Antidepressants
Shalamar suffered from chronic insomnia. She couldn’t fall asleep after her late-night shifts as a server at a New York City bar. To address the insomnia, she sought advice from a psychiatrist who prescribed pills and told her to take them both at night and in the morning. She thought…
When personal trainer and nutrition coach Erik Ossner was diagnosed with irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), he says he felt almost betrayed: “The foods I consider paramount to my physical success are now turning against my body.” He says medicines haven’t helped much either, so he’s been experimenting with different foods…
A cup or two of caffeine is unlikely to be dangerous Larger servings can interact with many common medications, like antidepressants and antibiotics Some drugs can enhance the effects of caffeine You’ve probably seen someone holding a mug or wearing a T-shirt that reads “Don’t talk to me until I’ve…
High blood pressure is often called a “silent killer,” because, unless you’re having your blood pressure measured regularly, you probably won’t know you have it. It is critical to make sure you don’t have high blood pressure, because it raises your risk for heart attack and stroke. Nearly half of…
Monica Gandhi, who treats patients with HIV, has noticed that some of her female patients skipped or adjusted their doses due to side effects, she told MedShadow in 2020. One reason, explained Gandhi, an MD, MPH, professor of clinical medicine at University of California, San Francisco, is that the doses…
Missing out on sleep can dampen your mood and make you less focused and more prone to overeating. It can increase your risk of both depression and cancer and leave your body more vulnerable to infections. Still, some of the drugs you are prescribed can make it harder to get…
In the last week of September 2021, a group of more than 90 doctors and researchers published a call to action, cautioning against the liberal use of Tylenol (acetaminophen) during pregnancy. The studies suggested that exposure to the drug could increase the risk of a baby having neurodevelopmental, reproductive and…
Two years ago, a researcher who specializes in the safety of breast milk was in the midst of breastfeeding her own child when she experienced a serious bout of postpartum depression. She had a televisit with her doctor, who refused to write her a prescription for antidepressant medications as long…
The incidence of depression and anxiety has surged among adults in the United States over the course of the COVID-19 pandemic, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The CDC survey suggested that from 2019 to 2020, symptoms of anxiety disorders and depression have tripled and quadrupled,…
Dangerous, record-breaking heat has been battering the Northern Hemisphere this summer, putting people at risk for heat exhaustion and heatstroke. Scientists believe that hundreds in the Pacific Northwest have died, due to heat-related causes. Extra-high temperatures are perilous for everyone, but they are even more so for the elderly, people…
Samantha Welch spent about 11 months avoiding the direct sunlight as best she could. She had been prescribed isotretinoin, an oral medication that treats cystic acne. A few weeks after she started taking it, she discovered that “my skin was extremely sensitized,” she says. “My face and lips were dry…
Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a term often “thrown around loosely,” says Howard Pratt, doctor of osteopathic medicine (DO) and a psychiatrist at the Community Health of South Florida, who treats PTSD. In reality, it’s is a condition in which you might develop a variety of symptoms like nightmares, intrusive…
✅ This article was reviewed and approved by George Grossberg, MD, member of our MedShadow Medical Advisory Board. As a teenager tackling depression, Breanna Hushaw was prescribed more than 15 different antidepressant medications, which “caused a ton of side effects.” Her doctor knew she was struggling and suggested Hushaw might…
Crissi Estep had been on Cymbalta (duloxetine) for a few years when the medication seemed to stop working. At first, it effectively controlled both her fibromyalgia-related nerve pain and her depression, but “any successes I had had with it earlier were gone,” Estep says. “I was very depressed, even agitated,…
Those who have experienced migraines know that they are very different from tension headaches. A migraine “affects not just the head, but so many other body systems,” says Jill Dehlin, an RN and patient advocate who works with migraine patients and struggles with migraines herself. “Somebody with a headache will…
Shortly after she was diagnosed with psoriatic arthritis, Sarah Lawrence was prescribed Otezla (apremilast). In less than two months after beginning the drug treatment, she says, she started experiencing suicidal ideation. “The thoughts were so intense and so different from my normal thought process, I knew something was horribly wrong.” …
Have you heard the one about the 90-year-old patient who tells the doctor his right knee hurts? The doctor says, “You’re 90. What do you expect? You’re going to have joint pain.” The patient replies, “Well, doctor, that’s an interesting concept, but you know my left knee is the exact…
Are you considering taking a COVID-19 antibody test to see if you’ve already had the disease? Not all tests are equal. Read below to find out which tests the FDA has validated. Also, a new study was released which concludes how taking antidepressants while pregnant can affect the newborns. FDA…
Dry eye disease is irritating and painful. As an optometrist, I know there are many possible causes, but the medicines you take might be the culprit. Drugs are a common part of American life, 36% of people between the ages of 18-44 take between one and four medicines daily and…
The irony of antidepressants is that the side effects can cause symptoms similar to the depression they treat. Here is what to expect and how to handle it.
