Hi Doctor , I Am An Anxiety Sufferer For More

Posted on Mon, 28 Jan 2019

Question: Hi doctor ,

I am an anxiety sufferer for more than 9 years thank God and to therapy and medication I’m now much much better.

My concern is that I’ve been on Sertraline 100mg daily for 9 years now and it has actually affected my blood platelet count from 380 down to 155 throughout the 9 years and I’m worried that it would still badly affect my platelet count more as now as I am considered as a borderline low normal and after plenty of research I discovered that SSRI’s harms the blood platelet count / blood clotting factors and blood thinings.

QUESTION:

Do all SSRI have this side effect if not, then what other than SERTRALINE can I take to stop harming my blood platelets ?

If all SSRI have this side effect then what are some options of antidepressants and anti anxiety medicine can I swap to under my doctors approval and surveillance ?

Please help

Many thanks

Answered by Dr. Seikhoo Bishnoi (4 hours later)

Brief Answer:
Yes most of SSRIs can result in reduction in counts in some individuals

Detailed Answer:
Hello thanks for using ask a doctor service

Most of SSRIs are known to result in reduction in platelet counts. But in clinical practice this side effect is seen only in few individuals. If you have reduction in platelets with Sertraline then you should see reduction in counts with other SSRIs too.

We can think of other drugs which have low or minimal effects on platelet counts. Mirtazapine, Bupropion etc can be kept in options. If the counts are low then you can discuss with your doctor for these drugs. These are safer if platelet counts are considered.

Thanks.

I hope this helps, if you have more doubts please ask again.

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Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar