Prozac, an oral medicine, is classified under serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs), used as antidepressant medications. SSRIs have been proven to be extremely effective in treating anxiety disorders. Prozac has a stronger effect on energy levels compared to other SSRIs, making it greatly effective in treating cases where symptoms of depression and lack of energy are dominant. Despite its stimulating properties, it also works well on panic disorders.

Prozac works by halting the destruction of neurochemical serotonin, which controls moods, appetite, arousal, sleeping patterns and pain level of the patient and thus, causing an increase in serotonin levels, and relieves any anxiety symptoms that the patient experiences. An initial dosage of 10-60 milligrams of Prozac is usually prescribed, once a day over a period of 12 weeks. At the end of the prescription period, the dosage will then be reduced so that the levels of serotonin in the brain can be evened out.

There are many rumours about the risks of Prozac as a dangerous drug, but rest assured, if you have been prescribed Prozac by your doctor or psychiatrist, it should be extremely safe and effective for you. Though it may cause certain side effects or complications, these only apply to patients with other health complications, and your doctor or psychiatrist will make sure that it is safe for you before prescribing it. However, it is vital that you understand that you should never self-medicate with Prozac. Not all medications are the same for all patients. Remember to consult your doctor if you’re unsure about your medication regime.

Safe as it is, everyone reacts differently to different drugs. First, the effects of Prozac on foetal development are not yet to be known. Thus, psychiatrists and doctors will not attempt to prescribe Prozac to pregnant mothers. The Prozac treatment is also risky for patients with multiple health complications such as heart attacks, diabetic, seizures, liver disease, low blood sodium, bipolar disorder and bleeding disorders such as prolonged bleeding. Be sure to tell your doctor about your medical history as accurate as you can as to ensure that the right regime is prescribed to you.

You should also understand about the side effects that are associated with Prozac. Some common side effects include nausea, strange dreams, fever, skin rashes, dry mouth, constipation, diarrhoea and sexual dysfunction such as decrease in sex drive and delayed male ejaculation. However, these symptoms are not much to worry about as these are probably transient side effects, meaning that they are only temporary and will go away as soon as your body accustoms to the serotonin changes. The rest are the reaction to your anxiety levels due to Prozac, and are not as harmful as they seem. If high doses are taken, Prozac may cause an opposite effect, causing restlessness, nervousness or anxiety. Be sure to let your doctor know about these side effects so that he or she can advise you better on this.

Another boon concerning Prozac is that is does not have many withdrawal symptoms, as it has a longer half-life. Hence, the good news is that it will be easier for you to discontinue with the dosage or usage of Prozac the moment your anxiety disorder is cured.

Again, do remember that everybody responds differently to different kinds of drug so it is important to heed your doctor’s advice and never attempt to self-prescribe Prozac. If you take this treatment accordingly, be well assured that Prozac is safe and may be an effective treatment for you.

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The fear of an anxiety attack by itself can trigger an attack. This is true as reported by many anxiety disorder patients and after resolving the “meta” fear, most reported an immediate cessation of anxiety attacks.

Click Here To Learn how to get rid of the fear of anxiety attacks.

  ]]> http://www.anxietyattack.org/treating-anxiety-with-prozac/feed/ 0 http://www.anxietyattack.org/anxiety-diet/ http://www.anxietyattack.org/anxiety-diet/#comments Thu, 20 Aug 2009 07:42:56 +0000 admin http://www.anxietyattack.org/?p=118

	Watch Real People Discussing Ways To Deal With Anxiety Click here now!

Anxiety attacks’ symptoms differ from one person to another, but they are an experience that one is not likely to forget. In many cases they mimic heart attacks, which is why many panic attack sufferers are rushed to the emergency rooms of the hospitals. In order to reduce the frequency to their occurrences and their severity, apart from consulting a medical professional and acting on his or her recommendations, there is a lot that one can do on his or her own in order to alleviate stress and lessen your worries.

Choosing a healthy and balanced diet is a step in the right direction. When you eat the right food and take care of yourself your body will perform at its best. There are many different foods that you can incorporate into your diet that will help with dealing with anxiety. There are also certain foods and drinks you should try to avoid.

1. Very important is the daily consumption of fresh fruits and vegetables. Eating plenty of these high nutrient foods will not only make you feel better mentally, but it will also be good for your physical health as well.