Abilify and Abilify MyCite are prescribed for bi-polar, depression, ADHD, autism, schizophrenia and more. For some it’s a life saver, but for others Abilify’s side effects can include diabetes, suicidal thoughts, sexual dysfunction and more. Read this 2-part series on the pros and cons of Abilify.
The Link Between Dementia, Alzheimer’s and Common Meds If you are 60+, stop taking these drugs now The evidence is piling up that many common meds can increase or possibly cause dementia and Alzheimer’s (a type of dementia) in those who are 60+. Generally, these are OTC drugs used for…
The FDA has approved Spravato (esketamine), the first new kind of antidepressant in decades, for treatment-resistant depression. The approval follows an FDA advisory committee meeting last month in which members overwhelmingly recommended Spravato’s approval. The approval of Spravato, which is administered as a nasal spray, is somewhat controversial as the…
Older people who start on antidepressant medications are more than twice as likely to experience a hip fracture compared to peers who don’t use the drugs. Researchers in Sweden looked at a registry of 408,000 patients aged 65 and older, with an average age of 80. Half were prescribed an…
By Sean Hagey The Mighty Your doctor just wrote you a prescription for your depression. You were probably given some info on what the drug is, what they hope it will do for you and (if your situation is like mine) they may have mentioned “some mild side effects” may…
“It’s like, if the side effects make me just as depressed, what’s the point?” Antidepressant med side effects can make you tired, gain weight and depressed.
While prior research has found that many people taking antidepressants experience withdrawal symptoms, a new study has further quantified this, finding that more than half of those who try to come off the medications experience those symptoms. The symptoms include nausea, insomnia, headache, dizziness, feeling tired and having trouble concentrating….
By Jeremy Howick Oxford Empathy Programme An investigative report by the BBC recently found that the number of antidepressant prescriptions to children under 12 in England, Scotland and Northern Ireland has risen 24% over the past 3 years (from 14,500 to almost 18,000 prescriptions). Drugs may not be the most…
People taking antidepressants who gain weight a month after starting treatment are more likely to put on even more extra pounds as they continue to take the medication. Weight gain is a common side effect with many antidepressants, especially SSRIs (selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors), one of the most popular antidepressant…
By Marc Manseau JustCareUSA.org On April 8, 2018, The New York Times published a front-page article titled “The Murky Perils of Quitting Antidepressants After Years of Use.” The day before, the online version, “Many People Taking Antidepressants Discover They Cannot Quit,” was the most-shared article on its website. In this…
The suicides of 2 high-profile individuals has renewed focus on mental illness the same week a CDC report found a drastic rise in suicide rates. Are we approaching, treating and funding mental health appropriately and what more can be done? Last week, mental health was front and center in the…
Long-term antidepressant use may drive weight gain, according to a new study published in The BMJ. Researchers identified and analyzed nearly 295,000 people aged 20 years or older from the UK’s Clinical Practice Research Datalink, which is a large collection of electronic health records. The participants were of all different…
Mothers-to-be who take common SSRI antidepressants, such as Lexapro (escitalopram) and Prozac (fluoxetine), may unknowingly alter the brain development of their unborn child. Researchers from Columbia University Medical Center examined brain scans of nearly 100 newborns. Some of those babies were born to mothers who took SSRIs (selective serotonin reuptake…
Antidepressants are not linked to ovarian cancer, according to a new study. Although there have been a few studies over the years showing a link between certain classes of antidepressants and the development of tumors, researchers from Shengjing Hospital of China Medical University are suggesting otherwise. The research team thoroughly…
Antibiotics and antidepressants are the most common drugs on the FDA’s recently updated watch list. The list contains drugs or drug classes that may be associated with new safety information or signs of serious side effects. Eleven antibiotics that may be associated with a hypoglycemic coma risk and 9 antidepressants…
