- With Mayo Clinic psychiatrist
Gabrielle J. Melin, M.D.
read biographyclose windowBiography of
Gabrielle J. Melin, M.D.
Gabrielle J. Melin, M.D.
Dr. Gabrielle Melin, board certified in general psychiatry and psychosomatic medicine, is looking for ways to empower patients and families dealing with chronic mental illness. She encourages patients to commit to working together with their physicians and health care teams.
Dr. Melin completed medical school at the University of Minnesota. She completed both her psychiatry residency and consultation-liaison fellowship at Mayo Clinic before joining the Mayo Clinic staff in 2001. She is medical director of Mayo Clinic Psychiatry Emergency Services in Rochester, Minn. She has special interests in emergency psychiatry, adult psychiatry and addiction psychiatry.
"Instilling hope is one of the most important things we can do for patients and families. Mental illness can be chronic and significantly impacts lives. Our goal is to provide the best treatment and education so that patients can manage their symptoms more effectively," she said.
Latest entries
- Being grateful: Giving thanks helps with depression
Nov. 18, 2009
- Depression and diet: Make healthy choices
Oct. 27, 2009
- Depression and heart disease: Get the facts
Oct. 21, 2009
- Depression and pregnancy: What you need to know
Oct. 8, 2009
- Treating depression helps productivity
Sept. 30, 2009
Mayo Clinic Health Manager
Get free personalized health guidance for you and your family.
Get Started
About our e-newsletters
- Free e-newsletters
- Mayo Clinic expertise
- We do not share your e-mail address
Housecall, our weekly general-interest e-newsletter, keeps you up to date on a wide variety of health topics with timely, reliable, practical information, recipes, blogs, questions and answers with Mayo Clinic experts and more. Our biweekly topic-specific e-newsletters also include blogs, questions and answers with Mayo Clinic experts, and other useful information that will help you manage your health.
Housecall Archives
Mayo Clinic Housecall
Stay up to date on the latest health information.
What you get
- Free weekly e-newsletter
- Mayo Clinic expertise
- Recipes, tools and other helpful information
- We do not share your e-mail address
Depression blog
-
Jan. 27, 2009
Pristiq: New antidepressant medication approved
By Gabrielle J. Melin, M.D.
| Need more help? |
|
As I talked about last week, it takes quite a while for a new medication to be approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Additionally, medications can be granted additional indications (diseases the medication is approved to treat) over time. For instance, Rogaine was first developed for treating high blood pressure. The side effect of hair growth led to the additional indication of treatment for hair loss.
Pristiq (desvenlafaxine) was approved by the FDA in February of 2008 for the treatment of major depressive disorder in adults. Pristiq is not available in generic at this time and will not be for some time.
Pristiq works by preventing the reuptake of the serotonin and norepinephrine in the brain. We know that certain neurotransmitters such as norepinephrine, serotonin and dopamine are not in proper balance when a person is depressed. We don't routinely check neurotransmitter levels because we don't completely know what the levels mean. Someday checking these levels may be part of a depression screening.
Like many antidepressants, Pristiq can have side effects, which may include:
- Nausea
- Dizziness
- Trouble sleeping
- Hyperhidrosis (increased sweating)
- Constipation
- Fatigue
- Decreased appetite
- Anxiety
- Sexual dysfunction in men
If you've been diagnosed with depression, Pristiq might be a good option if other medications haven't worked well. And, if you've taken Pristiq, please share your experiences.
147 comments posted