Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Science/2017 May 7

= May 7 =

Antidepressants
I'm looking for sources on antidepressants causing the side effect of emotional numbness. Benjamin (talk) 10:12, 7 May 2017 (UTC)
 * "Antidepressants" encompass a huge spectrum of very different drugs and medications. Our article links to several review articles, including Review of maintenance trials for major depressive disorder....  Papers like that one go over lots of research on a wide variety of clinically-prescribed drugs.  If you're interested only in a specific category - say, the SSRI family of drugs, our article points to many references on that topic.  If you need help connecting a brand-name medicine to the research articles about that drug, let us know.  Nimur (talk) 12:15, 7 May 2017 (UTC)
 * I don't see anything in that article about emotional numbness. Benjamin (talk) 12:33, 7 May 2017 (UTC)
 * There are lots of things you won't find in that specific article; it is a review of many different research studies across many different drugs. Evidently, the authors did not feel, based on their literature survey, that the symptom you named was relevant or prominent enough to mention.  Sometimes, reading a review article is good to give you perspective: it doesn't mean that you won't find the detail you seek - perhaps some specialist has studied that specific detail in other work - but perhaps the detail is not so important that it merits mention in a broad summary of the state-of-the-art knowledge about the entire field.
 * Here is another, perhaps more accessible, resource: SSRIs, from the Mayo Clinic. This website, operated by the Mayo Clinic, describes SSRI drugs that are commonly prescribed for depression and other clinical purposes.  Many side effects are listed, but "emotional numbness" is not one of them - nor is it listed by any similar name in "medical-ese," such as reduced affect display, (let alone paresthesias).
 * This doesn't mean it couldn't happen - it does not mean it's never been studied - but it's all providing evidence for a pretty solid case that you're describing an out-of-the-ordinary side-effect, as opposed to a well-known side-effect.
 * Here is the forty-four page FDA-approved drug label sheet for Zoloft, one popular brand-name for one type of SSRI. On CAPS, (a standardized battery of tests used to measure, among other items, "avoidance/numbing" - this is a specific clinical term for a type of emotional disorder commonly comorbid with post traumatic stress disorder), the correctly-administered drug "was shown to be significantly more effective than placebo on change from baseline to endpoint on the CAPS."  This means, in plain English, that the drug statistically reduces the effect you are describing.
 * These drugs are powerful and complex. They can be helpful or harmful.  They should be taken only in consultation with a professional.  If you have questions specific to your conditions, whether you take medications or not, you should consult a medical professional.
 * Nimur (talk) 12:46, 7 May 2017 (UTC)
 * I found this and this, though note that they're specific to SSRIs. Incidentally, searching for antidepressants emotional numbness gives you a lot of extremely questionable pseudoscientific stuff that you have to be careful to pick through. Matt Deres (talk) 13:12, 7 May 2017 (UTC)
 * Indeed, a search engine will find content that matches your search query, regardless of the quality of that content. This is one reason that I specifically disrecommend the use of a search engine, and try to promote methodological survey of actual scientific references...  Despite the speed with which a modern search engine delivers content, I find that it is typically significantly slower at delivering information when I compare it to more traditional methods of information-gathering.  I would go farther to say that search engines, compared to traditional research methods, are many orders of magnitude faster at delivering data; yet simultaneously, search engines are many more orders of magnitude slower at delivering knowledge.  Nimur (talk) 13:29, 7 May 2017 (UTC)
 * Why is it that when I talk to people about their personal experience with side effects of antidepressants, they often mention emotional numbness, but I never see it mentioned as an official side effect of the medication? Benjamin (talk) 16:52, 7 May 2017 (UTC)
 * Because "emotional numbness" is not a side effect. I've talked to many people who are on antidepressants and nobody ever mentioned it. --AboutFace 22 (talk) 17:15, 7 May 2017 (UTC)
 * Antidepressants are supposed to put the user into a calm state of mind. Maybe the OP is confusing calmness with numbness? ←Baseball Bugs What's up, Doc? carrots→ 18:00, 7 May 2017 (UTC)
 * I've seen lots of anecdotes about people who discontinued SSRIs due to emotional numbness. And Matt Deres' two links above show that "emotional blunting" or "emotional indifference" is a side effect. Loraof (talk) 19:54, 7 May 2017 (UTC)
 * All antidepressants are also antianxiety drugs, they make people less anxious. Perhaps this is mistaken for emotional numbness? --AboutFace 22 (talk) 23:38, 7 May 2017 (UTC)
 * I'd highly qualify that. After 9/11 my doctor first tried versions of zoloft and prozac.  They had no effect on my anxiety and insomnia, they just made me jittery during the day and falling asleep even harder. μηδείς (talk) 01:21, 9 May 2017 (UTC)
 * I have no idea what emotional numbness is. But I should note that anhedonia is a symptom of depression.  Question:  Is it plausible that SSRIs treat some other symptoms of depression but are not as effective against anhedonia?  Oh... and I see now our article says that sexual anhedonia can be a symptom of SSRIs.  (I really haven't looked into this, was just thinking out loud...)  Wnt (talk) 01:00, 10 May 2017 (UTC)

