Are Anti-Depressants Safe To Use With The Usual Heart Medications?
Dr. Richard Stein answers the question: 'Anti-Depressants Safe With Heart Meds?'
— -- Question: Are anti-depressants safe to use with the usual heart medications?
Answer: The current most popular generation of antidepressants, which are called SSRIs -- serotonin reuptake inhibitors -- are remarkably safe in terms of patients with heart disease and with patients on the most common medications we use to treat high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and the risks of a second heart attack. So the answer generally is no.
One group of antidepressants, called tricyclic antidepressants, which were an older group of drugs, can in some people interfere with some of the drugs we use and can be associated with the increase risk of an irregular heart beat. And we tend to use those with caution and monitor patients in whom they're the best drugs. But in general, most of the drugs we use for depression are very safe for patients who have heart disease.
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