Anxiety 2 Calm

October 1, 2009

Seredyn for Anxiety




Panic Away - End Anxiety and Panic Attacks

Panic Away - a highly successful course that has helped thousands overcome anxiety and panic attacks quickly.
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Filed under: Natural Remedy, anxiety, medication, supplement, treatment — admin @ 11:42 pm

Seredyn is an anxiety treatment that can be obtained without prescription. It includes none of the chemicals you would associate with other anxiety medications such as SSRI’s and Benzodiazepines. But Seredyn does claim to have much the same effects – a reduction in anxiety.

So what exactly is Seredyn? Well, as far as we know it is a blend of Valerian Root, Passion Flower and Suntheanine. Suntheanine is a registered trademark version of the amino acid L-theanine that I have blogged about before. L-theanine is basically a key ingredient of GABA, which when taken promotes anxiety relief in the same way as a Benzodiazepine such as Xanax.

Both Valerian Root and Passion Flower (Passiflora) have been used as stress-relievers and anxiety cures for countless years.

Although the ingredients are clear, the actual amount of each ingredient is not clear. Some say this is because Seredyn want to protect their intellectual property (after all, Valerian Root, Passiflora and L-theanine are available in pretty much any self-respecting health food store). Other, more cynical, people say that Seredyn doesn’t contain enough of each ingredient to be effective.

As products like Seredyn don’t need to be licensed in the same way as new drugs do, there will never be extensive, peer reviewed, clinical research. I guess that means you either take advice from people you trust, or try it yourself and see if it works.

Elsewhere on the Internet people have said you should watch Seredyn if you have low blood pressure, as it can supposedly exacerbate the problem. I don’t know if that’s true or not, but basically there isn’t much else in there that’s likely to do the normal person any harm!

September 28, 2009

Xanax Anxiety




Panic Away - End Anxiety and Panic Attacks

Panic Away - a highly successful course that has helped thousands overcome anxiety and panic attacks quickly.
See for yourself! Check it out with no obligation and see videos of people who have used it.



Filed under: Uncategorized, anxiety, medication, panic, panic attack, treatment — Tags: , , , , , — admin @ 7:19 pm

Xanax, also known by the generic name Alprazolam, has been licensed in the USA to treat anxiety and panic attacks since 1981. It is used in the treatment of anxiety disorders, panic disorder and, in some cases, depression. It is a member of a family of drugs known as Benzodiazepines. It is a mild tranquilizer.

Many people who have experienced drugs like Valium may be aware of how Benzodiazepines can make you feel doped and sleepy. Xanax is not like this for many people. In my own personal experience Xanax didn’t make me feel very different at all, just much much calmer. I didn’t get any of the side effects listed, and in an ad hoc experiment to see how my reaction times were effected I actually found my reactions to be almost exactly as good as when I wasn’t on Xanax.

Some people do suffer from side effects, sleepiness, dizziness and vertigo, nausea. But these drugs are rather well-tolerated.

In terms of dose, it is important to follow your doctor’s instructions. I personally worked my way up from the 0.25mg dose which is the lowest available and now take 1.5mg on an as needed basis.

Initially I took a tiny amount of one Xanax tablet to see how I tolerated it. As I was fine I took the rest. Some people who suffer from anxiety may have a psychosomatic side effect of feeling a sudden onset of anxiety or panic whenever they try something new. This can mean that at first a Benzodiazepine has a paradoxical effect. If I were you I would persevere, as for the short term relief of temporary anxiety and panic attacks this drug is very useful and very effective.

A word of caution. Like all Benzodiazepines, Xanax can be habit forming. If you take it for too long you may need to taper off slowly to avoid withdrawal effects. Also, if you take it often you may find you need to take more to get the same effect. Your doctor will be able to advise you on this.

I don’t recommend you buy from online pharmacies without prescription, you don’t know what you are getting or how safe it is, or even if it will arrive or not!

See also:

Xanax for travel anxiety.

