Tag: Antidepressants

Options for Dealing with High Blood Pressure

If you are battling high blood pressure do not be discouraged. Did you know that as many as seventy two million people in the U.S. 20 and older have high blood pressure? Twenty eight percent of these do not even know they have it.

Some people do not worry about their blood pressure until they get older. While this might make sense to an extent, it is never too early to monitor your blood pressure. If you have a family history of high blood pressure, you want to start right away.

How many people wait until they are diagnosed with something before attempting to prevent it or cure it? Too many. By taking control of your blood pressure today you can prevent a stroke or developing heart or kidney disease later in life.

When you are young you might be more active than when you get older. Try to stay active and if you aren’t, get active. All it takes is thirty minutes a day of physical activity or exercise to control your blood pressure and better your health.

Eat healthy foods. Try to stay away from salty and fatty foods. Salt increases your blood pressure and fatty foods might cause weight gain, which causes high blood pressure as well. Try to eat more vegetables and fresh fruits. You might find you like more than you thought you would.

Stress can cause high blood pressure but there are so many ways to de-stress. Do you have a favorite hobby that has no stress? If so, try to do this every time you feel yourself overwhelmed or stressed out. You will be surprised at the wonders it can do.

If you take medications talk with your doctor to make sure they aren’t affecting your blood pressure. Certain medications can raise your blood pressure. Antidepressants, cold medicines, oral contraceptives, steroids, even nasal decongestants might be affecting your blood pressure without your knowledge.

If you are unsure of your family history, check it out. If you have a family history of high blood pressure chances are you will end up with high blood pressure as well. If you are aware of this early on, you can start monitoring and controlling your blood pressure before it gets a chance to become high.

There are many different kinds of blood pressure medications if you are unable to see results with regular lifestyle changes. Sometimes these medications are needed along with a regular healthy diet and exercise to be more effective.

The best thing you can do is talk with your doctor. They can suggest something that will help you control your blood pressure and even prescribe you some medication. If you start medication be sure you tell them of any other medicine you are taking as well.

You want to be in charge of your health and not wait until something happens to take that control. When it comes to your health you can never be too late so start as early as you can. You are never alone when it comes to dealing with your blood pressure and other health issues.

Antidepressants And Their Side Effects

Antidepressant medications can often help depression sufferers. However, they do have side effects and some can be dangerous. Before starting any antidepressant medication, it is a good idea to consult with your doctor so you can weigh the benefits and the risks. Sometimes antidepressant meds are not the solution because of the side effects.

Depression is most often caused by lower levels of serotonin in the brain. Antidepressants raise these levels back to their state of normalcy. While it is true that there are many studies that contradict the theory of depression being caused by a chemical imbalance, they have yet to figure out exactly what is the cause.

Serotonin levels cannot be measured, so researchers do not know what a normal level is. All they know is that something causes the serotonin levels to decrease and there are drugs to reverse this. Some studies have shown that moods and depression do not always worsen when the individuals serotonin levels are reduced. Also in question is the fact that antidepressants take several weeks to start having an effect, yet it only takes a few hours for the same medications to raise serotonin levels. It would make sense that a depressed person should feel better in a few hours, not a few weeks.

Researchers are starting to realize that depression involves more than a chemical imbalance in the brain. While lower serotonin levels appear to be one of the causes, they are also finding that elevated stress levels, inflammation, nutritional deficiencies, shrinking brain cells, suppressing immune systems and abnormal activity in the brain are surfacing as causes. There are also many psychological and social factors that have an effect as well.

Antidepressant medication has proven to be effective when treating depression. It has also shown to cause side effects in approximately 50% of the people that take them. Medication should only be prescrib3ed when the symptoms of depression are severe. In most cases of mild depression, exercise, changes to diet, and therapy can work just as effectively.

The most prescribed types of antidepressants are called selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRI). These medications are commonly known as Prozac, Zoloft, Paxil, Celexa, Luvox, and Lexapro. SSRIs are responsible for increasing serotonin levels in the brain.

Serotonin is responsible for regulating mood and helps with pain, sleep, digestion, and mental clarity. Due to these roles, SSRIs come with a large range of side effects such as nausea, anxiety, insomnia, decreased sex drive, sweating, sleepiness, dizziness, dry mouth, headaches, and weight gain/loss. The most common of these side effects are lowered sex drive, sleepiness, insomnia, and nausea. These side effects usually go away within a few weeks. Sometimes though, they remain and even can get worse.

Some of the newer drugs on the market such as Wellbutrin and Effexor are called atypical antidepressants because they affect other neurotransmitters as well as serotonin. The side effects of these drugs are less severe and include nausea, fatigue, weight gain, nervousness, and dry mouth.

Regardless of which medication path the doctor prescribes, always weigh the benefits against the risks to make sure the chosen medication is right for you.

Antidepressant Withdrawal Suicide Risk

Antidepressants are commonly prescribed to treat depression and anxiety. They are usually prescribed for long periods of time, months and sometimes years. It is possible to stop taking them; however weaning yourself off can be difficult. It is essential that you have your doctors permission and know what the withdrawal effects are.

