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Dr. Andrew Rynne
MD
Dr. Andrew Rynne

Family Physician

Exp 50 years

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What Happens If You Consume A Large Amount Of Anti-depressant Pill?

My friend came to school today totally high. I was so scared because that wasn't the real him. He was all weird and I begged him to snap out of it. He was high of an anti-depressant pill he was told to take but he took too many in the bathroom today. Help! What do I do?
Wed, 20 Apr 2016
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Psychiatrist,  's  Response
Hello,
Thank you for asking question in healthcaremajic
Overdosing of antidepressant is a matter of concern as depressed patients may overdose it while having suicidal ideas. Their consequences depends on th type of antidepressant medications and quantity of pills.

Tricyclic Antidepressant eg Imipramine, Amitryptiline etc have low margin of safety, patient are likely to develop serious consequences in overdose, while Selective Serotonine Reuptake Inhibitors eg Fluoxetine, Sertraline are relatively safer drugs in overdosing.

I would recommend to contact physician as early as possible to prevent any serious consequences of it.

Hope this solve your quarry.
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  Anonymous's Response
Anonymous's  Response
It depends on the type of antidepressant used. If it was a SSRI (selective serotonine reuptake inhibitor) such as Sertraline, Escitaloprame, Paroxetine, Fluoxetine etc... than it's Ok, no fatal outcome has been reported by getting an overdose of any SSRI. Just some I/V (intravenous) saline solution might help to increase the renal clearance of the drug and liver biotransformation. If the antidepressant was a tricyclic one, such as Amitriptiline, Nortriptiline, Imipramine etc...than the patient should be sent imediately to the ER (emergency room) as being overdosed with this type of antidepressant is really dangerous and requires intensive care treatment, due to its possible fatal outcome.
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What Happens If You Consume A Large Amount Of Anti-depressant Pill?

Hello, Thank you for asking question in healthcaremajic Overdosing of antidepressant is a matter of concern as depressed patients may overdose it while having suicidal ideas. Their consequences depends on th type of antidepressant medications and quantity of pills. Tricyclic Antidepressant eg Imipramine, Amitryptiline etc have low margin of safety, patient are likely to develop serious consequences in overdose, while Selective Serotonine Reuptake Inhibitors eg Fluoxetine, Sertraline are relatively safer drugs in overdosing. I would recommend to contact physician as early as possible to prevent any serious consequences of it. Hope this solve your quarry.