Warning AntiDepressants
Medication Fact Sheet
Warning for Patients on SSRI/NRI/DRI’s!!!!
Prozac, Zoloft, Paxil, Celexa, Lexapro, Remeron, Luvox, Effexor, Cymbalta, Straterra, Trazadone, Serzone, Welbutrin
1) Generally Very Safe-Minimal Side Effects: These are very safe and effective medications that have treated many people successfully with little or no problems, giving symptom relief from Anxiety disorders such as Panic, Obsessions-Compulsions and Unipolar depression, with better quality or life, and literally have changed and have saved many lives.
2) Usual Side Effects: Usually none if you start low and go slow. If you do they are mild, go away with time or dose adjustment- tiredness, energizing, nausea, diarrhea, headache, too little emotion, decreased libido.
3) Not First Choice For These: If the Unipolar Depression is severe, or if there is explosive anger or in BipolarType Depression, or any suspicion of Psychosis or thinking problems or history of these in family or bad reactions from these medications.
4) Call Your Doctor: What ever your diagnosis if you are getting worse develop new symptoms similar to a bipolar process, or psychotic symptoms which I will describe below while you are taking these medications report them to your doctor.
5) What Could It Mean: These can a passing symptom or the beginning of something more serious. It dose not mean you have Bipolar Disorder, or a psychosis like Schizophrenia. It may mean you have a sensitivity to this class of medications, or may have similar brain chemistry to bipolar, or some other disorder. The medication may cause more problems than it helps including worsening your anxiety, panic, making you more depressed, confused, and even psychotic and manic. This can lead to destructive feelings, thoughts, behaviors to self & others. These don’t usually happen over night or quickly.
6) Family History: There is usually a family history that should make one cautious about using these medications of mood swing disorder,i.e. Bipolar like, drug & alcohol abuse, some seizure disorders & forms of migraine, antisocial criminal violent & destructive behavior with anger management problems, psychosis like Schizophrenia to name the most common.
7) Psychosis Defined: Psychotic symptoms mean you may be losing touch with reality, confusing what is real and what is fantasy or pretend, like not sure if you dreams are real or not, and things that normally happening in a dream happen in real life or you are not sure, like your thoughts start sounding like voice, or you hear and see things that shouldn’t be there, your thinking get illogical, and your connections between you thoughts, or your thoughts and your feeling get too loose, disconnected, off the track, other senses get too real and powerful like smell, touch and taste.
8) Bipolar Mood Defined: The symptoms to look for are what I already mentioned above , plus those associated with bipolar disorder, primarily a changes in mood from too happy ,to too sad, to irritable, excitable, angry, mean, with mood swings.
9) Other Symptom To Look For: This type of mood problems also have some the following symptoms, including
a) increased distractibility and problems with concentration, focus and memory, or confusion
b) any serious change in sleep pattern, more or less sleep, fragmented sleep, nightmares, more dreaming, sleep talking, especially waking up & eating, most especially a decreased need for sleep, with more or normal energy the next day,
c) a rapid increase of a good mood, feeling too high and good, and other people notice, inflated self worth, feeling your on top of the world, you’re the boss, have to right, getting big ideas about the future, that are unrealistic
d) a sense that your ideas are too fast, you cant shut down your mind, racing thoughts,
e)increased energy, you start doing more than usual, many things at once, maybe getting none completed, and you enjoy it, and you want to do more and more, get more done, you start multiple project, take on more work,
f) people notice you are talking faster, your thinking and speech is going off on tangents, slightly illogical and disorganized,
g) you are becoming more impulsive not thinking before you talk and act, not thinking of the consequences of you behavior, taking risks you normally wouldn’t take, especially pleasurable one.
10) What To Do: If these symptom occur, or you are suspicious they may be in you or some one you know, and the history above fits , you should immediately call your doctor, or the local emergency room if you are concerned and ask for advice about he symptoms and the medication, and about what should you do, stay on, stop it, wait, be seen.
11) Knowing Is Prevention: Bad things would happen only infrequently, or not as much with these wonderfully effective and life saving medications if people knew these warning signs and symptoms and discussed them with appropriate professionals when they first happened and didn’t ignore them or allow them to get worse.