General practitioner Ahmed Abd Elbary, told his followers on Tiktok that some medicines are not effective or have too many side effects. According to him, there are much better alternatives to prescribing, informs
One of the remedies that Dr. Ahmed mentioned is antidepressant – citalopram. It can cause side effects such as tiredness, nervousness, dry mouth and sweating. But that’s not why Dr. Ahmed avoids prescribing it.
Instead, he argues that there are better alternatives to treating depression. “I don’t have a particularly big problem with citalopram, but there is a much better alternative with a name escitalopram. It works much better for treating depression, as I have found in my own clinical practice” says the doctor.
There are several differences between the two drugs, such as that twice as much citalopram is needed to achieve the same effect as escitalopram. Escitalopram may also be useful for anxiety, according to the National Health Service (NHS), it is also used to treat social anxiety disorder and obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), as well as depression.
Another drug that Dr. Ahmed does not prescribe is gabapentin, which is used for the treatment of neuropathy and epilepsy.
“The problem I have with gabapentin is is that there is no real evidence that it actually works well for pain. Even if it works, the doses you need are very high. People have been using it for many years, increasing their dose every few months. Patients are drowsy, confused, and their memory declines,” he said.
Feeling tired and nauseous, swelling of the hands and feet, dry mouth and blurred vision are just some of the long list of common side effects caused by the drug, according to the NHS.
The third remedy that Dr. Ahmed mentioned is sumatriptan. A drug used to treat migraines and headaches. However, Dr. Ahmed prefers zolmitriptan, another type of medicine known as a triptan, which works in a slightly different way to relieve headaches.
Triptans are often given when pain relievers do not work. They have a different mechanism of action than pain relievers and work by mimicking the effect of a chemical also known as serotonin. The surges of this hormone, which is known to improves mood, can cause headaches due to its effect on the blood vessels inside the brain. You can watch the entire video above the article.
