As their name clearly says, antidepressants are drug medications that work against a depressed situation, especially the depressed state of your mind from time to time that’s more commonly known as depression. Depression is a mental health issue that often begins in early adulthood and found to be more common in women. It’s a medication we are pleased not only to help you know about, but we can also provide it online from this website.
Depression and antidepressants
Let’s start by delving into these two subjects, depression and antidepressants.
Depression
Depression is a condition that can be briefly defined as a mental health problem that often makes its presence felt during early adulthood.
It’s been medically proven that depression is more common in women but it doesn’t exempt men from being infected by its impact.
It’s a fairly common health issue and anyone of any age can successfully deal with it when it makes an appearance.
Your brain in the main organ of your body that’s targeted by depression so it follows that drugs that work effectively in your brain may be the ideal solution when depression starts to set in.
What are antidepressants?
Antidepressants are drug medications for depression, a condition that’s very common during early adulthood.
While women are particularly prone to its influence, it shouldn’t cause them any distress as it’s a condition that can be easily managed by anyone suffering from depression.
It’s medically known that common antidepressant drugs may help alleviate your symptoms but other treatment alternatives are also available.
The main function of antidepressants when treating depression is that of balancing chemicals that inhabit your brain known as neurotransmitters.
However, each antidepressant medication has its own different way of treating your depression symptoms.
The Different Classes of Antidepressants
According to reliable sources, the many drug medications for treating depression can be categorized into the following classes:
- selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs)
- serotonin-norepinephrine reuptake inhibitors (SNRIS)
- tricyclic Antidepressants (TCIs)
- tetracyclic antidepressants
- dopamine reuptake blockers
- 5-HT1A receptor antagonists
- 5-HT2 receptor antagonists
- 5-HT3 receptor antagonist
- monoamine oxidase inhibitors (MAOIs)
- noradrenergic antagonists
One class of drug known as atypical antidepressants are not included in the above list together with natural supplements such as St. John’s wort, are also available for the treatment of depression.
Description of Antidepressant Types
The SSRIs are the most popularly used class of antidepressants that are normally given under prescription.
Their main function is that of combating your depression symptoms by reducing the level of serotonin reuptake in your brain which has the desired effect of making more serotonin available to work in your brain.
The list of SSRIs
SSRIs are medically known to include:
- sertraline (Zoloft)
- fluoxetine (Prozac, Sarafem)
- citalopram (Celexa)
- escitalopram (Lexapro)
- paroxetine (Paxil, Pexeva, Brisdelle)
- fluvoxamine (Luvox)
Side Effects of SSRIs
According to trusted sources the common side effects of SSRIs include the following:
- sexual problems
- nausea
- problems going to sleep
- tremors
- nervousness
SNRIs are antidepressants that help in improving serotonin and norepinephrine levels in your brain. This process can have the desired effect of reducing depression symptoms and they include the following:
- venlafaxine (Effexor)
- levomilnacipran (Fetzima)
- desvenlafaxine (Pristiq, Khedezia
- duloxetine (Cymbalta)
it’s true that antidepressant duloxetine has the ability to treat depression, but it can also be used to alleviate pain.
This is an important added capability because sometimes, severe pain can also lead to and result in depression or it can exacerbate the condition.
When people become depressed they have the propensity to become more acutely aware of aches and pains.
It stands to reason then, that a versatile medication such as duloxetine that can treat both depression and pain can be of help to these people.
SNRIs Side Effects
According to trusted sources, the more common side effects of SNRIs include the following:
- dry mouth
- nausea
- constipation
- drowsiness
- fatigue
The TCAs mentioned earlier are often prescribed with SSRIs as well as other antidepressants if SSRIs fail to work in combination.
Nonetheless, it has not been possible to truly understand how these TCAs work in the treatment of depression.
