Panic Attack Medication And Therapy Effective Together - By: J. Michael Key

It would be an understatement to say that panic attacks and anxiety are hard to live with. It can very well be difficult to engage in even the most ordinary of daily activities, and patients may become withdrawn and isolated, fearing to talk to people or do things they enjoy. However, there is treatment available for those who endure these conditions.

Therapy in conjunction with panic attack medication has been effective for a lot of folks who tend to suffer from panic attacks. Together, the two forms of treatment can often help those people to live free from the fear of panic attacks. Behavioral therapy is a type of therapy which has been especially effective in controlling these disorders, since it aims at making changes to the patient's thought patterns and the way that they respond to the situations which cause them to panic.

Even though panic attack medication can't always do the job on its own, medication combined with behavioral therapy is a powerful tool for banishing persistent anxiety and panic attacks. Out of the medications which may be given for the condition, those most regularly used are selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (or SSRI) drugs like Zoloft, Prozac and Paxil.

SSRIs enhance the influence of the neurotransmitter serotonin, which is thought to regulate moods and help create a feeling of well being, by making the chemical more available to the brain. For this reason, this group of medications is utilized for treatment of anxiety, panic and depression. Prior to the widespread use of selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors to manage panic attacks, tri-cyclic anti depressant (TCA) medications including Anafranil, Norpramin and Tofranil were the panic attack medication of choice. Even though they do work well to offer relief from these disorders, they are prescribed less frequently now since SSRI drugs have a much lower risk of causing side effects than do the TCA category of drugs.

TCA drugs should be used only under the close supervision of your physician, just as any other drug. If you're seeking medical expertise to treat panic attacks and anxiety disorders, it is important to find a doctor who is experienced in treating these disorders and is knowledgeable about both therapy and panic attacks medications.

Another pharmaceutical option for treating panic and anxiety disorders is benzodiazepine drugs such as Ativan, Klonopin, Valium and Xanax. The benzodiazepine drugs are useful in treating many patients since they bring relief quickly, making them a medication which can be taken to provide relief from an oncoming panic attack, opposed to the TCA and SSRI drugs which take a little time to build up to high enough levels to produce an effect.

If you're taking panic attack medication for the treatment of your panic attacks, it's important to carefully note how you feel after taking the medication. You should feel a noticeable difference after a couple of weeks of taking the medication daily. If not, your physician may need to prescribe a higher dosage or change you to a different type of medication entirely. In some cases, patients need to stay on a daily course of medication for up to a year or longer to provide lasting relief from their panic attacks.

Your doctor may well try to step you slowly off of your medication after a year or so of the treatment. This is typically done by slowly backing off on the dose of medication you take daily; if your symptoms come back when the dosage is reduced, you might have to start taking the medication again at the original dosage for perhaps another three to six months before your physician attempts to wean you off again. While in most cases, panic attack sufferers can eventually cease taking medication, some people do have to take panic attack medication on an ongoing basis for the remainder of their lives in order to control the disorder.

In combination with various types of therapy, anxiety and panic attack medication can provide effective and lasting, even permanent relief for panic and anxiety. The most important factor in treatment is an accurate diagnosis of the cause of the patient's anxiety or panic - however, it is not always understood exactly what causes these problems, so there is commonly a period of testing various options before the right course of treatment can be found.

About the Author

Michael Key has written widely for over 30 years. For more on panic attack medication visit http://www.defeatpanicattack.com/panic-attack-medication/ Panic Attack Medication.

Article Directory Source: http://www.articlerich.com/profile/J--Michael-Key/50499

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