What may increase the risk of problems from anxiety?
Many conditions, lifestyle choices, medications, and diseases interfere with your ability to heal or fight disease. You may be at risk for a more serious problem from your symptoms if you have any of the following. Be sure to tell your health professional.
Conditions
- A personal or family history of depression or anxiety attacks
- A history of physical or sexual abuse
Lifestyle choices
- Alcohol abuse or withdrawal
- Drug abuse or withdrawal
- Caffeine abuse or withdrawal
Medications
- Blood pressure medications, including clonidine, beta-blockers (such as atenolol and propranolol), and methyldopa
- Corticosteroids, such as prednisone
- Medications that contain amphetamines, such as Dexedrine and Ritalin
- Medications to prevent organ transplant rejection
- Medications used to treat cancer (chemotherapy)
- Oral contraceptives
- Progesterone
- Radiation therapy
- Respiratory medications such as albuterol, salmeterol, and theophylline
- Thyroid medicine
Diseases
- Anemia
- Angina
- Cancer
- Chronic pain
- Coronary artery disease
- Depression or other mental health problems, such as schizophrenia or bipolar disorder
- Diabetes
- Heart failure
- Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection
- Irregular heartbeat (arrhythmia)
- Kidney disease
- Liver disease
- Lung disease, such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), asthma, or emphysema
- Multiple sclerosis
- Parkinson's disease
- Thyroid disease
| Author: | Sydney Youngerman-Cole, RN, BSN, RNC | Last Updated: September 13, 2006 |
| Medical Review: | William M. Green, MD - Emergency Medicine Malin K. Clark, MD, FRCPC - Psychiatry | |
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