2. Eat complex carbohydrates, such as potatoes, whole-wheat bread and pasta. In order to keep your blood sugar level under control it is important to eat at least three meals per day and two snacks in between meals. Studies have shown that when a person’s blood sugar drops this can actually cause them to feel anxious. One should also never miss breakfast – most dieticians recommend having your meal within one hour of getting out of bed.

3. Drink enough water – the quantity depends on the person’s weight and his physical activities, but as a rule one should drink at least eight glasses of water every day. Even mild dehydration will affect one’s mood.

4. Many people are sensitive to certain types of food, food ingredients or spices, the most common being dairy products, nuts, shellfish, and wheat. If you notice that certain type of food alters your mood then try your best to avoid it.

5. It also very beneficial for a person that is dealing with anxiety to take multi-vitamin supplements! The vitamin that many medical practitioners recommend to the anxiety sufferers is the B vitamin; you can increase its intake either by purchasing supplements, or increase the percentage of B vitamin rich food in your diet.

6. If you are a coffee lover you should consider switching to tea or decaffeinated coffee. The caffeine is a well known stimulant and when taken in large quantities can actually induce anxiety attacks. You should also be aware of the fact that teas and certain sodas contain caffeine as well- make sure that you read the labels before buying your next bottle of fuzzy drink.

7. Avoid drinking alcohol or if you are a social drinker stick to a glass of wine; even though the link between alcohol and illegal substance abuse has not been fully understood, it has been proven that about 20% of the anxiety and depression sufferers in the US also suffer from alcohol or other substance abuse disorder.

By following some of the dieting recommendations in this article you will not only live a healthier life holistically, but you will also be treating your anxiety in a very productive way. Of course, in case of severe and frequent anxiety attacks you should always consult a doctor, seek therapy or medicine treatment, but in conjunction you should also change your diet, exercise, and apply some basic self-management techniques which will help you live a normal life with less stress and worries.

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The fear of an anxiety attack by itself can trigger an attack. This is true as reported by many anxiety disorder patients and after resolving the “meta” fear, most reported an immediate cessation of anxiety attacks.

Click Here To Learn how to get rid of the fear of anxiety attacks.

	Learn To Get Rid Of The Fear of Anxiety Attacks Click here now!

Once you have been diagnosed with anxiety disorder what is the best way to deal with it?

Get rid of the fear of your fear

Psychologists have confirmed that most anxiety attacks stem from fear. When a fearful thought creeps into the person’s mind, this will trigger an attack. Even the fear of an anxiety attack by itself, is a trigger and it is proven that this “meta” fear can be undone. Once this “meta” fear is resolved, the trigger is no longer there and anxiety attacks will cease to happen.

For a good resource on how to permanently resolve this “meta’ fear, click here.

Understand and analyze your worries

Your first step should be to understand and analyze your worries. Put your mind into work and carefully determine if your worries, fears, or phobias are justified: being afraid of a dog when one is growling at you is more than understandable, staying home all the time because you are afraid of dogs is quite unreasonable. Understanding the nature of your worries will help you decrease their power, it will also help you decide on the practical steps that you can take in order to overcome them.

Postpone worrying

This is not the same as ignoring your worries, this is more telling yourself that there’s no need to worry now about something that is only about to happen two weeks from now. This will actually help you reduce anxiety and is a very simple, yet very powerful technique. In many cases people worry about things that are insignificant or about future events that never materialize – postponing your worries might actually lead to avoiding them altogether.

Take action

Contrary to the popular belief most of us experience mild anxieties quite often. Consider this: you have to submit a large project two weeks from now and you haven’t started with it yet, but you keep worrying about meeting the deadline and finding the time to finish it. However, once you start working on that project, you are taking action, you are in control and your worries are less stressful. Ignoring your troubles and concerns would only make them worse.

Be positive

If you are obsessed with worries and dark thoughts all day long, then this might actually lead to a lot of troubles. This is also commonly known as “the power of thought” – instead of thinking and focusing all your energy on your anxiety, think of how you can successfully resolve your issues or take care of your troubles and this might actually happen.

Write down your worries

This is one of the most powerful ways to fight anxiety. This will also help you easily analyze the nature of your worries – if you are over-concerned with small and unimportant events and issues, then don’t give them a second thought, focus on the most important things in life!

Put a lid on your negative thoughts.

You can spend all day feeling angry and worried about small things or you can force yourself to have much happier thoughts. Yes, you are in control of your own brain and can actually decide on what you are thinking.

Don’t worry too much what other people think or say about you.

