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Antidepressants and Pregnancy

Saturday, March 7th, 2009

It can be very difficult to decide whether to continue taking antidepressants if you’re planning to get pregnant or have recently become pregnant. There hasn’t been a great deal of research on the effects of antidepressants in women who are pregnant. But there has been some. Here’s what the research tells us.

If you take antidepressants late in your pregnancy, your baby might get withdrawal symptoms soon after birth. In one study, some mothers who took the selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI) fluoxetine (brand name Prozac) late in their pregnancy had smaller babies.

Another study looked at more than 3,500 women who took antidepressants during the first three months of pregnancy. It found that women who took the SSRI paroxetine (brand name Seroxat) were more likely to have a baby with birth defects than women who took other antidepressants. The babies mainly had heart defects. Earlier studies didn’t show a higher risk of birth defects from paroxetine or other SSRIs.

Taking an SSRI in the second half of pregnancy might increase the risk of your baby getting a serious lung condition called persistent pulmonary hypertension (PPH) soon after they are born. Babies with PPH have high blood pressure in the blood vessels in their lungs. This makes it difficult for them to get enough oxygen into their blood. In the US, about 1 to 2 babies out of every 1,000 get PPH shortly after they are born. A study found that babies whose mothers took an SSRI after the 20th week of pregnancy were six times more likely to get PPH than babies whose mothers did not take one of these antidepressants. Taking other types of antidepressants at any time during pregnancy or taking an SSRI before 20 weeks of pregnancy did not increase the risk of PPH in babies.

If you’ve had major depression in the past you’re more likely to have a relapse while pregnant if you stop taking your antidepressants. In one study, researchers followed 201 women who’d had major depression in the past. Some women stopped taking antidepressants when they became pregnant, while others chose to continue taking their antidepressants. Out of the 82 women who carried on taking their antidepressants, 21 (26 percent) had a relapse. Out of the 65 women who stopped taking antidepressants, 44 (68 percent) relapsed. (The numbers of women don’t add up to 201 because some women dropped out of the study.)

Talk to your doctor if you take antidepressants and are pregnant or planning to get pregnant.

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Stress At Work Makes Men Ill

Thursday, March 5th, 2009

British men are suffering high rates of stress and depression due to overwork, a survey suggests.

More than one in three men turn to alcohol to try and switch off from work and 17% have been to see a doctor about their stress levels.

Experts said men were making themselves ill by not facing up to problems and using drink as a coping strategy.

The poll of 2,200 men found the highest levels of stress in the legal profession and banking and finance.

More than a quarter of men are suffering from new impotence medications as a result of stress and 38% are dissatisfied with their jobs, with a third feeling that their company rarely recognises their achievements.

One in five men have aggressive outbursts as a result of stress at work and 22% suffer from depression because they are unhappy with their jobs.

“Men tend to go to the pub, blot it out and they don’t talk to anyone about their problems” Professor Cary Cooper, stress expert.

Pressures at work led to sleeping problems in 35% of men and 40% struggle to switch off from work.

Professor Cary Cooper, professor of organisational psychology and health at Lancaster University, said men didn’t seek help because they didn’t want to be seen as “weak”.

“If you look at stress-related illnesses, such as heart disease, mental ill health, immune system diseases, they are higher in men.

“Women probably have double the pressures of men but their rates of illness are lower because they have better coping strategies.

“Men tend to go to the pub, blot it out and they don’t talk to anyone about their problems.”

Work problems

Professor Cooper welcomed the fact that one in six men had visited their GP because of stress but said problems in the workplace needed to be addressed.

“Jobs are less secure than ever before, people are working longer hours and they are being micromanaged,” he said.

“Don’t stay in a job you don’t like because it will make you ill.

“Seek employers that are more impotence medicine to people and take control.”

The survey, commissioned by the makers of Wellman vitamins, also found that stress was affecting men’s love life.

Around 15% of men said they suffered from a lowered sex drive and 5% had sexual impotence as a direct result of stress at work.

GP Dr Rob Hicks said: “Stress can be responsible for real physical symptoms but many men don’t make this link.

“They often just keep worrying about the symptoms they are experiencing but don’t do anything about them, so they find themselves in a vicious cycle that makes matters worse.

