Medications and Mood
A number of common medications can contribute to mood issues. Some of the most common medications used by primary care physicians come with the added side effects of disrupting your mood. Oddly enough, many psychiatric medications cause mood disruptions in other areas, and then additional medications are often prescribed to fix the problems created by the first medication.
What's Causing Your Depression?
When I say lifestyle, what I mean is the basic requirements of life—food, exercise, sleep, stress, and substance use. In short, it means the way you live—too much excitement or stress, too little sleep, forcing your body to deal with constant alcohol, tobacco, drugs, or poor diet. These contributors are the foundation of the chemistry of your body and mind, and will influence how your brain chemistry operates; and they may contribute to episodes of depression along the way if they are out of balance.
Most of us thrive when we keep our pace of life in the slow to medium range. Unfortunately the modern lifestyle doesn’t make this easy for us, because we are often saturated with responsibilities, work, tasks, information, commutes, and expectations to keep up with the pace of others. Depression can develop when dealing with difficult life situations, especially when the situation is long term.
Neurotransmitters are the main chemical messengers of mood, and they include "uppers", which lift your mood and stimulate excitement and activity, and "downers" which calm and relax. Neurotransmitter imbalances are pivotal treatment areas for mood disorders, and they can be tested and treated individually. Imbalances in neurotransmitters can result from many areas, included genetics, gut health issues, and hormone imbalances in the adrenals, thyroid, and sex hormones.
Depression can be a result of several different neurotransmitter imbalances, including serotonin, dopamine, and norepinephrine. The two main branches of depression are serotonin dependent, which presents as a weepy, sad, melancholic 'blues' type of depression; and dopamine/norepinephrine dependent depression, which presents as a tired, lethargic, brain-fogged, and unmotivated type of depression.
Medications and Mood Mini-Course
Did You Know?
Depression is a side effect of many common medications including medications for anxiety and insomnia, some antibiotics, pain medications, acid reflux medications, birth control and hormone replacement, corticosteroids, some blood pressure medications, cholesterol medications, anticonvulsants, Parkinson’s drugs, acne medications, and paradoxically, some antidepressants.
Anxiety is a side effect of stimulant drugs, contraceptives, coriticosteroids, thyroid medication, antihistamines, asthma inhalers, decongestants, blood pressure medications, and antidepressants.
Mania is a side effect of antidepressants, thyroid medications, corticosteroids, Parkinson’s drugs, stimulants, antibiotics, some cancer drugs, and anti-malarial drugs.
Naturopathic medicine and holistic medicine can provide natural, medication-free options that can solve your health needs without affecting your mood.