About Side Effects Of Antidepressants: Side Effects Of Antidepressants

Learn about the side effects of antidepressants and what it can do to someone who is suffering from depression. Depression not only affects the person who is going through it, but also everyone around them, including friends, family, loved ones, spouses, and children.

Side effects

It is a widespread belief in the medical world' especially in psychiatry' common conditions such as depression in their severe form' drug therapy is a necessity treatment option' which often proves to be life saving.

But the key disadvantage of this therapy is that the drugs used for treating depression' i.e. antidepressants have many side effects' which may often dishearten the patients from taking them. There is a lot of research being carried out to discover better drugs with fewer side effects' but it is difficult to achieve at an ‘excellent’ answer/remedy.

There are various classes or types of antidepressants' with different modes of actions. But they all work towards restoring the chemical balance of the brain' thereby ensuring its effective functionality' especially in the control of our moods. Side effects of these different types of antidepressants vary. The older generation drugs often have more severe side effects than the newer discoveries.

Let’s take a look at the side effects of some common antidepressant drug types.

SSRI’s

These are the most widely prescribed type and their common side effects are:

Nausea' dizziness' headaches
Anxiety' sweating and restlessness
Lack of sleep / Insomnia
Reduction of sexual behavior
Diarrhea or constipation

Many of these side effects may die down after the first few weeks of treatment' but some many not. Sometimes their intensities may increase over the treatment course. But' these drug types have fewer side effects as opposed to the older generation drugs.

Tricyclics

These are the oldest antidepressants at work and side effects include:

Dry mouth' Dry nose
Blurred vision' aggravation of glaucoma
Impaired thinking
Weariness and fatigue
Changes in Blood Pressure
Changes in the heart rate
Due to the severity of their side effects' these are often prescribed for patients who do not answer to newer' less specific antidepressant drugs.

Newer Generation Drugs

These are referred as atypical antidepressants as their mode of actions vary. These include Bupropion' Venlafaxine' Mirtazapine ' Trazodone and Nefazadone. Their side effects are:

Bupropion:

Lack of sleep
Agitated behavior
Headache

Venlafaxine:

Nausea and headache
Loss of appetite
Anxiety and nervousness
Tiredness

Mirtazapine

SedationWeight gainDry mouthIncreased appetite Nefazodone:

Blurred vision
Dizziness and nausea
Constipation
Dry mouth

Antidepressant withdrawal Symptoms

Stopping the treatment of antidepressant drugs should not be done abruptly. These are slow progressing drugs and our bodies get adapted to them over time' thus stopping would cause many secondary symptoms. These are referred as ‘Antidepressant withdrawal Symptoms’. They include:

Restlessness
Fatigue and dizziness
Mood swings
Body ache
Feverishness

In order to avoid such effects' it is advisable to consult your doctor before stopping treatment. He will gradually reduce the drug administration course prescribed to you' there by minimizing the occurrence of such withdrawal symptoms. This will assure you recover in a more effective manner.

Summary: The biggest drawback of antidepressant drugs is the many side effects they pose' but researchers are working towards developing better drugs with fewer side effects that would not discourage patients from following their treatment regimes promptly.