“Even if they do acknowledge that stress may be responsible for how they are feeling, although they shouldn’t feel afraid or home impotence remedy to seek help many still do feel this way and keep on suffering in silence.”

Bob Patton, a researcher from the Action on Addiction Alcohol campaign group, said: “We know that men often turn to alcohol when they feel stressed because they think it will make them feel better but drinking too much alcohol will actually book complete exercise health library scribner soft stretching the stress that they are feeling.

“If you are drinking alcohol every night as a coping mechanism for stress it will really creep up on you until it starts causing other problems including anxiety, depression as well as other health erectile dysfunction and smoking.”

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Other Antidepressants

Wednesday, March 4th, 2009

The only antidepressants that have been studied in women with postnatal depression are fluoxetine (brand name Prozac), paroxetine (Seroxat) and sertraline (Lustral). These drugs are all selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs). SSRIs are a newer kind of antidepressant that doctors often prescribe first for regular depression. (Regular depression is the kind you can get at any time, not just after you’ve had a baby.)

Although only the SSRIs fluoxetine, paroxetine and sertraline have been studied in postnatal depression, many other SSRIs (and other types of antidepressants) have been studied in people with regular depression.

SSRI antidepressants

Some other SSRIs, listed below (with brand names), have been shown to work for regular depression in adults.

* Fluvoxamine (Faverin). This drug is not recommended if you are breastfeeding.
* Citalopram (Cipramil). This drug is not recommended for breastfeeding mothers.

Other types of antidepressants

Sometimes doctors may use other types of antidepressants, listed below (with brand names), to treat regular depression. They haven’t been studied in postnatal depression. But because they are expected to work, doctors may sometimes prescribe them for postnatal depression.

* Tricyclic antidepressants (TCAs). These are older antidepressants. Doctors usually prescribe them only if other drugs haven’t worked. Examples include imipramine, nortriptyline (Allegron), amitriptyline (Elavil) and doxepin (Sinequan). TCAs are not recommended if you are breastfeeding.
* Monoamine oxidase inhibitors (MAOIs). Doctors rarely prescribe these drugs for depression, and usually only if other drugs haven’t worked. Examples include phenelzine (Nardil) and tranylcypromine. These drugs are not recommended if you are breastfeeding.
* Venlafaxine (Efexor). This is a newer kind of antidepressant drug. It is not recommended if you are breastfeeding.

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Antidepressant Eases Anxiety in Older Adults

Tuesday, March 3rd, 2009

Older adults with generalized anxiety disorder treated with the antidepressant Lexapro showed significant improvement in symptoms, a new study reports.

Generalized anxiety disorder is one of the most common psychiatric disorders in older adults. Its symptoms include chronic worry and anxiety and other problems, such as muscle tension, sleep disturbance and fatigue.

“This was the first large-scale study of antidepressant medications as a treatment for anxiety disorders in older adults,” said lead researcher Dr. Eric J. Lenze, an associate professor of psychiatry at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis.

As many as 7.3 percent of older people suffer from anxiety, and the percent is even higher among those receiving medical care, Lenze said. People with general anxiety can spend up to 40 hours a week consumed by worry, he added.

For many years, the treatment for anxiety in older adults has been either no treatment or such sedatives as Valium (diazepam) or Xanax (alprazolam), Lenze said. “There have been concerns about the safety of these medications in older adults,” he added.

Lexapro (escitalopram) is in a class of antidepressants known as selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs), which are thought to be safer, Lenze said. These drugs are approved for treating anxiety, he noted.

Although the researchers used Lexapro for this study, Lenze believes that other SSRIs would produce the same beneficial effect.

For the study, Lenze’s team tested the effectiveness of Lexapro in 177 adults 60 and older suffering from general anxiety disorder. The participants were randomly assigned to Lexapro or a placebo for 12 weeks.

The result: 69 percent of people taking Lexapro saw reductions in their anxiety levels, compared with 51 percent of those taking a placebo. Those on Lexapro also had greater improvement in functioning, activity and social functioning, the study found.

The researchers also found that people with high blood pressure taking Lexapro had a significant decrease in blood pressure. “This may suggest some additional health-related benefits of getting treatment for anxiety in this age group,” Lenze said, adding, “There are effective treatments for anxiety in older adults other than sedatives.”

