SSRIs work by increasing the amount of serotonin in your brain. But they can also have side effects like constipation (the internet says SSRIs block acetylcholine?), and you can’t take NSAIDs too because of a risk of stomach bleeding. How do SSRIs do those things if they are focused on serotonin? Does acetylcholine use the same receptors as serotonin? I’m also interested in how they cause other side effects.
In: Biology
To understand the side effects, I think it would be a good idea to look at the role of serotonin in the body. Although it’s a neurotransmitter and typically thought of as being found in the nervous system, serotonin is mostly found in the digestive system and helps control bowel movements. Also, it is tricyclic antidepressants that block acetylcholine transporters, not so much the newer SSRIs. So to my understanding, SSRIs wouldn’t really cause constipation, a serotonin shortage in the gut apparently reduces the number of neurons in the gut, leads to a deterioration of the gut’s lining, and slows the movement of contents through the GI tract. So…decreased levels of serotonin, it seems like, would cause constipation, not excess.
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