Anxiety symptoms often occur following psychotherapy sessions in patients with histories of trauma or Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). These patients can require an "as needed" (prn) medication to diminish their anxiety symptoms following therapy. The choice of FDA-approved prn anxiolytics is limited to benzodiazepines, buspirone, and hydroxyzine. However, benzodiazepines have the potential of addiction and abuse, and the other drugs are considered by many physicians to have limited efficacy. A PTSD patient was treated with medications and psychotherapy in a residential setting. However, she encountered severe symptoms of anxiety after psychotherapy sessions and required a prn treatment for acute anxiety following psychotherapy, for which a benzodiazepine was not suitable. A new patented anxiolytic was selected that is a combination of the beta blocker atenolol plus the antimuscarinic agent scopolamine to suppress the sympathetic and parasympathetic/CNS symptoms of acute anxiety, respectively. Therefore, she was treated with a PanX® drug combination of atenolol -scopolamine HBr, and her acute anxiety symptoms were assessed pre-and post-treatment on three separate occasions. The patient's breakthrough anxiety was treated effectively with the new anxiolytic drug combination. She experienced a rapid calming effect within 25-30 minutes, that persisted for 3-4 hours, and affected both sympathetic and parasympathetic/CNS symptoms. The drug combination sufficiently decreased the PTSD patient's acute anxiety symptoms to enable the patient to continue psychotherapy for historic trauma. This is the first reported case of any beta blocker -antimuscarinic drug combination treatment of anxiety following psychotherapy.

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