Panic Attack Medication

Panic attacks can often prove to be debilitating and cause the person that is suffering from it immense stress and discomfort. This is frequently seen in someone who has a panic disorder and fortunately it can be treated through the use of panic attack therapy and/or panic attack medication. Therapy tends to focus on changing the individuals associations, thinking and behavioral patterns with the fear or cause of the anxiety. Typically therapies that combine the mental/thinking with physical behavior patterns, relapses of panic attacks tend to occur far less frequently than when only one treatment is used. Medication can further aid the rehabilitation process.

There are several different types of panic attack medication that can be used to treat or to control the symptoms of panic attacks. Medications may also limit the number and intensity of panic attacks as well as, reduce the anxiety of having another attack. There are a number of effective medications that will treat panic attacks like Prozac, Zoloft or Paxil which are all “selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors” (SSRI). SSRI’s are antidepressants and often prescribed by doctors in the treatment of depression. These particular types of medication affect chemicals in the body known as neurotransmitters that nerves within the brain use to send and receive messages to one another. These chemicals (neurotransmitters) are released by one nerve and taken up by other nerves. The same nerves that released the chemicals will “reuptake” the neurotransmitters that are not taken up by other nerves.

SSRI’s inhibit the reuptake of serotonin (a neurotransmitter), which in turn allows more serotonin to be made available for uptake by other nerves. Before SSRI’s were readily available, medications from the group known as the tricyclic anti-depressants (TCAs) such as Anafranil, Norpramin or Tofranil were frequently prescribed to treat panic disorders. Despite the fact that TCAs can be equally as effective in treating panic attacks, SSRI’s have been proven to be safer with less side effects in sufferers. As such TCAs are now used less often as a result, although, if closely monitored and used in the right individual, these medications can still be a very effective treatment for panic disorders. But as with most medications, there is still the risk of side effects which may vary from minor to severe or even life-threatening in some very extreme cases. It is therefore important to work closely with your doctor to decide whether medication is an appropriate form or treatment and if so, which particular form of panic attack medication should be prescribed. Note: pregnant women should not be treated with these kinds of prescribed medicines due to the possible risks to the unborn child.

There are a number of medications from the benzodiazepine family of drugs that are also approved in certain countries to treat panic attacks or panic disorders. These medications include Valium, Xanax, Klonopin or Ativan. These medicines are effective in reducing nervous tension and anxiety. They are sometimes prescribed by doctors to be taken as and when needed, for immediate relief to the symptoms whereas SSRI’s which have to be taken every day.

Those that take medication as indicated above for a panic disorder should start to see an improvement in the symptoms within a few weeks after starting medication. If there appears to be no improvement within 6 to 8 weeks, then the doctor may prescribe a higher dosage or an alternative medicine. Most medicines that are used in the treatment of panic attacks need to be continued for around a year or even longer. After this initial time period they may be reduced gradually over a period of several weeks. On occasion after the medications have been reduced, an individual may experience panic attacks again. In these cases the medication may have to be continued for a few more months. Some sufferers may need to remain on medications for a long time in order to keep their symptoms under control.

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