'Fracture risk' from SSRI antidepressants used for menopause

[Clutter]

Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors - a class of antidepressant drug used to reduce symptoms of the menopause - may increase the risk of bone fractures, according to new research.

Cont/d in link...

medicalnewstoday.com/articl...

[yenool]

Interesting.

For years SSRIS were sold as the miracle drugs for depression but slowly the evidence is starting to come out that they don't actually work much better than a placebo and the harms were under estimated.

So a bit of marketing and medical experimentation to find alternative uses took place and now SSRIs are marketed and dished out like smarties for practically anything; - hot flushes, IBS, pain syndromes, ADHD, etc. Literally any excuse to prescribe the bloody things. scientificamerican.com/arti...

Some people can get such severe withdrawal symptoms they are effectively 'addicted' to the drug for life even though they don't want to take it. Some men have experienced lasting sexual dysfunction. Some people believe SSRI use at young age or for long periods can actually CAUSE a kind of chronic low-grade depression that persists for years, something they coin 'tardive dysphoria'. psychologytoday.com/blog/ma...

I'm sure they are a life saver for some people with severe depression, but anyone else should be very cautious.

[Clutter in reply to yenool]

Yenool, I took SSRIs for a long time and they were helpfully. Happily I didn't experience withdrawal coming off them suddenly (stupidly). I am aware they are prescribed for chronic pain but had no idea they were being prescribed for menopausal symptoms instead of HRT.

It does look as though SSRIs and statins will be prescribed come hell or high water for one thing or another

[greygoose in reply to Clutter]

People have to be educated not to accept them.

Remember the old thing they used to say about drugs - only they were talking about the 'recrational' kind - "Just. Say. No!". But here we're talking about the doctor-prescribed kind, which can be far more deadly!

[gabkad]

Depressed people tend to not eat well or go outside and get some sunshine either. They tend to not be physically active. So there's multifactorial reasons for why s**t happens. Then add to it that anti-depressants don't really work.... Plus plus plus, depressed people tend to be under employed, have lower incomes, poorer access to healthy food choices, and.................. pffft. We just live in a society that doesn't provide the sorts of social and emotional supports that people need.

[Clutter in reply to gabkad]

Gabi, the article says that the women studied were prescribed one third of the dose prescribed to depressed patients so either depressed patients are at higher risk or menopause + SSRIs increases risk.

[gabkad in reply to Clutter]

Or 1/3 of the dose doesn't help.

[yenool]

By the way I'm not against antidepressants as such. I've taken many of them myself, but none really worked unfortunately and the side-effects were not good to say the least.

Lifestyle and social issues are a major factor for many people. Poor diet, lack of exercise, poverty, abusive relationships, lack of social support, physical health problems (hormones, vitamins, etc), etc.

For most people SSRIs can only blunt the worst of the emotions and maybe give a brief (2-3 week) boost people need to get out of bed and take some positive steps towards recovery.

And of course in many cases 'depression' is actually just normal low mood in response to crappy life events like redundancy or bereavement, or poor physical health. And in those cases the 'depression' would have lifted naturally without drugs over time or when the physical issue was addressed.

[Hidden]

SSRIs transformed my poor mother when she developed dementia with immense agitation, depression and some psychosis. She became cheerful and optimistic and a pleasure to be with, even though she only had a few seconds of memory left.

However, they didn't at that time check vitamin D, which would have been extremely low, they relied on their hopeless B12 test and I think she would have had a near anorexic level of nutrients since she'd had diarrhoea for 20 years. She might have been saved by better science earlier.

[Glynisrose]

ANY anti - depressant will block the uptake of thyroxine of any kind.

[Schenks]

Blimey. I wonder why St John's Wort is prescribed instead? Oh, sorry - silly me. St John's Wort won't make money for....

[Schenks in reply to Schenks]

I mean, ISN'T prescribed, of course ...

[Schenks in reply to Schenks]

Now, I wonder why I get brain fog ...