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September 27, 2009

Medication for Anxiety




Panic Away - End Anxiety and Panic Attacks

Panic Away - a highly successful course that has helped thousands overcome anxiety and panic attacks quickly.
See for yourself! Check it out with no obligation and see videos of people who have used it.



Filed under: Uncategorized, anxiety, drugs, medication, treatment — Tags: , , — admin @ 9:26 pm

There is lots of medication for anxiety available on the market. Almost all of it is only available on prescription from a doctor.

Normally, Patients presenting with anxiety are offered Selective Serotonin Re-uptake Inhibitors (SSRI for short). This family of medication is considered suitable if the anxiety disorder is ongoing, as SSRI’s are not suitable for short term use. They tend to take at least four weeks to start working (although some people claim to feel better in as little as two days) and aren’t thought to be fully effective until they have been taken for 6 weeks to two months. The common SSRI’s are:

Other drugs which might also be prescribed and are similar to SSRI’s are SNRI’s or Serotonin-norepinephrine Reuptake Inhibitors. The most commonly prescribed SNRI is Venlafaxine (Effexor). SNRI’s are newer than SSRI’s and tend to be slightly better tolerated with fewer side effects. They were designed to treat depression but are also a medication for anxiety. Likewise they are prescribed for long term use, normally six months or more and sometimes years.

If a medication for anxiety which is short term is needed then there are various other options. In times of extreme grief or pain, or when panic attacks are severe, a short acting anxiolytic might be used. The normal choice would be one of the Benzodiazepine family:

Benzodiazepines are good because they work quickly (less than an hour even) and are very good at what they do – stopping anxiety and panic. In a way they are the ultimate medication for anxiety. The problem is that if they are taken for too long they become less effective and can become addictive. Constant use for more then three weeks is rarely advised.

Another drug that is not a Benzodiazepine is Buspirone, which is said to be as good as a Benzodiazipine for reducing anxiety but non-addictive and non-sedating. It has a better side-effect profile but can not be taken on an as needed basis. It has to be taken daily and takes two or three weeks to take effect. As it is non-addictive it is much better suited to long-term use Benzodiazepines.

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September 22, 2009

Treatment for Panic Attacks




Panic Away - End Anxiety and Panic Attacks

Panic Away - a highly successful course that has helped thousands overcome anxiety and panic attacks quickly.
See for yourself! Check it out with no obligation and see videos of people who have used it.



Filed under: anxiety, drugs, medication, panic, treatment — Tags: , , , , — admin @ 10:50 pm

Treatment for Panic Attacks in mainstream medicine revolves around two things: medication and CBT (Cognitive Behavior Therapy).

Medication tends to fall into two categories: SSRI’s and Benzodiazepines.

The SSRI’s, like prozac, celexa, zoloft etc have pros and cons. They are clinically proven to be effective (although all data from big pharma companies has been called in question at sometime or other). Unfortunately they do have side-effects of which weight gain, nausea (normally temporarily) and sexual dysfunction/loss of libido  (normally temporary) are the most severe and commonly reported. SSRI’s normally take 4-6 weeks to start working and may need to be tapered off slowly at the end of treatment.

Benzodiazepines, like Xanax alprazolam and valium also have pros and cons. They are fast working, normally taking considerably less than an hour to kick in, and are extremely effective. On the downside they can be highly addictive and therefore are not best suited to long term use (although they are prescribed long term sometimes). They also can effect concentration and alertness so hinder the consumer’s ability to drive for example.

Lots of people want a drug-free approach and find a method like PanicAway works well. It’s like visiting a professional except you follow a program and achieve everything yourself. it’s highly effective and more cost-effective than private CBT.

On the CBT front, over ten or twelve sessions a trained therapist will help you see panic attacks for what they are (harmless natural responses which appear nasty), will show you how to rationalize out the faulty and extreme negative thinking which causes panic attacks, and show you some physical techniques to calm your breathing and relax your mind and body.

Some people argue that CBT doesn’t really get to the heart of the problem, that you need some kind of psychotherapy to do that. Others argue psychotherapy is a pointless and long-winded waste of money.

