Minimizing side effects with supplements

The three most commonly reported long-term side effects of SSRI medications are:

1. Sexual disturbances (low sex drive, decreased sexual satisfaction, and decreased sexual performance)
2. Sleep disturbances
3. Weight gain

Many other side effects have also been reported. Taking steps to improve your overall health by optimizing your nutritional status might allow you to use lower amounts of your SSRI medication and experience improved mood more quickly. Improved nutritional support has also been found to help prevent or reverse specific side effects of SSRI medications in some people.

SSRI medications (and most other antidepressants) will not work as well when our nutritional reservoirs are depleted. Nutrients including vitamins B12 and folic acid, minerals magnesium and zinc, and essential fatty acids like those found in fish oil all appear to play important roles in the way our bodies respond to SSRI medications. Ensuring that any nutritional needs are identified and supplied (whether vitamin, mineral, or accessory nutritional support such as fish oil) is highly recommended while taking SSRI medications.

Supplementing the diet with Ginkgo biloba extracts might reduce some of the side effects experienced by persons taking SSRIs such as fluoxetine or sertraline. An open-label study with elderly, depressed persons found that 200-240 mg of GBE daily was effective in alleviating sexual side effects in both men and women taking SSRIs.

Continue – Supplement/Drug synergies