Much has been heard about Prozac antidepressant medication. It is helpful to separate fact from fiction in attempting to understand how and why this drug works.

This medicine is prescribed for treating depression, obsessive-compulsive disorder, panic disorder, bulimia nervosa, and dysphoric disorder (PMS). As can be seen, it has varied uses, including treatment for ADHD. The antidepressant Prozac is a valuable agent in treating these troubling conditions and has been shown to be highly effective when depression and lack of energy are persistent.

This medicine is a member of the class of drugs known as serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs). Serotonin is one of the chemical messengers in the brain, important in relationship to mood. Reuptake inhibitors reduce reabsorption of serotonin after its release, boosting available levels in the brain. Prozac antidepressant medication is prescribed to alleviate symptoms, which manifest in relation to serotonin levels.

Side effects of this drug include abnormal dreams, sleepiness or insomnia, itching, sweating, loss of appetite, nausea or vomiting, anxiety or nervousness, dizziness or headaches, abnormal vision, flushing, diminished sex drive, dry mouth, flu-like symptoms, impotence, tremors, among others. More serious effects can be seen in bleeding problems, high blood pressure, emotional instability, palpitations, and loss of memory. This is by no means an exhaustive listing, but illustrates that use of the antidepressant Prozac can present complications.

Serious or fatal reactions have occurred when this particular drug has been combined with other prescription medications, such as Parnate or Nardil (MAOIs). Reactions have even occurred when Prozac antidepressant medication has been discontinued and a MAOI started. If you are taking any other prescription or nonprescription drug, your doctor should be made aware of this, so that you will avoid potentially dangerous complications.

An overdose of the antidepressant Prozac can be fatal. This medication should be taken with care. It must be remembered, however, that it can be an appropriate treatment for troubling conditions.

Your doctor will carefully weigh many factors before prescribing this drug for you: your history of drug reactions, other pertinent health conditions that might be aggravated, whether you are planning on becoming pregnant, are pregnant, or are nursing.

If you are struggling to overcome troubling symptoms of anxiety or depression, you may be looking into different treatment approaches. Many people feel comfortable with natural remedies and these are increasingly being turned to for relief from troubling disorders that interfere with everyday functioning and well being.

Can natural supplements address your symptoms in the same fashion as Prozac antidepressant medication?

Natural supplements can be a potent ally when seeking to alleviate conditions that impact on quality of life. These preparations incorporate key vitamins and minerals, enzymes and herbal extracts, and utilize specialty supplements and amino acids, which act to correct neurotransmitter malfunctioning and chemical imbalances in the brain. 5-HTP (5-hydroxytryptophan) is used for treatment of anxiety and has been clinically shown to significantly improve depressive symptoms. SAMe (S-adenosylmethionine) improves intellectual performance and reduces symptoms of major depression. (Neuro-imaging reveals that SAMe affects the brain in a fashion similar to conventional antidepressants.) Valerian treats mood disorders and depression; passionflower is an aid in combating nervousness; chamomile reduces anxiety. Ginkgo biloba enhances mental acuity and concentration, while combating depression. It can be seen that natural supplements offer potent relief and are a viable alternative to conventional treatments.

It is always important to discuss any treatment with your doctor. If you have concerns about use of the antidepressant Prozac, these should be discussed with your practitioner. Your doctor may still feel this medication is suitable in treating your condition.

Armed with information about conventional and alternative treatment approaches, you can progress along the road to recovery, confident that you have separated facts from fiction when it comes to Prozac antidepressant medication.

By: A. Green
Athlyn Green is an avid health enthusiast with an interest in natural remedies for treatment of health disorders. She has contributed to Antidepressant Prozac, a section of http://www.beat-your-depression.com dedicated to natural treatments and prescription drug alternatives for this disorder.

Parkinson's disease risk was lowered by 20% with regular aspirin use and by up to 56% with regular non-aspirin nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), researchers found.

The findings contribute to growing evidence for a protective role for non-aspirin NSAIDs and perhaps for aspirin at anti-inflammatory doses, Angelika D. Wahner, Ph.D., of the University of California, Los Angeles, and colleagues, reported in the Nov. 6 issue of the journal Neurology.

However, it's definitely too early to recommend NSAIDs as a prevention strategy, especially in view of gastrointestinal bleeding and other risks associated with NSAIDS, said Beate Ritz, M.D., Ph.D., a co-author on the study, in an interview with MedPage Today.

