Anxiety Meds Can Have Dangerous Interactions With Certain Drugs

Anxiety Meds Can Have Dangerous Interactions With Certain Drugs    

Among Them Are Meds For Treating Acid Reflux, Insomnia, And Also Painkillers    

Certain drugs can have adverse effects on anxiety drugs, such as Benzodiazepines (Also known as “Benzos”), which are prescribed for anxiety, insomnia or panic disorder. Among these anxiety, drugs are Xanax (alprazolam), Valium (diazepam), Ativan (lorazepam), and Klonopin (clonazepam). The effects might be oversedation, accidents, or overdose. Other effects of the interactions are a decrease of benzo in the bloodstream, resulting in withdrawal effects such as severe being seizures or even death. Among the drugs that have dangerous interactions with benzodiazepines are opioids, such as the painkillers OxyContin (oxycodone), morphine, and Vicodin (hydrocodone), which can cause cardiorespiratory depression, and increase the risk of overdose and death. According to statistics, 75% of deaths related to benzodiazepines also involved an opioid. Another interaction to watch for are insomnia drugs, such as including Ambien (zolpidem), Lunesta (eszopiclone), and Sonata (zaleplon), which have a similar mechanism to benzos and can cause episodes of amnesia. Acid reflux drugs such as proton pump inhibitors (PPIs), such as Prilosec (omeprazole), Nexium (esomeprazole), Prevacid (lansoprazole), and Protonix (pantoprazole), are also dangerous to combine with benzos, because they increase the level of benzodiazepines in the blood, and might worsen the effects of these drugs, including confusion, dizziness, sedation, falls and impaired driving. The fourth group of drugs to watch is fluoroquinolone antibiotics such as Cipro (ciprofloxacin), Levaquin (levofloxacin), and Avelox (moxifloxacin), which compete for the same binding site as benzodiazepines. This means that both drugs cannot work at the same time and one drug blocks the effect of the other. Therefore, the antibiotics block the benzos, resulting in withdrawal effects from the latter, in the form of increased heartbeat and dizziness. Additional information click here.