Posted by Franz on November 6, 2002, at 21:00:08
In reply to More on glycine/GABA » Franz, posted by viridis on November 3, 2002, at 14:54:15
Thanks for the followup viridis
I already swalloed my first klono 0.25mg more than an hour ago. I am not sure what I feel, like a mild sedation maybe, I am not fully alert, but I was also tired, so I can´t tell. The effect seems different than from Xanax.
The doctor told me to take 2 doses of 0.25mg/day, morning, evening. I wonder if I can take less, like 0.12 twice or 0.25/day. I will keep taking a dose at day.
I see I am very resistant to take anythig, but I expect some benefit.
I think you are right rgarding precursors, they can work sometimes (I like B vitamins, aminoacids, etc) but when there is a regulation problem precursors can not work well enough.
I read you can use GABA under the tong, also there are nasal sprays (not sure if with GABA exactly).
In phobias an anxiety I read there is a problem with the noradrenergic system.
I think I will quit here and go to sleep, I can´t elaborate much now and feel sleepy.
Do yuo think 0.12mg is too slow a dose?. I will ask the doctor next week.
I have to ask how much alcohol (wine, beer) I can take.
> Hi Franz,
>
> I was curious about your question regarding glycine, so I did a little more investigating, since my previous answer was just speculative. I'm not an expert on neurophysiology, but I am a biologist (different area of research), so these things get me interested. I've only done a quick scan of the available information, but here's what I've found so far.
>
> First a bit of background -- glycine is an amino acid. Amino acids are the "building blocks" of proteins, and there are 20 different ones that are linked together in different combinations to make different proteins. Then there are others that aren't used to make proteins, but play other roles in the body. Glycine is one of the "non-essential" amino acids, meaning that although it's very important, it can be synthesized in the body from other amino acids (particularly serine). So, it's unlikely that a person would be deficient in glycine unless they have an extremely protein-deficient diet. Contrary to my earlier speculation, glycine crosses the blood-brain barrier easily.
>
> Some amino acids also act as neurotransmitters, chemicals that carry messages from one nerve cell to another. They're released from one cell and bind to a specific receptor on the membrane of another cell, which in turn causes various changes in that cell (these can include how the receiving cell sends chemical messages to yet other cells). Glycine is one of the neurotransmitter amino acids. Another is GABA (gamma-aminobutyric acid). GABA is synthesized in the brain from another amino acid, glutamate, and there seems to be some argument about whether GABA can cross the blood-brain barrier and if so, how easily.
>
> The effects of neurotransmitters vary depending on which cell receives them, and there can be various ways in which the process can work abnormally -- not enough or too much of a given neurotransmitter may be released, the receptors for the neurotransmitter on receiving cells can be faulty or too few in number, or the cell may respond abnormally to the neurotransmitter.
>
> With respect to clonazepam, it and other benzodiazepines appear to work primarily by enhancing the binding of GABA to specific receptors on certain brain cells. GABA has a "damping" effect on the excitability of these cells by controlling the flow of ions across the membrane (especially chloride ion in the case of GABA receptors affected by benzos) . Various conditions (including epilepsy and excessive anxiety/panic) appear to result from overexcitability of these cells, perhaps due to flaws in the GABA receptors. By enhancing the affinity of the GABA receptors for GABA, benzos correct this problem.
>
> I'm not sure where glycine fits into this; there is some mention of clonazepam also acting like glycine as a neurotransmitter, but most of the literature I've looked at so far focuses on clonazepam's interaction with a particular subtype of GABA receptor.
>
> There are lots of commercial sites that promote oral glycine and GABA as treatments for anxiety, and who knows -- maybe that could work for some people. But given the ready availability of glycine in the diet, the body's ability to make more, and the questions about whether oral GABA can even get into the brain, I'm skeptical. On top of that, if the problem lies with the receptors for these substances, I'm not sure that flooding the brain with more of them would help much anyway. This is speculation on my part, but I have tried taking oral GABA in the past and never noticed any effect.
>
> Anyway, that's what I've pieced together so far. Good luck with your treatment!
>
> Viridis
>
>
poster:Franz
thread:124171
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20021101/msgs/126735.html