The study results were published in the Jan. 21 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association.

Lenze said he hopes this study will help raise awareness that anxiety disorders are common among older people, and are often undetected or treated only with sedatives.

Douglas Mennin, an assistant professor of psychology at Yale University, agrees that physicians should be alert to anxiety problems among their older patients.

“Older adults should certainly be asked about their anxiety,” Mennin said. “Many older adults are faced with increasingly stressful situations, such as loss of friends, mobility and job, and anxiety is a natural result,” he said.

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What’s The Evidence For Antidepressants Plus Pindolol?

Monday, March 2nd, 2009

The research on this treatment isn’t very good. We found one summary (called a systematic review) of three studies.

* The summary included only 106 people. They all had severe depression and had tried antidepressants for at least four weeks.
* Half added pindolol to their antidepressant. The other half were given a dummy treatment (a placebo).
* The people who took pindolol did no better than the people who took a placebo.

We found one other study. It also found no difference between the people who took pindolol and the people who just took antidepressants.

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Bipolar Disorder: Self-harm and Suicide

Thursday, February 26th, 2009

Research has found that children, teenagers and young adults taking antidepressants of all kinds are more likely to think about suicide or try to harm themselves.

The risk of suicidal thoughts is highest if you’re under 18. Among people under 18 who are taking an antidepressant, an extra 14 in 1,000 thought about suicide.

The researchers also found that there’s a risk for young adults up to the age of 24. But their risk wasn’t as big as the risk in people under 18. An extra 5 in 1,000 people between the ages of 18 and 24 thought about suicide.

The research doesn’t seem to show an increased risk of suicidal thoughts or self-harm for people over the age of 24. But doctors and caregivers are advised to keep a careful check on anyone taking antidepressants for signs of suicidal thoughts. You are more likely to get these thoughts in the early stages of your treatment, or if the dose of the antidepressant you’re taking is changed. You may also be at risk if you have had thoughts about harming or killing yourself before.

If you’re taking an antidepressant and are worried about any thoughts or feelings you have, see your doctor or go to a hospital straight away. You might also find it helpful to tell a relative or close friend about your condition. You could ask them to tell you if they think your depression is getting worse or if they are worried about changes in your behaviour.

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Adults Depression, Things You Can Do For Yourself

Wednesday, February 18th, 2009

When you are depressed, it’s hard to cope with everyday things like looking after yourself. But eating well, doing some exercise and keeping in touch with friends, may all be helpful.

There’s some research to show that taking exercise may help you feel happier. If you are depressed, exercise may be the last thing you feel like doing. But gentle exercise like walking or swimming may lift your mood.

A herbal treatment called St. John’s wort is likely to help you if you have mild or moderate depression. However, the research on St. John’s wort isn’t as good as the research on antidepressants.

St. John’s wort comes as a tablet containing concentrated extracts from the plant, but exactly how much is in the tablets varies from brand to brand. In the UK, St. John’s wort is sold as a food supplement, not as medicine. This means it hasn’t been tested for safety in the same way as medicines. The most common side effects seem to be stomach problems (such as nausea or diarrhoea), dizziness or confusion, tiredness, and a dry mouth.

It’s important to know that St. John’s wort can interfere with the way other medicines work. You should never take it as well as an antidepressant because it might cause serious side effects. It can also make the contraceptive pill less effective, so you could get pregnant. Check with your doctor to see if it might interfere with any medicines you take.

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Adults Depression Medicines

Tuesday, February 17th, 2009

Antidepressants can work well for depression, but may have unpleasant side effects.

Between half and two-thirds of depressed people feel better after taking antidepressants. This may mean

* You feel less sad, hopeless, worried or guilty
* Your appetite improves
* You can concentrate better
* You no longer think about suicide.

You’ll probably need to take them for at least six weeks before they start to affect your mood. So it’s important not to stop taking them early. Specialists recommend that you take antidepressants for four to six months after you start feeling better. People who keep taking antidepressants for at least six months are much less likely to get another bout of depression.

There are two commonly used types of antidepressant. Both types work about as well as each other. The most commonly used are selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs). Examples of SSRIs (and their brand names) include fluoxetine (Prozac), paroxetine (Seroxat) and sertraline (Lustral).

