Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors

Meet the patient

A 28-year-old nurse on paroxetine 20 mg for panic disorder runs out of tablets over a long weekend. By day three she is dizzy, nauseated, weeping, and describes "electric shocks" shooting through her head every time she turns it quickly. The after-hours GP calls it a virus and prescribes an antiemetic.[18][20]

It is not a virus. It is paroxetine discontinuation syndrome, and the half-life of the drug — not the strength of her personality — is what put her in the chair. Every examinable thing about SSRIs hangs off three properties of the molecule: what it grabs (SERT), how long it lingers (half-life), and what it disturbs on the way through (CYP and platelets).[2][18]

This leaf takes the antidepressant class page deeper on the SSRI six. Read it as the answer to: "Which SSRI, what dose, what monitoring, and what will go wrong if you stop paying attention?"[1][6]

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