Side Effects of Tranquilizers

When we are talking about tranquilizers we need to know that there are two types of tranquilizers known as major and minor tranquilizers. Minor tranquilizers also go by the name of antipsychotic drugs while the major tranquilizers can be referred to as anti-anxiety drugs. Introduced during the 1950s, tranquilizers have been used to treat various kinds of severe mental illnesses, such as schizophrenia (treated by minor tranquilizers) and other less serious emotional problems like anxiety (treated by major tranquilizers). Although considered revolutionary when they were initially introduced, it was soon pretty evident that they had a vast range of side effects.
 

As it is observed with many other drugs some of these side effects are quite regular and can be ignored for the initial period of medication as they slowly fade out. But some of the side effects are rare and can be very serious which should never be ignored and should be brought to the immediate attention of a certified medical practitioner or healthcare specialist. The fact that tranquilizers are of two types, minor and major, they also have two sets of side effects. It is not that the two sets side effects are mutually exclusive to each other and some of the side effects do actually overlap each other. However, in this article we have decided to discuss the side effects in two different sections. The following part of the article delves into these two sections.
 
Side Effects of Minor Tranquilizers
 
Clinical research has established that people, who are exposed to the minor tranquilizers daily, even at a dose that sticks to therapeutic levels, can develop a dependence on the drug. Such dependence is detrimental on two counts. First of all, under the dependence of the drug a person tends to lose the ability to allow life to continue normally. Secondly, dependence means prolonged exposure to the drug which also increases the risks of the associated side effects.
 
Dependency often leads to addiction. As one gets addicted to the drug, it becomes extremely difficult to bring him out of the habit. Forceful cessation of the drugs can lead to severe withdrawal symptoms, sometimes as serious as that of alcohol withdrawal. In fact research has indicated that the treatment for the withdrawal effects alone can take more time than it is required to treat the withdrawal effects of heroine.
 
Some of the side effects of minor tranquilizers are severe state of hyper excitability, uncommonly aggressive behavior, feeling of agitation, agranulocytosis (when white blood cells are more susceptible to infection), partial amnesia, anxiety, comatose, inability to decide or confusion, depression, disorientation, drowsiness, epileptic seizures, excitability, severe restlessness, unnecessary fear, hallucinations, untoward hostility, hysteria, insomnia, irritability, jaundice, weariness, dizziness, problems with the liver, impairment of the memory, trembling, nausea, feeling of  nervousness, uneasy sleep and nightmares, psychosis, extreme rage, sedation, changes in sexual urges and other related problems, slurred speech and suicidal tendencies.
 
Side Effects of Major Tranquilizers
 
The side effects of major tranquilizers are various and we will try and list as many as we can. However this is not an exhaustive list so there can be more side effects. The side effects are confusion, depression, headache, diabetes, skin rashes, weakness, vomiting, drowsiness, irregular way of walking, birth defects in the child whose mother was under medication, blindness, disorders in blood, fluctuating levels of blood sugar, blurred vision, heart attack and heart failure, inability to concentrate, hemorrhage, liver failure, etc.
 
When the side effects tend to continue and seriously affect your life, please go and see a doctor so that the dosage can be modified.
                   

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