Relief from panic attacks and anxiety symptoms may come in the form of medication prescribed by your doctor. In fact, most people who suffer from anxiety disorders have been tempted to buy a pill to help the situation. It seems like the fast way to freedom that requires very little effort on your part.

Although this may be an excellent means of panic attack control for some, many anxiety medications cause complicated side effects. This just adds to the problem and potentially compromises your health.

Luckily, there are safe and non-toxic ways to treat your panic attacks and anxiety disorders. To properly deal with panic and anxiety attacks, you must first understand your body and why these attacks happen.

An anxiety attack is basically what happens when unusually high levels of adrenaline are sent into the bloodstream. This causes many disturbing and involuntary symptoms. To the panic attack sufferer, it can feel like the most frightening thing in the world.

First, you feel fear, which signals your brain. Your brain then signals your adrenal glands. When this happens, your brain is basically telling your body that there’s an emergency. This is what causes the feelings of extreme panic called an anxiety attack.

The body further reacts by increasing heart rate, sweating, and pumping extra blood. You may also notice an increase in body temperature and other unpleasant physical symptoms.
Now that we understand the process of a panic attack, we can discuss some ways to deal with and avoid anxiety attacks all together.

Your goal is to stop the panic attack from happening. You can accomplish this by stopping the brain from signaling an emergency message to your adrenal glands. It may sound difficult now, but with practice you’ll discover that it’s easier than you think.

First of all, understand that you’re going to have to force yourself to relax. At the first sign of fear, take slow deep breaths to purposely distract yourself from that panicky feeling.

Count as you breathe by breathing in to a count of 7, then breathing out to a count of 7. Continue breathing using this technique and you should calm down quickly. Breathing in counts requires a lot of attention so it effectively distracts the brain.

You may also want to try interrupting yourself. Many people can stop their panic attack by mentally shouting the word “STOP!”

This takes place in your head, so you can do it pretty much anywhere and you won’t have to worry about getting strange looks. This technique also distracts the brain, which in effect stops the panic attack from ever happening.

Although anxiety medication will always be around, you don’t have to take it if you find a better way to deal with panic attacks. By focusing on your breathing and on your thoughts, you may discover that you can control your anxiety all on your own.

If you are one of those living with panic attack symptoms, you know it
can almost take over your life. Living with the fear that you will
have to suffer through another period of grief, pain, and discomfort
is sometimes enough to bring on a panic attack. When it comes to
treating a panic attack, some medication has been known to
significantly reduce the symptoms, enabling people to continue living
a life that is not ruled by the fearful unknown. The following
provides information about some of the most effective medications
available to consumers.

Alprazolam (al-PRAZ-zo-lam)

This medication is one of the more common prescriptions for general
anxiety treatment. It is a benzodiazepine, which is used to treat
short term panic attack symptoms in many people every day. This
medication is not meant to treat ongoing and daily forms of a panic
attack, but is very useful to people who experience these symptoms
periodically.

Azapirones (a-zah-PIE-ronz)

Azapirones is a drug which works on the central nervous system by
relieving the many symptoms of anxiety. This drug can be found in many
antidepressants and is the reason many people who normally would not
take antidepressants do, because of their panic attack symptoms. It is
used to calm the nervous system, putting it somewhat into sleep mode.

Benzodiazepines (ben-zo-die-AZ-a-peens)

This is a tranquil medication, used to help fight anxiety and
insomnia. The drug is very potent, and a fear of becoming addicted to
it is shared with both physicians and patients. For extreme cases of
anxiety, this is the medication most commonly used, but its also
something that can significantly alter your mood or personality if not
used properly or for longer periods of time than prescribed.

Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors (SSRIs)

These are a newer type of anti-depressant introduced into the US in
the 1980s beginning with Prozac. They work differently to traditional
antidepressants and they do so by increasing and assisting the brain
to maintain levels of the neurotransmitter serotonin which is often
found to be low in people sufferering from depression, Obsessive
Compulsive Disorder (OCD) and anxiety and panic disorders.

Which Panic Attack Medication to Use

The severity of the panic attack, will influence which medication a
physician will prescribe for you. Remember that you should not
determine which medication to use. It is essential to consult a doctor
about what is best for you. Using someone else’s medicine may help
your symptoms in the short term, but in the long run you need a
solution for long term results. Taking someone else’s medicine for
your undiagnosed panic attack would be considered as being very
irresponsible. Because of the nature of the problem your doctor will
probably prescribe more than one medication over a period of time so
as to ascertain what is best for you. Using the least amount of
medication to control your panic attack symptoms is the most
beneficial, so most doctors will recommend starting with a low dosage
and work their way up from there until the best solution is found.

Mike O’Brien offers advice and information about panic attack
treatment If you or a loved one is suffering from a panic attack you
will find quality information in this article and on this site.

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