The Use of Medication for Panic Attacks
Friday, October 30th, 2009Panic attack medication has developed and come a long way in helping people who suffer from panic attacks manage their symptoms and their underlying root causesThe stress and anxiety of these panic attacks is quite severe and one of the prime causes of their recurrences is the fear itself of another possible attack.Medication alone can be a palliative and offer some temporary relief, but when used in conjunction with good therapy can provide benefits of a long lasting and more significant order.
Therapy approaches the behavioral aspects of panic attacks, such as reacting to different stimuli or situations, whereas panic attack medication focuses on the biological, or more specifically, the chemical behavior of the brain.
There are several different types of panic attack medication available and many of them are quite recognizable including Prozac, Paxil, and Zoloft. These medications can help ease the symptoms of panic attacks and reduce the fear that sufferers often have about enduring another one in the future. These medications are called selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors, or SSRIs. They are anti-depressants and are commonly prescribed to help deal with depression.
They work by acting on the neurotransmitters in the brainand help block certain signals that lead to depression, or in the case of panic attacks, the fear receptors that tend to cause the heart to increase its rate or breathing to increase, frequently observed symptoms (or conditions) which occur just before a panic attack is experienced.
These SSRIs are actually not the initial prescriptions recommended and used for the treatment of panic attacks. Tricyclic anatidepressants (TCAs) were forerunners in the treatment of panic attacks, however SSRIs, it turns out, have shown themselves to be a better route to follow in the treatment and control of the longer term symptoms.
The most frequently used TCA medications used are Norpramin, Anafranil and Tofranil.It has been found that at times, a TCA panic attack treatment can be more successful than its SSRI neighbor, just so long as it is used under the supervision of a qualified medical professional. The side effects of TCAs were reported as being minor to potentially life-threatening. One important thing to note about panic attack medication is that pregnant women should not take any of these prescriptions due to the risks to the fetus.
There are also the more immediate acting drugs such as Xanax, Klonopin or Valium and these are also useful to ameliorate some of the more troubling symptoms/ These are recommended to be used more to deal with an immediate set of symptomswhereas SSRIs should be taken regularly for a period of time. As noted, the SSRI will be required to build to a certain level in the system to be effective. The TCA, on the other hand, will act right away and then dissipate over time.
When taking an SSRI panic attack medication, symptoms should begin to improve within six to eight weeks. If this does not happen, a stronger dose or different medication may be required. In most patients, these drugs are used for a year or more before being removed or reduced. Only a qualified medical professional can determine these factors and conditions when prescribing panic attack medication. It needs to be understood, however, that medication alone will not be as effective as when it is used in conjunction with behavioral or cognitive therapy, treating the ailment and not just the symptoms.