Coping With Side Effects Of Antidepressant Medications

by depressiondoctor on June 9th, 2006

The medications that are being prescribed by the doctors have their side effects and just like any other medication, the antidepressants cause side effects as well. It is not necessary that every person will display the same set of problems with the antidepressant medications, the side effects vary from one individual to another.

There was one question that arose as to why people leave the antidepressant medications, the answer that was detailed was that the people when start to have side effects from the medications, leave those medications so as to prevent themselves from the side effects that they are suffering from. This conclusion was being drawn from a group of people who were surveyed and they called the side effects the major reason for their not taking the medication.

It is really important for all the people who are reading this article to know that the antidepressants are really important for the individuals to recover because they help to take the individuals to recover from the effects of depression and this will ultimately help them to lead their normal lives again. It is also being said by the physicians that the individuals who are going through depression must keep taking the antidepressant medications so that they just prevent themselves from relapsing back into the same problem of depression.

There are a lot of new antidepressant medications that are there in the market, which includes Prozac, Paxil, Zoloft, Effexor, Cymbalta and Wellbutrin and these are the antidepressant medications that have very few side effects than the previous antidepressant drugs.

The side effects that the antidepressant medications include insomnia, sleepiness, increased anxiety, nausea and vomiting, diarrhea, lack of sexual drive, headaches, dizziness, weight gain or weight loss. These are the side effects that the individuals can suffer from, which varies from individual to individual or they might not suffer from any side effect at all.

The biggest risk or the biggest side effect that is being linked to the antidepressant medications is the suicidal ideation in children and in adults. These are the symptoms that can creep in and can cause hazardous effects, so it is really important that when an individual is taking the antidepressant medications, that they consult their doctor on a routine followup basis so that they are able to get the proper guidance as to what are the different signs and symptoms they are developing and how they will be able to get out of it.

These symptoms of suicidal ideation occurs mostly in times of recovery and it is when that a keen sight should be on the individual as to the changes in behavior etc. so that this thing can be caught at a very early stage and reported to the concerning physician.

Apart from this, the antidepressants that lie in the tricyclic category, which includes Elavil, Pamelor and Tofranil can cause severe side effects or can either result in severe drug drug interaction. The side effects that these medicines cause include blurred vision and fatigue. It is to be known that these drugs are not safe for people who are suffering from heart problems and if these medicines are given in high potencies then they can really cause severe damage to life.

There is another category in the antidepressant drugs known as the monoamine oxidase inhibitors, which include Nardil, Parnate, and Marplan that have the potential to cause serious interactions with some foods, which include red wine, cheese, beans, as well as some medicines and the interaction of these medicines can be really dangerous and can cause extremely high blood pressures.

Whenever you have a feeling that you are feeling different and you are not yourself, you must report immediately to your doctor and should learn as to what are these symptoms that you are going through so that you are able to get the right diagnosis and a proper dosing so that the side effects that you are going through can be averted.

Depression Screening Test

by depressiondoctor on May 22nd, 2006

Depression is a clinical condition, which is characterized by an inability to concentrate, lack of sleep, loss of appetite, anhedonia (loss of interest in activities), feelings of extreme sadness, guilt, helplessness and hopelessness, and thoughts of death.

There are specific questionnaires that can be filled out to determine whether the individual is going through the depression or not. These questions are solely targeted to determine whether the individual is going through depression and in this article we are going to give you a depression screening test to fill out so you could see whether you are going through one or not.

Question 1: Do you feel sad, blue, unhappy or “down in the dumps”?

a. Never.

b. Rarely.

c. Sometimes.

d. Very often.

e. Most of the times.

Question 2: Do you feel tired, having little energy, unable to concentrate?

a. Never.

b. Rarely.

c. Sometimes.

d. Very often.

e. Most of the times.

Question 3: Do you feel, restless, uneasy, or irritable?

a. Never.

b. Rarely.

c. Sometimes.

d. Very often.

e. Most of the times.

Question 4: Do you have trouble sleeping or eating (too little or too much)?

a. Never.

b. Rarely.

c. Sometimes.

d. Very often.

e. Most of the times.