Older people using certain antidepressants are at an increased risk of developing bronchiectasis, a condition where the airways in the lungs become damaged, making it difficult to clear mucus. Researchers involved in the Canadian study analyzed 296 elderly people and reviewed patient records to identify those receiving SSRI and SNRI…
In a surprising finding, researchers at Canada’s McMaster University have concluded that antidepressants can cause cardiovascular problems in people who are otherwise healthy, but seem to have no serious effects on patients who already have heart disease. The researchers did a meta-analysis of data from 17 studies and found that…
Abuse-deterrent formulations (ADFs) of opioids do not reduce the overall abuse of the painkillers according to a report from the Institute of Clinical and Economic Review (ICER). New research suggests that ADFs can possibly lead opioid abusers to switch to other harmful drugs, including heroin and fentanyl. Dan Ollendorf, PhD,…
A loophole that allows generic drugmakers to avoid liability over side effects may be ending thanks to a ruling in an antidepressant suicide lawsuit. Common sense wins! Stewart Dolin was prescribed and took a generic version of the antidepressant Paxil. Within 6 days he was dead at 57 — a…
A functional MRI (fMRI) brain scan may be able to predict whether a patient will respond to an antidepressant. Researchers at the University of Illinois and the University of Michigan gave an fMRI scan to patients with major depressive disorder who were about to begin antidepressant therapy. Some of those…
Depressed people that take antidepressants are more likely to suffer from the side effects of that drug class if they also have panic disorder. A new study examined data from 808 people with chronic depression that were prescribed an antidepressant. About 10.5% of the people also had panic disorder. Overall,…
Nearly 17% of Americans — 1 in 6 adults — took a drug to treat a mental illness at least once in 2013, with antidepressants as the most common prescription filled. About 12% of adults said they used antidepressants; 8.3% filled a prescription for an anxiolytic, sedatives or hyponotic; and…
Antidepressants are known to cause a slew of side effects, take weeks to take effect, and may not work at all on many people. But what if there was a way to determine in advance if a particular antidepressant would work on you? Researchers at Stanford University School of Medicine…
Children born to mothers who used SSRI (selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors) antidepressants during pregnancy may be at a higher risk of speech or language disorders. Researchers examined data on more than 845,000 births in Finland. The mothers of the children were divided into 3 groups: Those who purchased an SSRI…
A controversial new study claims healthy people — who have no prior history of mental illness — that are given antidepressants are twice as likely to become violent and suicidal as those not on the drugs. While for years antidepressants have had a strong “black box” warning on the risk…
Millions of Americans take an antidepressant daily. But a growing volume of research is indicating the pills may only provide marginal benefits. Most people take antidepressants with the idea the side effects associated with the drugs are worth it since they will help alleviate their depression. However, evidence is growing…
St. John’s wort, an herbal remedy readily available as a dietary supplement, may treat depression as effectively as SSRIs (selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors), but with fewer side effects compared to the prescription antidepressants. Researchers in China conducted a meta-analysis — a study of prior studies — of studies conducted between…
Although antidepressants are prescribed to millions of children and adolescents, the drugs do not offer any clear benefit to them and can boost the risk of suicide among users. That’s the consensus of a new analysis published in the British medical journal The Lancet, which examined the results of 34…
Antidepressants help many people. But evidence has been growing for years that the widespread use of these medicines is not justified, and that consumers should be more circumspect about taking them. The latest news supporting a more cautious approach is a study linking 2 antidepressants — fluoxetine (Prozac, Sarafem) and…
SSRIs (selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors), the most popular kind of antidepressants prescribed, when taken by pregnant women, increase the chance that their child will be born prematurely or with low birth weight, according to a new study. Infants exposed to SSRIs during 2 or more trimesters weighed an average of…
