Anxiety medications

Anxiety medications can be very useful for treating anxiety disorders if used in combination with other therapies such as cognitive-behavior therapy. One needs to have an honest discussion with their physicians along with an ongoing evaluation process while taking anxiety medications. Anxiety medications though extremely useful in treating a variety of symptoms including, panic attacks, worry and difficulty concentrating, they often have their limitations. Anxiety medications alone are not sufficient to resolve all these symptoms of an anxiety disorder.

Along with medication people suffering from anxiety disorders need either individual or group psychotherapy treatment. Anxiety medications are known to work only if taken in the manner instructed by your physician. You should provide your doctor all the information about any other medication that you may be taking. This could include any dietary supplement or over-the-counter medication. When your doctor prescribes a particular medication you should make sure that get all the information that you need. This includes information on you developing any possible side effects also. Find out from your doctor on whether you need to stop in case of them. The common side effects of taking anxiety medications include nausea, stomach upset, headaches, sexual side effects and dizziness. Just in case you are not sure of any symptom after having the medication you should immediately get in touch with your doctor.

When it comes to anxiety medications, Benzodiazepines are perhaps the most commonly prescribed drugs. Benzodiazepines include drugs such as Valium and Xanax. Usually these fast -acting drugs start taking effect within an hour or sometimes even less. The most common side effects of these drugs include fatigue, drowsiness and coordination problems. Often these drugs can cause tolerance and dependence issues. These drugs have the potential for abuse too. In some cases withdrawal problems are also found. Doctors often advise a structured program of gradual withdrawal for these reasons. Some of the withdrawal symptoms may include shakiness, dizziness, fever, seizures or sometimes psychosis.

Antidepressants such as MAOIs are also often used for treating anxiety disorders. These drugs can have certain serious side effects and therefore are to be used only in consulting with a physician. Yet another type of antidepressant is the SSRI which is also prescribed for anxiety disorders. The side effects of these drugs are known to be less severe.

Azapirones are another category of medication used for treating anxiety disorders. One can find them being sold under the brand name 'Buspar'. They are known to be slow actin when compared with the other drugs such as Benzodiazepines. They are also not known to cause any sedative effect as in the case with other drugs.

There are other anxiety medications such as beta-blockers that are also widely prescribed for treating anxiety disorders. For those who are taking these anxiety medications it is often reiterated that no matter what medication they are taking, it is not the complete solution for their problem. These medicines are to give temporary relief from acute symptoms. A combination of anxiety medications along with psychiatric treatment holds the key for complete recovery from anxiety disorders.

One can find a lot of valuable information on the various types of anxiety medications that are available in the market, over the internet. You can also learn a lot about the benefits and commonly occurring side-effects of these medications at online sources.

The Panic Treatment PlansDescribed - Simple Ways

Anxiety disorders could be treated with ease by the cumulative effect by each of the various anxiety disorder treatment strategies. These include treatments like self-help, psychotherapy, medication and family support.

Self Help
Curing anxiety disorder needs the intervention and the right attitude from the suffering person as much as it needs assistance from other anxiety disorder treatment strategies.

1. Startlingly high incidence of Anxiety disorders among population has led to a large number of self-help groups that help sufferers to find solutions to their anxiety disorders at its nascent stage.

2. It is a common sense to get counseling in any stress-related or anxiety-related disorders either by a matured companion or by elders in a family, although it is highly recommended to seek professional help. Despite, it is also possible to find friends online to give a sense of not being a lone sufferer. Reaching out with the disorder in its early phase could prevent major complications from occurring.

3. Attending workshops and seminars on stress management techniques along with meditation and breathing exercises on a regular basis would add value to other important techniques. Regular exercise like aerobics and meditation, keeping away alcohol and smoking are important too.

Mind Treatment
Psychotherapy has been found to be the most popular and effective among anxiety disorder treatment strategies.

Psychotherapy includes three options: 1. Cognitive Behavioral Therapy 2. Behavioral Therapy 3. Cognitive Therapy

1. Cognitive behavioral therapy helps the patient to learn to respond differently to circumstances that trigger anxiety attacks while helping them to alter their negative thinking patterns. Self-help groups and Group therapy are also useful treatment options.

2. Behavioral therapy uses various relaxation procedures to modify the anxiety-causing actions. It also teaches specific techniques such as diaphragmatic breathing to combat panicking.

3. Cognitive therapy focuses on changing erroneous and unproductive beliefs which are the cause of the psychological and anxiety problems. Medication
Medications as part of anxiety disorder treatment strategies are prescribed to relieve the symptoms rather than cure the disorder. Check with your physician before taking any additional medicines. Each medication also has its own set of side effects.

1. A class of antidepressants called Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) are drugs which can induce to stimulate a portion of brain cell called synapse through a chemical messenger named Serotonin. Consequence of this stimulation is the maintenance of reduction of stress, anxiety and depression. Some of the examples of SSRIs are Sertraline, Fluoxetine, Venlafaxine and Paroxetine.

2. Tricyclic is another compound with anti-anxiety properties. They are almost not prescribed due to uneasy side effects like dry mouth, weight gain dizziness and drowsiness. Not this alone, Tricyclic is barely as effective as the present-day antidepressants.

