Posted by Larry Hoover on November 28, 2002, at 18:11:01
In reply to SSRI-induced dopamine depletion, posted by BekkaH on November 28, 2002, at 17:38:48
> There is a substantial amount of research which indicates that SSRI-induced dopamine depletion does, in fact, occur. You can start out with Joseph Glenmullen's PROZAC BACKLASH for a number of citations from the medical literature proving that SSRI's can deplete dopamine by up to 50-60%.
Dopamine depletion in the prefrontal cortex is associated with remission of depression. You just can't generalize. One of the problems with drugs to control neurotransmitters is that they affect all cells with a certain receptor type the same way, even though you might want some to increase activity and others to be reduced.
Even though dopaminergic activity or total dopamine might fall during antidepressant therapy, there's no way to say whether that's good or not. Nobody knows what it means.
poster:Larry Hoover
thread:129691
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20021127/msgs/129794.html