Letters on a pill
What do they use to write on this pill? Is there any black ink that's safe for ingestion (I think it's black)? --Dikipewia (talk) 18:43, 7 May 2017 (UTC)


 * There are certainly black dyes that can safely be eaten - you can get black icing paste for decorating cakes. It is E151 (Brilliant Black) or E153 (Carbon Black, or Vegetable Carbon). Wymspen (talk) 21:42, 7 May 2017 (UTC)


 * Does completely charcoalized vegetable lose that horrible burnt taste? Sagittarian Milky Way (talk) 22:31, 7 May 2017 (UTC)


 * Plain charcoal (as in Activated carbon) has no taste and is widely used for medical purposes, but also for the filtration of water (or vodka). --Stephan Schulz (talk) 23:26, 7 May 2017 (UTC)


 * Thanks, I have never put charcoal in my mouth so wasn't sure. Sagittarian Milky Way (talk) 23:38, 7 May 2017 (UTC)


 * A warning: Don't put charcoal in your mouth that's intended for bbq's. It's not the same as charcoal intended for filtration use.  It may be coated with toxic chemicals and fuel. StuRat (talk) 02:32, 8 May 2017 (UTC)


 * "... coated with toxic chemicals" How? Why? Richard Avery (talk) 07:21, 8 May 2017 (UTC)


 * In some markets, some brands of charcoal for BBQ purposes are pre-soaked in liquid hydrocarbons (think charcoal lighter fluid), to make them easier to light. The theory is that the fluid will fully evaporate and burn off before you put the dead cow on top of the fire. But that does not apply if you eat it ;-). In general, charcoal for medical use is carefully prepared to avoid contamination, and I would not recommend to just pick any from a bag of BBQ supplies. --Stephan Schulz (talk) 08:26, 8 May 2017 (UTC)


 * These for example. -- Jayron 32 14:47, 8 May 2017 (UTC)


 * And, as Stephen Schultz' link says, it's "harmful or fatal if swallowed". StuRat (talk) 22:40, 8 May 2017 (UTC)


 * Liquorice candy is typically black. ←Baseball Bugs What's up, Doc? carrots→ 20:39, 8 May 2017 (UTC)


 * Many commercial black food dyes are a mixture of red, blue, and yellow/green dye with cocoa powder. Perfectly edible and very black. Someguy1221 (talk) 22:46, 8 May 2017 (UTC)


 * I don't consider liquorice edible, but that's a matter of taste, not toxins. ←Baseball Bugs What's up, Doc? carrots→ 03:36, 9 May 2017 (UTC)


 * "Eww ! This tastes like anise !" StuRat (talk) 15:42, 9 May 2017 (UTC)