3. High-potency medications target only anxiety symptoms: Medicines prescribed for chronic and acute level of anxiety disorders are Benzodiazepine such as Xanax and Valium as well as Buspirone such as Buspar. The former acts rapidly and has relatively fewer side effects except that it is habit-forming. Where as the latter improve symptoms related to anxiety disorders significantly but acts slowly after consistent injection for two weeks. Support From Family
Love, care and especially support from family are critical for patients suffering from mental illnesses. They need to be extra careful not to hurt or misguide keeping in mind not to ignore either. Families are supposed to be aware of the biology and psychology of the patients and be in a position to handle adverse situations neatly. Patients with supportive family members get out of this tangle without much hassle in a short period of time.

Summary
Curing anxiety disorder needs the intervention and the right attitude from the suffering person as much as it needs assistance from other anxiety disorder treatments. Anxiety disorder treatment strategies typically consist of a combination of treatments like self help, psychotherapy, medication and family support.

PTSD Therapy - The Old and the New

The Old

Exposure Therapy Exposure therapy identifies the cognitions, emotions and physiological arousal that accompany a fear-inducing stimulus, and attempts to break the pattern of escape that strengthens the fear response through measured exposure to progressively stronger stimuli until it becomes habit. The technique involves the creation of a program of steadily escalating steps or challenges that theoretically cancel out phobic behavior. A method that is rather powerful but dangerous and emotionally taxing.

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy Some CBT therapies are more oriented towards predominantly cognitive interventions while some are more behaviorally oriented.In cognitive oriented therapies, the objective is typically to identify and monitor thoughts, assumptions, beliefs and behaviors that are related and accompanied to debilitating negative emotions and to identify those which are dysfunctional, inaccurate, or simply unhelpful. This is done in an effort to replace or transcend them with more realistic and useful ones. While effective, the time commitment involved does nothing for the quality of life of the victim until completed, if ever. Not to mention the costs of long term care with a therapist or psychologist.

Drugs Adivan, Buspar, Celexa, Effexor, Inositol, Klonopin, Paxil, Prozac, Wellbutrin, Xanax and Zoloft. All these names you already know. If you ever want to really find out what is wrong with drug therapy (that subject is far beyond the scope of this article), just ask a doctor about the side effects of these drugs. Expensive and unproven. Covers up symptoms, but nothing for the root causes of PTSD or anxiety or phobias.

The New New therapies (some say they are cures but that is up to the individual really) can relieve and totally free you form your phobias, fears and anxiety in ONLY DAYS IF NOT JUST MINUTES.That is right. Because all these things happen on a subconscious level (you never said to yourself "I want to have PTSD") these newly discovered methods go right at the source of the problem and use the same subconscious techniques of the mind to make them all go away. This new therapy is called IMAGINATION CREATION and is part of a brand new system called Accelerated Personal Breakthrough Technology that was developed at the University of California.

Sound Advice For Dogs

Halloween fireworks, thunderstorms, bands and any loud noise send my Jack Russell Rex cowing in his bed or Rushing for the kennel. Noises that effect him can extend to shouting...[not at him!] banging a nail with a hammer or any kind of sudden unexpected loud noise all have the same effect.

So what can we do to help especially when we can anticipate the noise occurring like in the case of fireworks?

Anti-anxiety drugs such as Prozac and Buspar can work but take 3-4 weeks to take effect and also can have side effects. Looking at natural alternatives seems a better option.

A meal rich in complex carbohydrates with additional vitamin B6 gives a dog a natural boost in Tryptophan. How this works is because Tryptophan leads to the production of Serotonin which is known to effect mood. When the dog eats carbohydrates this stimulates the production of insulin which in turn increases the uptake of Tryptophan and so increases the level of Serotonin.

Although this method works in theory there is no hard evidence or statistics to back it up.
One natural Remedy called flower essences such as Rescue Remedy was developed by an English medical Doctor Edward Bach. Each liquid is an extract of flowers which effect different aspects of emotional well-being in humans and animals.

Of these Flower remedies Rescue Remedy is the best known and has a calming effect. Consensus on the effectiveness of Remedies varies. Some say it works immediately and others maintain that it takes four to eight weeks to have an effect on dog's emotions. Whatever way it cannot do any harm to try.

Another suggestion is the use of Melatonin. This is a natural hormone that regulates our sleep and wake pattern, called circadian rhythms. Various studies have shown melatonin to be 80% successful with an indication that the Melatonin must be given before the fear-inducing noise occurs.

Another use for Melatonin has been with search and rescue dogs that have to travel on helicopters or planes to different areas .The melatonin lets them relax throughout the flight and also the dogs are still be able to perform their search duties when they arrive. This was something that was affected when pharmaceutical drugs were used; the dogs were drowsy and unable to do their jobs properly.

Melatonin used to be derived from the pineal gland of bovines but is now manufactured as a synthetically produced pharmaceutical. Make sure if you decide to try this method that it is pure melatonin and not mixed with any other herbs.

Finally...if music is your thing then studies have also found that simple classical music performed on the piano produced a calming effect on 70 percent of dogs in shelters and 85 percent of dogs in homes. Putting on a classical CD may just be the thing that works and probably the easiest to try first before the others.

Kathy Davison is a Health Studies lecturer with both humans and animals! As well as lecturing fulltime Kathy runs an online website on various aspects of owning dogs.