Common Anxiety Medications

Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors (SSRI)

Citalopram (Celexa)
Escitalopram (Lexapro)
Fluoxetine (Prozac)
Paroxetine (Paxil)
Sertraline (Zoloft)

For some, these drugs are effective at reducing the symptoms of anxiety and panic disorder, along with any accompanying depression. And of all the medications used for these problems, bring the mildest side-effects.

However, they DO carry side-effects - either single or multiple - which may cause major problems in some patients. Among them are:

Insomnia
Headaches
Joint and muscle pain
Rashes
Stomach problems
Diarrhea and nausea
Constipation
Drowsiness

Interestingly, another side effect that may occur for some users is increased anxiety. When I tried Zoloft, I thought I would go nuts with the shaking. When someone I know was on Paxil, she had to take Xanax to get to sleep sometimes. 

For many people, these problems come on when starting the medicine, then disappear, for others they continue but are fairly mild. But some others aren't so lucky and need to have their doctor switch them to something else.

Some side-effects of SSRI's don't go away, though. Such as bleeding. If a person is taking them, they should not take any NSAID (ibuprofen, naproxen, aspirin) as both classes negatively affect the blood's ability to clot. 

Many people taking SSRI's also report sexual dysfunction problems or loss of sex drive and these don't go away, either, as long as the patient continues with the drugs.

Another side-effect of SSRI's, most notably paroxetine (Paxil), is weight gain. In some cases, considerable weight gain.

Then there comes the increased (doubled, statistically) potential for suicidal thoughts or actions. Or violence. There are too many stories of patients who started taking SSRI's who either committed suicide or murder shortly after beginning the treatment. (see the documentary film "Generation RX")

Serotonin - Norepinephrine Reuptake Inhibitors (SNRI)

Duloxetine (Cymbalta)
Venlafaxine (Effexor)

These are cousins to SSRI's and carry some of the same side-effects, plus others.

Side-effects include:

Dry mouth
Drowsiness
Dizziness
Abnormal, disturbing dreams
Tremors
High blood pressure
Nervousness

(Notice, these last three are symptoms of anxiety disorder, so taking SNRI's for some, actually makes the problem they're trying to treat worse.)

Like their cousins, SSRI's, these drugs also are known to cause sexual dysfunction and increased suicide risk.

Benzodiazepines 

Actual anti-anxiety medications, not antidepressants, this class of drugs is a sedative, technically called Central Nervous System Depressants. They have the highest potential for being habit forming if taken on a regular basis for any length of time. However, they can also be very effective and work well, especially for the patient who suffers severe panic attacks but NOT of a chronic variety; they work very quickly and can be taken on an as-needed basis.

The most common of this class, which also happen to be in a list of 100 most-often prescribed medications:

Alprazolam (Xanax)
Clonazepam (Klonopin)
Diazepam (Valium)
Lorazepam (Ativan)

When first taking benzodiazepine drugs, a common side-effect that occurs is called "psychomotor retardation". Sounds serious because it is! It can include:

Drowsiness
Inability to concentrate
Impaired motor coordination
Muscle weakness
Vertigo
Mental confusion

When beginning this type of medication, driving a car or anything else that requires motor coordination, concentration and clarity (something as simple as cooking) may need to be avoided. (This writer once took Lorazepam briefly and didn't know what day it was and got into a minor car accident, ran into a curb, etc.)

And alcohol consumption MUST be avoided while taking any of these! The combination of benzos and alcohol multiplies their effect and dependence. I work with alcoholics and addicts in treatment and can attest to the fact that an alarming number of patients who enter treatment for alcoholism are also taking a benzo of some kind, usually Xanax, which may well be the most habit forming of the class.

Then there's the withdrawal symptoms when trying to get off benzodiazepines after taking one or more of them for any length of time. (I personally have seen patients prescribed Clonazepam for daily use and Lorazepam for bad days.) These problems may just prove to be worse than the anxiety disorder ever was and it can take a month or more to get over it.

Another problem with benzodiazepines is anxiety sufferers tend to need higher and higher doses over time to be effective. When this happens, the side-effects may not be any worse, but the withdrawal problems when quitting it are amplified and the time it takes for them to subside is longer.

Other Anti-Anxiety Medications

There are other classes of anti-anxiety/anti-depressant drugs such as Tricyclics and MAOI's that we won't go into here. 

Conclusion

I think you've gotten the picture that if you start taking meds for anxiety, you open up a Pandora's box of new problems and you haven't even gotten at the source of your anxiety. If you go this route, you may join the legions of people in the Western World who have a life-long dependency on side-effect laden medications to treat a problem that's not even a disease that can be cured by medicating.

To Your Recovery,

Owen

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