Social Anxiety Support

chris87 · 10-28-2009, 11:05 PM

I have seen a number of articles online linking SSRIs to bone loss, especially in the elderly. Is this a problem to be concerned about? As if I don't have enough problems to keep me worried

. I should probably stop reading!

gordonjohnson008 · 11-12-2009, 12:37 AM

I have also heard that and quite possibly SSRIs can cause lower bone density. But, such a correlation is not necessarily a causation. Think of it this way: if a person is taking an antidepressant, they probably have been depressed. Depression has been linked to low bone density, see here http://general-medicine.jwatch.org/c...ll/1996/1029/1 or just Bing/Google "depression bone density". So it may be the condition the antidepressant is treating, and not the antidepressant, that causes low bone density. In fact, taking an antidepressant may actually prevent low bone density if it effectively treats depression and does not cause lowered bone density as a side effect. So don't freak out too much, we really don't know if SSRI's cause low bone density, but we do know depression does!

10-28-2009, 11:05 PM	#1 (permalink)
chris87 Status: SAS Member Join Date: Jul 2008 Location: New Jersey Gender: Male Posts: 148	SSRI Bone Loss I have seen a number of articles online linking SSRIs to bone loss, especially in the elderly. Is this a problem to be concerned about? As if I don't have enough problems to keep me worried . I should probably stop reading!

11-12-2009, 12:37 AM	#2 (permalink)
gordonjohnson008 Status: SAS Member Join Date: Nov 2008 Posts: 110	I have also heard that and quite possibly SSRIs can cause lower bone density. But, such a correlation is not necessarily a causation. Think of it this way: if a person is taking an antidepressant, they probably have been depressed. Depression has been linked to low bone density, see here http://general-medicine.jwatch.org/c...ll/1996/1029/1 or just Bing/Google "depression bone density". So it may be the condition the antidepressant is treating, and not the antidepressant, that causes low bone density. In fact, taking an antidepressant may actually prevent low bone density if it effectively treats depression and does not cause lowered bone density as a side effect. So don't freak out too much, we really don't know if SSRI's cause low bone density, but we do know depression does!