As you search for the magic anti-anxiety elixir you should always take careful note of what you are ingesting. In most cases a so called anxiety busting drug may be of interest to you for obvious reasons but you should always consider the side effects.

One of the fastest ways to get into trouble with anxiety drugs is by using drugs that were not designed to treat anxiety in the first place. This type of drug use is sometimes called “off label ” drug use. In other words you find a drug that was designed to treat kidney infections but you take it because it might help your nerves (so you heard) but this could lead to problems.

One of the best examples of an off label drug is Neurontin . Neurontin (Gabapentin) is a drug that was initially designed to combat seizures in epileptic patients and is also used to treat pain associated with shingles (herpes zoster). At some point however someone figured that Neurontin was also helping their anxiety.

However the Food and Drug Administration or FDA has only approved Neurontin for the treatment of seizures. To date there is no study or series of studies to suggest that it is effective or safe in the treatment of anxiety. Neurontin is an anti-convulsant and not an anxiety medication.

This distinction matters since taking Neurontin can create side effects – side effects which may worsen your anxiety. Now although Neurontin has been used to treat anxiety, bipolar disorder, depression and even restless leg syndrome this doesn’t mean that taking this stuff is a good idea. Why?

There are two core reasons why it’s not advisable or prudent to take Neurontin to treat anxiety. The primary reason for not taking this drug to treat anxiety is related to a Food and Drug Administration report released in January 2008. The report states that people taking Neurontin or other anti epileptic drug have a 50% higher chance of committing or thinking about suicide.

Secondly, Neurontin may increase feelings of depression and increase anxious feelings and thoughts. According to the report “all patients who take anti-epileptic drugs should be closely monitored… for the emergence or worsening of suicidal thoughts or depression”.

Those, I think, are very good reasons not to use this drug for the treatment of anxiety disorder. But just in case you think that suicide and depression can be handled Neurontin may also cause these side effects:

• paranoia
• memory loss
• dizziness
• nausea
• fatigue
• Viral infections

Treatment induced Neurontin depression can also be problematic for an anxiety sufferer because many times anxiety is also accompanied by depression. So exposing yourself to a drug that could in fact worsen your depression can become dangerous.

The FDA is currently thinking about adding a warning label for suicidal thoughts and behavior on the drugs packaging. All things being equal the FDA alert should be just that – an alert, a warning.

We all sometimes get desperate for relief and seek a silver bullet to help us be our old selves. However that doesn’t mean that we should not do our due diligence when thinking about using a new medication to treat our anxiety.

In addition the off label use of drugs to treat anxiety is also of concern because these drugs are being prescribed for ailments outside the scope of their original purpose. Just because someone is willing to prescribe a drug outside it’s original purpose doesn’t always mean that it is a safe bet.

And although I don’t use drugs to treat my anxiety I also understand that many of you do. You know the generic, brand and scientific names for these drugs. You know the different dosages and retailers, etc. Drug use is just a fact of life for some, but just because you are comfortable with using drugs to treat your anxiety  doesn’t mean that you should put yourself at risk.

Always talk to your doctor about what drugs you are or might want to take and do some homework. Then and only then should you take a chance on a drug that wasn’t meant to heal your nerves.

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