Depressed Patients Don’t Get Enough Follow-Up
Recent controversy in antidepressant therapies centered on an increased risk of suicidal thoughts in new patients who started antidepressant medications. However, a new study published in American Journal of Managed Care suggests that this concern about increased risk of suicidal thoughts in patients taking antidepressants did not translate into physicians following up on patients who started antidepressant therapy. Read more
Mixing Some Antidepressants and Migraine Drugs May Cause Lethal Serotonin Syndrome
U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) published a warning that mixing certain sSRI/SNRI-type of antidepressant medications and triptan-based migraine drugs may cause a potentially lethal condition called Serotonin Syndrome.
According to the FDA website, when the body has too much serotonin, symptoms of Serotonin Syndrome will occur. These symptoms may include restlessness, hallucinations, loss of coordination, fast heart beat, rapid changes in blood pressure, increased body temperature, overactive reflexes, nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea. Usually symptoms happen when the drug dose is increased or when the patient is started on the drug.
The FDA website listed some commonly prescribed drugs within the classes at risk:
SSRIs and a Combination Drug Containing an SSRI
* Celexa (citalopram)
* Fluvoxamine
* Lexapro (escitalopram)
* Paxil (paroxetine)
* Prozac (fluoxetine)
* Symbyax (olanzapine/fluoxetine)
* Zoloft (sertraline)
SNRIs
* Cymbalta (duloxetine)
* Effexor (venlafaxine)
Triptans
* Amerge (naratriptan)
* Axert (almotriptan)
* Frova (frovatriptan)
* Imitrex (sumatriptan)
* Maxalt and Maxalt-MLT (rizatriptan)
* Relpax (eletriptan
* Zomig and Zomig ZMT(zolmitriptan)
Misdiagnosis and Back: My Journey Through Depression
Prologue
I was misdiagnosed as having type 2 bipolar disorder sometime in February or March of 1998. These entries are excerpts from my journal, and documents the process of misdiagnosis, treatment, and correct diagnosis of depression.
Over time, as I look back at my experience and gain better understanding of the drugs and treatment side effects, I added notes that may help you gain perspective with my experience. If you are taking any of the medications I had taken and were wondering what was happening to you, I hope you didn’t have to wait years (like I did) before learning what was going on.
Original publication: 1998. Last Update: 2006.
Disclaimer
These are my personal experiences: as with all medications, side effects and positive effects differ from person to person. These are my interpretations of how I was feeling, and may not necessarily mean that I actually had the condition. For example, when I felt asthmatic, I may not actually be having an asthma attack; instead, I was feeling shortness of breath. Read more