Antidepressants: Are They Best Choice
The most common medication for the treatment of depression is the antidepressant medication. It may take 6 months to 12 months to treat first depressive episode and take up to 2 years to treat recurrent depression. In case of chronic depression it may require lifelong treatment. Approximately 80% patients who take antidepressants gets their symptoms improve.
Some of the famous antidepressant medications include SSRIs (selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors), Atypical antidepressants, also called non-SSRIs, TCAs (tricyclic antidepressants), also called tricyclics, MAOIs (monoamine oxidase inhibitors) etc.
Generally medical practitioners start their treatment with low dosage and increased the dosage slowly, depending upon the patient condition. An effective concentration of the drug in the body must be attained before the patient experiences the desired results.
Antidepressants generally improve various types of depression symptoms such as lack of sleep, low appetite, anxiety, lack of concentration, and restore energy levels which people generally lose at the time of depression. These antidepressants are generally more effective for those patients who responded well to medication in the past, and suffer from the condition such as anorexia and insomnia.
Antidepressant medications increase the levels of monoamine neurotransmitters to elevate mood and restore a sense of well-being. Depression is caused due to insufficient level of monoamine neurotransmitters in the brain, and this theory is generally used during the treatment by antidepressant medication.
There may be many possible side effects of the antidepressants so before taking any medicine, first consult your doctor. The abrupt discontinuation of antidepressant medication is not recommended. Side effects of SSRIs include sexual side effects, sun sensitivity, and slight weight loss etc. Atypical antidepressants may cause the side effects like dizziness, dry mouth, nausea, sleepiness etc. TCAs (Tricyclics) may cause severe side effects such as seizures, stroke, and heart attack. MAOIs side effects are similar to those caused by TCAs and a potentially fatal condition called tyramine-induced hypertensive crisis.
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Nice Post. I have recently been told that i am med-moderate depression since my stroke causing many physical and mental problems so these ssri could cause stroke is of concern, i myself take 45mg mirtazapine.