Posted by bleauberry on March 16, 2010, at 17:20:08
In reply to SSRI - better response with less frequent dosing?, posted by linkadge on March 15, 2010, at 11:03:10
Well, in the world of herbs many experts recommend pulsing doses or taking short holidays in order to keep the substance's effectiveness strong. I don't see why meds are any different.
I actually feel best on most ADs in the first couple days of starting, and then for a couple days after stopping. But if taken continually, not very good. So pulsing doses would make sense.
The problem with regular dosing is that it will cause significant changes in the brain and body. Proponents of ADs for depression will say that is a good thing, that is what we want to happen. But there is no way for us to know what changes are going to occur or whether they will be in our favor or not, until after the fact.
I personally see no problem with taking meds as-needed. It is completely dependent upon how the individual person feels on that med, the med's behavior on their physiology, and such. I am certainly not at all recommending anyone stop taking regular doses. That's not it. What I am saying is that if someone can tweek a med to help them feel better by managing doses in a manner that is different than the norm, then cool.
Me for example, I hate ssris, but if I had no choice except one of them, I know how they behave with me. Getting on feels good, getting off feels good, staying on feels bad. I do not want my brain to down regulate from constant serotonin overload. I want it to keep responding to waves of serotonin. It won't do that if I keep taking it. I'll instead go numb.
I do not believe however that this is a strategy for any newcomer to meds to be messing with. They should do what their doctor says, assuming it is a very good doctor. It is later in the game, when someone has been on a ton of meds and still having problems, and they have a lot of experience, that novel strategies are warranted. My opinion. Of course, that includes a lot of us.
poster:bleauberry
thread:939632
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20100305/msgs/939731.html