[19072]

Is there such thing as a non addictive anti-depressant?? My doctor wants to prescribe me one as I am having terrible urinary troubles along with the D. Why can't this all just go away???????

 

[14416]

most all of them are marketed as non addictive.i would request tofranil or another tricyclic anti-depressant, they are better for d

 

[21918]

My father and my daughter were both prescribed tofranil and it was pretty strong. It caused dizziness etc. I use nortriptyline 10mg and have not noticed any problems--of course I take it at bedtime.

 

[14416]

I took it for 9 months... no side effects at all.

 

[JudithB]

Why Me???Anti-depressants are not addictive - if you get to a point when you do not need them anymore usually the doctor will tell you how to gradually reduce them.It is tranquillisers that tend to be more addictive.

 

[Kathleen M.]

Some antidepressants (mostly the short acting SSRI's) sometimes have side effects as you reduce the dose, especially if you just stop cold turkey. This is not addiction per se, but they are medications that people can't usually just stop taking cold turkey. They are not the only medications that are like this. But a lot of people consider themselves "addicted" if they have any trouble stopping the medication.Tricyclics generally don't get the "addicted" to label as much. But with any of them discuss with your doctor the best approach to stopping them. Usually this involves reducing the dose gradually, or taking a longer acting SSRI so the blood level drop off is more gradual.K.

 

[17176]

in my partners case he has been on diazapam for 14 years, he says he cant come off them and his doc is basically keeping him on them, my partner feels they are addictive.

 

[Kathleen M.]

Diazapam is a sedative/anti-anxiety med not an antidepressant.It is in a class that is considered addictive.K.

 

[NancyCat]

Drugs like valium, xanax and klonopin which are antianxiety meds can be addicting. IMO the antidepressants are non-addicting but some people have trouble going off cold turkey as Kath stated. Also IMO if any drug/medication "works" for your particular IBS issues, you might "feel" psycologically like you are addicted to them. But in that instance I don't think you would have "cravings" for these meds if you didnt take them like you would w/valium or a narcotic.I think the addicting thing is a problem in that some drugs have the potential for abuse, but most of the antidepresants used for IBS like the trycyclics-elavil/tofranol or the ssri's don't do this.I alternate and take a low dose of both elavil (which works for pain) and paxil (ssri that helps w/anxiety/IBS issues ((for me)). If D is your main issue I believe elavil has a side effect of C for some people. Paxil does have D as a side effect but according to my gastro, not like what happens when you trigger D with say an antibiotic. I was very reluctant to take paxil cause it has a possible side effect of D and I didnt want to deal w/that, but she assured me that paxil has the lowest incidence of D and that if I did get it, it would go away when I stopped the medication. In my case it makes me MUCH less anxious which IMO helps the elavil work on the pain issues.Either class of antidepressant takes a while to work. The trycyclics can take up to 4-6 weeks and the ssri's at least 2 weeks so dont be frustrated if you dont notice improvement right away. Also sometimes it takes trial and error w/a few meds to hit on the right one/s for you.Hope this helps

 

[eric]

Just fyiTopic:Why treat IBS with antidepressants?Lead byoug Drossman, MDandSyed Thiwan, MDDate:August 9, 2005; 8:00 pm ESTJoin the chat!--------------------------------------------------------------------------------We are hosting educational chat sessions that are open to the public. Each session is on a specific functional GI disorder topic.This is an excellent opportunity to learn more about particular functional GI topics and to discuss them with our staff, presenters and other interested and interesting people.--------------------------------------------------------------------------------The chatroom opens to the public at 8:00 p.m. Eastern Standard Time and remains open for two hours. Each evening's topic will be introduced in a brief 10 - 15 minute overview, highlighting what is known about the topic in the field. This overview is presented by one of the Center's researchers or by nationally recognized experts invited to discuss the topic with our online guests. Following this introduction, you will be able to join the discussion on the topic with the presenter, Center staff and other people attending the session. The discussion takes place in electronic chatroom form: all participants can make comments and ask or respond to questions by typing their contribution into a box at the bottom of their screen. These comments appear on everyone's screen in the order they are submitted. The presenter introducing each evening's topic may present slides that appear on everyone's screen, to aid understanding of the topic. The discussion will be moderated by our staff members to ensure the discussion flows smoothly and everyone gets ample opportunities to ask questions and make comments. http://www.med.unc.edu/medicine/fgidc/even...the_experts.htm