140 - The Ultimate Guide to SSRIs: An In-Depth Drug Class Review
HelixTalk - Rosalind Franklin University's College of Pharmacy Podcast
Sean P. Kane, PharmD, BCPS
5 • 644 Ratings
🗓️ 7 December 2021
⏱️ 52 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
In this episode, we review the pharmacology, indications, adverse effects, and unique drug characteristics of the most common SSRIs on the market.
Key Concepts
- SSRIs (selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors) are the drug of choice for depression, anxiety, and a variety of other psychiatric indications.
- Fluoxetine (Prozac) and paroxetine (Paxil) inhibit CYP2D6, a metabolic pathway for several opioid analgesics, tamoxifen, and many other antidepressants.
- Adverse effects of SSRIs start immediately but the beneficial psychiatric effects take up to 1 to 2 months to occur. Patient counseling about the timing of adverse effects and efficacy are important!
- SSRIs should not be abruptly discontinued in patients taking the medication chronically. Withdrawal symptoms can include flu-like symptoms, changes in mood or sleep, and (rarely) even electric-like shocks. To discontinue, the SSRI dose should be tapered down over the period of several weeks.
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Welcome to Helix Talk, an educational podcast for healthcare students and providers covering real-life clinical pearls, professional pharmacy topics, and drug therapy discussions. |
| 0:11.0 | This podcast is provided by pharmacists and faculty members at Rosal Franklin University College of Pharmacy. |
| 0:17.0 | This podcast contains general information for educational purposes only. This is not professional |
| 0:22.4 | advice and should not be used in lieu of obtaining advice from a qualified health care provider. |
| 0:27.2 | And now on to the show. Welcome to Helix Talk episode 140. I'm your co-host Dr. Cain. |
| 0:35.6 | And I'm Dr. Patal. I'm excited that we have Dr. Roberta Dumae with us today, |
| 0:40.8 | who's an expert in all things in the psychiatric world. But we brought her in for this episode in |
| 0:46.5 | particular, which is entitled The Ultimate Guide to SSRIs an in-depth drug class review. So Dr. Dume, |
| 0:53.1 | thank you so much for coming on. |
| 0:54.4 | Do you want to just kind of introduce yourself to the audience before I jump into the episode? |
| 0:58.2 | Sure. |
| 0:59.0 | Thank you so much for having me, everybody. |
| 1:01.4 | I, as a previous student, listening to Helix Talk and now faculty at RFU, it's great to kind |
| 1:07.8 | of be on as like a guest host. |
| 1:10.1 | And my clinical area that I work in is at the |
| 1:12.6 | North Chicago VA next door to RFU. So I'm excited to be talking with you guys today. |
| 1:18.7 | Well, Dr. Dumay, it's a full circle and we're so glad you're with us today. Thank you. |
| 1:24.0 | Well, we'll go ahead and jump in. You know, the title, I think, speaks for itself, but today we're |
| 1:28.0 | going over SSRI as a drug class and then going through some of the nuances in terms of what makes |
| 1:34.4 | SSRI A different than SSRIB and going through some of the clinical pearls and things like that |
| 1:40.0 | that a practicing clinician might want to know when it comes to treating depression and anxiety |
| 1:45.0 | with this drug class. So why don't we kind of kick it off in terms of what are the SSRIs |
... |
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