Key points to remember:If you or someone you know has been diagnosed with psychotic depression, treatment may involve both antidepressant and antipsychotic medications. Continued treatment with Zoloft (sertraline) and Zyprexa (olanzapine) can be effective in preventing relapses versus discontinuing treatment when a patient is considered stable. Doctors can...
The treatment and diagnosis of mental health conditions is posing challenges for family physicians. Patients with symptoms of anxiety and depression frequently do not respond to antidepressants leading to multiple trials with different drugs. Only when a patient has failed several drug trials s/he is referred to psychiatrist for...
A cancer diagnosis hits hard, but despite the stress all patients must learn about their treatment options in order to have fully informed discussions with an oncologist and other specialists on treatment options. If your treatment plan includes surgery to remove a tumor there are a few things you...
What all osteoarthritis and arthritis sufferers know is that this condition can severely affect your ability to lead an active life. Its trademarks are stiff and swollen joints, and lots of limiting pain.Standard treatments for relief of pain and stiffness call for cortisol injections, non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), chondroitin,...
About half of all prescription medications are ineffective. You read that right. HALF of us are taking meds that don’t work for us for a variety of reasons.People respond to medications differently. In fact, 95% of us have variations that determine how we respond to certain drugs and the subtleties...
Reviewed by Alison Wong, RPH.Patients suffering from depression, anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and other mental health conditions are frequently facing significant antidepressant side effects and often have a hard time finding the right dose or drug. When the medication is ineffective or the side effects become intolerable, patients...
All medications have the potential to cause side effects such as nausea, dizziness, stomach upset, rashes, and other issues. Pills contain ingredients which are supposed to improve a medication’s taste, color, absorption, or shelf life. Some of these chemicals are allergenic and can cause allergic reactions. Active ingredients of...
Reviewed by Alison Wong, RPH.Generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) is generally treated with Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors (SSRIs). First line SSRIs for GAD treatment include citalopram, escitalopram and sertraline. Clinical trials show response rates of 50% to 60%, remission rates between 25% and 35% and a significant proportion of patients...
Major depressive disorder, or MDD, affects 10-15% of people over their lifetime. The current standard of care includes cognitive behavioral therapy and several classes of medications, mainly Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors (SSRIs), serotonin-norepinephrine reuptake inhibitors (SNRIs), and tricyclic antidepressants (TCAs). The combination of cognitive behavioral therapy and medical...
Reviewed by Alison Wong, RPH.Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) is a mental health condition that is characterized by nightmares and flashbacks of past traumatic events, avoidance of reminders of trauma, hypervigilance and sleep disturbance. PTSD is often associated with other psychiatric illnesses such as severe anxiety and depression and...