Examples of TCAs can include the following medications:
- trimipramine (Surmontil)
- desipramine (Norpramin)
- protriptyline (Vivactil)
- doxepin (Silenor)
- nortriptyline (Pamelor)
- imipramine (Tofranil)
- clomipramine (Anafranil)
- amitriptyline (Elavil)
- amoxapine (Asendin)
Side Effects of TCAs
Examples of common side effects of TCAs according to trusted sources include:
- blurred vision
- constipation
- fatigue
- dry mouth
More serious side effects of TCAs can include the following:
- seizures
- low blood pressure
- irregular heart beat
Tetracyclic antidepressants
Following the TCAs the tetracyclic antidepressants, such as Maprotiline (Ludiomil), are taken for the treatment of both depression and anxiety.
They do their work by balancing neurotransmitters so as to alleviate depression symptoms.
Examples of side effects caused by TCAs according to trusted sources include the following:
- dry mouth
- drowsiness
- blurry vision
- weakness
- headache
- lightheadedness
Dopamine Reuptake Blockers
These medication blockers such as Bupropion (Wellbutrin, Forfivo, and Aplenzin) are essentially mild in their potencies.
They are usually taken for the treatment of depression as well as seasonal affective disorder as well as being a potential medication for people who wish to quit smoking altogether.
Side Effects of Dopamine Reuptake Blockers
According to trusted sources the more common side effects caused by these blockers can include the following:
- blurry vision
- nausea
- dizziness
- vomiting
- constipation
One of the most used of these medications for the treatment of depression is known as vilazodone (Vibryd).
As with other antidepressants, their function focuses on balancing the levels of serotonin together with other neurotransmitters.
Despite the fact that it’s one of the treatments of depression, it’s seldom used as a first-line treatment for the condition.
This effectively means its only prescribed when the other medications have failed to treat your depression or have caused troublesome side effects for you.
Vilazodone Side Effects
Some side effects can include the following:
- trouble getting to sleep
- nausea
- vomiting
5-HT2 receptor antagonists
Two of these antagonists, nefazodone (Serzone) and trazodone (Oleptro) are taken for the treatment of depression.
They are the older versions of antagonists when compared to the newer versions and they work by changing chemicals in your brain to help alleviate depression.
According to trusted sources some common side effects caused by the 5-HT2 receptor antagonists include:
- dry mouth
- drowsiness
- dizziness
5-HT3 receptor antagonist
This receptor antagonist known as vortioxetine (Brintellix) is taken for the treatment of depression by impacting the activity of chemicals in the brain.
5-HT3 Side Effects
Trusted sources indicate that the more common side effects of vortioxetine (Brintellix) include:
- nausea
- sexual dysfunction
MAOIs
These are older medication versions that are also taken for treating depression. They perform their work by preventing the breakdown of serotonin, norepinephrine, and dopamine.
According to trusted sources, MAOIs are more difficult to take than most of the other antidepressants due to their propensity to readily interact with other substances.
These include prescription drugs, nonprescription drugs, and certain food types.
It’s also not possible to take them in combination with other stimulants or other antidepressants.
Some Examples of MAOIs medications include the following:
- tranylcypromine (Parnate)
- isocarboxazid (Marplan)
- selegiline (Emsam) that comes as a transdermal patch
- phenelzine (Nardil)
Side Effects of MAOIs
According to trusted sources MAOIs also have numerous side effects that include:
- restlessness
- nausea
- trouble going to sleep
- dizziness
- drowsiness
Mirtazapine (Remeron) is the primary treatment for depression which does its work by changing some chemicals in your brain to alleviate symptoms of depression.
Common side effects of mirtazapine according to trusted sources can include:
- weight gain
- drowsiness
- dizziness
Takeaway
Stashed away somewhere in this website are the different types of antidepressants that have been discussed in this article. It was done on purpose so that you don’t have to go far to look for the ideal antidepressant that will treat your type of depression. We are not only very happy in providing you with valuable information about antidepressants but we are also pleased to provide them for you direct from our own online website.
