Posted by Sean on April 15, 2000, at 16:21:37
In reply to Re: Neurotoxicity - SSRI's may not be so benign..., posted by saint james on April 15, 2000, at 11:59:42
> James here...
>
> If you use this logic then humans have been on sertonin agents since the 1950's (imiprimine, TCA's) with no problems.
>
> jamesjames -
i may be totally wrong on this, but i was under
the impression that the serotonin effects of TCA's
(except for amitriptyline) was very small in terms of
ratio to norepinephrine. i also believe that the
precise mechanism of TCA's on serotonin is in fact
different. You can downregulate autoreceptors,
inhibit re-uptake receptors, and God knows what
else. As i understand it, all of the drugs in
the "corkscrew" study bind the serotonin re-uptake
site a particular way, and do so with an efficiency
many times that of pervious drugs. i am under the
impression that TCA's produce the serotonin result by
a different chemical means.i think it is important to look at costs and benefits
here rather than absolutes. the benefit of these
drugs is worth it to me and i am soooo thankful to
live in an age where these drugs are available. and
yet the marketing/pharmaceutical industry side of
this equation is the source of much of the information
we get. if you look at the percentages of people
reporting sexual problems in the prozac clinical
trials (3% with libido decreased, 2% with ejaculatory
dysfunction) you *know* there is something strange
going on. The percent of people having sexual problems
with SRI's is probably closer to 50% in the real
world.i think constant questioning and vigilant oversight
of the drug industry is important. i'd like my neurons not
to be corkscrewed if the option exists. maybe soon
it will become a reality.s.
poster:Sean
thread:29745
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20000411/msgs/30140.html