How to Take Depression Medications Safely

Over 20 million Americans suffer from clinical depression, and there are possibly many more than that who simply do not know they are depressed. The symptoms are so constant and pervasive that the individual may think feeling bad is "normal." However, depression is not normal, and can be caused by physiological disturbances in chemical levels in the brain, as well as psychosocial issues.

There may be a chemical imbalance in certain substances (the most common one is serotonin) that assist with cell-to-cell communication. When communication is interrupted by a lack of serotonin, effective communication between cells is broken down, which may result in such symptoms as loss of interest in things that used to please you, prolonged sadness, inability to concentrate, or numerous other symptoms. Medically speaking, a person is diagnosed as "clinically depressed" when five or more depressive symptoms persist for the majority of a two-week period.

Depression can be the result of psychosocial issues and be situational. For example, it is perfectly understandable if a person feels depressed if they lose their job or such, but this feeling should not be totally consuming and last for prolonged periods of time.

One of the greatest advances in the treatment of depression has been the use of medication that helps the brain keep/maintain an increased level of serotonin. Probably the most well-known selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI) is Prozac, since it was the first SSRI on the market! These medications assist the body in keeping serotonin at an appropriate level.

However, one of the major mistakes people make when taking SSRIs is self-dosing them incorrectly. This article will discuss how to correctly dose SSRIs and what NOT to do in order to get the most out of the medication and not cause yourself harm.

Difficulty: Challenging

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Evaluation by a clinician
• (Possible) use of depression screening tool such as Zung scale
• Follow up care by your clinician to determine if the SSRI treatment is effective as is, or if it needs some adjusting

Know if you are clinically depressed

1. Be aware of the signs and symptoms of depression which include:
   
   Sadness throughout the day, nearly every day
   Loss of interest in or enjoyment of your favorite activities
   Feeling of worthlessness
   Excessive or inappropriate feelings of guilt
   Thoughts of death or suicide
   Trouble making decisions
   Fatigue or lack of energy
   Sleeping too much or too little
   Change in appetite or weight
   Trouble concentrating
   Aches and pains
   Restlessness
   
   Generally five or more of these signs and symptoms last for more than two weeks if clinical depression is suspected.

2. Speak frankly with your primary care clinician and let him or her know how you feel. Shame should never be associated with depression. Depression is a medical disease akin to other illnesses such as diabetes. A person with diabetes simply cannot "overcome" their diabetes without treatment, because of the imbalance of insulin in their body. This analogy is comparable to depression. A clinically depressed person simply cannot "will themselves better."

3. Take your medication as directed and at the scheduled time that you and your clinician agree upon. This helps regulate the correct SSRI level in your blood stream to prevent peaks or dips in the body's level.

4. Take you antidepressant as prescribed and for the length of time necessary. SSRIs are NOT rapid acting medications and may take days or even a couple of weeks or more to "kick in."

5. Do NOT abruptly stop your antidepressant or skip doses, since this may result in serotonin syndrome, which could display symptoms similar to what you sought treatment for in the first place, such as anxiety, headache and nausea.

Tips & Warnings

• As with any other medical condition, medical advice on the Internet should always be discussed with your nurse practitioner or MD. No one should self-diagnose or treat. The final decision on any medical diagnosis and treatment should always be between you and your primary care clinician.

Resources

• Zung Scale
• Serotonin Syndrome