The weaning process must be done slowly. If you suddenly stop taking them, then the withdrawal effects can be severe. You can experiences effects like restlessness, dizziness, irritability, tiredness, nausea, muscle spasms, and crying spells.

These are all known as Antidepressant Discontinuation Syndrome. This is found more often when antidepressants like Prozac and Zoloft are discontinued, but it is possible with all antidepressant medications.

You have to be cautious when weaning yourself off these medications. It is easy to relapse into the very depression or anxiety the doctor was trying to help you with. If depression becomes a withdrawal symptom, it can be worse than the original case. The only way to fix this is to go back on the medication. This creates a vicious circle. The best way to avoid antidepressant withdrawal symptoms is to gradually taper the doses until you are off them completely. This process can take a couple of months but is more likely to work. This should always be done under doctors supervision.

Since the effects of antidepressant medications are not fully understood, there is always a chance that the medications can increases the effects of the persons depression. Increased effects of depression can lead to thoughts of suicide. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration enforce the regulation that all antidepressant medication containers include a warning label of the possible risk of suicide. It is increasingly possible in children and young adults. The first couple of months hold the greatest potential for this effect.

It has been proven that the withdrawal symptoms from antidepressants such as Prozac, Zoloft, Paxil, Luvox, and Celexa are more likely to result in thoughts of suicide than the other such medications in children and young adults. Young adults are more susceptible to suicidal, violent, and invincibility thoughts due to their age. The above mentioned medications can elevate the risks of these types of thoughts. The reason for this is these antidepressants, also called selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors, have an almost addictive quality. Their withdrawal symptoms are far more severe than other antidepressant medications. Thus making young adults more likely to revert back into a depression and possibly even sink deeper into it.

It is important that individuals taking antidepressants be closely monitored for possible thoughts and behaviors relating to suicide. This is important if the person on the antidepressants has had their dosage changed recently or it is their first time on the medication. The risk of suicide is elevated for these individuals.

Symptoms to recognize if the person becomes suicidal include aggression, anger, acting dangerously, irritability, suicidal thoughts, and difficulty sleeping. IF you know someone or you yourself are experiencing any of these symptoms, you must contact your therapist or doctor immediately.

Panic Attack Medications Can You Live Without Them?

Medications, a quick fix solution, are the most common way out of panic attacks. They are, for sure, not the ultimate solution to all behavioral dysfunction and many people have become well without the aid of them. Nonetheless, they are still being prescribed for two reasonsbecause they work and because they are convenient.

But can people with panic attacks truly live normally without the medications? For those who believe in their capacity to help themselves intro treatment other than taking pills and tablets, they can. Sadly for those who are used to the idea of resorting to meds for cure, it may be a bit hard not to take them.

People who depend too heavily on medication for the alleviation of panic attack symptoms know for a fact that dependence will ultimately occur. Along with the possibility that they will not get cured of their behavioral condition, they also will create another problem for themselveshow to recover from dependence on the medication? This truth is perhaps further exacerbated by the fact that panic attack medications are not the typical over the counter drugs that one could easily get over with.

Oftentimes, these drugs (e.g. valium and antidepressants) are meant to cure serious cases of mental disorders. Eventually, the patients will no longer suffer from only one condition but two serious conditions. The bonus? The addiction adds and aggravates the unpleasant experiences accompanying panic attacks. This is the common experience of people who rely too much on laboratory-produced substances.

Apart from drug dependence, panic attack medications can also trigger side effects at varying degrees. Typical examples of side effects are slower reflexes, light headedness, lack of energy, nausea, dizziness, upset stomach, blurry vision, disorientation, memory loss, confusion, impaired judgment, reduced brain activity, slurred speech and depression. Beyond the typical side effects, panic attack medications can also pose added risks overtime especially when certain combinations of medications are used.

Another problem that may be experienced are the paradoxical effects they could elicit. Paradoxical effects include those conditions that are excited by the use of specific medications which include irritability and anxiety at the less serious levels, and mania, aggression and hallucination at the more advanced stages.

Further, panic attack medications come with hefty price tagsnot really the best way of exacerbating your already serious behavioral disorder.

However, despite all the negativities surrounding panic attack medications, their effects should not be counted as entirely useless or dangerous. They were made to provide symptom relief and possible cure to start with. Thus, not all effects are bad. Nonetheless, it must be remembered that relief from the symptoms should not be entirely dependent on their effects. They must only be used when extremely necessary. Otherwise, these medications, which are by nature foreign chemicals, might destroy something in you that is beyond repairable.

The truth is, there are a number of ways to cure yourself from panic attacks apart from depending on medications to give you the solution. Behavioral therapies as well as cognitive approaches are among the best alternatives to drugs. Group and individual therapies are also good options. But despite all the promises of these therapies and treatments, if the person lacks the determination to take himself out of the grip of panic attacks, all these may prove useless.

Over the years, medical professionals and patients alike proved that only the person, the patient of panic attacks, could find the cure for his condition.