6 Facts About Anti Anxiety Medicine

Anxiety is a state of mind wherein you have distress over something. This is often seen as an emotion that overwhelms you psychologically, emotionally, and physically. Some people experience this occasionally but others experience this on a daily basis. When this happens, anxiety becomes an anxiety disorder. Anxiety then overpowers your daily life. This is caused by a malfunctioning amygdale (part of the brain that processes anxieties), low levels of neurotransmitter GABA, and stress.

There are many kinds of anxiety disorders that may affect you. The first one is generalized anxiety wherein you could be affected by something for at least 6 months, which could manifest through excessive sweating, depression, and inability to keep commitments. Next is panic disorder wherein you have a sudden rush of very intense apprehension and fear that manifests through shaking, difficulty in breathing, nausea, dizziness, and confusion. This can be accompanied by agoraphobia wherein you avoid going out of the house to avoid such a panic attack. Another anxiety disorder is phobia where you have fear that is triggered by something. Social anxiety disorder is anxiety that makes you avoid certain social situations. Obsessive-compulsive disorder involves having repetitive obsessions or compulsions that are usually ritualistic. Post-traumatic disorder comes from experiencing a trauma. Last is separation disorder wherein you get anxious when you get separated from a place or a person, which is common among children.

Anxiety can be treated but you have to remember that you should be vigilant in making sure that your anxiety is helped. Treatment options for anxiety disorders are psychotherapy, medications, and alternative medicine. Psychotherapy is important because you are going to be working with a trained professional in discussing your fears and correcting your reaction to them. Medications help you stabilize your physical system. Benzodiazapines are the most common anti anxiety medicine that are prescribed and used. Here are some facts about anti anxiety medicine that could really contribute to your rehabilitation:

 

1. Fast-acting

Benzodiazepine is an anti anxiety medicine that is very fast acting. This is indeed very effective during the tense panic episode that really needs to be suppressed. Some examples of this anti anxiety medicine are Ativan—Lorazepam), Xanax—Alprazolam), Klonopin—Conazepam, and Valium—Diazepam. They are also used to relax muscles and as sleeping pills.

 

2. Side effects

But even if the anti anxiety medicine benzodiazepine is effective, it still carries a few side effects such as dizziness, nausea, clumsiness, lightheadedness, lack of energy, slow reflexes, stomach upset, confusion, disorientation, memory loss, drowsiness, blurred or double vision, forgetfulness, depression, slurred speech,  and impaired thinking and judgment. There are times when the patient may experience rage, hostility, aggressiveness, impulsive behavior, hallucinations, and mania.

 

3. Interactions

If you are taking benzodiazepine as your anti anxiety medicine, then you should remember not to drink alcohol, sleeping pills, and pain killers. These substances will react with the anti anxiety medicine and will be fatal to you.

 

 

 

 

4. Precautions

Benzodiazepine is an anti anxiety medicine that causes amnesia, confusion, cognitive impairment, and loss of balance to patients that are over the age of 65. For those who are pregnant, benzodiazepine causes the fetus to be dependent and then suffer withdrawal upon birth. It is also passed through breast milk. If the patient used to have a problem with drugs or alcohol, this anti anxiety medicine should be avoided because this could make them addictive as well. This may further lead to more addiction to other substances.

 

5. Dependency

Those who use benzodiazepine often become addicted or dependent of the drug. You should always check your anxiety level. If you feel that you can no longer function well without taking the anti anxiety medicine, then you are already dependent. This could be very difficult to stop once this happens. You can tell if you are already dependent when you have taken the anti anxiety medicine for at least 4 months, you always keep your pills handy, you have increased your dose, you always take another pill during very stressful times, and if your pills don’t give you the same effect anymore.

 

6. Withdrawal

When you stop taking benzodiazepine, you will most probably suffer from withdrawal symptoms. Some of these are shaking, sweating, confusion, insomnia, pounding heart, and more anxiety.

 

 

 

 

Remember to keep regular appointments with the professional who handles your case so that you will be updated on the facts about this anti anxiety medicine. If you want to stop taking benzodiazepine, then you should ask your doctor to gradually lower the dose. You should remember to be patient with the full results of any anti anxiety medicine. Therapy should always continue even if the medications are in line. This will assure you of your quick recovery.

 

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *