Prozac

The description of Prozac.

Prozac (fluoxetine hydrochloride) is a Serotonin Specific Reuptake Inhibitor (SSRI) used to treat several forms of depression. It was approved for use in 1986 and is manufactured by Eli Lilly and Company. It is now also available in generic formulation. Prozac comes in 10mg, 20mg, and 40mg capsules and dosing can be 10 to 80mg daily usually taken in the morning. Depression is a commonly occurring psychiatric illness affecting over 9% of the adults in the United States each year.

The category of depression includes the specific diagnoses of Major Depressive Disorder, Dysthymic Disorder, Seasonal Affective Disorder and Bipolar Disorder. All types of depression are generally treated with antidepressants such as Prozac which is a member of the Serotonin Specific Reuptake Inhibitor (SSRI) group of antidepressants. SSRIs work by increasing the amount of the neurotransmitter, serotonin in the neuronal synapses in the mood centers of the brain leading to an elevation of mood state. Eli Lilly, the manufacturer of Prozac is a very large pharmaceutical company with over 20 currently marketed products including the psychiatric medications Cymbalta, Strattera, Symbyax and Zyprexa.

Besides Prozac, there are a number of SSRI antidepressants including Zoloft (sertraline), Paxil (paroxetine), Celexa (citalopram), Lexapro (escitalopram) and Zelmid (zimelidine) Sarafem, another form of fluoxetine is manufactured by Warner Chilcott and is approved only to treat Premenstrual Dysphoric Disorder (PMDD) and not depression. In addition to the SSRIs there are other categories of antidepressants such as Tricyclic antidepressants, Tetracyclic antidepressants and Monoamine Oxidase Inhibitors (MAOIs) which are generally only used to treat refractory depression due to a much higher side effect profile. Prozac was the first SSRI on the market in 1985 and has been considered to be the gold standard of comparison due to its founding status. The development of SSRIs offered considerable improvement in the treatment of depression due to a large reduction of side effects when compared to older drugs.