Health - What they didn't tell me about SSRIs

[Broshious]

I was given several different SSRIs when I was a kid, Paxil being the one I took the longest. My doctor was kind enough to tell me basically nothing other than it might help me. No withdrawal information, nada. Now, this was 7 years ago and the information wasn't quite as well known then as it is now, but considering what we now know I cannot understand that doctors are still giving this crap out. Yes, it helps some people, but at what cost? I just read this on Wikipedia and I'm a bit miffed:

"Although fluoxetine (Prozac), the prototypical SSRI, is classified as a reproductive toxin [10] by the Center for the Evaluation of Risks to Human Reproduction (CERHR), an expert panel at the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences at the National Institutes of Health, it is currently not known what causes PSSD(Post SSRI Sexual Dysfunction)."

Mmmm, thanks for that.

"But experiments with rodents have shown that chronic treatment with SSRIs at a young age results in permanently decreased sexual behavior that persists into adulthood and is similar to PSSD."

Permanent? Greeeeeeat! I can attest to being messed up sexually now, had I not taken anti-depressants that still may have been the case, but I'll never know.

"At the cerebral molecular level there are profound and permanent reductions in both the rate-limiting serotonin synthetic enzyme, tryptophan hydroxylase, in dorsal raphe and in serotonin transporter (SERT) expression in cortex."

Wonderful, less Tryptophan Hydroxylase = less Serotonin.

"For example, chronic treatment with fluoxetine (Prozac) has been shown to cause persistent desensitization of 5HT1A receptors even after removal of the SSRI."

"Because described gene expression changes are complex, and can involve persistent modifications of chromatin structure, it has been suggested that SSRI use can result in persistently altered cerebral gene expression leading to compromisedcatecholaminergicneurotransmission and neuroendocrine disturbances,[6] such as decreased testosterone levels[27] and reduced sperm counts[28]. However, without detailed neuropsychopharmacological, pharmacogenomic and toxicogenomic[29] research, the definitive cause remains unknown."

Thanks again doc for giving me this lame excuse for a medication.

Reputation Comments on this post:

good post- in the same boat- poisoned by docs