Choosing the right antidepressant

What is the best antidepressant? How to find the right antidepressant? Why you should stop taking your antidepressants? Depression is the leading cause of disability worldwide.

Although antidepressants may not cure depression, they can reduce symptoms.

Major depression affects millions of Americans, bringing symptoms including low mood and tearfulness , decreased self-esteem, lack of interest in activities that used to bring pleasure, decreased concentration, hopelessness, suicidal thinking, impaired sleep, anxiety and changes in appetite. Often, side effects (like nausea, fatigue and irritability) kick in right away, but subside within a week or so. A referral to a medical doctor may be the right call.

The first antidepressant you try may work fine. Amitriptyline (AMI) has the longest track record and the best data from well-conducted trials, though it can be very difficult to tolerate in antidepressant doses. Antidepressants are a popular treatment choice for depression.

Clinical Bottom Line All the antidepressants in this guide are effective for treating the acute phase of major depression in adults, including those and older.

With more than antidepressants on the market, finding the right one is definitely a process. Learn about an MDD treatment option. Recently, research published in the medical journal The Lancet indicated that sertraline (Zoloft) and escitalopram (Lexapro) may be best for treating depression without causing intolerable side effects.

Recent advances in pharmacogenomics (PGx), or the science of matching the right medication to a person based on their genes, have made it easier for your healthcare provider to pick an antidepressant that’s more likely to work with fewer side effects. Mood stabilizers like lithium or valproate (Depacon), if you experience uncontrolled mood swings. Stimulants like methylphenidate (Ritalin), if the antidepressant causes sluggishness or sleepiness. Many drugs take between and weeks before they offer full therapeutic benefit. But, for better or for worse, that’s not the case for most people with anxiety and depression.

In fact, researchers believe that up to – or about million people – in the United States alone use an antidepressant. There are also millions more around the world that use antidepressants, beta blockers, sedatives and sometimes even a combination of these drugs to help themselves them cope with their anxiety and depression symptoms. There are several factors that go into choosing the right antidepressant.

Chief among them is tolerability. Because many antidepressants are equally effective in treating depression, a greater emphasis is placed on prescribing the drugs with the fewest short- and long-term side effects. That’s why medications that alter brain chemistry play a large role in psychiatric treatment.

Find treatment resources as well as safety and clinical data pertinent to doctors. She was also prescribed selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) — a class of drugs including Prozac which are used to treat anxiety and depression —.

Genetic testing to choose the right antidepressant. The test was developed by Brain Resource, Ltd (San Francisco, California) and purportedly could help personalize the management of depression. This article tests this statement using years of nationally representative BEACH data, which includes data on antidepressants prescribed by GPs – not just those subsidised through the PBS. If you can, try to make it to the day mark. If the symptoms do not decrease by then, it may not be the med for you.

Just my opinion but no need to suffer any longer then you have to. Online Therapy with a Licensed Counselor. Available Anytime, Anywhere You Need It. The Time is Now to Put Yourself First.