Mixing Headache And Depression Medications

Mixing Headache And Depression Medications

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Dangers of Headache and Depression Medications Being Mixed

What can you do when you are a headache sufferer who also suffers from depression? Some will say that the medication you take for your depression, antidepressants, should work to bring your headaches under control at the same time. But that is not necessarily true. Many people who suffer from both do not find that the medications needed to control one have any positive effect on the other. This is despite the fact that antidepressants are frequently given to headache sufferers with very good results. Perhaps the difference is that the antidepressants prescribed for headaches are only a select few and not everyone can use those to fight their depression.

Another problem with being a depressive and suffering from headaches is that some of these medication combinations can be a cause for concern. For example, people who are migraine sufferers should know that some of the medications that they use and some of the prescriptions they have for their antidepressants can make for a very dangerous mix. Dangerous enough that they can actually be life threatening. The Food and Drug administration is issuing warnings against what is being called serotonin syndrome.

Before reading further, please understand that any advice given here must not be read as qualified professional opinion. If our page called "Mixing Headache And Depression Medications" is helpful, thats wonderful, but you should take qualified professional opinion before acting on the suggestions written here.


In particular the migraine medications that are known as triptans can become a serious issue for the patient if they are mixed with the medications commonly used to treat mood disorders or depression. These medications include serotonin inhibitors and serotonin norepinephrine reuptake inhibitors. Both of these types of medications are designed to increase the serotonin levels in the person’s body to help to even out mood. They are found in such common antidepressants such as Zoloft, Paxil and Prozac. The problem is that these drugs do not interact well with one another.

How do you know if there is a problem when using these two medications? There will be many signs. If you require both medications because you have a migraine and nothing else works for you in making the pain go away you should be looking carefully for any of the symptoms that may prove dangerous If you are feeling dizzy, if your heart is racing, are you having diarrhea, are you vomiting, do you feel like you have the flu, are you hot, hallucinating or feel restless? If so, call your health care provider for an immediate appointment. If they are unable to fit you in go to the emergency unit of the nearest hospital.

If you’re a migraine sufferer don’t stop your antidepressants to allow yourself to take the migraine medication. What you should do instead is see your health care provider and see of they can change the medications that you take. Your physician will work hard to make the best combination of drug treatments to enable you to treat both problems without the dangers that have been discovered recently. The concerns for mixing these medications are serious enough that the FDA is seeking label changes to make sure that more information is supplied to patients so that they can make more informed choices about their medications.




One final reminder, you should understand that the information given here should not be understood as medical opinion. If our report titled "Mixing Headache And Depression Medications" has been of use, thats terrific, but you are well advised to seek qualified medical advice before taking any action based on the info listed here.