Posted by Lisa01 on January 20, 2002, at 19:02:47
In reply to Re: MAOI dose and dizziness-Seamus, posted by djmmm on January 20, 2002, at 18:47:33
> > Sorry I'm jumping in here - my understanding is that you can't mess with your brain chemistry - the effects of drugs, legal or otherwise, are fleeting.
> > Perhaps if we Could change our "chemistries", we could take a med once and then be cured. That Would be nice.
> >
That certainly seems to be true in the sense that, once meds are out of our systmes, the original symptoms re-emerge.> well, not exactly...the problem is we do mess with our brain chemistry, and the greater problem is, for many, the effect is not fleeting...
>
> many drugs are neurotoxins...drugs like MDMA (Ecstasy) and the popular diet drug Pondomin have the potential to "manipulate" the serotonin system, by destroying axon terminals, and even the very neurons that contain the mitochondria which produce the serotonin.
>
> SSRI, TCAs and all other Psychiatric drugs seem to change brain chemistry, too. They too manipulate the serotonin system, perhaps not to the extent that MDMA does, but the result would be considered long-term downregulation of specific serotonin (or norepineprine) receptor sites.I can't attest the technical accuracy of these statements but I'll take your word on it!! What I'm simply thinking of is the strange things that occur when beginning a med. When I began Parnate, for example, I had twitching in my left eye, pulsing temples, and a mild, on and off headache. I just kept thinking: what is this doing to me?? It shows you how desperate we are for relief from symptoms--of Social Anxiety in my case--that we will put up with such things. I just sometimes wonder what the long-term result will be.
Best to all of you, and thanks for your input.
Lisa
poster:Lisa01
thread:75408
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20020116/msgs/90904.html