Often a combination of therapy and drugs work best.

There are other potential treatments for panic attacks involving herbs and supplements like 5-htp which many people swear by. It should be noted that the effects of long term use of these other therapies has not bee fully studied.

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September 15, 2009

Avoid weight gain SSRI’s




Panic Away - End Anxiety and Panic Attacks

Panic Away - a highly successful course that has helped thousands overcome anxiety and panic attacks quickly.
See for yourself! Check it out with no obligation and see videos of people who have used it.



Filed under: Uncategorized, anxiety, medication, panic, tryptophan — Tags: , , , , , , , — admin @ 3:46 pm

Lots of people have had weight gain problems with  Celexa (citalopram) and Cipralex/Lexapro (escitalopram). Indeed most psychotropic drugs can potentially cause weight gain.

Advice for  avoiding weight gain.

Firstly let’s cover the basics: try to eat well, make sure you eat whole foods, complex carbohydrates and keep refined sugars and processed fats to a minimum. Also, take plenty of exercise. Whether you are taking an SSRI for depression, panic attacks or anxiety you are almost guaranteed to feel better to some extent just by exercising. It also of course keeps weight off.

Now the clever part: One hour or so before meals it a high carbohydrate snack. This could be some fruit, some oatcakes, even high cocoa content chocolate. Don’t eat too much, say a couple of hundred calories, and try to eat something that isn’t too refined, so your body burns it slowly.

You should then find that this carbohydrate snack has boosted the Serotonin levels in your brain and that this will limit your food cravings. (click here to understand why carbohydrates boost Serotonin levels.) Your appetite will return to more reasonable levels and you should keep/gain control of your weight. Worth a try anyway!

Also read:

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July 23, 2007

rimonabant – Risks too high




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Filed under: Acomplia, anxiety, ban, depression, licence, medication, rimonabant, self-harm, stress, suicide — admin @ 12:08 pm

Rimonabant (also known as Acomplia) is a drug which is used to treat obese patients with a risk of developing diabetes.

As I blogged about a month or so ago, the drug is considered controversial. There is now evidence to suggest that one in every ten people that take the drug suffer from some kind of psychiatric side-effect.

We say this is too high! Mental health issues are not taken seriously enough, and any drug which has this much potential to cause psychiatric side-effects should be banned (as it is already in the USA).

Treating diabetes and obesity related cardiovascular disease is important, but not at the risk of causing suicidal thoughts, depression, and, in one known case, self-harm.

It is time for some joined up thinking when it comes to medication which effects how our brain functions. The organisations and bodies that licence drugs need to be better prepared to stop harmful drugs reaching patients. This habit of stopping drugs which have now been used , and done harm, for some time has to be replaced by a more efficient system.

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March 20, 2006

Celexa, citalopram – a personal experience




Panic Away - End Anxiety and Panic Attacks

Panic Away - a highly successful course that has helped thousands overcome anxiety and panic attacks quickly.
See for yourself! Check it out with no obligation and see videos of people who have used it.



Filed under: Uncategorized, citalopram, drugs, medication, ssri, treatment — admin @ 10:21 pm

Celexa, is the brand name of a drug called Citalopram Hydrobromide which is one of the most widely prescribed Selective Serotonin Uptake Inhibitors (SSRIs) on the market. It is widely used to treat major depression, panic disorder, anxiety, and agoraphobia. Many people think a none drug approach is better, and suggest something like Panic Away to help you relax and get over anxiety.

I used this drug for some time, taking the standard dosage of 20mg a day. Occasionally larger doses are prescribed if 20mg are found to be insufficient, and often the elderly or inform are started on a lower dose of 10mg which is increased when tolerance has been established.

