Common Antidepressants Tied to Higher Bleeding Risk in Warfarin Users: Study

SSRIs include Prozac, Paxil, but experts say findings aren’t reason for patients to drop medications

healthday: By E.J. Mundell HealthDay Reporter, 11/8/12

THURSDAY, Nov. 8 (HealthDay News) — Millions of older Americans take the blood thinner warfarin, and many may also take one of a widely used class of antidepressants called SSRIs.

Now, a new study finds that selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) — which include Celexa, Paxil, Prozac and Zoloft — may raise the risk for major bleeding in patients also taking warfarin.

Still, because depression is such a tough-to-treat illness, experts say the finding is no reason for patients on warfarin to immediately drop their SSRI.

“The most important thing would be to talk to their doctor, and perhaps for patients who are on both of these medicines, doctors should just keep a close eye on them,” said study author Gene Quinn, who was a resident physician in internal medicine at the University of California, San Francisco, at the time of the study.

He presented the finding this week at the American Heart Association annual meeting, in Los Angeles. Read more