HWN Suggests

In Praise of Zoloft

I named this post ‘In praise of Zoloft’ because I think my decision to take medication to treat my anxiety is actually the most unique part of my story. While millions of people around the world are medicated for mood disorders, I was an unlikely candidate. I live in the San Francisco Bay Area where there’s an acupuncturist on every corner. I earned my Master’s degree in Holistic Health Education where I took courses in stress reduction and relaxation, Ayurveda, and nutrition. I meditated. I ate greens. I went to yoga class. I was primed to take an “all natural” and alternative approach to my anxiety.

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 Sertraline: does a tablet a day keep anxiety away?

Sertraline tends to be the first line drug therapy for a number of mental health conditions over other SSRIs due to less side effects. Though with that said, some people naturally get on better with others.

Articles of Interest

My Trek With Anxiety: Starting Sertraline

I’ve been dealing with anxiety for most of my life but it wasn’t until I was in college that things got bad. However, this is a whole new kind of anxiety because it’s been over my health, which has also brought up other crap that needed dealt with.

Antidepressants work, but just not how scientists thought they worked

Sertraline is a selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI) – drugs that increase levels of a chemical called serotonin in the brain – and one of the most commonly prescribed drugs for depression and anxiety.

Researchers Find Zoloft, a Popular Antidepressant, to Be Effective in Treating Children

Other experts said the study was important in adding to the limited knowledge about the effects that S.S.R.I.'s, increasingly prescribed for a variety of childhood mental disorders, have on young patients. These experts, not involved in the study, said the findings indicated that Zoloft carried benefits. But they added that the 10-percentage-point improvement afforded by the drug over the placebo, though statistically significant, was not substantial.

Sertraline (Zoloft®) vs. Paroxetine (Paxil®) for Premature Ejaculation

There are many treatment options to compare for premature ejaculation. Medication treatment has been shown to be effective for many people with PE, including selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) like sertraline (Zoloft®) and paroxetine (Paxil®).

Sertraline Reduces Anxiety, Not Depression, in First 6 Weeks

Overall, researchers say the results support the continued prescribing of sertraline and other similar antidepressants for people experiencing depressive symptoms. “It appears that people taking the drug are feeling less anxious, so they feel better overall, even if their depressive symptoms were less affected,” said lead author Gemma Lewis, PhD

The clinical effectiveness of sertraline in primary care and the role of depression severity and duration (PANDA): a pragmatic, double-blind, placebo-controlled randomised trial

In conclusion, our finding that sertraline affects anxiety more quickly than depressive symptoms has potential implications for understanding the mechanisms of antidepressant treatment. Depressive symptoms could take longer to reduce than anxiety symptoms and some of the reduction might be explained by the earlier effects on anxiety.

Xanax Or Zoloft For Moms-To-Be: A New Study Assesses Safety

The bottom line, she says is that the findings suggest that women who need treatment for these disorders don't need to stop taking these medications during pregnancy. There's still some uncertainty among practitioners and mothers-to-be about the use of anxiety and antidepressants in pregnancy, but some leading OBGYNs point out the benefits of being treated with the drugs.

Zoloft enters list of 10 most commonly prescribed drugs in Australia

An increase in women being diagnosed with depression is partly behind a significant rise in prescriptions of the antidepressant sertraline – sold under the brand name Zoloft – which is in the list of Australia’s most commonly prescribed drugs for the first time.

Resources

7 things you should know

Zoloft is a brand name for sertraline which is an effective antidepressant with less potential for drowsiness than many other antidepressants. It belongs to the group of medicines called selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) which can be associated with an increased risk of bleeding events and interactions with other medications that also release serotonin.

Sertraline

Take me if you’re depressed, but don’t wash me down the drain. Sertraline, best known by the brand name Zoloft (Pfizer, New York City), is a venerable antidepressant that was approved by the US Food and Drug Administration in 1991. Its mode of action, common among antidepressants, is as a selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor. The active ingredient in most of its formulations is its hydrochloride1.

NAMI

Depression and certain other psychiatric disorders are themselves associated with increases in the risk of suicide. Patients with major depressive disorder (MDD), both adult and pediatric, may experience worsening of their depression and/or the emergence of suicidal ideation and behavior (suicidality) or unusual changes in behavior, whether or not they are taking antidepressant medications. This risk may persist until significant remission occurs.

StatPearls

Sertraline is a medication used to manage and treat the major depressive disorder, obsessive-compulsive disorder, panic disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder, premenstrual dysphoric disorder, and social anxiety disorder. It is in the SSRI class of medications.