One of the major complaints of people on antidepressant medication is the effect it has on their sex lives. It does this in three main ways – it affects sexual desire, the ability to achieve and sustain an erection in men and alters the sensation of orgasms and ejaculation. These side effects are one of [read the full story…]
Antipsychotic medication is the standard treatment for schizophrenia and psychosis in the UK. Given that psychosis is commonly a chronic condition and therefore that medication used to treat it often needs to be taken for several years, getting the medication “right” is important. As I mentioned in my first blog post for the Mental Elf, [read the full story…]
Major depression all too often develops a chronic course, with every episode making future relapse more likely (Gilmer et al., 2005). Dysthymic disorders represent a less severe, but more persistent form of depression lasting for at least two years. In the affective disorder spectrum, chronic forms are unsurprisingly associated with greater functional impairment and overall [read the full story…]
SSRIs are usually considered first-line treatment against major depression and approximately 50% of patients achieve remission with the drug they try first (Steffens, Krishnan, & Helms, 1997). However, every eighth case proves to be treatment-resistant and does not respond to standard antidepressant treatment at all. As a last resort, second-generation antipsychotics (SGAs) effective in schizophreniform [read the full story…]
People using antipsychotic drugs like chlorpromazine and haloperidol get [anticholinergic] side effects such as blurred vision, dry mouth and constipation but the proportion of people experiencing these is not clear. Past surveys are very old indeed, small and not really proper surveys at all. Their results had been perpetuated for decades without verification. They were [read the full story…]
Over the last few years, we have seen more and more children and young people being prescribed antipsychotic drugs. The theory behind this increase is that the newer antipsychotic drugs have fewer side effects than the older typical antipsychotics. However, some small and relatively short duration studies have shown that the newer drugs may also [read the full story…]
Back in February, I blogged about a cohort study published in the New England Journal of Medicine, which concluded that ADHD drugs are not linked with an increased risk of serious cardiovascular events. The last few years has seen heated debate about the use of central nervous stimulants in children and young people. The lack [read the full story…]
The newer second-generation antipsychotic drugs (Risperidone, Quetiapine, Amisulpride, Aripiprazole, Clozapine, Olanzapine) are promoted because they have a lower risk of extrapyramidal side effects than older drugs. Drug companies often promote these newer drugs as virtually free from extrapyramidal side effects, but the patients who take them and the clinicians who prescribe them often don’t agree. [read the full story…]
People who take psychiatric drugs are well aware of the daily trade-off between the benefits and the harms of their medication. This is a key consideration for pregnant women with depression, who don’t just have to consider the side effects that may strike them, but also the impact they may have on their unborn child. [read the full story…]
Regular readers may recall previous blogs where I have written about the dangers associated with antipsychotic drugs in elderly patients. Many of you have responded simply and emotionally on Twitter by saying: “Stop prescribing these drugs!” Others have recognised that the issue is far from clear cut as a fair proportion of patients do have [read the full story…]
