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Naltrexone is a prescription medication specifically approved by the FDA for treating both opioid dependence and alcohol use disorder. Naltrexone can be taken as either a tablet or an injectable, and most patients are given a dose of 50 milligrams once per day. The injectable form of the drug is called Vivitrol. Vivitrol is given intramuscularly at 380 milligrams once per month. Only licensed healthcare practitioners can administer Naltrexone in any of its forms.
Taking Naltrexone before fully detoxing from opioids or alcohol can cause severe withdrawal side effects. For patients who wish to use Naltrexone, they will need to abstain from drugs for at least seven to ten days before starting the drug. This includes patients who have used Methadone and are switching to Naltrexone.
When were antidepressants invented?
The first antidepressants were invented in the 1950s. Today, there are more than 30 different types of antidepressants on the market and five main types of antidepressant drugs. Each type of antidepressant medication works differently to impact basic brain chemistry and neurotransmitters that play a role in depression and mental health disorder symptoms.
Because everyone’s symptoms are different, people will respond differently to antidepressant medications. It may take a few tries before patients can find a medicine that addresses their symptoms without giving them unpleasant side effects.
How do antidepressants work?
Antidepressants, along with therapy, are the first-line treatment protocols for depression and anxiety. Most people will respond favorably to antidepressant medications, with an estimated 65% of all patients seeing an improvement with antidepressant drugs. While the causes of depression are not entirely understood yet in the scientific and medical communities, it is thought that depression symptoms originate in complex brain chemistry. It’s true that depression can impact people on a multitude of levels and can cause a range of physical, emotional, and behavioral symptoms; it is a disorder of the brain.
Antidepressants are used to target the brain’s neurotransmitters and alleviate the source of depression symptoms. While antidepressants can address the biological origins of depression, therapy is used to treat the complex array of emotions and behavioral issues that happen when someone is depressed. Antidepressants can give patients breathing room but aren’t a single cure-all for depression.
Each of the five types of antidepressant drugs works a little bit differently. But it’s essential to understand the basics of brain biology and what processes are in play to fully appreciate how antidepressants work to target depression symptoms.
In mass media and pop culture, depression is often labeled as a “chemical imbalance,” but this isn’t necessarily true, and it doesn’t accurately describe what is going in the brain when depression symptoms manifest. In general, researchers believe that antidepressants impact neurotransmitters and the way they pass through the brain’s nerve cells and pathways. Neurotransmitters are brain chemicals, and the ones that are known to play a role in depression symptoms are serotonin, dopamine, and norepinephrine. Antidepressants, depending on their type, can increase, or decrease the brain’s levels of these chemicals. In effect, the medications restore balance and equilibrium to the brain.
Are antidepressants addictive?
Changing brain chemistry is a serious affair, and people should never take an antidepressant, or quit taking an antidepressant cold-turkey without speaking to a doctor first. Sudden increases or decreases to the brain’s neurochemical makeup can cause a range of side effects and symptoms that can be potentially dangerous. While antidepressants can cause someone to become dependent on the medication, and they can be abused, they aren’t addictive to the same degree as other, powerful drugs or alcohol.
In general, doctors do not believe that antidepressants are addictive in a traditional sense. It is possible for someone to experience withdrawal symptoms when they quit taking antidepressants, switch medications, or try to reduce their dosage. But this is not the same as addiction, although withdrawals are part of addiction disorder. Some of the most common withdrawal symptoms for antidepressants include nausea, shaking, increased anxiety, and depression.
The reason why antidepressants are not considered addictive like opioids or alcohol is because they don’t cause a euphoric rush or high. People don’t get cravings to use antidepressants, or engage in risk-taking behaviors because they compulsively need to take more of the drugs to get high. People will indeed attempt to abuse antidepressants, but they still won’t cause a euphoric high. Other symptoms of addiction, such as mood swings, shirking responsibilities, or marked changes in motivation and behavior, do not typically happen with antidepressant use. Addiction is a chronic, and neurobiological disorder that encompasses a range of environmental, psychological, genetic, and social factors that trigger the disorder’s development. Although addiction is a treatable disease, it requires a multidisciplinary approach.
What’s the difference between addiction and dependence?
