1. Understanding Depression Slideshow
2. Take the Depression Quiz
3. Benefits of Depression Treatment

Medical Author:

Roxanne Dryden-Edwards, MD

Roxanne Dryden-Edwards, MD

Dr. Roxanne Dryden-Edwards is an adult, child, and adolescent psychiatrist. She is a former Chair of the Committee on Developmental Disabilities for the American Psychiatric Association, Assistant Professor of Psychiatry at Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, Maryland, and Medical Director of the National Center for Children and Families in Bethesda, Maryland.

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Medical Editor:

Melissa Conrad Stöppler, MD, Chief Medical Editor

Melissa Conrad Stöppler, MD, Chief Medical Editor

Melissa Conrad Stöppler, MD, is a U.S. board-certified Anatomic Pathologist with subspecialty training in the fields of Experimental and Molecular Pathology. Dr. Stöppler's educational background includes a BA with Highest Distinction from the University of Virginia and an MD from the University of North Carolina. She completed residency training in Anatomic Pathology at Georgetown University followed by subspecialty fellowship training in molecular diagnostics and experimental pathology.

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Tell the doctor what medications are currently being taken because many medicines interact with SSRIs. Do not take any nonprescription or herbal medications without first consulting a doctor or pharmacist. The following are facts about some examples of interactions between SSRIs and other drugs, but they do not represent a complete list.

• When an SSRI is administered with 5-HT1 agonists, such as sumatriptan or zolmitriptan, weakness and incoordination, although rare, have been reported.
• SSRIs may increase the blood levels and risk of toxicity of certain medications, including the following:
  
  • Highly protein-bound medicines such as warfarin (Coumadin) and digoxin
  • Antiarrhythmic medicines such as propafenone (Rythmol) or flecainide (Tambocor)
  • Beta-blockers such as propranolol (Inderal) or metoprolol (Lopressor, Toprol XL)
  • Tricyclic antidepressants such as amitriptyline (Elavil) (may increase risk for serotonin syndrome -- symptoms include hypertension, fever, muscle tremor, or confusion)
  • Benzodiazepines such as alprazolam (Xanax), diazepam (Valium), midazolam (Versed), or triazolam (Halcion)
  • Carbamazepine (Tegretol)
  • Cisapride (Propulsid)
  • Clozapine (Clozaril)
  • Cyclosporine (Neoral, Sandimmune)
  • Haloperidol (Haldol)
  • Thioridazine (Mellaril)
  • Phenytoin (Dilantin)
  • Pimozide (Orap)
  • Theophylline (TheoDur, TheoBid)
    
• The following substances may increase the toxicity of SSRIs:
  
  • Alcohol or other drugs that depress the central nervous system
  • Diuretics (water pills)
  • MAOIs (may cause serious, and sometimes fatal, reactions)
  • St. John's wort
  • Sympathomimetics such as pseudoephedrine (Sudafed)
  • Lithium
  • Sibutramine (Meridia)
  • Zolpidem (Ambien)

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