What kind of medicine is alprazolam?

Posted on October 13, 2008
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Have you ever heard of alprazolam? If not, this may change in the future. Despite a difficult to remember name, alprazolam is one of the most popular medicines in today’s day and age. You may know this medicine under one of its other names: Niravam or Xanax.

Alprazolam is used to treat anxiety disorders as well as panic attacks. Additionally, alprazolam has been shown to be an effective way of treating clinical depression.

Believe it or not, alprazolam was first released in 1981. The only reason that this medicine did not become more popular earlier on is that doctors did not diagnose anxiety disorders nearly as much in the past. The first prescriptions for alprazolam were written for patients fighting a panic disorder.

At this time, alprazolam is FDA approved to treat panic disorders on a short term basis. In this case, short term means up to eight weeks of treatment. It is suggested that alprazolam is only used for periods of time less than eight weeks because the human body begins to become tolerant to the effects after this.

Xanax is by far the most commonly prescribed form of alprazolam. Of course, there are quite a few generic names for alprazolam as well. They include Alprax, Azor, Calmax, Kalma, Neurol, and Trika among others.

Now that you know what alprazolam is used for, you will be armed with the right information should your doctor ever prescribe one of these drugs.

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