Depression has become a global concern nowadays due to the complex human lifestyles. Balancing professional and personal lives is a hassle for many people. On the other hand, people also struggle to find the right medication for managing depression. Since everyone has a unique body chemistry, the medicines do not work on different people uniformly. Physicians need to adjust the dosage and understand a person’s body type and intensity of depression. In most cases, depression dosage proves to be either too high or low. In the following section, find a guide on the signs your antidepressant is too strong.
Signs Your Antidepressant Dosage Is Too Strong
When antidepressant drugs have been prescribed to a patient, the physicians know there will be certain side effects. Experiencing minor side effects is not a big deal, and your body will take some time to cope with such medicines. However, facing certain major side effects is a red flag. The physician will reduce your dosage if you encounter the following symptoms.
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Serotonin Syndrome
Antidepressants increase the level of neurotransmitters in the brain. One of the major neurotransmitters is serotonin, which reduces depression and anxiety in a patient’s body. However, serotonin buildup beyond a threshold level in the brain is not good for a person’s health.
A high serotonin can lead to restlessness, diarrhea, mild tremors, and mild or severe headaches. In severe cases, a high serotonin is also life-threatening. Physicians prescribe different types of antidepressants, and all these antidepressants can potentially lead to serotonin syndrome.
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Experiencing Gastronomical Problems
Patients under antidepressant drug therapy can experience gastronomical problems due to a high dosage of the medicine. Some minor gastronomical problems could be abdomen pain, loss of appetite, digestive disorders, etc. Such symptoms suggest that your antidepressant dose is high, though not alarmingly high.
The dosage level is alarming when you experience extreme gastronomical problems such as diarrhea, constipation, etc. Typically, these symptoms will prevail for a long time if your medicinal dose is too high. Reducing the dosage will fetch quick relief from such a problem. Therefore, you must consult your physician if you experience the symptoms discussed here.
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Hyper Activeness
A person under antidepressant therapy will become more active or energetic than earlier. But, the change in behavior will be negligible in normal cases. Observing a big change in proactive behavior is a red flag for people under antidepressant treatment.
Hyperactivity typically suggests that the person has received a high dose of the antidepressant drugs. Consulting the physician at the earliest is essential to optimize the drug dosage. Rapid mood swing is also a symptom of a high dosage of antidepressant drugs.
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Sleeping Disorders
Sleeping disorder is a common thing among patients suffering from depression and anxiety. The sleeping problem can further become complex if the patient has been recommended a high dosage of antidepressant.
A high dose of antidepressant makes the patients feel restless. The circadian cycle of a person may get hampered due to the medicine’s impact. Instead of sleeping well at night, such patients may sleep for hours during the daytime.
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Feeling Agitated
Feeling agitated is one of the commonest signs your antidepressant is too high. Showing anger for no reason on known and unknown people is a sign of high dosage. In such cases, the patients must contact the physician to optimize the dosage.
Pharmacogenomic Testing to Optimize Antidepressant Dosage
It is impossible for doctors to recommend the perfect antidepressant dosage to a person with regular physical test reports. Therefore, physicians need to apply trial-and-error methods while prescribing antidepressant medicines. The trial-and-error method has many drawbacks. Firstly, patients may experience fatal or life-threatening results. Secondly, it could take a long time to find the perfect dosage through trial and error.
The best solution is to recommend the patients undergo pharmacogenomic testing before prescribing them antidepressant drugs. A pharmacogenomic test, also known as the PGx test, diagnoses a patient’s genetic profile. Studying the genetic profile helps physicians understand the potential impact of a drug on the person’s body. Therefore, it becomes easier to optimize the antidepressant dosage. At the same time, the right dosage helps patients find a quick healing experience from severe depression conditions.
Final Words
Depression can be treated through the right medication at the right dosage. A high dosage of antidepressant drugs has a fatal impact on the patients. Therefore, it is essential to consume the medicines at the right dosage for an optimal result. With the emerging concept of precision medicine in the global healthcare industry, pharmacogenomic testing for antidepressant treatment proves beneficial. The test helps scrutinize the patient’s genetic profile and identify the right medication. Nevertheless, it also helps physicians assess the correct dosage for the patients.