Can A Pill Cure Your Panic Attacks?

Once your symptoms have been diagnosed as part of a panic attack and nothing more sinister (although you may feel that a panic attack is sinister enough!), your doctor can go about trying to get the symptoms under control. In short, the response of conventional medicine to panic attack disorder tends to be limited to prescription drugs and psychotherapy, and if the goal of these treatments is to eliminate the symptoms of a panic attack, you could say that the treatments offered largely succeed.

Sufferers who experience just the odd episode of panic may just decide that it is something that they will have to live with and just get on with their lives, but if someone is really badly affected by panic attacks it may be that they feel they cannot live a normal life because of the problem and are willing to take some drastic action. However, even if you only have the occasional panic attack, say once or twice a year, there still might be an argument for you to take action.

If left untreated, an occasional panic attack may actually escalate into the disorder (with greater frequency and intensity of symptoms). This, in due course, may develop into a very debilitating condition called agoraphobia which is essentially a fear of enclosed spaces. In its mildest form, this is an anxiety that many of us experience momentarily, perhaps on a crowded bus or in a bush shopping centre, but it becomes a serious problem for sufferers when they feel they really can't face everyday situations because of it.

Doctors have a number of different classes of medication available to them in order to deal with panic attacks effectively. The first of these are known as ‘selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRI). These are a type of anti depressant and are usually the first choice of treatment as they give rise to the fewest possible side effects whilst performing the greatest amount of good.

Two further classes of drug are known as SNRIs - serotonin and norepinephrine reuptake inhibitors - and tricyclic antidepressants. This latter class of medication can be effective but they can pose an even greater threat of development of adverse side effects than the other two. These are effective because they block the brain cells from absorbing both serotonin and nonrepinephrine.

If your doctor doesn't prescribe an antidepressant to help alleviate your panic symptoms, he may provide you with a mild sedative such as a type of benzodiazepine drug and 4 of the drugs in this class have appeared on a list of 100 most prescribed medicines.

Don't be surprised once you start medical treatment for panic attacks if you get bounced around a lot from one medication to another as your doctor tries to find the best solution for you. A pill may help with your panic attacks but it may take a while to find the right one!

With all the various side effects and health issues associated with the above, there certainly is a case for exploring holistic and natural solutions.