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All anti-depressants have severe or annoying side effects for some people. Most anti-depressants have almost no side effects for most people. The trick is to ch

All anti-depressants have severe or annoying side effects for some people. Most anti-depressants have almost no side effects for most people. The trick is to change prescriptions until you find one you like. (I'm on my third prescription, and have no complaints.)

heavyset_go 7y ago
> Most anti-depressants have almost no side effects for most people. This isn't true for all anti-depressants, especially when you look at dosage. For example, if you look at clinical trial data and studies for a certain drug, 60% of people experienced weight gain. Another drug caused nausea in nearly 70% of patients. Paroxetine has a reported sexual dysfunction rate of nearly 75%, and patients who take 20mg of vortioxetine report a similar rate of sexual dysfunction after several weeks, but nearly none at all when taking 10mg daily.
- pasabagi 7y ago
  You're right, of course. However, first, I think you'd be hard pressed to find someone who prefers depression to sexual dysfunction, weight gain, or nausea. Second, you can just try different medications until you find one that has none of the above problems. To be honest, I find the discussion of side-effects in anti-depressants really strange. Depression is an extremely dangerous, life-threatening, life-ruining condition. The side effects, when they are present, are typically trivial. However, I have met many people who have not begun a course of medication because they were worried about them.
  - heavyset_go 7y ago
    > However, first, I think you'd be hard pressed to find someone who prefers depression to sexual dysfunction, weight gain, or nausea. All three of those can be depressing in their own right. In the past, I stopped what was effective treatment with certain drugs because of those side-effects. If you look at the clinical trial data for vortioxetine, the nausea component was so bad that many people dropped out of the study altogether.
    - pasabagi 7y ago
      I guess I have never experienced weight gain, and I don't really care much about sexual dysfunction, but I really don't get how these things aren't completely irrelevant in comparison to depression. To me, it's like somebody saying they might not take chemo because they have such beautiful hair. As for nausea, it's my understanding that it typically shows up pretty quickly, so I don't see what the problem is with just changing the medication.

heavyset_go 7y ago

> Most anti-depressants have almost no side effects for most people. This isn't true for all anti-depressants, especially when you look at dosage. For example, if you look at clinical trial data and studies for a certain drug, 60% of people experienced weight gain. Another drug caused nausea in nearly 70% of patients. Paroxetine has a reported sexual dysfunction rate of nearly 75%, and patients who take 20mg of vortioxetine report a similar rate of sexual dysfunction after several weeks, but nearly none at all when taking 10mg daily.

pasabagi 7y ago
You're right, of course. However, first, I think you'd be hard pressed to find someone who prefers depression to sexual dysfunction, weight gain, or nausea. Second, you can just try different medications until you find one that has none of the above problems. To be honest, I find the discussion of side-effects in anti-depressants really strange. Depression is an extremely dangerous, life-threatening, life-ruining condition. The side effects, when they are present, are typically trivial. However, I have met many people who have not begun a course of medication because they were worried about them.
- heavyset_go 7y ago
  > However, first, I think you'd be hard pressed to find someone who prefers depression to sexual dysfunction, weight gain, or nausea. All three of those can be depressing in their own right. In the past, I stopped what was effective treatment with certain drugs because of those side-effects. If you look at the clinical trial data for vortioxetine, the nausea component was so bad that many people dropped out of the study altogether.
  - pasabagi 7y ago
    I guess I have never experienced weight gain, and I don't really care much about sexual dysfunction, but I really don't get how these things aren't completely irrelevant in comparison to depression. To me, it's like somebody saying they might not take chemo because they have such beautiful hair. As for nausea, it's my understanding that it typically shows up pretty quickly, so I don't see what the problem is with just changing the medication.