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Common Panic Attack Medications
They are present in individuals who have panic disorder but luckily can be treated through medications and therapies.
The main core of therapy is changing certain thinking and behavior patterns of an individual.
Typically, combining these two can lessen the occurrence of panic attack relapses as compared to using only one treatment.
Rehabilitation efforts can also be aided by medications.
There are several types of medications that can be used to treat panic attacks as well as control the symptoms associated to it.
Severity of the condition can also be minimized by medications and reduce the anxiety of having another attack.
Several effective medications like Zoloft, Prozac, and Paxil which are Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors or SSRI's are used to treat panic attacks.
SSRI's are antidepressants and these are commonly prescribed by doctors to their patients to treat depression.
These types of medications affect the chemicals known as neurotransmitters which are used by the nerves of the brain to send messages to other nerves.
The nerve releases neurotransmitters and are taken by other nerves.
The neurotransmitters that were not taken by the other nerves will go back to the nerve that released them and "reuptake" them.
SSRI's inhibit the reuptake of serotonin which is an action that allows more availability of the serotonin to be taken up by other nerves.
Before SSRI's were taken, medications such as Norpramin, Tofranil, and Anafranil from the group known as Trcyclic Anti-depressants (TCA) were often used to treat panic disorder.
SSRI's have been proven to be safer and tolerated better by individuals as compared to TCA's even though they cab be equally effective in treating panic attacks.
The result would be TCA's being used less often.
These medications can also be an effective panic disorder treatment when used in the right individual along with close monitoring.
But like most medicines, it also has risks of having side effects which can range from minor to a severe or life threatening case.
This is the reason why it is very important to work closely with your doctor to decide whether treatment with using medications as an appropriate hindrance and if so, which medication should be managed.
These kinds of medications are not appropriate for pregnant women for they might put the fetus at risk.
There are also several medications from the benzodiazepine families that are approved by the Food and Drugs Administration to treat panic related disorders.
These include medications such as Valium, Xanax, Klonopin, and Ativa.
In order to reduce anxiety and nervous tensions, using this medications are known to have effective results.
These medications are sometimes prescribed to be taken only when immediate relief to symptoms is needed, unlike with SSRI's where they have to be taken everyday.
There should be improvements with regarding panic attack symptoms within a few weeks after beginning medications.
Taking higher doses or changing the medication might be prescribed by the doctor if there are still no improvements seen within 6 to 8 weeks.
When treating panic attacks, most medications that are used should be continually taken for a year or even longer.
After this period of time, dosages might be decreased gradually over a period of several weeks.
There are times where an individual may experience panic attacks again after medications have been decreased.
In that case, medications are necessary to be continued for a few more months.
In order to keep symptoms under control, some individuals might have to stay on medications for a long time.
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