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Re: acetylcholine and depression

Posted by SLS on July 11, 2004, at 8:27:30

In reply to acetylcholine and depression, posted by Emme on July 11, 2004, at 7:35:30

Hi Emme.


> My pdoc prescribed aricept, a chonlinergic drug, to help with cognitive function and, hopefully, depression. One of the listed potential side effects of aricept is depression. I have read that increasing acetylchoine reduces mania and can induce depression. But aricept doesn't seem to be making me more depressed and may even be helping.

Wonderful!!!!

> And from what I understand, SAM-e leads to an increase in acetylcholine So I'm confused about the role of acetylcholine in depression and also in mediating stress response.

> Can anyone help me out here?

Not me.

> I'm not getting too far trying to work it out.

I am not surprised. Were you to, you would surely be published, and probably be eligible for a Nobel Prize.

My doctor, fully aware of the depressogenic potential of donepezil, wanted me to try it anyway. He had his reasons. He approaches neuropsychopharmacology with great sophistication and a photographic memory. The guy is brilliant and with great passion for his work. Still, he considers the brain to be mostly unexplored and poorly understood. To treat it otherwise is childish. Things are changing rapidly, though. I don't think we need to think of it as a black box anymore, but it sure is dark inside.

Keep taking you Aricept and smile.

:-)


- Scott

P.S. There was some work in the late 1970s and early 1980s suggesting a cholinergic-dopaminergic balance theory for depression. Remember, it is not only *what* a drug does, but also *where* it does it.

 

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