Brand-name Xanax XR is made by Pfizer, Inc.
Generic Xanax XR is made by several different manufacturers.
Xanax XR is part of a group of medicines called benzodiazepines. Benzodiazepine medications have various effects on the body, including:
- Reducing anxiety
- Causing sleepiness
- Relaxing muscles
- Stopping seizures
- Impairing short-term memory.
All of the medications in this category can have these effects to some degree, depending on the specific benzodiazepine that is being taken. They work in the brain by enhancing the effects of
gamma-aminobutyric acid (
GABA), a brain chemical that has a naturally calming effect. GABA can slow down or stop certain nerve signals in the brain. This is why Xanax XR and other benzodiazepines are known as mild tranquilizers, sedatives, or central nervous system depressants (CNS depressants).
A few studies have evaluated Xanax XR for the treatment of panic disorder.
In these studies, people taking the drug had fewer
panic attacks, compared to those not taking it.
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