Posted by zeugma on August 17, 2004, at 20:41:10
In reply to input? panda, vultan, sls, larry, others...? » Racer, posted by chemist on August 17, 2004, at 17:52:26
hi chemist (and it's great to have you back):
the TCA's are pharmacologically complex drugs, and have many variations both in how they are metabolized and in their pharmacodynamic effects. For example, it seems that the metabolites of all the TCA's (both tertiary and secondary amine) get progressively more selective for NE vs. 5-HT reuptake and less sedating and side-effect-ridden (for example the hydroxylated metabolite of nortriptyline is about 18 times less anti-muscarinic than its parent form). since the enzyme responsible is the polymorphic 2D6 this leads to great variation in terms of how nasty (to put it bluntly) the drug is perceived to be. Also, as someone once said, one person's side effect is another person's good night's sleep; I have found this to be true of nortriptyline, and I have no trouble at all running several miles after administration, then going to sleep several hours later.
others will have more enlightening things to say.
-z
poster:zeugma
thread:377967
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20040817/msgs/378900.html