Depression and Anxiety Medication Risks

It's no secret that we have made huge advancements in the understanding of depression and anxiety disorders. Treatments however, especially those involving medications and drugs continue to be problematic.

While the older drugs like Monoamine oxidase inhibitors (MAOIs) were considered extremely dangerous due to their potential for both drug and food interactions, the latest long term anxiety and depression mood drugs are not without risks.

Many anxiety disorder sufferers are placed at one time or another on a class of prescription medications known as selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors or SSRI's. These drugs are prescription medications based on restoring a theoretical chemical imbalance of serotonin in an anxiety patients brain. These medicines are marketed under the names of Paxil , Lexapro, Zoloft and Prozac.

Although much safer than the MAOIs of previous years, here are some of the side effects that you may experience while on the SSRI class of drugs

You may experience...

Breathing difficulties
mouth and throat swelling
facial swelling
seizures
profuse sweating
rapid heartbeat
confusion
insomnia
sleepiness with insomnia
agitation and irritation
lack of coordination or balance
drowsiness
nausea
diarrhea
stomach pain
decreased sex drive
impotence

And these are just some of the possible side effects.

SSRIs drugs can help people suffering from anxiety due to a serotonin imbalance. If the anxiety symptoms however are triggered from trauma, hereditary factors are personality traits, the benefits of using these medications is not as clear-cut.

Only you and your doctor can decide if the risks and side effects are worth the potential relief that may be obtained. One final consideration is that many medications require several weeks before any relief is recognized. This is due to the fact that the active ingredients in the drugs need to build up in your body to be effective

There are a variety of anxiety treatment programs however that do not include the use of drugs. If you cannot for some reason use these medications, don't dispair.

You should really bookmark this site and check back to see what other ideas have been added. Anxiety in all forms is a long term illness with new treatment strategies always being developed. Don't you want to know the latest information? Bookmark this site

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Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) -- A commonly prescribed class of drugs for treating depression. SSRIs work by stopping the reuptake of serotonin, an action that allows more serotonin to be available to be taken up by other nerves.

Norepinephrine -- A hormone that regulates blood pressure by causing blood vessels to narrow and the heart to beat faster. It also has a role in regulating mood.

Bipolar disorder -- A mood disorder, formerly called manic-depressive disorder, that is characterized by episodes of major depression and mania.