Posted by Janelle on March 25, 2002, at 20:55:33
Okay, let me run this by you geniuses ... it's about SSRI's.
Don't laugh, but there was a time when I thought there was only ONE serotonin reuptake pump in each and every person's brain, and that ALL SSRI's acted on that one pump. As a result, I figured that the various brands of SSRI's (e.g., Prozac, Zoloft, Paxil et al) were just marketing competition. HOWEVER, I could not understand why if each of these meds reached the one and only (same) serotonin reuptake pump in everyone's brain, why some people responded to Prozac, while others to Zoloft and still others to Paxil, and so on.
I've come a ways since that time and it has been my understanding that there are MANY serotonin reuptake pumps in the brain, and that each of these SSRI's may act on DIFFERENT pumps, and this is why an SSRI (e.g. Prozac) that works for Person A won't necessarily work on Person B.
Could it be that the reuptake pump that Prozac reaches might not be the reuptake pump that needs action in Person B? And that let's say Zoloft reaches the reuptake pump that needs action in Person B?
Do I have this right? If so, lemme know. If not, please correct me - in simple layman's English, please!
poster:Janelle
thread:100140
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20020322/msgs/100140.html