What Side Effects May I Notice From Receiving This Medicine
Side effects that you should report to your doctor or health care professional as soon as possible:
- allergic reactions like skin rash, itching or hives, swelling of the face, lips, or tongue
- breathing problems
- elevated mood, decreased need for sleep, racing thoughts, impulsive behavior
- fast or irregular heartbeat
- hallucinations, loss of contact with reality
- increased blood pressure
- rash, fever, and swollen lymph nodes
- redness, blistering, peeling, or loosening of the skin, including inside the mouth
- seizures
- tremors
- weight loss
This list may not describe all possible side effects. Call your doctor for medical advice about side effects. You may report side effects to FDA at 1-800-FDA-1088.
Esketamine Helps The Brain Form New Connections
Research suggests that untreated depression causes long-term brain damage and is a risk factor for dementia. Studies show that people with depression have up to 20% shrinkage of the hippocampus, a region of the brain critical for memory and learning. But esketamine may counteract the harmful effects of depression.
Animal studies indicate that connections between brain cells diminish under chronic stress, but esketamine reverses these stress-related changes. Esketamine is different than any other antidepressant in that it not only prevents the neurotoxic effects of depression on the brain, but it also seems to have a growth-promoting effect, explains Kaplin.
Tips For Depression Treatment
- Learn as much as you can for depression treatment. This way, you can understand your illness better. You can also feel less stressed about the treatment process. If you ever need to talk to someone in confidence, dont be afraid to call a suicide hotline number such as 800-SUICIDE or 800-273-TALK. Remember that people who care will always listen and not judge you for speaking up.
- It takes time to find the right treatment. If you need help, make sure to speak up and dont wait. Reach out for support from your doctor or therapist. You can also find a friend who will listen when you call the suicide hotline number. Keeping yourself busy with fun activities is always helpful in treating depression symptoms such as taking a yoga class or going on a hike.
- Do not rely on medication. Doctors recommend that you try alternative treatments such as supplements, going to a yoga class or meditation group once a week, and breathing deeply every day.
- Get social support. If you can, find a friend who will listen when you call the suicide hotline number. Do not wait to ask for help with depression treatment if needed! Reach out now and dont be afraid of speaking up. You are never alone through this journey so stay strong!
- Treatment takes commitment. Remember that it takes time to find the right treatment. It is always helpful if you practice meditation, take medicine every day, and reach out for support from your doctor or therapist.
Don’t Miss: My Girlfriend Is Depressed What Do I Do
Noradrenaline And Specific Serotonergic Antidepressants
Because completely new drugs take a long time to be developed which doesnt happen very often there needs to be a way for people to find alternative options.
In these cases, a small modification of an existing drug may provide the solution. NaSSAs are a modification of SNRIS.
When needed, Noradrenaline and Specific Serotonergic Antidepressants are used for different illnesses that affect similar biological systems in the body.
Specifically, NaSSA stimulates an increased release of norepinephrine, serotonin, and dopamine in the synaptic clefts .
Lifestyle Changes To Treat Depression
Exercise.Regular exercise can be as effective at treating depression as medication. Not only does exercise boost serotonin, endorphins, and other feel-good brain chemicals, it triggers the growth of new brain cells and connections, just like antidepressants do. Best of all, you dont have to train for a marathon in order to reap the benefits. Even a half-hour daily walk can make a big difference. For maximum results, aim for 30 to 60 minutes of aerobic activity on most days.
Social support. Strong social networks reduce isolation, a key risk factor for depression. Keep in regular contact with friends and family, or consider joining a class or group. Volunteering is a wonderful way to get social support and help others while also helping yourself.
Nutrition. Eating well is important for both your physical and mental health. Eating small, well-balanced meals throughout the day will help you keep your energy up and minimize mood swings. While you may be drawn to sugary foods for the quick boost they provide, complex carbohydrates are a better choice. Theyll get you going without the all-too-soon sugar crash.
