Am I Having a Panic Attack?

The most common forms of medication that are used in the treatment of panic attack disorder are tranquilizers and benzodiazepines. The calming effect that they have upon the central nervous system has made them highly popular within the medical community. These medications may also be prescribed for sleeping pills or muscle relaxers. Of the two medications, benzodiazepines are the most common medication, and the most popular brands of benzodiazepines include Xanax, Valium, and Ativan. This class of drugs is rather fast acting, and they generally begin to take effect within thirty to sixty minutes of being ingested. Even though most panic attacks do not exceed thirty minutes in length, benzodiazepines can work quickly to alleviate the more severe symptoms.

For all of their beneficial properties, there are some drawbacks to the use of tranquilizers and benzodiazepines. In order to achieve their calming effects, these drugs temporarily reduce the amount of brain activity that is occurring at that moment. The higher the dose of the medication, the more pronounced its side effects would become. About half of the patients that use these drugs experience periods of sleepiness, fogginess, and a lack of coordination. These symptoms could potentially interfere with a person’s ability to do their homework, their work at their place of employment, or the performance of everyday activities, like driving. The most common symptoms displayed by a person who uses benzodiazepines include drowsiness, disorientation, blurred vision, and nausea.

Benzodiazepines are not designed to be used by individuals who are over sixty five, pregnant or nursing mothers, or individuals that have a history of substance abuse. There is also a small risk of dependency with the use of these drugs. In order to determine if the use of these medications are right for an individual or not, then he or she should examine the pros and cons of the medication with their primary care physician. It should also be borne in mind that most doctors prescribe the use of this medication in conjunction with different forms of therapy. The medicine is generally taken for a period of three months or less in order to alleviates the worst of a person’s panic attack symptoms. This period of time allows the individual to have the time to master the finer points of the techniques they will be taught in therapy.

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