Anti Anxiety Medications & Drugs As Needed?
Does anybody know of any anti anxiety medication
that you can take just as needed?
Anxiety Question:
Does anybody know of any anti anxiety medication that you can take just as needed?
My problem seems to be panic attacks and just a few rotten days.
I don’t want to be constantly medicated; but at times I do need something to calm down.
Anxiety Answer:
In response to your question about anti anxiety/panic disorder medications. I understand that you would only like to take these on an as-needed basis which is good. Some people with extreme cases of panic attacks or generalized anxiety disorder want to be medicated 24/7 which many times leads to addiction and if they go off the medications then they have rebound symptoms which are much worse than the original symptoms that lead them to take the meds in the first place.
There are many anti anxiety and anti panic medications. The most commonly used medications nowadays which you have to take every day are Buspar (buspirone), Effexor-XR, Zoloft, Paxil, and Prozac; all of which were originally manufactured for depression only but through the years they have found that they work on anxiety and panic attacks as well.
Then there are the as-needed type of anti anxiety medications, the most common class being the "benzodiazepines" which include Xanax (alprazolam), Valium (diazepam), Ativan (lorazepam), and Klonipin (clonazepam).
These are all potentially addictive medications and should only be used short-term and on an as-needed basis only. Long-term use of these medications can be detrimental.
If you have anxiety attacks that come out of the blue, i.e. you don’t know before hand that you feel one coming on, the best of the benzodiazepines is Xanax (alprazolam). It is a very rapid acting drug, unlike the others in the category, which are long acting and take a long time to get into the bloodstream.
If you take a small dose of Xanax (alprazolam) such as 0.25 mg and put it under your tongue, it will get into your blood stream quicker, although it tastes horrible and is not usually the way to take the med (I have used this method with my patients and it works like a charm). Please only take this medication sparingly.
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