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fluoxetine (PROZAC, SERAFEM)

• citalopram (CELEXA); fluoxetine (PROZAC, SERAFEM); fluvoxamine (LUVOX); paroxetine (PAXIL, PEXEVA); sertraline (ZOLOFT)

• Depression: When are Drugs Called For And Which Ones Should You Use? [hide all summaries]
  Ironically, one of the kinds of depression that should not be treated with drugs is depression caused by other kinds of drugs. If someone is depressed and the depression started after beginning a new drug, it may well be drug-caused. Commonly used drugs known to cause depression include the following:

• Alpha-Blockers for Prostate Enlargement: Some Important Drug Interactions [hide all summaries]
  (June 2009)
  Taking alpha-blockers in combination with drugs for erectile dysfunction and with other drugs can cause dizziness and fainting. In this article we will discuss alfuzosin (UROXATRAL), doxazosin (CARDURA), tamsulosin (FLOMAX) and terazosin (HYTRIN) and drugs with which they can have harmful interactions.
• Tizanidine: Watch Out for Drugs Interacting With This Muscle Relaxant [hide all summaries]
  (October 2008)
  Tizanidine (ZANAFLEX) is a muscle relaxant for which more than 3.8 million prescriptions were filled in the U.S. last year. The article lists more than 64 drugs with which it can have dangerous interactions resulting in excess sedation, difficulty breathing or dangerously low blood pressure that can result in falling.
• Serotonin Syndrome Due to Drug Interactions [hide all summaries]
  (April 2008)
  The article lists more than 30 prescription drugs that can cause the serotonin syndrome.
• Drug-Induced Eye Toxicity: 62 Drugs That Can Cause Eye Disease [hide all summaries]
  (April 2008)
  This article, based on a recent review in Drug Safety, lists 62 prescription drugs that can cause eye disease. The range of drug-induced eye diseases includes diseases of the eyelids, glaucoma, cataracts, retinal damage and optic nerve damage. As is true for drug-induced diseases in other parts of the body, you should consider newly developed eye symptoms beginning shortly after starting a new medication to be possibly drug-induced and consult a physician.
• SSRIs Can Have Dangerous Interactions With Other Drugs [hide all summaries]
  (January 2008)
  More than 70 million prescriptions a year are filled for these popular antidepressants, including Prozac, Paxil, Zoloft, Luvox, Celexa and Lexapro. This article gives details about more than 60 other widely prescribed prescription drugs that can have harmful interactions if used with these antidepressants. The two different kinds of interactions are also discussed.
• Older Adults May Have Low Blood Sodium Levels When Using the Antidepressant Venlafaxine (EFFEXOR) [hide all summaries]
  (August 2007)
  Patients over the age of 65 taking or considering taking venlafaxine (EFFEXOR) should ask their provider to check for low blood sodium levels within three to five days after treatment is started. Patients taking venlafaxine who are experiencing the symptoms of low blood sodium levels listed in the article should contact the prescriber as soon as possible. Patients should not discontinue taking venlafaxine without first consulting with their prescribing health care provider. Other antidepressants in the SSRI family such as PROZAC and PAXIL have also been found to cause low sodium levels.
• FDA: All Antidepressants Should Carry Warnings About Risks of Suicidal Thoughts in Young Adults [hide all summaries]
  (July 2007)
  Because of new information about increased risks of suicidal thoughts associated with the use of a variety of antidepressants, people of all ages should be monitored closely with all antidepressants after the drugs are first prescribed, switched or when the dosage is changed. Do not stop using any antidepressants without first consulting the prescriber.
• PUBLIC HEALTH ADVISORY: Migraine Drugs, Antidepressants May Cause Life-Threatening Interactions [hide all summaries]
  (October 2006)
  If you are taking triptans, SSRIs or SNRIs and experience the symptoms of serotonin syndrome listed in this article, you should seek medical attention immediately. This is because of the possibility of life-threatening reactions such as nausea, changes in blood pressure or hallucinations that may be caused by the interaction of migraine headache drugs, called triptans, and certain antidepressants.
• PUBLIC HEALTH ADVISORY: Continuing Antidepressants During Pregnancy May Help Mother, Harm Baby: A Medical Dilemma [hide all summaries]
  (October 2006)
  Women who are pregnant and taking certain antidepressants take note: a recent study finds that you are more likely to have a recurrence of depression if you stop treatment during pregnancy, but another recent study suggests that taking certain antidepressants may harm your baby. Find out about this dilemma.
• The Danger of Prescribing without Proof: Examples of Prescriptions for Drugs Not Shown to be Safe and Effective [hide all summaries]
  (July 2006)
  The article discusses numerous recent examples of the harm that has been caused by off-label prescribing, including the heart drugs amiodarone (Cordarone), many antipsychotic drugs, topiramate (Topamax)and several antidepressants.
• Black Box Warning To Be Required On All Antidepressants Concerning Suicide Risk In Children And Adolescents [hide all summaries]
  (December 2004)
  Belatedly, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced on October 15, 2004 that it is taking steps to inform parents and physicians about the risks of antidepressants when these drugs are used to treat major depressive disorder in children and adolescents.
