Back to Homepage
Every medication in the field of medicine can potentially carry with it side effects. Some of the side effects are relatively minor nuisances, if you will, but things that people are fine tolerating and will continue taking the medicine despite that and others may be more significant and a reason to consider avoiding or switching a particular medicine in any given situation for any given patient. While it’s impossible to get into every single potential side effect from every medication in this form, it’s really important to talk with your doctor after he or she recommends a particular medicine about some of the side effects to anticipate. Broadly speaking, some of the common side effects to many of the antidepressant medications that we see are mostly mild ones at the beginning. So for example: nausea, upset stomach, some people may report a mild headache. These sorts of things usually get better with time. Most doctors will encourage patients to continue taking the medicine for a couple more days in the hope that some of those side effects will go away. Some of the antidepressants can affect a person’s sleep, making it harder for them to sleep or affecting the quality of their sleep. If you notice that, it’s very important to talk about it with your doctor. Some antidepressants can affect sexual function. If you notice that, it’s also important to talk to your doctor as there may be ways to address that issue. Many of the antidepressants also carry a warning for individuals up to the age of 24 that some data seems to suggest that there may be an increase in suicidal thoughts in these individuals. This is something that is important to talk with your doctor about and to weigh the risks and benefits of the medication in that particular population.