Sleep. Sleep has a strong effect on mood. When you dont get enough sleep, your depression symptoms will be worse. Sleep deprivation exacerbates irritability, moodiness, sadness, and fatigue. Make sure youre getting enough sleep each night. Very few people do well on less than seven hours a night. Aim for somewhere between seven to nine hours each night.
Don’t Miss: How To Deal With Anger Anxiety And Depression
Other Treatments For Depression
Other treatments for depression include talking therapies such as cognitive behavioural therapy .
People with moderate to severe depression are usually treated using a combination of antidepressants and CBT. Antidepressants work quickly in reducing symptoms, whereas CBT takes time to deal with causes of depression and ways of overcoming it.
Regular exercise has also been shown to be useful for those with mild depression.
Read more about alternatives to antidepressants.
What Are The Side Effects Of Antidepressant Medications
The provider prescribing your medicine will discuss its potential side effects with you. He or she will try to prescribe drug with the least number of side effects for your health condition. Sometimes, more than one medicine may be tried before the desired benefits are achieved.
You will be monitored closely so that your provider can detect the development of harmful side effects and make the necessary changes.
All medications not just antidepressants can cause side effects. Keep in mind that your provider prescribes the medication only if its expected benefits outweigh the risk of side effects.
Side effects, if they occur, are usually mild. Some side effects decrease after you have taken the drug for a while. However, if side effects don’t go away, they will once the drug is stopped. Be sure to discuss your concerns with your provider before taking any medicine.
Classes of antidepressant medications and common side effects
Currently there are six different classes of medications approved to treat depression. These are:
- Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors .
- Serotonin and noradrenaline reuptake inhibitors .
- Tricyclic antidepressants .
- Norepinephrine and dopamine reuptake inhibitors .
- Non-competitive N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor antagonists.
Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors
- Agitation.
- Increased sweating.
Non-competitive N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor antagonists
- Dizziness.
- Feeling drunk.
- Lack of energy.
Recommended Reading: Can Depression Go Away By Itself
What Are The Treatments For Depression
Page last updated: June 2005
Whatever the severity of a person’s depression, treatment should include learning new skills like problem solving and changes to lifestyle, like cutting down on stress, increasing exercise and physical fitness and not using alcohol or other drugs.If the depression is moderate to severe, then two main treatments can be considered, antidepressant medication and psychological therapy.
Antipsychotics For Depression Treatment
Doctors let people have these pills when they are depressed and have hallucinations. These drugs usually work by reducing the activity of dopamine in peoples brains. Dopamine is a chemical that affects people with schizophrenia. Furthermore, some well-known medications prescribed are risperidone , olanzapine , quetiapine fumarate .
Don’t Miss: Is Prozac Good For Depression And Anxiety
What May Interact With This Medicine
Do not take this medicine with any of the following medications:
- linezolid
- MAOIs like Azilect, Carbex, Eldepryl, Marplan, Nardil, and Parnate
- methylene blue
- other medicines that contain bupropion like Zyban
This medicine may also interact with the following medications:
- alcohol
- tramadol
- warfarin
This list may not describe all possible interactions. Give your health care provider a list of all the medicines, herbs, non-prescription drugs, or dietary supplements you use. Also tell them if you smoke, drink alcohol, or use illegal drugs. Some items may interact with your medicine.
What Is This Medicine
SERTRALINE is used to treat depression. It may also be used to treat obsessive compulsive disorder, panic disorder, post-trauma stress, premenstrual dysphoric disorder or social anxiety.
This medicine may be used for other purposes ask your health care provider or pharmacist if you have questions.
COMMON BRAND NAME: Zoloft
Read Also: Major Depression Recurrent Icd 10
How Effectively Do Antidepressants Relieve The Symptoms
There are a lot of different medications for treating . But it’s difficult to predict how well a particular medication will help an individual. So doctors often first suggest taking a drug that they consider to be effective and relatively well tolerated. If it doesn’t help as much as expected, it’s possible to switch to a different medication. Sometimes a number of different drugs have to be tried before you find one that works.
