Zoloft, Lexapro the Best of Newer Antidepressants

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webcamsex of 7:35PM February 13, 2009

For HealthDay editors to omit any mention of safety concerns about these drugs is very shoddy journalism. It's perhaps scarier if the Italian researchers failed to consider public safety in their original study. I could forgive sloppy editorial thinking and sucking in un-masticated press releases for regurgitation if you were merely selling lumber.

But you're dealing with people's lives in discussing a class of drugs that has been associated with suicides, self-mutilations, internal organ failure, and instigating violence in patients who were previously troubled but not aggressive till they began anti-depressants.

Try to at least pretend you serve the broad public and are not a news bugle for pharmaceutical manufacturers.

GoodToKnow of CA 6:26PM January 29, 2009

I have tried imipramine (tofranil), bupropion (Wellbutrin/Zyban), citalopram (Celexa), escitalopram (lexapro), fluoxetine (Prozac), paroxetine (Paxil), sertraline (zoloft), and venlafaxine (Effexor). I also tried a monoamine oxidase inhibitor but I forgot the name. I tried each for many month to a year or more. Zoloft and the monoamine-ox inhibitor made me think suicidal thought, Effexor was also really awful for me. I was probably the worst on zoloft and effexor and the mono. Of all, Lexapro was the most efficient drug. I also suffer from bipolar disorder, and lexapro combined with lamotrogine (lamictal) has been an extremely effient treatment and much better for me than lithium and antidepressant combined. The only problem is the cost! I also use an older, non-narcotic medicine to sleep (trazadone) as I have a major sleep problem, and this drug is really effective. I was maintain quite well on an extremly high dose of imipramine for many years, probably the next best after lexapro was celexa (citalopram)

dianne 11:17AM January 29, 2009

My husband was on Effexor for a while, but when trying to get off the drug, even with "step down" therapy, he experienced terrible "shocks" through his system. All his nerves would trigger at once and his muscles would tense up briefly. It has happened less over time in the 2 years that he's been off - now happens once every 5-6 months instead of several times a day when he first stepped down the dose. This is a commonly reported side effect. Effexor is now only used as a long-term drug for major depression in patients with a permanent case - not for situational depression as he had at the time (had been left at the altar by his ex and he had a breakdown).

For myself, I've been on Zoloft and Paxil in the past. Zoloft worked rather well, but I had awful dry mouth. I was also nursing at the time (post-partum depression) and it made my milk supply low. Had to stop it to feed my son, but was so depressed I gave up and went back on it and bottle-fed him. The last few years, I've been on Paxil but it doesn't work as well as it could and I'm on the max dose. In fact, I started to hear music or talking or people singing, especially at night before bed. So my doctor is putting me on an anti-siezure and bipolar disorder medication because he thinks my mood disturbances sound much more like bipolar disorder than just plain depression. Hopefully, I'll find something that will work better. For now we're staying away from SSRI's just to see if that makes a difference.

DeAnn of TX 10:52AM January 29, 2009