What are the long-term side effects of anti-depressant medication?!
Question: Weight gain would be the worst. Sexual dysfunction can persist until you stop the drug. People usually chose the antidepressant according to what side effects they wish to avoid, so you would be better off specifying what medication you are considering. Note that the really worrying side effects are short term ones, not long term. Tricky if you are might get pregnant, too.
Answers: Weight gain would be the worst. Sexual dysfunction can persist until you stop the drug. People usually chose the antidepressant according to what side effects they wish to avoid, so you would be better off specifying what medication you are considering. Note that the really worrying side effects are short term ones, not long term. Tricky if you are might get pregnant, too.
Well the idea with taking anti depressant medication long term is to permanently alter brain chemicals/brain chemical receptibility so that you can get off the medication and not be depressed anymore.
After taking medication for a while your body gets used to it, and initial side effects tend to go away or get less severe. I think the main concern isn't so much the long term side effects but the effects you can experience getting off the drugs, as most anti depressants need to be weened off slowly rather than stopped abruptly.
Most anti depressants will have withdrawal type effects when stopped. I've been on quite a few anti depressants over the years, the only real long term effects are permanent changes to my mood and mental state. I haven't noticed anything else really.
You can find the long term side effects of any medication by picking up a book called the 2008 Drug Handbook.
I think it's a good idea to check the Drug Handbook, or the Merck Manual (if it still exists), or even on line for the short term side effects. Normally most doctors won't prescribe them long enough to get any serious lasting side effects. I think the biggest problem is that antidepressants treat the symptom, not the cause, so unless you get additional help, after you stop taking the meds you'll go back to where you were.
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Manic depression, obesity and sexual impotency.
There are far too many factors to consider to give this a simple answer...who the patient is...what type of problem(s) the patient has...what other types of medication they are on...the particular antidepressant they are on...only to mention a few...
Some of the above answers are wrong. Depression is a chemical thing - but more than just an "imbalance" as so commonly thought. To explain this shortly, it has to do with neurotransmitters. Three of the common neurotransmitters involved in Depression are dopamine, serotonin, and norepinephrine. The levels of these chemicals can be high or low. Anti-depressants help repair the neurotransmitters and balance the chemical levels. So, in reality, no one should have to be on anti-depressants their whole life. Once balance is restored, they should be able to wean off of them and feel okay. Granted, however, that they have learned how to manage stress during treatment.
Here's some more stuff to read if you're interested: http://www.allaboutdepression.com/cau_02...
Hope this helps!