Question 5: Do you feel that you are not enjoying the activities that you used to?

a. Never.

b. Rarely.

c. Sometimes.

d. Very often.

e. Most of the times.

Question 6: Do you feel that you lost interest in sex or experiencing sexual difficulties?

a. Never.

b. Rarely.

c. Sometimes.

d. Very often.

e. Most of the times.

Question 7: Do you feel inadequate, like a failure or that nobody likes you anymore?

a. Never.

b. Rarely.

c. Sometimes.

d. Very often.

e. Most of the times.

Question 8: Do you feel that it takes you longer than before to make decisions or unable to concentrate?

a. Never.

b. Rarely.

c. Sometimes.

d. Very often.

e. Most of the times.

Question 9: Do you feel guilty without a rational reason, or put yourself down?

a. Never.

b. Rarely.

c. Sometimes.

d. Very often.

e. Most of the times.

Question 10: Do you feel that things always go or will go wrong no matter how hard you try?

a. Never.

b. Rarely.

c. Sometimes.

d. Very often.

e. Most of the times.

These are the 10 questions that will let you know as to where do you stand in terms of depression. If your answers are leaning more towards the d and e options then you are suffering from depression for sure, which means that you need to take the advice of your doctor as to what can be done in terms of treating your depression. Just answer the questions sincerely and you will get the true results. I hope this article will help you determine as to what are the different questions you are scoring the most, which will help you determine the feelings that you are going through right now and then you can determine as to what are the different things that are leading you to go through such feelings. You will come out of these feelings that are making you feel bad and you will be able to put yourself back in track and fill your heart with good feelings.

Depression & Mania

by depressiondoctor on May 4th, 2006

There are conditions where depression does not present itself as a single entity, but present themselves with some other behavioral disorder known as mania. This condition where both the depression and the mania present itself are known as bipolar disorder.

Bipolar means that we need to consider to poles at the opposite extreme direction, where one entity lies such as depression and on the other end lies mania. The individuals who are going through this condition just oscillate between these two feelings and they either display the symptoms of depression or mania.

In mania the individual is pretty hyperactive and they talk and move pretty fast. In this state the individual has extreme sex desire and decreased inhibition. These individuals then switch from being into the manic state to depressive state in which they feel sad, hopeless and filled with despair.

It is also being said that the individuals who suffer from the bipolar illness might have the genetic predisposition of this illness and thus suffer through the symptoms of bipolar disease.

It is always best that this problem is being diagnosed in the earlier stages and thus would help the individual from suffering the symptoms of this problem. Therefore, whenever you feel that you are going through the symptoms of bipolar disorder, you must seek the help of a physician who could analyze your condition or you could simply refer yourself to a psychiatrist so that you can get the treatment for this condition as soon as possible.

You must realize that this problem is seriously affecting the mental health of your family and for that matter it is really necessary that you realize that the treatment of this condition is really necessary for you.

Some people do not opt to get themselves checked by a doctor or a psychiatrist because they think that nothing is wrong with them and they keep on spending their lives the way they had been and the situation gets worse and worse with time. This will not only uproot your life, but will also put your family into a life full of flames and anger and distorted mind. So it is vital that you opt to have treatment for your family and your loved ones so that you all can spend a happy life.

Call Or Visit Your Doctor To Seek Help

by depressiondoctor on April 27th, 2006

When you feel that you are going through severe bouts of sadness and those feelings are something that you are unable to manage, then you must take these feelings into consideration and do not just keep that inside you. This is something that you need some professional help with.

The sooner you find these symptoms inside of you, the sooner you should contact your doctor to ask them to make an appointment so that you could explain to them as to what are the different feelings that you are going through and how these feelings are affecting your life.

In your appointment, the doctor or your primary physician is going to ask you different questions as to what are the feelings that you are going through, what is the cause of those feelings, were there any traumatic episodes that you have gone through with. They will also ask you as to whether you are taking any medicines for different conditions, as those medicines can also cause depression as a side effect.

