Does Zanaflex help with anxiety in addition to relax muscle spasms?

Also hydroxyzine(Vistaril) is helpful as it is actually a strong antihistamine which its sedative effects are helpful for panic attacks. For mild-moderate panic attacks I'd say go for hydroxyzine. For moderate-severe I'd say try a benzodiazepine. But for simply mild and rare anxiety, especially if it's not a panic attack but rather increased anxiety, I think tizanidine is a good option.

The medical community is beginning to explore different medications to help with anxiety. While personally I think benzodiazepines will always triumph in anxiety from any level, many tricyclic and different meds are being seen to help. In the U.S. studies of medications traditionally dont look for potentials to be used off-label for other indications. In Europe this is not the case. There are two studies I know of that showed improvement for mild anxiety using tizanidine. However American Psychiatrists likely won't prescribe it for such as they typically have their own traditional ideas on how to treat. Doctors will often prescribe just a few antidepressants as they've seen their patients benefit. Benzodiazepines have been the number one and definitely most effective class of medications for anxiety. Hydroxyzine has become increasingly popular. Even small doses of Seroquel. This is the norm for most docs. Gabapentin is also being used by many doctors for anxiety. But tizanidine is just not something you hear people commonly on and if so, it's not for anxiety. I believe, based on data I've seen from Europe, that this med would be great for rare and mild anxiety.

So to sum: Yes, I believe it can help with anxiety due to its sedating effects. I believe it is good in calming someone down and helping to stop their thoughts from going overboard. I would ask your doctor to try this med as a first resort and to get a small prescription of it and also give hydroxyzine or benzodiazepines in a very small script as backup. Please note that my ideal way for doctors to do that would cause lots of sedation and sleepiness if you end up having to take both!

If you are concerned about you anxiety and don't feel benzodiazepines are meds you'd try (they can be habit-forming, but as long as u stick to the doc's orders you'll be fine), maybe inquire about Gabapentin. It helps pain (another one I take every day for muscle pain) PLUS it's actually a mood stabilizer (and let's face it... some of us get moody when in pain) so that *could* be worth inquiring about. Hope this makes sense. I am lacking in the sleep department.

Best wishes!