If SSRIs don’t work for you, your doctor may suggest you try another type, called tricyclic antidepressants (TCAs). For some types of depression, TCAs are used first. Examples of TCAs (and their brand names) include amitriptyline (Elavil), nortriptyline (Allegron) and imipramine.

SSRIs boost the amount of a chemical messenger, called serotonin, in the brain. TCAs boost serotonin and another chemical messenger, called noradrenaline. Changes to these chemical messengers gradually change the way your brain works and how you feel.

All antidepressants can cause side effects, some of them serious. Your doctor will help you find the antidepressant that works best for you, and which causes the least side effects. This will vary from person to person. TCAs seem to cause slightly more side effects than SSRIs.

Common side effects of antidepressants include dry mouth, constipation, dizziness, stomach upsets, anxiety, headaches and problems sleeping.

You need to be careful not to take too much TCA medicine. It can cause life-threatening heart damage if you take more than the recommended dose.

You can get withdrawal symptoms if you stop taking antidepressants suddenly or if your dose is reduced. With TCAs, this can mean headaches, nausea, and an overall feeling of discomfort. With SSRIs, you may feel dizzy and anxious. Talk to your doctor first if you want to stop taking antidepressants.

It’s important to know that treatment with SSRIs (especially paroxetine) might make you think more about suicide when you first start taking them. If you are taking an antidepressant and are worried about any thoughts or feelings you have, see your doctor straight away. Your doctor should check regularly to make sure your depression is not getting worse, especially when you first start taking these medicines.

Other types of antidepressants are sometimes used, but less often. One newer type of antidepressant is called venlafaxine. There’s good evidence to show it works, especially for people with mild to moderate depression. But it may also make you more likely to think about suicide when you first take it.

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What Treatments Work For Adults Depression?

Monday, February 16th, 2009

Depression is usually treated by taking antidepressant medicines or by talking treatments (psychotherapy). Both can work well. Antidepressants may take a while to start working. You may need to keep taking them, even if you start feeling better. Having both antidepressants and talking treatment works better for some people, especially if you have more severe depression.

Talking treatments

If you have mild or moderate depression, talking treatments may be helpful. Some types may work better than antidepressant medicines. Your doctor can explain what is available locally and which type of talking treatment is most suitable for you. Here’s what we know from research about some common talking treatments:

Cognitive therapy can improve your symptoms of depression and increase your chances of getting completely better. About half the people who have this therapy recover during treatment. You normally have about 20 sessions with a trained therapist, over three or four months. The aim is to help you get rid of negative thoughts and beliefs, and to help you think more positively.

Interpersonal therapy works well for younger people (under 55) but we don’t know if it works for older people. You usually have about 12 to 16 weekly sessions with a trained therapist. During interpersonal therapy, your therapist encourages you to learn new and better ways of relating to other people.

Counselling may help your symptoms of depression, but the benefits may not last. Most people talk regularly to a trained counsellor at their doctor’s surgery. The counsellor listens then encourages you to solve your own problems.

Some people have antidepressants and cognitive therapy together. There’s good evidence that this works, especially for people with more severe depression.

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What Are The Symptoms of Adults Depression?

Sunday, February 15th, 2009

Depression can make you feel like you can’t cope with everyday life.

The key symptoms are feeling sad most of the time, losing interest in things you used to enjoy, and feeling very tired. If you are depressed, you will have some of these symptoms most of the time, for at least two weeks.

You might also find you have some of these symptoms:

* Problems sleeping, or sleeping too much
* Finding it hard to concentrate or make decisions
* Little confidence in yourself
* Either little appetite, or more appetite than usual
* Feeling guilty for no reason
* Feeling either agitated or sluggish
* Thinking about suicide.

If you are a man, your depression may be more likely to make you irritable or anxious. Men are much less likely to be diagnosed with depression than women. This may be because they are less likely to talk about their feelings.

If you see your doctor, he or she will check that your symptoms aren’t caused by anything else. Certain medicines, along with some medical conditions and infections, can cause the same symptoms as depression. Your doctor will ask you some questions, and may do some blood or urine tests to rule these things out.

Doctors diagnose depression according to how many of these symptoms you have. There’s no test to show you have depression. They will also ask if you’ve been treated for depression before, and may ask about your use of drugs and alcohol. These things can affect your treatment.

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