Posted by King Vultan on October 11, 2004, at 9:36:12
In reply to Re: Parnate Experience » King Vultan, posted by karaS on October 10, 2004, at 23:11:26
> Thanks, Todd
>
> I think I'm more confused than ever. I guess I can't completely draw any conclusions from your experiences since we have significant differences in medication effects and successes.
>
> I have taken selegiline, Ritalin, Rhodiola and Perika brand of SJW. All are supposed to be very stimulating and have significant dopaminergic activity. They all put me to sleep. I am convinced at this point that I could take methamphetamine and fall asleep as well. However, when I took nortriptyline, I was so energized and activated. When I took Provigil, it didn't put me to sleep at all. It had very little effect in that respect. All of this makes me wonder if your problem isn't more to do with NE? I suppose if you tried selegiline or Ritalin or another stimulant, you'd know for certain.
>
> I'm also confused as to why you think it's possible to down regulate the DA autoreceptors when Dr. Jay Goldstein and my pdoc both told me that there are no medications as of yet to treat hypersensitive dopamine autoreceptors. There is supposedly at least one that's in testing now however. I know you said previously that you thought certain ADs could act like the SSRIs and downregulate dopamine in the same way that those meds do with respect to serotonin. But then why do the 2 doctors say that there are no medications yet to treat this condition?
>
> I hope it doesn't sound like I'm jumping all over you here, I am just trying to understand...
>
> At any rate, I'm really glad that you're having so much success with Parnate. Positive AD effect, better motivation and concentration and you can exercise too! What more could you ask for? Sounds like heaven to me.
>
> K
>
I don't think there's necessarily anything terribly wrong with my NE system because I responded to desipramine and protriptyline exactly as one is supposed to, and these are selective NE reuptake inhibitors. I know I do have hypersensitive alpha-1 adrenergic receptors, but I'm not sure how much this really matters. I suppose it could have something to do with the strange effect the Provigil had on me, though.As far as the hypersensitive dopamine autoreceptors, based on my anhedonia, low libido, ADD symptoms, etc., my dopamine system does appear to operate at a chronically low level, and considering my reactions to various drugs, it's as good a hypothesis as any. I'm not an MD or a PhD researcher, but I question the notion of not being able to downregulate dopamine autoreceptors. I don't quite understand why the heck that would be. Also, keep in mind that two people with the same general condition may have it expressed in different ways or differ in some intricacies. There are four separate dopamine pathways in the brain, and these are interconnected with a myriad of other stuff. It does not seem reasonable to expect that everyone with hypersensitive dopamine autoreceptors would react to every medication the same way; although, one would hope there might be some similarities. From what you've said, you do appear to be more likely to have hypersensitive dopamine autoreceptors than I do.
Todd
poster:King Vultan
thread:400754
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20041007/msgs/401501.html