Are you dealing with anxiety and feel like maybe you need to take a medication toh elp with your symptoms? In this video we will go over some of the top medications that are used to treat anxiety and when they are appropriate to use. We’ll discuss Benzodiazepines like Xanax, Lorazepam and Valium. Also we’ll discuss Propranolol and Hydroxyzine and SSRI and SNRI like Lexapro, Cymbalta, Zoloft and more.
Anxiety? have you been trying ways to deal if so then this is the video for you. we treat anxiety so you can make a more informed decision with your doctor. hi there, i m dr. erik richardson a board i d like to welcome you to familymed, a channel that focuses giving you practical and accurate medical information to help you
And your family. if you think this would be something that is helpful to you make sure you subscribe, hit that notification button and follow along with us. the most common medications that we reach for not the only thing you should rely on when treating anxiety, but it can be a good tool if you are suffering from
It, you are not alone. anxiety is one of the most common health issues that approximately 20 percent of adults in dealt with some sort of an anxiety disorder. the good news though, that i want you leaving with after watching this video, is that there is hope. there are options that can help and can keep it from
Controlling your life. we always like to focus on non-medication techniques to help, so if you are interested in learning more about that, i guess before we go into discussing the different medications, i find that it s helpful to understand a little bit about what anxiety really is. the best way that i have
Found to describe it centers around recognizing a normal reaction in our body that we call the fight or flight response. this is the mechanism that we have developed, that when confronted with something dangerous, allows our body to ramp up and either fight it or run from it. for example, if you are walking through a
Forest and a bear charges out at you, what s going to happen? constrict to allow more blood to the brain, these are normal responses, and they are good responses, because when the bear is coming after you, you need to react. anxiety is a condition where this response is a little too active. it s where these
Normal responses to scary or dangerous situations, are overactive or flare up for things that are not dangerous or scary. so instead of the bear charging in the forest, it s like walking through the trees and a fuzzy bunny were to hop in front of you. but instead to it like it was a bear. so that s what is
Happening with anxiety. normal day to day life is triggering that flight or fight response in a way that starts to interfere with your ability to function. there are some medications that can help you control this response especially when you ve tried everything else, so let s get into those. are two general categories of
Treatment approach when we try and treat it as you get it and an approach to treat it to try and prevent it. within each of these categories there are let s look first at the treat it as you get it kind of anxiety. this is typically when people have occasional panic attacks or have situational issues that seem
To bring on anxiety. traveling, flying, being in enclosed spaces, being in crowds or presenting things in front of people. this would also include your panic attacks that can come out of nowhere and they don t necessarily have to have a reason. most of these treatments tend to center around just calming the
Anxiety down or creating some sort of sedation to probably the most common, or at least most talked about, medications used for this type of anxiety, are in a class of medications called lorazepam or valium types of medications. these are a sedating medication, that can be very effective in treating anxiety that
Has come on all of a sudden. when you have a significant panic attack, they can be the most effective treatments. of thes, but the most important thing to t something that you should take very often. medications is that they can be very addictive. they aren t designed for or intended to be taken on
A daily basis. unfortunately, many physicians have been prescribed it this way, and it can be very difficult to get off of it. i will use them in my practice, but we don t give very many of them to avoid the potential of addiction. what i tell people, is that if you are having a severe panic attack and everything else
Isn t working, then they can be extremely effective. but, if you find that you need to use them frequently, it s better to find something safer to prevent the symptoms from coming on in the first place. one called propranolol. i give a better but in short it is a great medication to help social anxiety
And getting up in front of crowds. it helps slow the heart rate down and prevent that significant anxiety response that can happen when put in those situations. it can be used as a daily medication for more mild anxiety and it doesn t another effective medication that can help this is an anti-histamine or in
Other words a more powerful version of benadryl. it can be used as with it is that it makes you really sleepy, so most people don t do well with it on a regular basis. it can be quite helpful though for those so those are the main kinds of medications that are used when your anxiety doesn t happen every
Day. but what about when you are always anxious or you are having frequent panic attacks that you feel like you need to be taking something all the time. when your anxiety gets to that point it is better to reach for medications that can help prevent the symptoms from coming on in the first place. as we mentioned before,
Medications like propranolol or hydroxyzine can be used on a when your anxiety is bad, the most common medications we will use, belong to the family of medications we refer to as antidepressants. working with the different chemicals in the there are two main classes of these medications that we will use. one we
Call ssri or selective selective norepinephrine reuptake inhibitors. out of the ssri s the most effective medications in controlling anxiety have been escitalopram, fluvoxamine are felt to be effective as well snri s like venlavaxine and duloxetine have been shown to be effective as well. daily to help
Prevent symptoms from coming on. it usually takes up to 4-6 weeks to see a full effect, so they aren t meant to be taken another medication that is commonly used is called buspirone. this is in a class of medication all on it s own, but it does have some similar effects anxiety and is usually tolerated pretty
Well. it doesn t seem to be as effective as some of the typical antidepressants, however it has been found to be useful in adding it to some of the ssri or snri s when more anxiety control is needed. this is actually an old anti-seizure medication, but it has been found to be effective in treating anxiety in
Some people. it probably isn t the first medication that most doctors will reach for, but it is typically tolerated pretty well, and can be helpful when other things may not. i as you can see, there are a lot of different medications that we can reach for if nothing else is working to treat your anxiety. we can t
Go into specifics about each one, in the scope of this video, but hopefully going over what options are out there can help you, in being a little more informed as you talk to your doctor about what may be right for you. talk with them about how often you are really experiencing bothersome symptoms. if it is
Occasionally then taking periodic medications like your benzodiazepines may be appropriate. s really best of you stay away from those symptoms from happening in the first place. well, i hope you found this to be helpful, if you did, please take the time to give this video a like and share it with your friends. it
Helps our channel to grow and reach other people that may need this in their life. if you haven t and hitting that notification button so you so until next time, this is familymed with dr. body because it s the only one you have.
Transcribed from video
TOP MEDICATIONS FOR TREATING ANXIETY By Erik Richardson D.O.
