Tag archives for Medications
Managing Resistant Depression. Part 8
Posted By Kelly On Monday, May 2nd 2011 under: Depression Tags: Antidepressants, Depression, Drugs, Medications, Mental Disorder, Mental health
Absolute treatment resistance
In most surveys, the number of patients with absolute treatment resistance is very small. In some specialized tertiary referral clinics, only about 7% of patients remain depressed after 1 year of extensive investigations and treatment. However, extensive treatment involves many drug trials, singly and in combination, as well as ECT. Typically, people with absolute treatment resistance are older (mean age about 55), have been depressed for a longer ... Read More
Drug Use In Assisted Suicide And Euthanasia
Posted By Kelly On Saturday, March 13th 2010 under: Book review Tags: Drugs, Medications, Suicide
Editors: Margaret P. Battin, Arthur G. Lipman
Pharmaceutical Products Press, 10 Alice St, Binghamton, NY 13904-1580 USA
1996/360 pp
Balanced discussion of a controversial topic
Overall Rating
Very good
Strengths
Balanced discussion of ethical, personal, legal, and pharmaceutical aspects of assisted suicide and euthanasia
Audience
All those (potentially) involved in decision making regarding assisted suicide and euthanasia
It is generally assumed that death by assisted suicide or euthanasia is to be caused by lethal doses of drugs, not guns or ... Read More
St. John’s Wort and the Treatment of Depression
Posted By Kelly On Sunday, January 24th 2010 under: Treatment of Depression Tags: Antidepressants, Depression, Medications, Treatment
Historically, St. John’s wort has been used as an herbal remedy for depression, anxiety, diuresis, gastritis and insomnia. Recent studies demonstrate that the extract, primarily hypericin, is a strong, and nearly irreversible, inhibitor of monoamine oxidase types A and B.
Patient Presentation and History
JS is a 37-year-old female who comes to the pharmacy intending to purchase St. John’s wort. She has heard that it can relieve depression, and she firmly believes ... Read More
Vestra: Drug for the Treatment of Depression
Posted By Kelly On Sunday, January 17th 2010 under: Antidepressants Tags: Antidepressant, Depression, Drugs, Medications, Treatment
Brand Name: Vestra
Active Ingredient: reboxetine mesylate
Indication: Treatment of depression
Company Name: Pharmacia & Upjohn
Vestra: Introduction
As a selective norepinephrine reuptake inhibitor (SNRI), Vestra is the first of a new class of antidepressant drugs. This new mechanism of action appears to produce fewer side effects, such as nausea, headache, and sexual dysfunction, compared with traditional antidepressants. Vestra also possesses a faster onset of action compared to selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRI), tricyclics, and ... Read More
Meds for Depression and Anxiety
Posted By Kelly On Monday, January 11th 2010 under: Question - Answer Tags: Anafranil, Antidepressants, Asendin, Aventyl, Depression, Desyrel, Drugs, Effexor, Elavil, Luvox, Medications, Norpramin, Pamelor, Paxil, Prozac, Remeron, Serzone, Sinequan, Tofranil, Vivactil, Wellbutrin, Zoloft
Question. Do you have a list of drugs for depression, and non-addictive medications for anxiety? Tricyclics of the older vintage would be helpful.
Answer. I am providing you with a list of commonly used antidepressants, as well as their usual doses:
Maintenance Dosage and Tablet Size for Non-MAOI Antidepressants
Antidepressant
Tablet/capsule sizes
Usual daily adult dose
Amitriptyline (Elavil, Endep)
10, 25, 50, 75, 100, 150 mg
75-250 mg
Amoxapine (Asendin)
25,50, 100, 150 mg
200-300 mg
Bupropion (Wellbutrin)
75, 100 ... Read More
Treating Dementia With Atypical Antipsychotics. Part 2
Posted By Kelly On Tuesday, January 5th 2010 under: Pharmacotherapy Tags: Antipsychotics, Drugs, Medications, Psychiatric Illnesses, Psychiatric treatment, Risperdal, Zyprexa
Atypical Antipsychotics
Most initial published data on atypical antipsychotic drugs in the elderly are clinical trials in nondemented patients with schizophrenia or Parkinson's disease. In the last two to three years, controlled trials evaluating risperidone (Risperdal) and olanzapine (Zyprexa) in patients with dementia have been published. There is now evidence that these two atypical antipsychotic drugs offer efficacy in this patient population with fewer adverse effect concerns than the typical antipsychotic ... Read More
Treating Dementia With Atypical Antipsychotics. Part 1
Posted By Kelly On Monday, January 4th 2010 under: Pharmacotherapy, Uncategorized Tags: Antipsychotics, Drugs, Medications, Psychiatric Illnesses, Psychiatric treatment
Patients with dementia display a broad range of cognitive impairments and behavioral and psychotic symptoms. Common behavioral symptoms include verbal and physical aggression, hyperactivity, disinhibition, and pacing and wandering; common psychotic symptoms include paranoia, delusions and hallucinations. These behavioral and psychotic symptoms are the leading cause for the use of more restrictive supervised environments, including institutionalization.
Effective pharmacologic and nonpharmacologic treatment of these symptoms is desirable and, in addition, might delay ... Read More
Depression Medication Recommendation
Posted By Kelly On Friday, December 18th 2009 under: Question - Answer Tags: Depression, Effexor, Medications, Remeron, Wellbutrin
Question. I am writing this e-mail on behalf of my dad. He was diagnosed with depression about 7 years ago. ECT Treatments did not help. Although he has been on several anti-depressants over the years, none appear to help. His major symptoms include tiredness and a lack of interest in the things that always were important to him. Unfortunately, he lives in a small rural town and expert medical attention ... Read More
Celexa: SSRI, Popular in Europe, Approved for Depression
Posted By Kelly On Monday, November 30th 2009 under: Celexa (Citalopram) Tags: Antidepressant, Depression, Drugs, Medications
Citalopram (Celexa, Forest Laboratories, Parke-Davis) has been approved by FDA for treatment of depression. A highly selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor, citalopram is the best-selling antidepressant in 13 countries, including eight in Europe. Citalopram has proven effective in treatment of depression in clinical trials involving 23,000 patients and has been used in some 8 million patients in 64 countries where the drug is already approved. Two, six-month, double-blind, placebo-controlled studies indicated ... Read More
“Old” vs. “New” Medications
Posted By Kelly On Saturday, November 28th 2009 under: Question - Answer Tags: Drugs, Medications, Schizophrenia, Seroquel, Zyprexa
Question. My 18-year-old son was diagnosed schizophrenic two years ago. Currently hospitalized, he is receiving clozapine and Haldol as anti-psychotics and Paxil for depression. He was moved directly to clozapine from Risperdal and has gained over 60 lbs. in three months. I've heard that olanzapine acts much like clozapine, but with fewer side effects. Is it normal to move to "older" drugs before exhausting newer ones?
Answer. I appreciate how confusing ... Read More