Posted by pelorojo on November 6, 2002, at 17:58:08
In reply to Re: PTSD/Social Anxiety-Herbals, posted by Larry Hoover on November 5, 2002, at 9:05:22
After reading that article on the neurophysiology of PTSD and many others, I've been wondering:
-is an SSRI really the answer in such a complicated physiological chain of events? It seems like some way to go to the root of the problem would be better
-do the "adaptogenic" herbs, which claim to "modulate" or "normalize" the stress response, have any role here? I'm thinking of ashwagandha, astragalus, reishi, shiitake/maitake, rhodiola rosea, adapton, suma, cordyceps, licorice, etc., etc. Might they help "normalize" cortisol?
- could a cortisol-reducer (such as Relora or cortitrol) help in acute situations of stress when PTSD is triggered? I have "complex" PTSD and know of some (but not all) situations that trigger it. Perhaps a cortisol-reducer would help?
-what neurotransmitters are most important in PTSD? My limited reading on social anxiety suggests that they may be similar and the prime suspects are dopamine, serotonin, and gaba.
-could amino acid precursors be effective? L-tyrosine, 5-htp, etc.
-are other amino acids useful for other reasons? D,L-phenylalanine, L-theanine come to mind here.
-I had largely given up on St. John's Wort because of the studies that questioned its efficacy and showed potential interactions (in the form of reduced effectiveness) of other drugs..but is there something I'm missing? There's also a herbal SSRI, sceletium (sp?)...
-finally is there a creative approach that might work best? For example, taking certain amino acids on certain days, certain herbs for a period of time, etc. etc. Instead of chronically taking something taking them on cycles or "pulsing" them (i.e., L-Tyrosine Monday, SAMe Tuesday, herbal L-dopa Wednesday, etc).
No one can probably answer these questions for certain but is anyone thinking along these lines? Any resources to bear on it?I've been on SSRIs for 2 long cycles. They work in that they make me less depressed and less anxious but it seems like the underlying issues remain unaddressed. I'm working on them in therapy as well but that is very slow going ... I guess I'm a little desperate to find things that help.
thanks
Ken
Austin, TX
poster:pelorojo
thread:126446
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20021101/msgs/126704.html