Just remember that you need to be totally honest about everything and tell them exactly as to what you are going through because if you will keep something to yourself then the doctor cannot help you with your problem entirely. Because there are times when the drug is enough to help a person, but there are situations in which the individuals need some counseling on a weekly basis where they can share their feelings with the counselor and are able to overcome the feelings over the passage of time.

The doctors can also ask you whether you have any feelings where you want to hurt yourself and if you do have feelings of hurting yourself, then the doctor can ask you to sign a contract for safety so that it can be assured that you would not be hurting yourself.

Your doctor will also prescribe you the medicines specific for depression and will ask you to come back for another visit where he will ask you regarding any benefit that you have gained from the medicine, so that they can make a decision as to continue the medicines or to change them. Your doctor will also give you his or her number so that you can contact them and ask for help at whatever time you would like.

Postpartum Depression

by depressiondoctor on April 25th, 2006

Depression that occurs during the period of pregnancy or within one year after the delivery is known as postpartum depression. This condition is one of the main complications of pregnancy. Our article today is to inform you about this condition so that the women who are going through the pregnancy or have been within a year of their delivery can learn the different aspects of postpartum depression.

Now as we know as to what postpartum depression is, we must now know as to what are the different reasons that cause this depression. There are a lot of factors that lead to postpartum depression, which includes anxiety regarding the concerns for the health of the baby, little or no support from family and friends, excessive workloads. There could be a bout of severe depression if the individual has gone through problems with previous pregnancy, financial problems, marital issues, pregnancy at young age etc.

All these factors lead to excessive bouts of depression and can affect the health of both the mother and the child and thus can complicate the pregnancy. Apart from all the reasons mentioned above, doctors state that during pregnancy, the women have very high levels of estrogen and progesterone and when the women have given child to birth, the levels of these hormones rapidly turn back to normal and the sudden drop of these hormones to reach the normal levels make the women go through the bouts of depression.

The doctors also state that after giving birth, the levels of the thyroid hormones also drop very rapidly and then decreased levels of thyroid hormones cause depressed mood.

Some other factors that cause depression after birth are decreased sleep, doubts of being inability to take care of the child, thoughts about whether she will be a good mother or not, thoughts about whether the figure would ever be regained or not. All of the symptoms mentioned above leads to excessive crying episodes, feeling a whole lot irritable, trouble focusing on things, a feeling of being worthless, emotional lability etc.

It is being seen that women normally do not discuss about postpartum depression because they feel that it would be perceived in a very odd way and no one will understand them and due to the fact, they do not discuss anything about what they are going through. When you feel that you are going through the symptoms that are mentioned above, you must share your thoughts with your doctor and ask for their help. You can also sought help through a counselor and can attend group sessions where different women who are pregnant are attending a group meeting and discussing the different things that they are going through, which will give you strength and will help you get out of the depression problems you are going through.

Is Your Depression Affecting Your Skills And Your Professional Expertise

by depressiondoctor on April 22nd, 2006

Since depression takes most of the things out of your life, it also damages your skills and your professional expertise at a massive level. We all know that it is because of our skills and our expertise in different fields we are able to earn and manage the finances and meet our needs of our daily life.

You surely know that it is really important for you to be able to perform your job with the complete focus and concentration, but depression tends to erode the sense of responsibility out of you and take your mind away from the tasks on which you need to focus.

During the time that you are getting focused out of the work, this zooming out is something that you and your colleagues will know about. This is going to raise the concern of your employers, as this is affecting the work and is jeopardizing the current operations of the organization.

Your immediate boss is going to call you and would try to know about your problems and at that point in time you must share of some of the things that you need to so that your boss can know as to what are the issues that you are going through. This is going to help you get some time off of work and will allow you to take care of the problems you are going through.

You must understand that since this issue is now in the knowledge of your employers, you must now work in a positive way to get out of it because you have the opportunity to have some time on your own where you could meet with your doctor, as well as attend the different group meetings where you can share your thoughts and feelings as to what you are going through so that you are able to get out those feelings as soon as possible.