SSRI (Prosac, Cipramil, Seropram) Side Effects

Side effects of selective serotonin re-uptake inhibitors include:

• Nausea, loss of appetite, diarrhea.
• Anxiety or irritability.
• Problems sleeping or drowsiness.
• Loss of sexual desire or ability. More.
• Headaches or dizziness.
• Weight gain. More.

They generally improve after a few days. People may tolerate SSRIs better than TCAs. They all lack sedation and are free of anticholinergic effects. This improves compliance but gives less immediate benefit for disturbed sleep (so they are initially combined with low doses of sedative antidepressants or hypnotics). All seem safe if overdosed.

There are many more side effects reported for SSRI drugs. For example, hair loss does occur, but not very often. The hair comes back when you stop using the drug, and switching to another SSRI drug sometimes helps.