Antidepressant Facts You May Not Know About

If you have depression and are wondering why your antidepressants are not working for you, you are not alone. Many of these drugs that people with this illness are taking not only do not work, but can in fact make symptoms worse. Certain people can not take these drugs, like children and adolescents, because they could make young people start thinking about suicide, or have other behavioral problems, far worse than the problem itself.

There are many different reasons why you should think before you take antidepressants for treating depression. In addition to them not working in the first place, there are also other problems relating to them. For one thing, many of these medications are highly addictive and in some cases the withdrawal symptoms are as bad as withdrawal from hardcore drugs like heroin, and amphetamines. The reason for this is that your body starts building up a tolerance, and it gets ingrained on your brain. You start having to take more and more to get the same effects.

In some cases, the reason people have depression is a lower level of serotonin in the body. Serotonin acts like a mood enhancer in the body, plus it can help with sleep, appetite, and the production of healthy cell and immunities. If you do not have enough of this chemical, then you can feel the symptoms of depression. The problem with antidepressants that are designed to heighten these levels, actually do it too much, so the receptors that regulate these levels are falsely registering serotonin in the system and shut down. The more you take, the more they shut down, and the same is true for the endorphins in your body as well.

Many medications for treating this disease have some really bad side-effects, that is why these medications are so carefully monitored. Many of the common ones include nausea, headaches, stomach pain, and trouble with bowel movements. There is irritability in many cases, and mood swings, as well as many others. There are some major psychological side-effects that can also occur. These can include thoughts of suicide, behavioral changes, and severe anxiety. Now if you thought that depression was your biggest problem, you may end up dealing with psychological issues as well.

There are also long term effects that go along with taking anti-depressants for depression. Some of these can include kidney and liver damage, high blood pressure, stomach ulcers, and a higher risk for stroke or a heart attack. This is why doctors test for liver and kidney problems, and monitor them regularly.

Sometimes, there are causes of depression that people may not even think about. People who suffer from certain allergies, or that have toxins in their system suffer from this disease, because their brains are inflamed, or these toxins have built up in their systems over time. Taking natural non-inflammatory foods, flushing toxic build up from your body can often relieve the symptoms of the disease, without antidepressants. Changing your diet, getting exercise, and drinking lots of fluids, are all natural ways to heal your body.

There is an abundance of other important information on why medications do not work for treating depressed individuals that you can find on-line. It is important to read as much as you can on this disease, its causes and natural remedies, as well as medications before you take them.