, I must then ask: do you understand your panic attack medication?

Drugs that are used to treat panic disorder include anti-depressants and anti-anxiety drugs. Some of the anti-depressants include beta blockers, tricyclic anti-depressants benzodiazepines and selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors

Beta blockers can be helpful in controlling the physical symptoms of anxiety and panic attacks, particularly social anxiety and are prescribed to control rapid heartbeat, shaking, trembling and blushing.

Beta blockers tend to have less side effects than other medications but can cause light-headedness, drowsiness, short-term memory loss, and decrease in heart rate, insomnia, diarrhea, cold extremities, depression and nightmares.

Beta Blockers include:

  • Propranolol (Inderal)
  • Atenolol (Tenormin)

Tricyclic anti-depressants are used to treat severe depression or depression with anxiety. Some of these anti-depressants are also used to treat obsess ional disorders and panic attacks.

Side effects include a dry mouth, blurred vision, constipation, difficulty urinating, postural hypo-tension, tachycardia, loss of sex drive, erectile failure, sensitivity to sunlight, weight gain, sedation, sweating, jitteriness, irritation, unusual energy and disturbed sleep patterns.

Tricyclic antidepressants include:

  • Imipramine (Tofranil)
  • Desipramine (Norpramin, Pertofrane and others)
  • Nortriptyline (Aventyl or Pamelor)
  • Amitriptyline (Elavil) Doxepin (Sinequan or Adapin)
  • Clomipramine (Anafranil)
  • Venlafaxine (Effexor)

Benzodiazepines work faster than antidepressants, but can cause drug dependence and are probably more likely to cause sleepiness, impaired co-ordination, and slowed reaction time

Benzodiazepines include:

  • Alprazolam (Xanax)
  • Clonazepam (Klonopin)
  • Diazepam (Valium)
  • Lorazepam (Ativan)
  • Oxazepam (Serax)
  • Chlordiazepoxide (Librium)
Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRI) are a newer type of anti-depressant introduced into the US in the 1980s beginning with Prozac. These drugs work differently than traditional antidepressants assisting the brain in maintaining levels of the neurotransmitter serotonin which is often found to be low in sufferers of depression, OCD and anxiety and panic disorders. SSRIs are the preferred drugs because they are as effective as the other drugs but usually have fewer side effects.

Potential side effects include nausea, insomnia, headaches, sexual difficulties and initial agitation.

Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors include:

  • Fluoxetine (Prozac)
  • Fluvoxamine (Luvox)
  • Sertraline (Zoloft)
  • Paroxetine (Paxil)
Some of the negatives of taking panic attack medication include:

  • Use of prescription drugs to relieve anxiety or help with sleeping can cause dependence.
  • An overdose can cause drowsiness, confusion, and slowed respiration.
  • Stopping a drug after using it for a long time causes anxiety, irritability, and sleep related problems.
  • If people become dependent on a drug, they are gradually weaned off the drug by reducing the dose.

As you can see; when taking any type of panic attack medication, there are many negative side effects. Most of these drugs are merely treating the side effects of your phobia, not the phobia itself. You really need to look for a means of eliminating your panic attacks thus eliminating the need of any type of panic attack medication.