SSRIs – Test Prep and Practice Pearls Part 1
Real Life Pharmacology - Pharmacology Education for Health Care Professionals
Eric Christianson, PharmD; Pharmacology Expert and Clinical Pharmacist
4.9 • 773 Ratings
🗓️ 7 May 2026
⏱️ 24 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
In this episode, we break down the pharmacology of selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) with a focus on the high-yield clinical pearls pharmacists, medical students, and healthcare professionals need to know. We compare the major SSRIs—including fluoxetine, sertraline, paroxetine, citalopram, escitalopram, and fluvoxamine—based on adverse effects, drug interactions, pharmacokinetics, and board exam relevance. Topics include serotonin syndrome, discontinuation syndrome, CYP450 interactions, QT prolongation, sexual dysfunction, weight changes, and SSRI selection in special populations such as older adults and pregnancy. Whether you are preparing for exams, clinical rotations, or looking to sharpen your psychopharmacology knowledge, this episode provides practical and memorable insights into one of the most commonly prescribed medication classes. This is Part 1 of 2.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Hey all, welcome back to the real-life pharmacology podcast. I am your host, pharmacist Eric Christensen. |
| 0:05.9 | Thank you so much for listening today. Today I'm going to be covering SSRIs and some information on those medications. |
| 0:14.8 | Some of the most important things you're going to see in practice as well as some of those things that are going to show up on your board exams |
| 0:22.8 | and pharmacology exams as well. |
| 0:25.0 | But before we get into that, go check out real-life pharmacology.com. |
| 0:29.9 | Got a free 31-page PDF on the top 200 drugs. |
| 0:34.7 | Absolutely no-brainer to get that. |
| 0:36.5 | Simply an email will get you access to that. |
| 0:40.0 | So go take advantage of that. And of course, support our sponsor, MedEd101.com slash store. |
| 0:46.5 | Tons of different resources, whether you're a nurse, pharmacist, pharmacy technician, med student, |
| 0:52.8 | lots of different resources that can help you become better at |
| 0:57.2 | medication management. All right, let's get into the episode today. We're going to be covering SSRIs. |
| 1:06.3 | We're going to look at comparing them individually and some of the most important clinical practice |
| 1:12.9 | perils to remember as well as test prep information. Adverse effects. We'll look at SIP |
| 1:18.8 | enzymes. We'll look at pharmacokinetics. Obviously the application of SSRIs clinically and obviously |
| 1:26.3 | help prepare you to pass those exams and prepare you for |
| 1:30.3 | clinical practice. So SSRIs, the common list, fluoxetine Prozac, Certraline, that is Zoloff, |
| 1:38.3 | peroxatein Paxil, Cetalopram is Calexia, S-Satalopram is Lexapro and fluvoxamine is Louvox brand names there. |
| 1:49.0 | And I wanted to start with SSRIs and why they are first line for depression. |
| 1:54.7 | We've got older agents such as TCA's and MAOIs. |
| 1:59.7 | SSRIs were proven to be a lot safer in overdose. Let's take them in comparison |
| 2:06.0 | specifically to tricyclic antidepressants like amatryptylene. When patients overdose on a tricyclic |
... |
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