Non SSRI anti-depressants

I was on lexapro for a year and a half. It was used to treat my anxiety and depression, which runs in my family and I have had most of my life. It was very effective. However, my hematologist said I needed to stop taking it because it is an SSRI, which means it acts as a blood thinner. I weaned myself off of it about three weeks ago. well the bruises have pretty much disappeared, but the anxiety and depression are back in full force.

It seems like the more modern anti-depressants are SSRI drugs such as zoloft and prozac. iIs anyone taking any non-SSRI drugs that have been effective?what types of side effects have you experienced? I am going to schedule an appointment with my primary care doctor this week and try to get back on a medication to help my anxiety.

I think I'd opt for bruises over anxiety and depression. Did your hematologist really say to stop your SSRI without having a transition plan? I am not a doctor and don't know your whole story, but this seems a little bit weird to me.

I agree with Tamar. Many people with ITP successfully use anti-anxiety and anti-depressants. Calling your primary is a good idea. Weaning from those drugs can be difficult, been there.

I take amitryptiline which does not affect platelet counts. The side effects are fatigue, constipation, dry mouth. It is good for me because it helps me sleep. I can't take the SSRI s because they make me hyper and give me headaches.

I take Lexapro myself. One day while reading about the side effects it said one of the rare side effects could be decreased blood platelets. I immediately called my doctor and told him what I had found and basically what should I do? He told me he wasn't concerned and to continue taking the Lexapro if I felt I needed it. It's been a year since taking it and my platelets are fine. He never even mentioned anything about thinning the blood.

Thank you for all the helpful advice! I will call my primary doctor and see what she says. I would like to get back on lexapro if possible since it was so effective.

This will be a completely non-helpful post buuuuut...

when I was in the hospital in January, right before I allowed my doctor to remove my spleen for no good reason (that's another post all together), one of the hematologist/oncologists on-call mentioned something to me about discontinuing Zoloft because of something she had read in a journal relating Zoloft to __________.

See, that's why this post isn't helpful. I was on so many drugs that I blanked out the ______ part.
I'll have to do some Google sleuthing to see if I can't see what she was talking about.

Either way, I told her to get lost because the Zoloft was the one thing keeping me sane throughout the whole splenectomy endeavor. No doctor has mentioned it since...

KayL,


I am sorry that they took your spleen! If you do read about SSRI's it does say that they can thin your blood. The doctor did say my bruises will go away and he was right about that after stopping lexapro. However, I am so miserable off of it that I would rather have bruises.

Well I have been prescribed different drugs at different time and most of the time they list trombocytopenia on it. My doc has prescribed me a few things and I point out it says it may cause trombocytopenia and he changes if it just to give me peace of mind though he points out it should not affect it.

Good to know....unfortunately I think the benefits of the anti-depressant outweigh the cons.

Most drugs can cause thrombocytopenia, even if it's not listed. It won't be listed unless it's been a reported side effect, and if you look at a PDR, I'll bet most of the meds listed there have thrombocytopenia. Each individual reacts differently, so just because it lists it does not mean it will lower platelets.

Sandi,

Thank you for the input! I guess we as ITPers can react to any drug. Just have to find things that work for us individuallly