Side effects are what most people think about first when anti depressants are mentioned, there has been much made in the media about addiction and suicide. Celexa does have a good side effects profile, to you and me that means that the side effects are usually mild and short lived. And in terms of addiction the relative long half life of the drug (the amount of time it spends in your system) means that it is much easier to come off than drugs like Seroxat (Paroxetine Paxil, Seroxat, Deroxat). Side effects that I encountered included very short lived bouts of dizziness, lasting less than a few seconds, and a week long drop in libido. Within a week all side effects had effectively passed and I never had anything that made me want to stop taking the drug. I never really experienced nausea or a dry mouth, and my sleeping improved quickly. I would say that on the very first day of taking the drug I felt as weird as I have ever felt in my whole life. I felt a spacey depression that was most unusual and odd. I would describe it as absolute helplessness. It passed later that day when I applied some techniques that I had recently learnt. (more on that tomorrow)

Would I recommend Celexa?

Well, from a side effect standpoint I would have no qualms (although of course everyone one is different and some people can not tolerate Celexa).

The question is, does it work?

Well, I think that it stops the really dire lows and keeps you stable, but it is not a pep pill and it does not put you on cloud nine. Neither does it change your outlook on life or your major cognitions, so while it does make desensitization easier if for example you were agoraphobic, it won’t make problems disappear, or didn’t for me anyway. For that you do need to use therapy as well as drug treatment. Drugs are just symptomatic relief.

Please read the disclaimer.

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March 1, 2006

5 – HTP Anxiety Remedy?




Panic Away - End Anxiety and Panic Attacks

Panic Away - a highly successful course that has helped thousands overcome anxiety and panic attacks quickly.
See for yourself! Check it out with no obligation and see videos of people who have used it.



Filed under: anxiety, depression, medication, supplement, tryptophan — Tags: , , , — admin @ 12:21 pm

5 HTP has been touted as a cure for various Serotonin deiciency related illnesses such as Anxiety, Panic Attacks, weight los, insomnia, and depression. 5 HTP, or 5 hydroxytryptophan to give it it’s full name, is manufactured from an African Plant called Griffonia simplicifolia, it is not really practical to get enough of this in your natural diet, so concentrated supplement form is the only way forward. It is commonly found in Healthfood shops and is not normally classed as a drug.

Dosage of 5 HTP. When it comes to supplements slack regulations allow manufacturers to be vague. For anxiety, depression, panic attacks and agoraphobia normally 50-100 mg are recommended three times a day. This can be adjusted depending on success and tolerance. For insomnia a single dose half an hour before bed is recommended, again of approximately 50-100 mg. For weight control the same dosage is suggested twenty to thirty minutes before eating. To avoid side effects it is better to start on a low dose and gradually increase.


Dangers: 5-HTP is pretty safe ***but*** there is some evidence that 5-htp can cause damage to heart valves over time…I can find no definitive scientific answer to this question, so maybe more research is needed.  It is not associated with the same number of severity of side effects as traditional medical antidepressants such as Prozac, Celexa, and the other SSRIs. There was a rumpus in the past about a contaminated batch of l-tryptophan in the USA which caused serious illness and death. This was not due to the supplement but to the contamination of one brand in one factory.

Side effects: nausea, constipation, gas, drowsiness, or a decreased sex drive. These are usually mild if present at all, and pass quickly. Generally 5-htp’s side effects are considered to be much less than SSRIs. Check this post on 5-HTP side effects as well.

Length of time
Generally it can take 2-4 weeks for 5 htp to start working, or achieve clinical effectiveness

Efficacy of 5 HTP
Definitely some clinical trials have found that 5-htp is for some people more effective than SSRIs. As ever the results of all the studies are hard to interpret and be sure about as researchers are oftened skewed. Pharmacology is a dirty business.

Warnings etc
Speak to your doctor! 5 HTP can react badly with SSRIs, MOAIs, some over the counter medications and may not be suitable for everyone. Speak to your doctor! (worth saying twice!)

In my opinion, 5 HTP can do good things for the anxiety, panic attack, and agoraphobia sufferer. It may be possible to get the same effect by increasing tryptophan rich foods into your diet! More about that tomorrow!

Cheers.

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