The researchers studied 293 Parkinson's disease patients within three years of their first diagnosis as well as 286 age-, race-, and gender-matched controls in rural California from 2001 through May 2006. - See Nonprescription Painkillers Reduce Parkinson's Disease Risk for the full report.

Merck & Co.'s Gardasil, the cervical cancer vaccine for girls, also prevented signs of the disease in women older than 26 in a study that may broaden its use.

Merck will ask U.S. regulators by the end of the year to expand use of Gardasil to women through age 45, the Whitehouse Station, New Jersey-based company said today in a statement. Gardasil was cleared last year for females age 9 through 26 and recommended as part of routine vaccinations for girls 11 and 12.

The vaccine protects against the sexually transmitted human papillomavirus, or HPV, which can cause cervical cancer later in life. Gardasil has become one of Merck's top-selling drugs with $1.1 billion in sales in the first nine months of this year. Use among older women may help Merck garner an extra $1 billion in annual sales as it competes with Cervarix, a similar vaccine developed by London-based GlaxoSmithKline Plc, said Bear Stearns & Co. drug analyst John Boris in New York. - See Merck Cancer Vaccine Effective in Women Up to 45 for the full article.

Gilead Sciences Inc (GILD.O: Quote, Profile, Research) on Friday said a second late-stage trial has shown that its HIV treatment Viread was more effective in treating hepatitis B than Gilead's drug Hepsera, which is already approved for treating the liver infection in adults.

Favorable results for Viread in a similar late-stage trial were reported in June. In that 48-week study, about 71 percent of the 250 patients in the Viread arm had a complete response, compared with 49 percent in the Hepsera arm of 125 patients. Side effects were comparable in both treatment groups of the trial, which included some patients previously treated for hepatitis B.

The separate 266-patient study described on Friday compared the two Gilead drugs among patients who had never previously been treated for hepatitis B, an infection that over years can seriously harm or destroy the liver and increase the risk of liver cancer. - See
Gilead HIV drug beats Hepsera in second big trial for the full report.

Eli Lilly states that common side effects for Cymbalta can include nausea, dry mouth, constipation, fatigue, decreased appetite, sleepiness, and increased sweating.

Various users of Cymbalta write about other much worse side effects.

I was on cymbalta for 4 months to treat depression. Within the first 2 weeks I was experiencing the common side effects. By the beginning of the 4th month I was experiencing the unlisted, rare side-effects...including extreme jaw pain, insomnia. I weaned off the cymbalta creating full fledged withdrawals. I was completely off the med, but was forced back into weaning. I'm currently on 10mg per day - home-made capsules since cymbalta's lowest dose is 20mg. I'm in my 3rd month of major withdrawals which have not eased up. Withdrawal symptoms include major brain zaps, flu-like symptoms, pin point pains throughout my body almost like fibromyalgia, withdrawal induced depression, night terrors -- though I already suffer from night terrors, the withdrawals have made them dangerous. Other withdrawal effects include audio hallucinations, and the feeling of the brain not connected to the body.

I am not going to be nice to cymbalta. I took it at 60mg for six months; spent another three months tapering it to "0" and the last 4 months (near the end of tapering, and following its discontinuation) with near death-like illness: constant suicide ideation; thousands of "brain zaps" and blackouts every day; convultions; vomiting 10+ times a day; unable to sleep at all -- even with ambien; incessant, debilating headache; sweating, sweating, sweating (day and night, hot or cold; deep, constant depression x10 worse before use of the drug; unmitigated, uncontrollable anger (just drop a paperclip); chills; blurred vision; intolerable body pain everywhere that did not occur prior to use of the drug; and more to numerous to list.

My doctor prescribed me this poison as an alternative to Klonopin, which has worked very well for me over ten years (I suffer from severe panic disorder). He thought this stuff would be less harmful to my body. HA!!! After only one dose of Cymbalta (60 mg), I became deathly ill almost immediately--threw up all morning and into the early afternoon. I could barely move or get out of bed. At one point I was certain that I was having heart failure, because my entire body seized up and I could not move or speak. It took me a day and a half to finally sleep. List of side effects: blurred vision, sweating, shaking, nausea, vomiting, brief paralysis, tingling in extremities, fainting, heart palpitations, insomnia, severe abdominal pain, auditory/visual hallucinations, dizziness. ONE DOSE DID ALL THAT TO ME. Avoid this crap at all costs--and believe me, it IS costly, not only financially but physically as well.

