These three popular antidepressants, all from the same drug class, called selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs), were shown to be of similar effectiveness in a new study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA, 12/19/01). Triptans include Amerge, Axert, Imitrex and Zomig. Antidepressant drugs act on chemicals in the brain that can become unbalanced and cause depression. Most studies required for FDA approval last only a few months. (17,18) One article reports on three patients who attempted suicide during fluoxetine treatment and were then reexposed to the drug. John Jenkins, director of the FDA's prozac zoloft paxil office of New Drugs. Therefore, therapy should be evaluated, and medications may need to be discontinued, when symptoms are severe, abrupt in onset, or were not part of the patient's presenting symptoms. Funding Influence? To speed up the review process, pharmaceutical makers in 1992 reluctantly agreed to pay user fees to hire more reviewers under the Prescription Prozac zoloft paxil drug User Fee Act (PDUFA).
But the agency emphasized that Prozac zoloft paxil it had not concluded that the drugs caused suicidal thinking or behavior.
The only difference is the side effect profile and prozac zoloft paxil the greater willingness of patients to take the newer drugs. Older drugs, such as the tricyclic antidepressants Prozac zoloft paxil (e. , amitriptyline whose brand names include: Elavil, Tofranil), cause side effects like drowsiness, weight gain, blurred vision, dry mouth, constipation, and impaired urination. Prozac zoloft paxil but, unlike the side effects of Prozac which tend to diminish with time, those of the older antidepressants usually continue at the same rate, even with extended use. Testimony at that meeting showed that patients on the medications were becoming more depressed and even suicidal or more agitated and violent, and their doctors were doing nothing about it, Laughren said. The speed and Prozac zoloft paxil scope of the FDA's action reflected its concerns about the breadth of the potential damage the drugs could cause. No one expects the FDA to catch all side effects before approving any new drug or device. And never make changes in your SSRI dosages without supervision from the prescribing doctor. However, SSRIs have fewer side effects and less overdose potential, and most can be taken once a day. A study published earlier this week in the Journal of the American Medical Association, for example, concluded that a combination of Prozac and talk therapy works best for children and teens suffering from depression. Also, there is inadequate information regarding the use of prozac zoloft paxil these second-generation drugs in people over the age of 60 years. The second time around, all three developed severe akathisia and said the condition made them feel suicidal; they also attributed their previous suicide attempts to akathisia. Last year, a separate study linked SSRIs taken late in pregnancy to a lung disorder in newborns. Then they considered what SSRIs the mothers in both groups took Prozac zoloft paxil during the first three months of pregnancy and mapped the patterns of birth defects.