Posted by OldSchool on March 27, 2002, at 21:37:55
In reply to So, is the answer ''WE DON'T KNOW''??, posted by Janelle on March 27, 2002, at 1:37:23
> Why one SSRI (say Prozac) will work for Person A, but not Person B, why Person B instead responds to say Paxil?
>
> Do we or don't we know why different people respond to different SSRI's if SSRI's are fundamentally all designed to do the same thing???
>
> And if we do know, then WHY??!!??While basically being the same medications, all of the SSRIs have subtle differences. For example, Prozac besides increasing serotonin, it also very mildly increases norepinephrine and has something called serotonin 2C agonist action. Paxil in addition to having potent serotonin reuptake, has mild norephinephrine reuptake as well as mild anti-cholinergic side effects. Zoloft has strong serotonin reuptake, but also some mild dopamine reuptake as well as "sigma action." Luvox has potent serotonin reuptake and also some sigma action.
So you can see that the SSRIs despite all being portrayed as the same drugs basically, are all not so selective drugs as you thought. Its not just serotonin these meds work on.
poster:OldSchool
thread:100486
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20020327/msgs/100632.html