You’re going through a rough patch in your life and need a little pick-me-up. Perhaps you’re suffering from depression or anxiety, or maybe you’re just experiencing a normal bout of low mood. Whatever the reason for your distress, there’s a medication for you. You just need to know which one to try.
If you’re currently taking prescription medication, you might be wondering if combining it with a herbal supplement is a good idea. After all, lots of people are trying to wean themselves off their drug dependency and find alternatives, and sometimes, those alternatives can be a plant-based form of medication or an herbal supplement.
To this point, combining an antidepresant medication with a pharmaceutical drug such as sildenafil (formerly known as Viagra) seems to be a popular strategy among people looking to wean themselves off their prescription drug dependency. While there’s no harm in combining the two types of medication, there’s also no guarantee that it’ll help you achieve your goal. With that in mind, let’s explore the potential risks and the benefits of taking antidepressants and erectile dysfunction (ED) medication together.
Risks Of Combining Viagra With An Antidepressant
As mentioned earlier, lots of people are trying to quit taking their medications, and sometimes, that involves combining them with herbal or alternative remedies. In theory, this can be a good idea because most antidepressants are poorly tolerated when taken in combination with certain medications or supplements.
To cite an example, in patients taking SSRI antidepressants, the combination of Viagra with fluoxetine (aka Prozac) can cause a serious condition called serotonin syndrome. Serotonin syndrome occurs when you take an antidepressant and another medication that acts on the serotonin system in your body. In mild cases, it can present with mental confusion, agitation, and/or diarrhea. More severe cases can be life-threatening. According to the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA), there have been reports of serotonin syndrome in patients taking the combination of these medications.
The same holds true for the combination of sildenafil (literally, “she-dun-a-flo”) and an antidepressant. According to the FDA, there are case reports of people using sildenafil in combination with an antidepressant and experiencing a serious adverse reaction. Symptoms include fainting, flushing, diarrhea, and/or headache. Some of these adverse reactions could be life-threatening. The combination of sildenafil and an antidepressant can also lead to hypotension (low blood pressure), angina, and/or myocardial infarction (heart attack). For more information, you can refer to the US FDA website.
Benefits Of Combining Viagra With An Antidepressant
On the other hand, there are also benefits to combining Viagra with antidepressants. As with most medications, there is a wide therapeutic index for antidepressants, which means you can usually find an individual dose that’ll be effective for most people. In addition, antidepressants can help with sleep, which is typically a side effect of ED medications. Another advantage of combining these medications is that they work in synergy to provide enhanced relief.
For example, in cases where one of the medications is ineffective alone, it may be able to boost the effect of the other. In most cases, this means less medication is needed and/or less frequently administered to achieve the same effect. It’s also possible the combination of the medications will be more effective than the individual drugs alone. For more information on the benefits of this combination, you can visit the University of Michigan Health System website.
Overall Evaluation
If you’re currently taking an antidepressant, you might be wondering if combining it with a pharmaceutical drug such as Viagra is a good idea. To this point, the risks and the benefits of combining these medications seem to be on par. In general, most doctors and psychiatrists won’t have a problem with patients trying to taper off their prescriptions, as long as they do so in a safe manner and under close medical supervision. In addition, if you notice any benefits from combining these medications, it’s usually considered a good idea to continue taking them. However, if you experience any adverse effects from doing so, you should probably talk to your doctor about finding an alternative treatment.