Maria’s depression was difficult to treat. As you can recall, various medications had been tried to no avail. But after several months of treatment, Maria has eventually become stable on a combination of two antidepressants. She’s now able to do her usual activities and is motivated to go back to work — something she has struggled to do for a while. Despite her improvement, antidepressant side effects have emerged and are bothersome. Maria begins to consider discontinuing her medications prematurely.
Antidepressant side effects are real and negatively affect patient’s compliance. Many patients like Maria consider stopping
medication even at risk of relapse because of distressing side effects.
How do you deal with some of common antidepressant side effects?
Insomnia Some antidepressants e.g. SSRIs (serotonin-reuptake inhibitor) are highly stimulating that they cause insomnia when taken in afternoon or at bedtime. Take this type of medication in morning. Discuss with your physician use of a sedating medication such as trazodone or sedative-hypnotic drug along with antidepressant. If you want to take only one pill, talk to your doctor about switching to a sedating antidepressant such as mirtazapine.
Moreover, sleep hygiene should be practiced. Avoid naps and intake of caffeinated drinks such as coffee and soda in afternoon and evening. Involve in regular exercise and physical activities during day. Moreover, use bedroom only for sleep and sex and not for recreational activities.
Weight gain
Regular exercise is weight gain’s antidote. If no medical contraindication, you may consider jogging, walking, or swimming. To reduce some excess and unwanted fat, keep yourself busy with physical and recreational activities.
How about diet? Diet has always been a part of any weight control regimen. Monitor your carbohydrate intake. Ice cream, chocolates, and other high-caloric foods should be reduced. If none of above works, talk to your doctor about switching pills.
Sexual dysfunction
Sexual dysfunction happens too often but is rarely asked or discussed in clinic. Some physicians and patients feel embarrassed about this subject. When you have concerns, be open to your physician. Discuss possibility of switching medication to an antidepressant (such as bupropion or mirtazapine) that doesn’t significantly impair sexual functioning. Also, talk to your doctor about adding another drug such as bupropion, yohimbine, or even mirtazapine to counteract sexual side effect.
How do you know if sexual dysfunction is from pill rather than from depression? If dysfunction persists despite successful remission of depression, then you should consider other causes such as drug-induced dysfunction or other medical causes e.g. diabetes.
