Over-the-couter pain relievers may block some antidepressants

 Loading ...

For largely unknown reasons, roughly one in three patients receive no
benefit from any antidepressant. A recent study done by scientists at
Rockefeller University suggests that something as simple as
over-the-counter painkillers could interfere with the way SSRI
antidepressants work.

Neuroscientist Jennifer L. Warner-Schmidt says that certain proteins
in the brain that interact with SSRIs had the potential to be
influenced by over-the-counter painkillers, such as NSAIDs
(non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs like Advil, Aleve, Motrin) and
analgesics like Tylenol or Asprin.

In one test at Rockefeller University, researchers measured how long
it takes a mouse to overcome its fear of a new, open space and move
toward food placed in the center. Mice that had been given an SSRI for
two weeks approached the food more than twice as quickly as
unmedicated mice. But mice given an NSAID along with an SSRI for two
weeks headed for the food nearly as slowly as unmedicated mice.

The researchers also examined information from a previous study of
patients with treatment-resistant-depression. The study evaluated how
the participants responded to a 12-week course of an SSRI. Patients
who had taken an NSAID or acetaminophen (Tylenol) during their SSRI
use were significantly less likely to experience relief from their
depressive symptoms than patients who had not.

Researchers are planning studies to figure out how the pain
medications interfere with SSRIs and to determine if the dose of the
painkiller has anything to do with it.
Warner-Schmidt says that “It is a piece of information that doctors
should keep in mind when looking at an individual who is not
responding to an SSRI.”

Here’s the article from the magazine Scientific American:
http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=painkillers-thwart-prozac

Here’s a more lengthy article found on Rockefeller University’s website:
http://newswire.rockefeller.edu/?page=engine&id=1159