Posted by undopaminergic on April 20, 2008, at 20:54:04
In reply to Zoloft Question, posted by bleauberry on April 19, 2008, at 20:48:00
Zoloft (sertraline) is the second most potent SSRI, after Paxil/Seroxat (paroxetine), and has a much more favourable side-effect profile and much lower potential for interactions with other drugs (only surpassed by [es]citalopram in this regard). Furthermore, it has a half-life of about 26 hours, which is suitable for once-daily dosing and titration at weekly intervals, and if you need to quit it, it doesn't stay in your bloodstream for ever like Prozac, so you don't have to wait a month before starting a MAOI. It's a clean SSRI with no known affinities for neurotransmitter receptors or non-serotonin transporters, other than a very slight potency for dopamine reuptake inhibition, which may serve to make the drug a bit more stimulating and pleasant.
It's probably the ideal drug for anyone who might benefit from a serotonergic agent. Unfortunately, I'm not one of them, although I did find it slighly wakefulness-promoting - the very opposite effect of the hypnotic paroxetine. It wasn't quite as tolerable as fluoxetine, but that is only because sertraline is a more potent serotonergic agent, which is precisely what it was meant to be.
Since Zoloft is just about the perfect serotonergic agent, and since seronergic drugs are (or were, in 2007) in vogue, why wouldn't it be the most popular? The reason why it's rarely mentioned here, is because those who come here have tried several serotonergic agents and found them all ineffective, or only briefly or partially effective.
poster:undopaminergic
thread:824344
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20080420/msgs/824494.html