People with anxiety or alcohol withdrawal symptoms may benefit from taking oxazepam, a prescription medicine that can help relieve these conditions by enhancing the effects of a naturally calming brain chemical. Some of the specific effects that oxazepam and other benzodiazepine medications can have on the body include reducing anxiety, causing sleepiness, and impairing short-term memory. Oxazepam comes in capsule form and is generally taken three or four times daily.
Oxazepam (
Serax®) is a prescription medication approved to treat the following conditions:
Brand-name Serax is no longer being made. Currently, generic oxazepam is made by the following manufacturers:
- Actavis Elizabeth
- Ivax Pharmaceuticals
- Sandoz Pharmaceuticals.
Oxazepam is part of a group of medicines known as benzodiazepines. These drugs have a variety of different effects on the body, including:
- Stopping seizures
- Reducing anxiety
- Causing sleepiness
- Relaxing muscles
- Impairing short-term memory.
All benzodiazepine medications can have each of these effects to some degree, depending on the specific medication and the dosage. They work in the brain by enhancing the effects of gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA), a brain chemical that is naturally calming. GABA can slow down or stop certain nerve signals in the brain. This is why oxazepam and other benzodiazepines are known as mild tranquilizers, sedatives, or central nervous system depressants (CNS depressants).
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