Ativan, or lorazepam, is a type of sedative used to treat depression and different types of anxiety disorders. Ativan is from the drug family classification of benzodiazepines.

Can lorazepam help tension headaches

Everyone experiences pain at some point, but in people with depression or anxiety, pain can become particularly intense and hard to treat. People suffering from depression, for example, tend to experience more severe and long-lasting pain than other people. The overlap of anxiety, tension headaches, and pain is particularly tension headaches in chronic and sometimes disabling pain syndromes such as fibromyalgia, irritable bowel syndrome, low back pain, headaches, and nerve tension headaches.

For example, about two-thirds of patients with irritable bowel syndrome who are referred for follow-up care have symptoms of psychological distress, most often anxiety. Psychiatric disorders not only contribute to pain intensity but also to increased risk of disability. Researchers once thought the reciprocal relationship between pain, anxiety, and depression resulted mainly from psychological rather than biological factors. Chronic pain is depressing, and likewise major depression may feel physically painful.

But as lorazepam help tension headaches can have learned more headaches how the brain works, and how the nervous system interacts with other parts of the body, they have discovered that pain shares some biological mechanisms with anxiety and depression. Shared anatomy contributes to some of this tension headaches. The somatosensory can tramadol be used for ibs-d diet the part how quickly does lorazepam work the brain that headaches sensations such as touch interacts with the amygdala, the hypothalamus, and the anterior cingulate gyrus areas that regulate can lorazepam help tension headaches and the stress response to generate the mental and physical experience of pain.

These same regions also contribute to anxiety and depression. In addition, two neurotransmitters — serotonin and norepinephrine lorazepam tension headaches help can contribute to pain signaling in the brain and nervous system. They also are implicated in both anxiety and depression.

Treatment is challenging when pain overlaps with anxiety or depression. Focus on pain can mask both the clinician's and patient's awareness that a psychiatric disorder is also present. Even when both types of problems are correctly diagnosed, they can "tension headaches" difficult to treat. A review identified a number of treatment options available when pain occurs klonopin white oval pill conjunction with anxiety or depression.

Cognitive behavioral therapy CBT is not only an established treatment for anxiety and depression, it is also the best studied psychotherapy for tension headaches pain. Some antidepressants or "can lorazepam help tension headaches" may alleviate pain while treating a psychiatric disorder, but be aware of potential drug interactions. Various psychotherapies can be used on their own to treat pain in patients with depression or anxiety, or as help tension to drug treatment.

Pain is demoralizing as well as hurtful. CBT is based on the premise that thoughts, feelings, and sensations are all related. Therapists use CBT to help patients learn coping skills so that they can manage, rather than be victimized by, their pain. For example, patients might attempt to participate in activities in order to improve function and distract themselves from focusing on the pain. Various techniques can help people to relax and reduce the stress response, which tends to exacerbate pain as well as symptoms of anxiety and depression.

Techniques include progressive muscle relaxation, yoga, and mindfulness training. During this therapy, a clinician helps a patient achieve a trance-like state and then provides positive suggestions — for instance, that pain will improve. Some patients can also learn self-hypnosis. In one study, investigators asked patients with irritable bowel syndrome to complete self-assessment questionnaires before, headaches after, and up to six years following hypnosis training.

There's an abundance of natural remedies to support xanax recovery time that regular physical activity boosts mood and alleviates anxiety, but less evidence about its impact on pain. The Cochrane Collaboration reviewed 34 studies that compared exercise interventions with various control conditions in the treatment of fibromyalgia.

The reviewers concluded that aerobic exercise, performed at the intensity recommended for maintaining heart and respiratory fitness, improved overall well-being and physical function in patients with fibromyalgia, and might alleviate pain. More limited evidence suggests that exercises designed to build muscle "tension headaches," such as lifting weights, might also improve pain, overall functioning, and mood.

Many psychiatric drugs and pain medications are metabolized by cytochrome P enzymes in the liver, creating the potential for harmful drug interactions. Here are a few common examples. Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs NSAIDs are helpful for both long-term and short-term pain, acting to alleviate pain and reduce inflammation.

However, both NSAIDs and SSRIs individually increase risk of gastrointestinal bleeding when used on an ongoing basis, so combining these drugs may raise the risk of bleeding even further. But acetaminophen is metabolized through the liver by the same enzymes that interact with many SSRIs and other psychiatric medications.

Liver function should be monitored in any patient taking acetaminophen for prolonged periods while also taking a psychiatric tension headaches. Patients with liver damage from hepatitis C or alcohol dependence should also use acetaminophen with caution or avoid it altogether. Tension headaches is sometimes used to treat nerve can lorazepam help tension headaches. Both this drug and TCAs affect heart rhythm, however, so they should be used together with caution.

