What Are The Side Effects Of Anxiety Medication?

Anxiety disorders are one of several subtypes of mental health disorders out there, and within this category, there are several different disorders. Generalized anxiety disorder occurs when an individual experiences generally heightened anxiety about day-to-day life. A panic disorder occurs when someone has panic attacks. Obsessive-compulsive disorder refers to anxiety that centers around repetitive obsessions and compulsions. Social anxiety is anxiety that manifests in social situations, while specific phobias are extreme fears of specific things. Several medications are used to treat anxiety disorders, and each has different potential side effects. If patients are experiencing side effects as a result of your anxiety medication, it can help to talk to a doctor about them to see if the medication can be adjusted.

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Fatigue Or Drowsiness

Individuals who take anti-anxiety medications often experience fatigue or drowsiness. The two types of anxiety medication that most often cause drowsiness and tiredness are benzodiazepines and tricyclic antidepressants. The most common tricyclic antidepressants to cause tiredness are amitriptyline, imipramine, trimipramine, and doxepin. If these medications are making patients feel tired, they should talk to their doctor about whether they should change their dose or try another medication. Patients should not, however, stop taking their medication without first talking to their doctor. Benzodiazepines that can cause tiredness include lorazepam, diazepam, clonazepam, and alprazolam. Because benzodiazepines can cause dependence when taken for long periods, they should be prescribed only on a short-term basis until the anxiety is better managed. Patients might feel weak and drowsy immediately after taking their medication, and this feeling might last for anywhere from a couple of hours to multiple days. The exact levels of fatigue and time they last varies depending on the type of benzodiazepine a patient takes.

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Confusion

Confusion is a potential side effect of many medications for anxiety. Serious confusion can be a sign of a serious medical condition, so if individuals are suddenly experiencing confusion about where they are, what they're doing, or even who they are, they may need to seek emergency medical treatment. Other types of confusion are milder. Anxiety medications might cause impaired cognitive function on a few different levels. Patients might have trouble with short-term and long-term memory. It may also be difficult to focus on the tasks at hand, and patients may lose track of where they are in a task and need to start over. When reading a book or article, patients might need to reread the same passage several times for it to sink in. It might also be difficult to follow threads of different conversations, and patients might feel like they're missing things they normally wouldn't. When the confusion is serious enough to impact day-to-day functioning, patients need to talk to their doctor about potential ways to mitigate it.

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Issues Sleeping

Anxiety medication can sometimes cause issues sleeping, but at the same time, anxiety itself is well-known for causing sleep issues. If a patient's anxiety medication causes drowsiness, it can disrupt their overall sleep schedule. Varying medications can affect an individual's sleep and wake cycle. They might also give patients strange dreams or make them more likely to wake up in the middle of the night. If a patient's medication is making them so restless that sleep feels impossible, they should talk to their doctor.

With that said, the first thing to do is always to practice good sleep hygiene. Rather than lying in bed awake, if individuals are not asleep within twenty minutes, they should get up and do something relaxing, then try to sleep again. They should also keep the bedroom cool and lights dark or dimmed. If you can, reduce or eliminate outside noises. Individuals who live in noisy areas should consider using a white noise machine or headphones to reduce the amount of distracting noise filtering in. Some individuals also say that they benefit from journaling before bed, putting all their worries for the day down on paper to keep them out of their heads.

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Blurry Vision

Blurry vision is one of the most common ocular effects of anxiety medication, especially when patients are taking selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) to combat anxiety. SSRIs are the most commonly prescribed antidepressant and anxiety medication. They can cause trouble with near focusing because they affect the way the pupil functions, which then affects the way the eye perceives light. One of the most common places patients notice this is when they try to read. Focusing on the text on a page might be difficult, and they might need larger print than they did before. Patients who notice this tend to be younger, and they might need to use reading glasses. The blurry vision can usually be corrected, and on its own doesn't tend to be cause for concern. However, the changes in vision can become more serious or even debilitating if the patient already has another eye condition. Individuals with dry eye or glaucoma may find that the focusing issues from SSRIs severely impair their vision.

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Issues With Memory Or Concentration

Anti-anxiety medications can cause problems with memory or concentration similar to problems with confusion. They may slow down a patient's cognitive function and make it hard to focus on a task or remember what they're doing. Patients might feel like it takes a lot more time to get things done than it usually does. There might also be some impairment of an individual's executive functioning, which is the ability to prioritize and execute tasks. In older patients, these symptoms can become more serious. It's highly recommended for elderly patients to avoid taking medications that can impair their concentration and memory. If they do, they should monitor the effects closely with their doctor. Problems with concentration and memory can sometimes be mitigated by making lifestyle changes and learning coping strategies. There are ways to 'trick' the brain into focusing or to complete tasks without expending too much mental energy.