• Canadians Warned of Potential Adverse Effects of Maternal Use of Antidepressants on Newborns. American Mothers Still in the Dark [hide all summaries]
  (October 2004)
  The Canadian equivalent of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), Health Canada, issued a public advisory on August 9, 2004 warning that newborns may be adversely affected when their mothers take one of the family of antidepressants known as selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) and other newer anti-depressants during the third trimester of pregnancy.
• Suicide Risk Added To The Professional Product Labeling For Eight Antidepressants [hide all summaries]
  (August 2004)
  At the request of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), eight out of ten manufacturers of newer antidepressants have agreed to add a warning about the possibility of an increased risk of suicide associated with the use of these drugs. The warning will appear in the professional product labeling, or package insert, for these drugs.(listed in the article)
• The Antidepressant Fluoxetine (Prozac) and Suicidal Ideation — Déjà vu 1991 [hide all summaries]
  (May 2004)
  Fourteen years ago, in May 1991, the Health Research Group petitioned the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to require a warning in the professional product labeling, or package insert, of fluoxetine (PROZAC) concerning the risk of suicidal impulses in patients using the drug. Fluoxetine belongs to the family of antidepressants known as selective serotonin re-uptake inhibitors, or SSRIs. Read the warning we asked for back then.
• Grapefruit Juice and Prescription Drugs: Some Dangerous Interactions [hide all summaries]
  (February 2004)
  The January 5th issue of the Medical Letter, a widely respected source of independent information about pharmaceuticals and dietary supplements, has a review of the increasingly researched problem of the interaction between grapefruit juice and many prescription and over-the-counter drugs. Like most interactions between chemicals in the body, this one involves the impairment, by grapefruit juice, of the body’s ability to metabolize many drugs, leading to higher than expected — and sometimes dangerous — levels of these drugs.This article lists the drugs.
• FDA Issues Public Health Advisory On Antidepressants And Suicide Risk In Children [hide all summaries]
  (December 2003)
  The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued a Public Health Advisory on October 27, 2003 about reports of suicidal thinking and suicide attempts in clinical trials of eight drugs in pediatric patients with major depressive disorder (MDD).
• Selling New Drugs Using Smoke and Mirror (Images) [hide all summaries]
  (March 2003)
  You should avoid these "new" single mirror images of old drugs, not out of concern about their safety or effectiveness, but because they are the same as the old drugs. In the long run, they cause economic harm both to individuals and to the health care system because they have come on the market with extended monopoly protection. Article lists some examples.
• Drug Induced Psychiatric Symptoms (Part 2) [hide all summaries]
  (November 2002)
  This is the second of a two-part series on drug-induced psychiatric symptoms that began in last month’s Worst Pills, Best Pills News. The information is based on the July 8, 2002 issue of The Medical Letter on Drugs and Therapeutics. Article lists drugs and adverse effects.
• Drug Induced Psychiatric Symptoms [hide all summaries]
  (October 2002)
  This is the first of a two part series on drug induced psychiatric symptoms that is based on the July 8, 2002 issue of The Medical Letter on Drugs and Therapeutics. Regular readers of Worst Pills, Best Pills News will recognize The Medical Letter as a reference source written for physicians and pharmacists that we often use because of its reputation as an objective and independent source of drug information. The article lists the drugs and their psychiatric adverse effects.
• Grapefruit Juice and Drug Interactions [hide all summaries]
  (June 2002)
  Grapefruit juice can interact with a number of therapeutically important drugs that could lead to the possibility of toxicity. These drugs are listed in the article.

• Research as Public Relations: Antidepressants and Suicide in Youth [hide all summaries]
  (October 2007)
  Because of evidence from a number of studies, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recently required a “black box” label for all SSRI (selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor) antidepressants indicating that use in children could lead to an increased risk of suicidal behavior. Now comes a study published in the prestigious American Journal of Psychiatry (Volume 164, pp. 1356-1363) purporting to show, in effect, the opposite: the FDA warnings had caused the rate of pediatric SSRI prescriptions to plummet and as a result young people are killing themselves due to lack of treatment. If this were true, it would be a clear example of the unintended consequences of regulation. The paper and its subsequent publicity appear to be little more than a public relations ploy. The editors of the AJP should not have allowed such gross misrepresentations to pass into print unscathed, and journalists who cited this study as if it deserved equal credence to the RCTs are just as guilty.

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