Dependence happens when a person’s brain and body become adapted to having antidepressants to function. Dependence occurs when someone regularly takes their prescribed dose, and it’s not necessarily harmful when someone builds a tolerance to their antidepressant medication. But a rapid reduction in dosage or abrupt cessation can lead to physical and emotional withdrawal symptoms in people who are dependent on their medication.
How are antidepressants abused?
Although antidepressants do not cause euphoria like other drugs, that doesn’t deter some people from trying to induce the feeling by abusing antidepressants. People who abuse antidepressants often mistakenly believe that since the medicines influence brain chemistry, that they can give a user a psychostimulant effect. But that’s not how these medicines work.
It can take several weeks to more than a month before a person will feel the effects of antidepressants. The drugs need time to work over several weeks or months, allowing the brain to accumulate the correct, therapeutic levels of crucial neurotransmitters for symptom relief. In most cases of antidepressant abuse, people will typically double their prescribed dose, hoping they will make the drug work more quickly. In other cases, people will mix antidepressants with alcohol to try and increase the effects of the medication or get high. For some patients, their antidepressant may stop working, so they will double their dose to try and get the medicine to start working again. But this can cause other issues and side effects.
Wellbutrin is one of the most commonly abused antidepressants, and it is typically snorted. People who abuse antidepressants will sometimes do so because they are looking for a placebo effect to reduce cravings for their drug of choice. Although there are risks with taking any prescription, including antidepressants, these medicines have helped millions of people find relief from depression.
What happens during detox and withdrawal from antidepressants?
Sudden cessation or cutting back on an antidepressant can cause side effects and withdrawal symptoms. Patients who have taken an antidepressant for six weeks or more are most likely to experience withdrawal symptoms. It is never recommended that people quit antidepressants cold turkey. These medications work on fine-tuning brain chemistry, and sudden cessation can throw the brain into a state of imbalance. Imbalanced brain chemistry can lead to both psychological and physical symptoms called “discontinuation syndrome.” Symptoms of antidepressant withdrawal may include the following:
- Headaches and nausea
- Panic attacks and tremors
- Fever
- Dizziness and hallucinations
- Confusion
- Ataxia
- Vivid dreams and sleep disturbances
Another notable symptom of antidepressant withdrawal, although not as common, is a phenomenon called “brain zaps.” A brain zap is characterized as a shock-like electrical sensation in the brain, which can be distressing and unpleasant. Teenagers who are quitting antidepressants are also more likely to experience suicidal thoughts. Anyone quitting or reducing an antidepressant should do so under a doctor’s care and supervision.
The severity and length of withdrawal and detox from antidepressants will vary from one patient to the next. It also depends on what antidepressant formula a person is dependent on. In some cases, symptoms won’t emerge for a few weeks until the last dose, while other patients may be able to completely detox and withdrawal within that same period. The amount of time a person has taken antidepressants can also impact the duration of the withdrawal and detox timeline.
Also, antidepressants with shorter half-lives will produce the most intense withdrawal symptoms. Medicines with the shortest half-lives are Effexor and Paxil. While these withdrawals may be more intense, they don’t last as long. Pills with a longer half-life will produce lingering withdrawal symptoms. Prozac and Zoloft have the most prolonged half-lives of antidepressant medications on the market today. In most cases, withdrawal symptoms will peak within the first week of cessation, while most will disappear after one month. Rarely, withdrawal symptoms will linger for more than four weeks.
The easiest, safest way to quit taking antidepressants is to slowly taper off the dose while someone goes through the detox process. There is no exact science to tapering off medications, and each patient’s detox schedule will differ. It’s critical that patients who want to quit taking antidepressants do so under the care and supervision of qualified professionals.
Are you or a loved one dependent on antidepressant drugs? The counselors and doctors at Mission Harbor Behavioral Health can help you detox safely from antidepressants and avoid the worst of withdrawal symptoms. Please contact Mission Harbor today to learn more about our detox and withdrawal programs.
The facilities at Mission Harbor are staffed with trained experts to best assist patients with their mental health issues. We are capable of dealing with any and all cases with a licensed staff, equipment, and approved techniques. Our mission is to help those who want to help themselves, and we support your decision in seeking help.
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