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A plain-language summary of the cited sources below. Informational only — not medical advice.
Alprazolam belongs to a group of medicines called benzodiazepines, which work as selective depressants within the central nervous system. The precise way benzodiazepines produce their effects isn't fully understood, but they're known to act on specific sites in the brain and spinal cord.
This medication is approved for short-term treatment of anxiety, including when anxiety occurs alongside some depressive symptoms. It's also used to treat panic disorder — whether that's panic attacks on their own or panic attacks linked to specific fears or avoidance behaviours, such as agoraphobia.
After a single dose, alprazolam stays in the bloodstream for a variable length of time. Studies in healthy adults have found the half-life ranges from 6 to 25 hours, with most treatment groups averaging between 10 and 14 hours. The body breaks down alprazolam primarily through a liver enzyme called cytochrome P450 3A4, producing two main metabolites.
Side effects your family member may experience include drowsiness, feeling lightheaded or dizzy, sedation, fatigue, and impaired coordination or unsteadiness. These effects can affect their ability to move around safely or perform tasks that require alertness.
More serious effects that require immediate medical attention include jaundice, abnormal liver function, episodes of hypomania or mania, hallucinations, and confusion. Alprazolam should not be used in people with hypersensitivity to benzodiazepines, myasthenia gravis, or chronic obstructive airways disease with incipient respiratory failure.
Panic disorder Clinical criteria: The treatment must be for use when other treatments have failed; OR The treatment must be for use when other treatments are inappropriate.
“The exact site and mechanism of action of benzodiazepines is unknown. It is known that they act within the central nervous system as selective depressants.”
“The plasma half life of alprazolam after single doses in healthy subjects has ranged from 6 to 25 hours. The mean half life of individual treatment groups ranged only from 10 to 14 hours.”
A plain-language summary of the cited sources below. Informational only — not medical advice.
Alprazolam is a benzodiazepine derivative that acts as a selective central nervous system depressant through an incompletely characterised mechanism. It is extensively metabolised by cytochrome P450 3A4 (CYP3A4) to two major plasma metabolites, 4-hydroxyalprazolam and α-hydroxyalprazolam. The plasma half-life after single doses ranges from 6 to 25 hours in healthy subjects, with mean group half-lives typically between 10 and 14 hours.
TGA-approved indications include short-term symptomatic treatment of anxiety (including anxious patients with some symptoms of depression), panic disorder with or without phobic avoidance, and blocking or attenuation of panic attacks and phobias in patients who have agoraphobia with panic attacks. Alprazolam is a Schedule 8 controlled drug. Contraindications include hypersensitivity to benzodiazepines, myasthenia gravis, and chronic obstructive airways disease with incipient respiratory failure.
Common adverse effects include drowsiness, sedation, lightheadedness, dizziness, fatigue, and ataxia or impaired coordination. Serious adverse effects include jaundice, abnormal liver function, episodes of hypomania or mania, other adverse behavioural effects, hallucinations, and confusion. Because alprazolam is metabolised via CYP3A4, inhibitors or inducers of this enzyme pathway may alter plasma concentrations.
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Curated subset. The full adverse-effect list is in the TGA Product Information; click any citation above to open it.
“Alprazolam is extensively metabolised in humans, primarily by cytochrome P450 3A4 (CYP3A4), to two major metabolites in the plasma: 4- hydroxyalprazolam and α -hydroxyalprazolam.”