Anxiety Medication Side Effects - Explained

Anxiety continues to be one of the most common medical problems facing Americans today. However, it is not a problem unique to America. Anxiety is a global problem affecting millions of people from all walks of life and on every continent.

Modern anxiety medication, including antidepressants and benzodiazepines, have become the most commonly prescribed drugs in the United States according to a recent government study. Over 120 million prescriptions for these drugs are written every year in the United States alone.

The truth is these drugs work very well for many people. Popular anxiety drugs such as Paxil Zoloft Prozac Xanax Lexapro Ativan Wellbutrin Effexor Librium Desyrel Elavil and Celexa offer relief to thousands of people suffering from anxiety disorders.

But modern anti-anxiety drugs are far from the perfect cure. Here is a list of the most common anxiety medication side effects:

• Dry mouth
• Constipation
• Weight gain
• Bladder problems
• Sexual problems
• Blurred vision
• Dizziness
• Drowsiness
• Increased heart rate
• Headaches
• Heart palpitations
• Nausea
• Nervousness and insomnia
• Agitation (feeling jittery)
• Nightmares

Anxiety medication side effects are common and the implications of long-term anxiety drug use are still largely unknown. The decision to start anxiety drug treatment is not one to be taken lightly. Before you decide to start such treatment there are some key points to consider:

• Antidepressants can cause serious side effects including risk of suicide
• Antidepressants can increase symptoms of anxiety depression in some cases
• Antidepressants are completely ineffective in up to 50% of cases
• Antidepressants can be as addictive as narcotics
• Antidepressants frequently cause serious withdrawal symptoms upon discontinuation

Earlier this year (2008) an alarming report was released by the acclaimed New England Journal Of Medicine. The report shows the effectiveness of antidepressant drugs has been severely over hyped. It turns out the pharmaceutical companies that produce antidepressant drugs are publishing the results of only positive clinical trial data in medical journals while suppressing all the negative data. In cases where negative clinical study data is published, the negative parts are being rewritten to appear positive or simply being omitted altogether.

Since doctors rely primarily on this published medical journal data they are getting a skewed view of the effectiveness and safety of antidepressant drugs. As far as they know, little evidence exists to make them think twice about prescribing antidepressants to their patients. As a result, many more patients are ending up on frequently ineffective and dangerous antidepressant drugs.

So is there any good news?

Yes. The good news is that there are natural alternatives available to treat anxiety disorders. In fact they have been around far longer than pharmaceutical drugs have.

But do these natural anxiety remedies really work?

Most people don realize that about 25% of all prescription drugs are derived from trees, shrubs, and herbs. While not effective in every case, natural anxiety remedies work in nearly as many cases as anxiety drugs do. The advantages of natural herbal treatments for anxiety over antidepressant drugs are:

• Fewer less serious side effects
• No chance of addiction
• They rarely make anxiety symptoms worse
• No problem with dangerous withdrawal symptoms upon discontinuance