Posted by casse on January 12, 2010, at 21:14:41
In reply to LDN and depression » casse, posted by tea on January 12, 2010, at 2:54:50
Oh yes! Itchy skin for me on LDN too. Hydrocodone has the same effect on me. So exogenous or endogenous, endorphins cause itching is my conclusion.
As for the sleep disturbances many of us experience on LDN, the disruption of the channels which produce serotonin and melatonin is likely responsible for that as well as for the dysphoria and anxiety some complain of. As you probably know, serotonin production shuts off and switches to melatonin at night to promote sleep.
I wish I could remember where I read about this, but certain neurotransmitters compete for channels. So an excess of one inhibits another. It all make sense.As for the claim that endorphins are 3 fold higher in the depressed, that is what the article in Anxiety Insights seems to indicate.
http://www.anxietyinsights.info/overactive_brain_endorphin_system_linked_to_depression.htm
And as you suggest, the problem seems to be an inability to bind at receptors rather than an endorphin deficiency, as some claim. This could be due to down-regulation at receptors, competition with other neurotransmitters or decreased quantity of receptors. I haven't been able to find anything to suggest one hypothesis over another.
That said, I think that the question of supplementation in diet is an important one. We are a product of our environment whether we are aware of it or not. All of our food supplies are contaminated or compromised in some way. Even organic foods are subject to the contaminated environment. The challenge of meeting basic nutritional needs is a daunting one. In the years prior to having become aware of our nutritional needs, our resources had already been severely compromised. Even if we knew for a certainty exactly what is lacking, providing quality supplementation is still going to be a challenge since everything we have to work with is a product of a polluted environment. And basic nutrition is so vital to chemical exchange in the body.
My conclusion is as much instinctive wisdom as it is knowledge. I wish I knew the answers...I'd probably be nominated for a Nobel prize for easing so much of the worlds suffering.
poster:casse
thread:919880
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20100103/msgs/933433.html