Anti anxiety pills may offer 1 fast answer to your anxiety problems. Such types of meds are traditional anti-anxiety drugs (diazepam), in addition to newer choices like antidepressants and beta-blockers. Many can help lessen your anxiety when you go through therapy to get to the cause of the issue. However, it's important that you realize that such types of drugs do not cure anxiety and many do come with side effects. Long-term reliance upon these medications is not recommended.
Benzodiazepines can decrease anxiety quickly--usually within an hour--so they're a good option if you are having a panic or anxiety attack. Alprazolam (brand name Xanax), clonazepam (manufacturer Klonopin), diazepam (brand name Valium), and lorazepam (manufacturer Ativan) are in this group of anti anxiety drugs. Side effects of benzodiazepines are drowsiness, "fogginess", and/or a sense of being uncoordinated, all of which can cause problems if you have to be functional and alert. Benzodiazepines take a long time to be digested. For this reason, they can build up in the body if used for a long time. If you suffer with this build up, the side effects get worse and you may develop slurred speech, confusion, depression, dizziness, inability to think clearly and reason, memory loss and nausea, the inability to "feel" anything. Benzodiazepines decrease the anxiety but they also lower emotions of pleasure and pain.
The benefit of antidepressants vs . traditional anti anxiety pills is that the risk for addiction and abuse is less. Yet, the downside of antidepressants is that they can take from 4 to 6 weeks to give you relief from the anxiety--so, they are useless for you if you're having a panic or anxiety attack, for example.
Most commonly recommended antidepressants are SSRIs like Prozac, Zoloft, Paxil, Lexapro, and Celexa and they're not without side effects: nausea or vomiting, nervoursness, headaches, drowsiness, erectile dysfunction, wooziness, nausea, and putting on weight.
Buspirone (manufacturer BuSpar) works only for generalized panic disorders (GAD). It reduces anxiety by increasing serotonin in the brain (like SSRIs) and decreasing dopamine. Buspirone takes about two weeks to kick into effect but it has it's advantages: it's not as sedating, doesn't negatively affect memory and coordination and it's minimally addicting. It also has less serious side effects: nasuea, headaches, wooziness, sleepiness, nausea or vomiting, constipation, diarrhea and dry mouth.
Beta blockers are generally used to fight high blood pressure level and heart problems. However many can work for anxiety too by stopping the effects of norepinephrine, a stress hormone involved with the fight-or-flight response. Beta blockers control the physical signs and symptoms of anxiety like rapid heart rate, perspiring, dizziness, and trembling voice and fingers but not the emotional side of anxiety.
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