Overwhelmed by heat? The culprit may be in your medicine cabinet
CTV
When Adelaide Saywell posted on TikTok last month advising people who take SSRIs, a commonly-prescribed antidepressant, to take extra care in the heat, it went viral and sparked a deluge of comments.
When Adelaide Saywell posted on TikTok last month that SSRIs, a commonly prescribed antidepressant medication, could make people more vulnerable to heat, it went viral and sparked a deluge of comments.
“Wait seriously??? I just started taking it a month ago and am so hot all the time,” said one commenter.
“I have been on sertraline for 8 years and NOBODY told me this,” said another.
Some described serious reactions: “I was almost hospitalized for heat stroke (because) they didn’t warn me.”
Saywell, who herself has been on SSRIs for 12 years, has posted similar warnings every summer for the past three years. The first time she did, the response surprised her. “I had assumed I was one of few people who didn’t know this,” she told CNN.
But now she expects it. It’s all further proof of a huge gap in knowledge about this particular side effect, she said.
Around 1 in 10 people in the U.S. take antidepressants, the most common of which is SSRIs — selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors — which are prescribed for depression, anxiety and panic disorder. These drugs, which include Zoloft and Prozac, can be lifesaving, but they can also stop the body from regulating its temperature properly and decrease heat tolerance.