Studies show that the benefit generally depends on the severity of the : The more severe the depression, the greater the benefits will be. In other words, antidepressants are effective against chronic, moderate and severe depression. They don’t help in mild depression.
The various antidepressants have been compared in many studies. Overall, the commonly used tricyclic antidepressants were found to be equally effective. Studies involving adults with moderate or severe have shown the following:
- Without antidepressants: About 20 to 40 out of 100 people who took a placebo noticed an improvement in their symptoms within six to eight weeks.
- With antidepressants: About 40 to 60 out of 100 people who took an antidepressant noticed an improvement in their symptoms within six to eight weeks.
In other words, antidepressants improved symptoms in about an extra 20 out of 100 people.
Antidepressants can also relieve long-term symptoms of chronic depressive disorder and chronic , and help make them go away completely.
What Medications Are Used To Treat Anxiety Disorders
When treating anxiety disorders, antidepressants, particularly the SSRIs and some SNRIs ,Ã Ã have been shown to be effective.
Other anti-anxiety drugs include the benzodiazepines, such as as alprazolam , diazepamà , buspirone ,à and lorazepam . These drugs do carry a risk of addiction or tolerance , so they are not as desirable for long-term use. Other possible side effects include drowsiness, poor concentration, and irritability. Some anticonvulsant drugs , some blood pressure medications , and some atypical antipsychotics are also occasionally used “off label” to treat anxiety symptoms or disorders.
Show Sources
Also Check: I Think I Suffer From Depression
What Should I Tell My Health Care Provider Before I Take This Medicine
They need to know if you have any of these conditions:
- an eating disorder, such as anorexia or bulimia
- bipolar disorder or psychosis
- diabetes or high blood sugar, treated with medication
- glaucoma
- heart disease, previous heart attack, or irregular heart beat
- head injury or brain tumor
- high blood pressure
- suicidal thoughts or a previous suicide attempt
- Tourette’s syndrome
- an unusual or allergic reaction to bupropion, other medicines, foods, dyes, or preservatives
- breast-feeding
- pregnant or trying to become pregnant
Therapy And The Big Picture In Depression Treatment
One of the hallmarks of depression is feeling overwhelmed and having trouble focusing. Therapy helps you step back and see what might be contributing to your depression and how you can make changes. Here are some of the big picture themes that therapy can help with:
Relationships.Understanding the patterns of your relationships, building better relationships, and improving current relationships will help reduce isolation and build social support, important in preventing depression.
Setting healthy boundaries. If you are stressed and overwhelmed, and feel like you just cant say no, you are more at risk for depression. Setting healthy boundaries in relationships and at work can help relieve stress, and therapy can help you identify and validate the boundaries that are right for you.
Handling lifes problems. Talking with a trusted therapist can provide good feedback on more positive ways to handle lifes challenges and problems.
Recommended Reading: Clinical Depression And Anxiety Disorder
Add Greenery To Your Home Or Office
You may also find it helpful to add indoor plants to your home or office environment. Natural settings are associated with improved mental well-being, so it makes sense that “bringing the outdoors in” might help improve your mood.
Studies have shown that adding indoor plants to your home or office can help in a variety of ways, including:
- Improving the workplace: Research has shown that office spaces enhanced with indoor plants improve worker concentration and workplace satisfaction.
- Reducing stress levels: Another study found that actively interacting with indoor plans by caring for them can reduce both physiological and psychological stress.
- : Research has found that students who spent most of their time at home during the COVID-19 pandemic had better mental health if they were exposed to more green plants. While about a third of the participants reported symptoms of moderate depression, those exposed to more greenery had lower levels of depression and anxiety.
