Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors (SSRIs) are among the most commonly prescribed antidepressants nowadays, and it is no wonder. They are a newer class of antidepressants, they have shown to be highly effective, well-tolerated, as well as pretty safe, which is why doctors rely on them as the first line of drugs when it comes to treating certain mental health conditions. Those include, of course, depression, but also anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and even obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD).
If you have ever discussed these medications with some of the people that have been taking them, or if you have been taking them as well, then you must have noticed one thing. Not everyone reports the same response to SSRI Medications, which means that they can have different effects on different people. Chances are that you are wondering why. And, well, that is what we are here to discuss today.
What Are SSRIs?
Before we get to that part, though, we have to first make absolutely sure that you understand what SSRIs are to begin with. So, to put things simply, we are talking about an antidepressant class of drugs, developed in the 1980s, and used to treat numerous mental health conditions, such as those I have mentioned above. They have become quite popular due to being effective, having milder side-effects, as well as being safer in overdose than those older antidepressants.
How do they work, though? Well, in short, they work by blocking the reuptake of serotonin once it has been released, which means that more of this neurotransmitter will remain active in your brain and your body. And, serotonin is a hormone responsible for our mood regulation, sleep and appetite regulation, energy levels, and numerous other processes in our bodies. I suppose, thus, you can understand how important it is to have balanced levels of this hormone active in our brains and bodies.
What Do Genetics Have to Do With SSRI Treatments?
Okay, that should be clear. But, why is it that different people respond, well, differently, to the same medications? The short answer? Genetics. I am guessing, though, that you are not that happy with that short answer, and that you actually want to get a better understanding of what that actually means, as well as possibly figure out if there is anything you can do about this, in order to find out how well you would respond to SSRIs if you started taking them.
Learn a bit more on SSRIs: https://www.drugs.com/drug-class/ssri-antidepressants.html
Anyway, before I start explaining how genetics play a role in your SSRI treatment, let me just quickly make another thing clear. Your lifestyle and your diet play a role in that too, as it has been discovered that, for example, eating a lot of ultra-processed foods can kind of offset the effects of these medications and thus make them less effective. That, however, is a thing we can change, while our genetics don’t really fall into that category, and they, therefore, deserve some additional attention.
First things first, everyone processes medication differently. You’ve probably heard about people being poor metabolizers or rapid metabolizers. And, while simplified, and while there are things in between these two extremes, this is certainly important to understand, given that it indicates that it takes a different amount of time for different people to process medications. This also affects how sensitive we will be to the side-effects of the drugs we are taking.
Furthermore, most SSRIs are processed by certain liver enzymes, like CYP2C19 and CYP2D6, and those are basically genes that affect how our bodies respond to medications. So, depending on these genes in your body, and on the drugs you are taking, which rely on one or the other, two people can have completely different experiences with one and the same SSRI. That is why following the patient’s response and adjusting when necessary is of crucial importance. Here is more on these drugs in general.
What to Do About That?
Okay, the above should have made it clear that our genetics play a role in how we will respond to certain SSRI treatments. They play a role in how effective specific drugs will be for us, as well as in what we can expect in terms of the side-effects. Is there anything you can do, though, to predict those effects and side-effects before taking the medications, so that you can possibly avoid having to try out numerous ones until you have found the right one for you?
Well, the good news is that there is. In short, genetic testing can help with that, so you may want to talk to your healthcare provider about that, and then find the right professionals that will do the tests. Genetic testing will, in the end, help your psychiatrist make a more informed, and thus a better, decision on which SSRI may be right for you.
