How Does Cytomel Work for Depression?
Other People Are Reading
-
Cytomel
-
The prescription Cytomel, which is the consumer name for lithothyronine, is prescribed for people who generally have trouble with their thyroid gland. The thyroid gland, when operating properly, produces a hormone on its own that regulates the body's metabolism and energy levels. If the thyroid isn't producing enough of this hormone on its own, lithothyronine can be instituted in place of that hormone to help regulate these areas of the body. This drug is also used to help prevent the formation of goiters in people suffering from thyroid problems.
Depression
-
If Cytomel is meant to be used to regulate a person's thyroid, then why is it being prescribed for use by people suffering from clinical depression? This is a good question, and one that can be easily answered. Anti-depressant drugs, while they work well for many patients, may have only a limited or no effect in certain people suffering from depression. However, when anti-depressants are taken in conjunction with Cytomel, the chemical interactions can increase the effectiveness of the anti-depressants without the risks that increasing the dosage of the anti-depressant might bring.
-
Dangers
-
There is of course a risk when using this particular approach to treat depression. If a person's thyroid is functioning perfectly well, putting too much lithothyronine into her system could cause the symptoms of having an over active thyroid gland. This could lead to changes in metabolism and energy level, as well as creating side effects such as the development of a goiter. This sort of prescription, giving a patient both Cytomel as well as an anti-depressant, is carefully monitored by doctors, and it's also used only in extreme cases where other methods have failed.
-
