Not logged in
SSRIs 'miss' up to 13 symptoms of depression
By Dr. William Campbell Douglass on 05/31/2011
What do you call an antidepressant that leaves you sad? If you're in the drug industry, you call that "effective."
After all, you didn't kill yourself (not yet, anyway) -- and that's what passes for success these days.
A new analysis of data from the STAR*D trial finds that people who take SSRI antidepressants cope with at least three, often five, and up to 13 lingering symptoms of depression -- even while the drug is supposedly working.
The most common symptoms included insomnia (79 percent of patients), sadness (71 percent), concentration problems (70 percent), low energy (63 percent), and an even more severe form of insomnia (60 percent).
But the researchers behind this one are glass-half-full kinda guys -- they say the good news here is that the drugs worked "overall," and that suicidal thoughts were rare.
Hooray!
"Some people fear that antidepressant medication increases thoughts of suicide," study author Dr. Shawn McClintock said in a news release. "This provided counterevidence of that."
Call me Oscar the Grouch if you will, but I can't help but focus on the rest of the data in the Journal of Clinical Psychopharmacology -- like the 75 percent of volunteers who had FIVE or more lingering symptoms of depression even after taking these meds... or the two-thirds of patients who took SSRIs and didn't go into remission.
That level of "success" is right in line with placebos, which often get a 30 percent response rate or more in depression trials.
Heck, at least half of all depressed people respond to nothing more than a little time -- it's a condition that usually goes away on its own, no drugs, therapy, or herbal remedies necessary.
If you do want to pop a pill, stick to something that really is proven to work and won't leave you sad and tired -- like St. John's wort. In a 2005 study, this ancient herbal remedy had a 50 percent remission rate in just six weeks, while paroxetine (aka Paxil) had the usual drug/placebo response: just 35 percent.
If time and St. John's wort won't do the trick, don't head for the pharmacy -- head for the butcher.
Many people -- especially vegans -- suffer depression and other mood-related issues when they're not getting enough of the vitamin B12 found in meats.
I don't know about you, but just the smell of steak on the grill is enough to lift my mood.
Printer-friendly versionAbout the author
William Campbell Douglass I.I., M.D. has been called "the conscience of modern medicine."
You can sign up for his "Daily Dose" at DouglassReport.com.
Email this Article
Comments
Boomer12k
That is not the half of it!!!!
Look at the ads for other drugs. "take this for this", "oh, by the way...." and they list a host of unwanted side effects for the next minute on a 10 second ad for a product!!!!!!!!!!!!!
You want to get RID OF YOUR DEPRESSION???? YOU HAVE TO GET RID OF THE SOURCE OF IT AND IT IS NOT ALWAYS YOUR CHEMISTRY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
There is a NEWLY discovered technique for negative emotional states. Not just "depression". It is described in a book and DVD titled, "Happiness Is No Charge”.
This website gives details and shows where to get the book and DVD.
www.feelbetter.co.nr for the website.
This is a Personal Therapy, no practitioner is needed. Negative emotions can be stopped, many times in just a few minutes. That is CORRECT, MINUTES!!!!
Stress, Anxiety, Depression, Irritation, Frustration, Suppression, Repression, Compulsion, Obsessions, habits, can either get relief or even disappear. Because they all have the SAME MECHANISM BEHIND THEM IN THE MIND!!!
The technique is a simple 1, 2, 3, step technique and can actually be learned from the concept behind it, to the technique itself in about FIVE MINUTES!!!!!
Well worth your time, and is inexpensive to boot!!!
Be Well and Happy.
Steve
Wondering Woman
We are what we eat, whether we like the idea or not. When
confronted by someone who wanted something for their nerves or depression, my suggestion was improve their eating habits with healthy foods - not fast food junk. A suggestion for a good stress tablet (B complex) & often also includes vitamins C & E, one tablet at mealtime and bedtime until feeling much better. Another good thing for those with depression or nervous problems is a good magnesium supplement, 500 mgm twice a day with meals. If your magnesium is real low you can hasten getting it up to normal by purchasing Epsom salts (magnesium sulfate) and putting a cup or two in warm bath water and just relax & soak while your body absorbs it through the skin. It is hard to get a low level elevated by oral supplements because magnesium is an excellent laxative, thus when you take enough to really help orally, you just can't do it because the magnesium causes diarrhea which rushes it through your digestive tract and does you no good because most of it went down the sewer when you flushed.
Lori
I agree with Wandering Woman - we are what we eat. But we are also what we don't eat. Most Americans are starving - and one macronutrient that's really missing is fat. Not french fries, or ice cream, but whole, real fats. Fat supports nerve fibers, brain tssue, hormone production, and provides essential nutrients that have hormone/steroid effects, and keeps us satiated, healthy and happy. Ditch all refined foods, start cooking, add the butter or even bacon fat (only from happy, healthy pigs) on fresh sauteed greens, plenty of farm fresh eggs, grass fed goat and sheep cheeses, etc.
I teach a class on nutrition issues at a local university (adult students). They are required to do a food diary early in the class, and it's a wonder some of these folks can function at all. The biggest changes they see in their mood, energy levels, and response to stress is when they add these fats into their diets. Emotional issues and depression are real, but we need to cover all nutritional bases first.
Post new comment