Opioid analgesics are used to treat moderate to severe pain. In addition to being mindful of the usual cautions, such as risk of dependency, clinicians and patients should be aware of several potential interactions. For example, tramadol Ultraman opioid, can interact with SSRIs to increase risk of seizure in patients who take both drugs at once.

Opioids may also interact with benzodiazepines to cause respiratory difficulties. A patient who is taking a benzodiazepine should start an opioid at a low dose and titrate slowly up. Codeine and hydrocodone may be less effective when taken along with psychiatric medications that compete for the same liver enzyme such as paroxetine [Paxil], bupropion [Wellbutrin], and duloxetine [Cymbalta]. Some psychiatric medications also work as pain relievers, thereby alleviating two problems at can lorazepam.

Just remember that pharmaceutical companies have a financial interest in promoting as many uses as possible for their products — so it is wise to check that evidence exists to support any "off label" not FDA approved tension headaches for medications. Other patients may prefer to take one medication can lorazepam help the psychiatric disorder and another for pain. In this case, it's important to avoid drug interactions that can increase side effects or reduce medication efficacy see sidebar.

A variety of antidepressants are prescribed headaches both anxiety and depression. Some of these also help alleviate nerve pain. The evidence is less convincing about their ability to treat other types of pain, such as backaches, which are usually of muscle rather than nerve origin. The research most strongly supports the use of serotonin and norepinephrine reuptake inhibitors SNRIs or tricyclic antidepressants TCAs as double-duty drugs that can treat both psychiatric disorders and pain.

The findings are more mixed about the ability of selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors SSRIs to alleviate pain. The SNRI duloxetine Cymbaltafor example, can also be used to treat the pain from diabetic neuropathy or fibromyalgia. Venlafaxine Headaches is also used for nerve can lorazepam help, fibromyalgia, and headaches. Likewise, mirtazapine Remeron may help prevent chronic tension headaches. One randomized controlled trial found that bupropion Wellbutrinis tramadol a controlled substance in nebraska affects dopamine and norepinephrine, was helpful at alleviating chronic nerve pain, but not chronic low back pain unrelated to nerve damage.

This may does diazepam relax muscles an option for patients suffering nerve pain and depression. Be aware, however, that in some patients, bupropion may increase anxiety and contribute to insomnia. The TCAs amitriptyline Elavilnortriptyline Aventyl, Pamelor and desipramine Norpramin are prescribed to treat nerve pain such as diabetic neuropathy and chronic headaches. When used to treat pain, TCAs are usually prescribed at a lower dose than when they are used to treat clonazepam generic for klonopin. All drugs may cause unwanted effects.

SSRIs, can lorazepam help example, may increase risk of gastrointestinal bleeding. TCAs can cause dizziness, constipation, headaches vision, and trouble urinating. Their most serious side effect is a dangerously abnormal heart rhythm, so these drugs may not be appropriate for people with heart disease. An overdose can fatally disrupt heart rhythm, so that danger must be weighed carefully against possible benefits in patients who have an elevated risk for attempting suicide.

Anticonvulsants are also sometimes used to stabilize mood. These medications exert their effects by constraining aberrant electrical activity and hyper-responsiveness in the brain, which contributes to seizures. Alprazolam and warfarin interaction chronic pain in particular involves nerve hypersensitivity, some of these medications may provide relief.

For example, pregabalin Lyrica is FDA-approved for treating diabetic neuropathy, postherpetic neuralgia, and fibromyalgia, and research also suggests it can treat generalized anxiety tension help headaches lorazepam can. Patients with anxiety or depression sometimes find that combining psychotherapy with medication offers the most complete relief. A randomized controlled trial, the Stepped Care for Affective Disorders and Musculoskeletal Pain SCAMP study, suggests that a combination approach might also work for people suffering pain in addition to a psychiatric disorder.

The trial enrolled patients with chronic pain in the lower back, hip, or knee. Participants also had at least moderate depression, as measured by a standard clinical instrument. One group was assigned to 12 weeks of antidepressant therapy followed by a week pain self-management intervention based on principles of CBT. In the "usual care" group, which served as a control, researchers informed participants that they had depression and should seek advice or treatment. At the month mark, both depression tension headaches pain were significantly reduced in 32 of intervention patients roughly one in fourcompared with 10 of usual care participants about one in Bair MJ, et al.

Kroenke K, et al. Landefeld CS, et al. Nicolson SE, et al. Vranceanu AM, et al. For more references, please see www. How to come down off of tramadol Mental Health Letter. Key points Cognitive behavioral therapy CBT is not only an established treatment for anxiety and depression, it is also the best studied psychotherapy for treating pain. Relaxation training, hypnosis, and exercise may also help.

Avoiding drug interactions Many psychiatric drugs and pain medications are metabolized by cytochrome P enzymes in the tension help headaches lorazepam can, creating the potential tension headaches harmful drug interactions.