Antidepressants

Neurotransmitters are chemicals that carry messages between the neurons or nerve cells in the brain and is important for its normal function. The imbalance in the amount of a certain neurotransmitter can cause a disruption or slow the communication between these neurons, resulting to a person’s feelings, emotions, or thoughts to become impaired.

Antidepressants work by slowing the removal of certain chemicals or neurotransmitters from the brain and helps people by making certain neurotransmitters associated with depression like dopamine and serotonin more available to the brain. The resulting availability of these neurotransmitters will mean an increased communication and connectivity (neurotransmission) between the nerve cells in your brain and therefore reduce the symptoms of depression, which is a common symptom of lupus patients.

It comes with its own range of side-effects though, which may include nausea, increased appetite, loss of sexual drive, fatigue, insomnia, and constipation, among others.

Examples: venlafaxine (Effexor), bupropion (Wellbutrin, Zyban), mirtazapine (Remeron), and trazodone (Desyrel)