Posted by Toby on August 10, 1998, at 12:51:03
In reply to Prozac dosage, posted by Marion on July 29, 1998, at 16:50:33
Prozac does indeed work in the brain and dosage is not determined by body weight (except perhaps in very small children) but by how much medication it takes to saturate certain chemical receptors in the brain that control mood. Normally there is a certain amount of serotonin, norepinephine and other chemicals in the brain that attach to various receptors. When something good happens, a little extra chemical is released from storage and we feel a little happier. When we are under stress or not eating right or sleeping enough, these chemicals work overtime to try to keep our mood at a normal level. Gradually they can get depleted from our system and depression sets in because our bodies only make a certain amount each month and if it's getting broken down faster than it is made, the body can't keep up. Medications like Prozac don't replace the chemicals that are lost, they prevent them from being broken down so that they hang around longer and eventually get built back up to a normal level. That's why they don't work overnight -- the chemicals take about a month (sometimes longer) to build up to normal levels in the brain.
There are some medications that work in the brain that ARE dosed based on body weight and that is usually because of the risk of side effects in the rest of the body. All medications circulate in the blood stream regardless of where they actually have their clinical effect and so they can cause side effects in other parts of the body.
poster:Toby
thread:213
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/19980801/msgs/279.html