Choosing certain plants may provide additional benefits. For example, research suggests that the scent of a lavender plant can help people feel calmer and more relaxed. No matter what type of plants you choose, greenery can be a great way to beautify your surroundings and potentially improve your mood.
What Is An Antidepressant
Antidepressants, sometimes in combination with psychotherapy, are often the first treatment people get for depression. If one antidepressant doesn’t work well, you might try another drug of the same class or a different class of depression medicines altogether. Your doctor might also try changing the dose. In some cases, your doctor might recommend taking more than one medication for your depression.
Also Check: How To Treat A Friend With Depression
How Long Does Treatment Last
According the United Kingdoms Royal College of Psychiatry, 5 to 6 people out of every 10 will experience a significant improvement after 3 months.
People who use medication should continue for at least 6 months after starting to feel better. Those who stop before 8 months of use may see a return of symptoms.
Those who have had one or more recurrences should continue the treatment for at least 24 months.
Those who regularly experience recurrences depression may need to use the medication for several years.
However, a literature review published in 2011 found that long-term use of antidepressants
In the United States, 8 percent of women are reported to use antidepressant drugs during pregnancy.
The use of SSRIs during pregnancy has been linked with a higher risk of pregnancy loss, preterm birth, low birth weight, and congenital birth defects.
Possible problems during delivery include excessive bleeding in the mother.
After birth, the newborn may experience lung problems known as persistent pulmonary hypertension.
A study of 69,448 pregnancies found that using SNRIs or TCAs during pregnancy may increase the risk of pregnancy-induced hypertension or high blood pressure, known as pre-eclampsia. However, it remains unclear whether this is due to the drugs or the depression.
A lab study found that rodents that were exposed to citalopraman SSRI antidepressantjust before and after birth showed considerable brain abnormalities and behaviors.
How Do Antidepressants Work
Various antidepressant medications are available for prescription use. There is no single best antidepressant, and the best one for you depends on your symptoms and individual needs.
Usually, antidepressants help balance the levels of neurotransmitters, which are chemicals responsible for communications between neurons in the brain. These chemicals include serotonin, dopamine and norepinephrine. Higher levels of these chemicals usually correspond with lower levels of depression.
While antidepressants can be helpful in depression, effectiveness varies from patient to patient. How long the drugs stay in your body also varies. Some drugs stay in your body for about 36 hours, while others last as long as several days.
Don’t Miss: When Did Depression Start To Rise
Do Antidepressants Have Any Long
Psychologists recommend that patients stay on the medication for six months to a year after feeling better. You should check on your response after three weeks and between three and six months.
Despite the potential for side effects of antidepressants, there are no well-known side effects on long-term usage.
In essence, you should discuss with your doctor when you want to stop antidepressants. This is a clinical decision that depends on the severity and length of your depression.
Side Effects Of Antidepressant Medications
All medications can have side-effects. Some people experience no side-effects. Others may find the side-effects distressing. In most cases, side-effects lessen as treatment continues.
Treatment is usually started at a low dose, to minimize side-effects, and then slowly increased until the ideal dose is found. The ideal dose is one that provides the greatest benefit with minimum side-effects.
If you are experiencing side effects, check the information given to you by your doctor or pharmacist on the specific effects of any drug you have been prescribed. If side-effects are not mild and tolerable, it is best to continue taking your medication as prescribed but let your doctor know as soon as possible. Your doctor may:
- encourage you to wait a little longer for the side-effects to fade
- adjust your dose
- suggest you take the medication at a different time of day
- prescribe other medications to help control side-effects
- change your medication
- stop medication treatment and suggest a different type of treatment approach.
Side-effects vary depending on the type of medication. More information on side-effects is included for each type of types of antidepressant.
You can help to control possible side-effects on your own by:
Do antidepressants increase the risk of suicide?
Before starting treatment, prepare for the possibility of feeling worse before you feel better. Know what supports are available to you and who you can call.
Don’t Miss: Can You Still Get Postpartum Depression After A Miscarriage