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Depression and medication
I've been taking amplodipine / norvasc 10 mg (antihypertensive) for about a year and a half now and montelukast / singulair 10 mg (leukotriene modifier) for shorter periods (2 months, march - may 2008 and 2 months this year, started in early may and still on it). Last month, after having been on fluoxetine / prozac for about 1 year, I showed some deterioration (more depressive symptoms, more anxiety / panic attacks). My shrink decided to switch to sertraline / zoloft, but I'm feeling even worse now, 5 weeks after the SSRI switch. Do you think that there is a possibility that amlodipine or montelukast may play a role in the recurrent / resistant depression ?
Hi Nick,
In short, anything is possible and many meds mixing together certainly make it harder to know what is doing what.
Norvasc appears to be for blood pressure normally and a list of drug interactions can be found here : http://www.rxlist.com/norvasc-drug.htm.
I claim no knowledge except of what site to look at for this info. Much of it I wouldn't follow either but it will hopefully mean something to you. Docs should never prescribe a med without first checking the equivalent of this site, they have specific manuals and lists telling them which ones don't go with which ones, that's their job.
Look up the other med and the two A/D's as well and look at the drug interaction and side effects item on the left of the page. OK. Happy researching.
I'm not quite clear on the timing of these drugs but it seems they were introduced after a while on prozac and that started going downhill. That happens to most meds regardless so it's nothing unusual.
If you've been on zoloft for 5 weeks and feel worse I'd strongly suggest giving it the flick altogether.
What are these other drugs for and what is your priority? Are all the problems of equal importance (of course they are but sometimes we have to prioritise) and can you stop one or two while the other is stabilised?
It's impossible to attribute good or bad to a med if there are a number mixing you see.
Be in charge and tell the doc when it doesn't work and ask to change. Sometimes up to 6 weeks is needed but mostly you know in about 2 weeks, once side effects start to settle down.
In short, anything is possible and many meds mixing together certainly make it harder to know what is doing what.
Norvasc appears to be for blood pressure normally and a list of drug interactions can be found here : http://www.rxlist.com/norvasc-drug.htm.
I claim no knowledge except of what site to look at for this info. Much of it I wouldn't follow either but it will hopefully mean something to you. Docs should never prescribe a med without first checking the equivalent of this site, they have specific manuals and lists telling them which ones don't go with which ones, that's their job.
Look up the other med and the two A/D's as well and look at the drug interaction and side effects item on the left of the page. OK. Happy researching.
I'm not quite clear on the timing of these drugs but it seems they were introduced after a while on prozac and that started going downhill. That happens to most meds regardless so it's nothing unusual.
If you've been on zoloft for 5 weeks and feel worse I'd strongly suggest giving it the flick altogether.
What are these other drugs for and what is your priority? Are all the problems of equal importance (of course they are but sometimes we have to prioritise) and can you stop one or two while the other is stabilised?
It's impossible to attribute good or bad to a med if there are a number mixing you see.
Be in charge and tell the doc when it doesn't work and ask to change. Sometimes up to 6 weeks is needed but mostly you know in about 2 weeks, once side effects start to settle down.
I know plenty about Zoloft, but I have never heard of the other two meds you mentioned.
What I do know is that in some people (myself included) when the persons depression is of a severe level that it can be hard to find meds that work. I couldn't even list all the dozens of different meds I have been on in the past 18 years. More than I care to count.
It is very seldom now that my Psychiatrist and I even find a combination of meds that even works. When we do, they work maybe for 6 months at best.
What I do know is that in some people (myself included) when the persons depression is of a severe level that it can be hard to find meds that work. I couldn't even list all the dozens of different meds I have been on in the past 18 years. More than I care to count.
It is very seldom now that my Psychiatrist and I even find a combination of meds that even works. When we do, they work maybe for 6 months at best.
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