Treatment for anxiety

When you’re overwhelmed by heart-pounding panic, paralyzed by fear, or exhausted from yet another sleepless night spent worrying, you’ll do just about anything to get relief. And there’s no question that when anxiety is disabling, medication may help. But are drugs always the best answer? Is there solid evidence that they’re beneficial in the long run? Just what are the safety concerns and potential side effects? And are there any truly effective non-drug options? These are some of the important questions you’ll need to consider when deciding if anxiety medication is right for you, in this article we will review some of these medications.

Antidepressants

Antidepressants were developed to treat depression but are also effective for anxiety disorders. Although these medications begin to alter brain chemistry after the very first dose, their full effect requires a series of changes to occur; it is usually about 4 to 6 weeks before symptoms start to fade. It is important to continue taking these medications long enough to let them work.

SSRIs

Some of the newest antidepressants are called selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors, or SSRIs. SSRIs alter the levels of the neurotransmitter serotonin in the brain, which, like other neurotransmitters, helps brain cells communicate with one another.

Fluoxetine (Prozac®), sertraline (Zoloft®), escitalopram (Lexapro®), paroxetine (Paxil®), and citalopram (Celexa®) are some of the SSRIs commonly prescribed for panic disorder, OCD, PTSD, and social phobia. SSRIs are also used to treat panic disorder when it occurs in combination with OCD, social phobia, or depression.

Venlafaxine (Effexor®), a drug closely related to the SSRIs, is used to treat GAD. These medications are started at low doses and gradually increased until they have a beneficial effect.

SSRIs have fewer side effects than older antidepressants, but they sometimes produce slight nausea or jitters when people first start to take them. These symptoms fade with time.  Some people also experience sexual dysfunction with SSRIs, which may be helped by adjusting the dosage or switching to another SSRI.

Tricyclics

Tricyclics are older than SSRIs and work as well as SSRIs for anxiety disorders other than OCD.They are also started at low doses that are gradually increased. They sometimes cause dizziness, drowsiness, dry mouth, and weight gain, which can usually be corrected by changing the dosage or switching to another tricyclic medication.

Tricyclics include imipramine (Tofranil®), which is prescribed for panic disorder and GAD, and clomipramine (Anafranil®), which is the only tricyclic antidepressant useful for treating OCD.

CBD oil

Derived from the stalk and seed of cannabis (hemp) plants, cannabidiol (CBD) oil or CBD hemp oil is a natural botanical concentrate that is high in the compound CBD. Cannabinoids are the primary chemical compounds found in hemp and all cannabis plants. The two you have probably heard of are CBD and THC from places like https://www.iceheadshop.co.uk/vape/cbd-oil.html . CBD oil will not cause you to experience a euphoric effect, or “high.” Because CBD oil comes from cannabis (hemp), a common misconception is that it is psychoactive. The truth is, both hemp and marijuana are cannabis plants. Unlike medical marijuana products, CBD oil that’s derived from hemp, however, contains only trace amounts of tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the well-known psychoactive cannabinoid.

CBD works by interacting with the endogenous cannabinoid ( https://www.iceheadshop.co.uk/cannabis-seeds.html ) system or endocannabinoid system (ECS), a collection of cell receptors that play a fundamental role in the function of the nervous and immune system. The human body produces its own endocannabinoids—the highest concentration is in mother’s milk. CBD works with the body’s own system, blocking or reducing the breakdown of naturally occurring endocannabinoids.

Research into CBD and anxiety is one of the few areas where studies have been conducted on humans subjects, and not just on animal models. While trials still haven’t reached the randomized, double-blind, controlled stages required to pass standard pharmaceutical drugs, a number of small studies have been conducted, in particular looking at CBD and Social Anxiety Disorder.

In one small trial, 24 people diagnosed with Social Anxiety Disorder took either CBD or a placebo. Next, they had to perform a simulated public speaking test. Researchers found that “pretreatment with CBD significantly reduced anxiety, cognitive impairment and discomfort in their speech performance, and significantly decreased alertness in their anticipatory speech.”

This compared to the placebo group who showed “higher anxiety, cognitive impairment, discomfort, and alert levels when compared with the control group.”

Unfortunately there is no definitive answer to how much CBD oil to take.  it requires some trial and error to get the right amount for you and your condition.  But, with patience and practice, you should be able to get to get in just a few days of working with it.

Other options

After consulting with a physician and or other mental health professional, the recommendations may include dietary changes (reduction of caffeine intake), increase exercise, and a course of therapy. To find better ways of coping with pressures and circumstances that may have contributed, a person may join a support group or seek individual counseling with a qualified therapist.

A person should recognize that there are not “overnight cures” for persistent anxiety and that many methods used work gradually to relieve anxiety, but these treatments are highly effective and well worth the wait. If there is no apparent improvement after a visit to a family physician or a mental health professional, help should be sought from a psychiatrist.