Six commonly used drugs—statins, antacids, oral contraceptives, antidepressants, diabetes drugs and antibiotics—can have serious side effects. These drugs can deplete the body of certain nutrient levels and lead to chronic diseases. Via Medical Daily. Posted August 6, 2015. –Alanna McCatty
Researchers from the Centers for Disease Control found that women taking paroxetine (Paxil) during their first trimester of pregnancy more than doubled their risk of five out of seven serious birth defects, while those taking fluoxetine (Prozac) had a higher risk of two serious birth defects. Via Medpage Today. Posted…
A study published in the Injury Prevention Journal suggests that women who were prescribed a common class of antidepressants (Celexa, Paxil, Prozac and Zoloft) to ease menopausal symptoms may face a long-term rise in their risk for bone fracture. Researchers based their findings on more than 137,000 women who were…
In Part 6 of our 7-part Drugs in Pregnancy series, we tackle the difficult issue of antidepressants during pregnancy. As we noted in the intro to this series, about 90% of pregnant women take at least 1 medication during pregnancy, with 70% taking at least 1 prescription drug, according to…
During the assessment period of a study spanning from 1998 to 2012, investigators at the University of Basel, in Switzerland, found an increased risk for first-time seizures in patients being treated for depression. Out of the 8.7 million patients, 619 of the151,005 that were diagnosed with depression had a first-time…
“Over the past two decades, the use of antidepressants has skyrocketed. One in 10 Americans now takes an antidepressant medication;” wrote Roni Caryn Rabin in a New York Times article that appeared on August 12, 2013, titled, “The Glut of Antidepressants. “Among women in their 40s and 50s, the figure…
A UCLA team has studied early developmental exposure to two different antidepressants, Prozac and Lexapro, in a mouse model that mimics human third trimester medication exposure. The mice exposed to Lexapro had permanent changes in serotonin neurotransmission and were less anxious as adults than the mice exposed to Prozac. Via…
Long-term antidepressant use may be associated with significant “emotional blunting” in both male and female patients, new research suggests. Using a newly developed Sex-Attachment-Love Test questionnaire, European researchers studying nearly 200 adults with mild or moderate depression found that use of selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) had a significantly negative…
Individuals taking such common antidepressants as Celexa, Paxil, Lexapro, Prozac and Zoloft are twice as likely to have dental implants fail compared to those not on the drugs, a new Canadian study reveals. Researchers found a 10.64 percent rate of failure in patients taking the drugs compared with a 4.62…
One study found the risk for miscarriage during the first trimester in any pregnancy is already about 15% to 20%, but antidepressant use can elevate that risk to 68%. Another recent report in the British Medical Journal found that pregnant women who took selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) during their…
Anti-anxiety and bi-polar meds can be hard to handle, but also can be an important part of living healthfully. Here is how Elaina manages.
An online questionnaire about experiences with, and beliefs about, antidepressants was completed by 1829 adults who had been prescribed antidepressants in the last 5 years. 8 of the 20 adverse effects studied were reported by over half the participants; most frequently: Sexual Difficulties (62%) and Feeling Emotionally Numb (60%). Percentages for other effects included:…
Cheat sheet, watch out for: anti-anxiety, antidepressants, antifungal (!), antihistamines, blood pressure, heartburn, muscle relaxants and pain relievers. From Consumer Reports
The link might be coincidental, but a recent review of studies indicates that many people who use antidepressants go on to develop diabetes. NursingInPractice.org and several other sites reported on a University of Southampton (UK) review of 22 studies. Causation has not been established, but antidepressants cause weight gain which…
The use of selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) or tricyclic antidepressants among women in midlife didn’t lead to a greater rate of bone loss, a prospective cohort study found. via MedPage Today -MedShadow Staff
The article is generally interesting about CVS’s data-collection on consumers, in a big-brother kind of way. It mentions a side effect of antidepressants that was useful: “With antidepressants pharmacists warn that sleep and stomach issues are common 2 to 4 weeks in, and the patient should keep on going.” (Source:…
