What Are SSRIs and SNRIs?
SSRIs and SNRIs are drugs that influence the activities of serotonin and norepinephrine, important neurotransmitters in our body. Neurotransmitters are chemicals in the brain that is responsible for transmitting messages from one brain cell or neuron to another. Each has multiple functions.
The main functions of serotonin are processing pain and regulating the sleep cycle. Our brain relies on serotonin to produce melatonin, which is responsible for making us sleep. Meanwhile, norepinephrine is responsible for memory, alertness, and the body’s stress response.
Having an abnormal level of norepinephrine and serotonin is believed to be the main culprit behind fibromyalgia and chronic fatigue syndrome. Thus, the SSRIs and SNRIs will make more of the norepinephrine and serotonin available by slowing reuptake, a process where the neurotransmitters gets absorbed back to the nerve cell after they are used.
