Posted by shadows721 on February 13, 2004, at 17:54:33
In reply to Re: anyone experienced w/ taking VISTARIL? for panic?, posted by AntiTrust on February 13, 2004, at 16:39:53
I found vistaril helpful for anxiety. Yes, it is an antihistamine. But, it is not useless. Some anethesiologist (sp?) use it prior to putting someone under anesthesia. It helps dry mucous membranes and relaxes the patient. Also, antihistamines have been used to calm psychotic patients too. This drug definately calms people at different dosages.
I was in the hospital for anxiety and depression. I did not want a benzo, so they gave me vistaril at very high dosages. It defiantly worked for me. I took about 200 mg. I was so anxious that nothing would knock me out. I did find the vistaril calming for me.
Remeron (antidepressant) has a function that effects this histamine receptor of the brain. This drug is not useless either. So, don't believe that an antihistimine is useless. Antihistamines calm the body down, so someone doesn't have a histamine response. A rapid histamine response in an allergic reaction can lead to death without the intervention of an antihistamine. Therefore, antihistamines are very important and useful for many reasons other than an allergic reaction.
Antihistamines cause a vasodilation of the bronchioles and slows breathing down. This is a calming element to the body's whole system. More oxygen moves around in the body and to the brain. When people are very anxious, they tend not to breath slowly and fully. This will lead to a full blown panic attack. Slowing the breathing and getting much more oxygen to all parts of the body helps a person feel more calm. this can help prevent panic attacks. The dosage of the vistaril is key in helping prevent the panic attacks. It appears that the vistaril is helping you relax so much that you fall asleep. Perhaps, a smaller dosage would meet your needs.
This drug also has an antinausea function, but that's a whole other story. So in theory, vistaril is an antihistimine used to treat nausea and anxiety.
poster:shadows721
thread:312736
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20040210/msgs/312961.html