This is the worst antidepressant I have taken. Side effects for me were sleeping 18 hours a day, dry mouth, heart palpitations, irritable, my husband said that i was on pms the whole time and he deserves an award for staying with me, night sweats, sleep patterns eratic, nausea in the morning, food lost its taste, acne, menstural irregularity, apathy...and now that I am trying to get off this horrible drug that the company LILLY has distributed I am crying, dizzy, disoriented, seeing hallucinagens (colors are different), diarrhea, throwing up, nausea, irritable, night sweats, heart palpitations and ache....this is a highly addictive drug and WOULD NOT suggest that anyone EVER take it for ANY reason!!!

These are but a few of the thousands of negative posts I found while researching the side effects of Cymbalta. I did this research because a very close family member was placed on Cymbalta by her Doctor. Within three weeks she started having crying jags, became very paranoid, couldn't sleep, was angry with everyone, was constantly dizzy and disorientated, had very bad body pains and aches, tremors and confusion and had various other adverse symptoms. Her Doctor stated that according to the Elli Lily representative these side effects would go away but they didn't, they just kept getting worse. Finally her Doctor weaned her off Cymbalta by lowering the dosage and adding 150 mg of Wellbutrin. She says that the weaning off period was worse than when she was taking the full dosage but now that she is off Cymbalta she will never use it again.

To find more posts see http://drugs.healthdiaries.com/cymbalta ... fects.html and http://www.askapatient.com/viewrating.a ... e=CYMBALTA.

David G. Hallstrom, Sr.
Legal Resources and Lifestyle Resources

Nobody likes being sick. Nobody likes the feeling of getting a cold and having to endure the runny nose, head aches and all its other symptoms. Whenever a person suffers from the common cold, sore throat, a cough, fever, diarrhea, muscle aches or ever a migraine he tends to get exhausted easily. This exhaustion affects his daily life, his job and his family. Much like these sicknesses affect our daily lives, arthritis affects us and our families as well. This is why it is important for us to know what kinds of treatments provide good and lasting arthritis relief.

One hundred types. One thing in common. Pain.

There are over a hundred types of arthritis that exist. Each type exhibits symptoms that differ in location, severity, variety and regularity. Nevertheless, all these types of arthritis exhibit soreness, aches, swelling and stiffness in the affected joint. Some other types also exhibit, flu-like symptoms, fever and formations of small lumps or nodules, exhaustion and rashers. And all of these symptoms bring one thing; all these symptoms inflict pain in the affected area.

When you are diagnosed with arthritis, it is expected from your doctor that he should inform you of all the possible treatment options for your specific type of arthritis. It must be made clear to you that there are many kinds of treatments for the many kinds of arthritis. when choosing which treatment you will undergo, some factors are taken into consideration. The objectives for your treatment should be attained. The treatment should also cover sustaining joint function, slow down the disease's progression, maintain the range of motion of your affected joint, lessen joint damage and reduce all known arthritis symptoms.

The different medications for all your needs.

Most arthritis treatments for arthritis relief are in the form of medications. Some of these include analgesics (pain medications), NSAIDs, Corticosteroids, DMARDs and COX-2 Inhibitors. Before taking any of these medications always consult your physician. They shall help you decide on which medications suit you the best and they will inform you about how long these medications take effect, their side effects and other vital information.

Some doctors recommend giving their patients shots directly to their affected joints. These steroid shots are usually given to extremely painful joints. The recommended number of shots a patient is allowed to take is three every year. Some doctors, use the process called, viscosupplementation that injects a gel like substance into the affected joint.

But not all patients take traditional treatments, some of them opt for alternative treatments to achieve arthritis relief. Although these are not proven to be safe and efficient, some patients still opt for alternative medicine. Some good examples of these treatments are yoga, acupuncture and stress management.

Another option for patients is complimentary medicine. Though some people confuse complimentary medicine with alternative this varies from the latter because, the former is used along with traditional medicine. Good examples of complimentary medicine are nutritious diets, stress management and regular exercise.

The last option for arthritis patients is surgery. This is because surgery on arthritis patients is for extreme cases or cases that have tried other treatment methods and achieved below average results. Surgery is ideal for extreme joint damage and the using the affected joint would prove to be unbearable.

Arthritis patients often complain about extreme pain that is why it is important for them to manage their arthritis. With their discipline and their family's help, then can lead a fairly normal and active life.

Treating arthritis is a team game - you are not alone! Share your experiences or tap into the feedback of others for Arthritis Relief at our Arthritis Treatment community.

By: Ron Newhaven
Treating arthritis is a team game - you are not alone! Share your experiences or tap into the feedback of others for Arthritis Relief at our Arthritis Treatment community.