Many people are way too concerned what others think about them or if they are well-liked or not. Of course, we live in a society, and we all want to fit in and be well-accepted and appreciated. However, do not be over-consumed by what others think or say about you.

Talk about it

Talking about your worries with a friend or a medical professional will always do your good, for people with severe anxiety disorders few different therapies have been developed and most of them can be quite beneficial, but the above-mentioned actions and steps will help you better deal with your stress and anxiety.

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The fear of an anxiety attack by itself can trigger an attack. This is true as reported by many anxiety disorder patients and after resolving the “meta” fear, most reported an immediate cessation of anxiety attacks.

Learn how to get rid of the fear of anxiety attacks, and you will be able stop your problem naturally and effectively.

  ]]> http://www.anxietyattack.org/dealing-with-anxiety/feed/ 0 http://www.anxietyattack.org/symptoms-of-anxiety-disorder-in-children/ http://www.anxietyattack.org/symptoms-of-anxiety-disorder-in-children/#comments Sun, 09 Aug 2009 08:42:19 +0000 admin http://anxietyattack.org/?p=16

	Help Your Child To Defeat Anxiety And Reclaim His Life Click Here Now!

Anxiety disorders are very common amongst children and adolescents, and it is believed that 13% of them suffer from them. And even though they are very well documented, quite often they are misdiagnosed and if left untreated can lead to even further complications. Stressful events such as loss of parent or sibling, divorce or separation of the parents, abuse, family conflicts, moving to a new location or a new school can cause worries and in most cases these mild anxieties are quite normal. Once they start interfering with the child’s normal activities though, like the ability to learn and perform well in school, the ability to make new friends, and result in loss of normal sleep, then the child is suffering from anxiety disorder.

If a child is experiencing any of the symptoms below almost every day for at least six months, then it is likely that he or she is suffering from anxiety disorder. The most common physical symptoms are stomach ache, headache, muscle discomfort, hyper-activity, sleeping discomforts, diarrhea, feeling sick, chest tightness, etc.

Oftentimes, children do not outwardly show physical symptoms but if you suspect that your child is in a challenging situation, you should also monitor for non-physical symptoms. Some non-physical signs of anxiety disorders to watch out for are:

Worry – this, of course, is normal for any child and is usually experienced before a test, a school play that the child performs in, a field trip, or any other events that the child might see as important. However, children with anxiety disorders seem to worry excessively without any reason and they would worry excessively about school, friends, past or future events, or meeting new people.

Fear of separation is quite normal for infants and toddlers, but if this fear is experienced at a later stage, then this might be a sign of an anxiety disorder. An older child, who refuses to go anywhere without the parent, sleep alone, or go to school alone, might be suffering from anxiety.

Phobias – fear of particular situation that most people don’t find threatening. These phobias can be the extreme fear of dogs, closed spaces, heights, spiders, etc. Usually children with phobias will try everything in their power to avoid situations which scare them.

Panic attacks – just like adults, children can suffer from panic attacks too. In some cases they are associated with other anxiety disorder symptoms like phobias and stress, or they can be totally unexpected and unprovoked. These are often misdiagnosed and not treated on time, which in turn means that they might be experienced in the adulthood too. Panic attacks occur more often amongst teenagers than amongst younger children, and are usually associated with physical symptoms like nausea, palpitations, sweating, shaking, and numbness.

Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) – children can suffer from OCD just like the adults and in most cases that would translate into constantly washing their hands, repeating a certain “ritual,” or being obsessed with particular thoughts.

Selective mutism – this is a condition where the child stops speaking. It can be caused by other anxiety, as well as some biological factors. This is also quite often misunderstood since parents think that their child is simply refusing to speak while in fact he or she is unable to speak. This makes selective mutism one of the most overlooked anxiety disorders amongst children.

In most cases the anxiety disorders are diagnosed in children between the ages of six and eight, it is also believed that the temperament of the child is of importance as well: children and are shy and introverted are more likely to suffer from anxiety. Parents should always consult a doctor if they suspect that their child is showing symptoms of anxiety disorder since if they are not treated in time, this might lead to difficulties in the adult live of the child too.

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The fear of an anxiety attack by itself can trigger an attack. This is true as reported by many anxiety disorder patients and after resolving the “meta” fear, most reported an immediate cessation of anxiety attacks.

Learn how to get rid of the fear of anxiety attacks, and your child will be able to cope much better.

Watch Real People Discussing Ways To Deal With Anxiety. Help Your Child Now!