Pronunciation: lor-A-ze-pam
Chemical Abstracts Service Registry Number: 846-49-1
Formal Names: Ativan, Temesta
Type: Depressant (benzodiazepine class).
Federal Schedule Listing: Schedule IV (DEA no. 2885)
USA Availability: Prescription
Pregnancy Category: D

Lorazepam [Ativan, Temesta] Uses. This antianxiety drug is also known for its sedative properties and is used to promote sleep and to fight convulsions. The substance is given to treat status epilepticus, a dangerous condition in which people have one epileptic seizure after another, back-to-back. It can reduce and sometimes even eliminate vomiting from cancer chemotherapy.  Lorazepam has been used to treat LSD and methamphetamine overdose and has been a standard medicine to help alcoholics through the alcohol withdrawal syndrome. Recreational sedative users report euphoria from lorazepam. When given experimentally in combination with other drugs, it has helped reduce depression. In contrast, experimentation using motion picture excerpts to evoke particular emotions found that lorazepam may reduce happy feelings and increase unhappy ones. One study found that lorazepam worked as well as alprazolam for treating panic attacks, and a case report tells of success in treating mania. Lorazepam has been used to cure both catatonia (in which people are frozen in place) and akathisia (compulsive moving around). Patients being prepared for surgery receive the drug to calm them and to cloud their memory of the event. Read the rest of this entry »

Pronunciation: kloh-NA-zuh-pam
Chemical Abstracts Service Registry Number: 1622-61-3
Formal Names: Iktorivil, Klonopin, Lansden, Rivotril
Type: Depressant (benzodiazepine class). See page 21
Federal Schedule Listing: Schedule IV (DEA no. 2737)
USA Availability: Prescription
Pregnancy Category: D

Clonazepam [Klonopin/Rivotril] Uses. Clonazepam is considered one of the more powerful benzodiazepine class drugs. Primary medical uses are against some kinds of convulsions, particularly in certain kinds of epilepsy, and against panic attacks. For persons suffering from panic attacks, measurements indicate the drug improves both quality of life and work productivity. The drug is also used as an antidepressant and to treat anxiety, catatonia, obsessive-compulsive disorder, the manic phase of manic-depressive behavior, and social phobia in general. A two-year follow-up study of persons receiving brief clonazepam treatment for social phobia found their improvement to be sustained after dosage stopped, and at the two-year mark they were doing better than a control group that had received a placebo. Clonazepam is sometimes preferred over alprazolam in treating anxiety because that condition seems less likely to reappear between doses of clonazepam than between doses of alprazolam. Read the rest of this entry »

Pronunciation: al-PRAY-zoh-lam (also pronounced al-PRAZ-oh-lam)
Chemical Abstracts Service Registry Number: 28981-97-7
Formal Names: Alplax, Frontal, Solanax, Tafil, Trankimazin, Xanax, Xanor, Zotran
Type: Depressant (benzodiazepine class).
Federal Schedule Listing: Schedule IV (DEA no. 2882)
USA Availability: Prescription
Pregnancy Category: D

Alprazolam [Xanax, Xanor, Tafil] Uses. Uses. This calming and sleep-inducing substance is probably the most frequently prescribed drug in the benzodiazepine class. Alprazolam is used mainly to help persons suffering from panic attacks and other anxiety disorders, but it is not recommended for posttraumatic stress disorder. The compound can dramatically lessen premenstrual syndrome (PMS) and is routinely given to women of child-bearing age. Improvement of PMS is not invariable, however, and two careful experiments yielded results showing little benefit. Theoretical reasons and results from a rat experiment suggest that alprazolam may help maintain bone mass. That action may be especially important to athletes and elderly women, who commonly suffer loss of bone mass—an affliction making breakage easier. The drug has been tested as an asthma treatment with encouraging results, though reasons for success are unclear. Some researchers believe the drug has potential in diabetes control. In an experiment measuring alprazolam’s pain-relieving properties, the drug reduced the severity but not the frequency of chronic tension headaches. The compound has antidepressant and anticonvulsant properties, has been used to treat ringing in the ears and to alleviate tremors and catatonia, and has been found useful in easing alcohol withdrawal symptoms in alcoholics. A rat study suggests that alprazolam may also have a place in treating cocaine addiction. Measurements find the drug worsens snoring but improves quality of sleep (at least for the snorers). Read the rest of this entry »

1. If it is the first time you’ve had an attack, try to define the emotional factors which could provoke a strong feeling of anxiety. Find the connection between your feelings, state and antecedent events. Analyze the problem and try to solve it.
2. Try not to develop a limiting conduct even if your panic attack occurred on the street or in the transport. Keep on using a transport and have as active way of life as it is possible.
3. Having the first signs of the panic attack take some benzodiazepines, for example Xanax, Diazepam, Valium, Alprazolam or other. Bear this medication with yourself. After taking the medication, effect is felt in about 20-30 minutes. Such medications as Xanax may stop the attack in full or smooth away the symptoms. With a help of the medication you will stand the panic attack in a benign.
4. If the panic attack happened in a public place – try to take the medication quickly and sit calmly about a half an hour till you feel the sedative action of the drug. If you have not taken the medicine with yourself then try to relax at first, sit for some time and then go back home or to your office (asking not to disturb you). If you still feel bad - call for an Ambulance.
5. During the panic attack try to breathe evenly and calmly even if you want to breathe more frequently. A tachypnoe may provoke a hyperventilation syndrome when with an increase of breathing frequency - a feeling of fear and anxiety increases and as a result they in their turn make you breathe more and more frequently and so on.
6. If your hands and feet grow cold during the panic attack, try to warm them using a hot water for example. You may also take a hot bath if you are at home at that moment. But you should do it only if you have your extremities growing cold however if you have a fever and high blood pressure - you should not do it! This method also helps to stop quickly an attack.
7. It is also not unreasonable to tell about your state to someone among your close relatives who may support you.