How to Choose Antidepressants
Is not a question that has a simple answer. The chemical balance in the brain is delicate and different for each individual. Different types of depression respond to different drugs and drugs produce different reactions for different people. The doctor and patient have to work together as a team to select a drug. Past experience would have familiarized a patient with different drugs and their side effects. Together the doctor patient duo has to decide upon taking a drug that produces the maximum benefit with the least side effect. Co-operation is required on the part of both. The patient should remember that no drug is free of side effect.
Most common side effects
The doctor often chooses antidepressants that produce the maximum result with minimum side effect. Side effects that are commonly experienced by all patients are sexual dysfunction and weight gain. Almost every medicine produces these two side effects in varying degrees.
The brighter side of these side effects lies in making the side effects work for you. If you are a diabetic then ‘Prozac’ is the drug for you. It reduces the craving for food thereby reducing the temptation to eat forbidden food. Excessively thin people might opt for drugs that may make them gain weight.
Choosing an antidepressant
- Doctors choose antidepressant in the following manner. If a patient has a past history of the same problem, then the doctor’s choice is easy. The drug well liked by the patient with the least side effects is prescribed.
- In the absence of the past history the doctor finds out if any other close relative had problems of a similar nature. He goes through their prescription and prescribes those drugs that suited them the most.
- Different drugs have to be taken in differing frequencies depending upon individual case requirements. Doctors often consider this criterion too for medicine that requires the least number of doses works best. Ease of use is important. The drug 'Bupropion' must be taken many times a day. The patient might forget and skip doses or might get confused and take the same medicine twice.
- As mentioned some side effects are beneficial. Doctors often make decisions based on this fact too.
- The doctor should be kept informed of the other health problems that a patient might be suffering. Medicines for depression often react with other medicines. The doctor bases his decision on possible expected reactions too.
- Some patients attempt suicide by overdosing themselves. The doctor prescribes medicines that cause no harm in over dosage for patients whose depression does include suicidal tendencies.
- Finally our diet has a direct bearing on the medicine we take. This also works as a decisive factor.
Antidepressants are not addictive but all medicines have side effects. The best part of these side effects is that they do not last long. The patient would have adjusted to the new situation within a week.