Posted by Hombre on December 1, 2010, at 0:00:45
In reply to Adrenal gland damage from Meds, posted by rculater on November 30, 2010, at 17:06:35
I have not only heard of this, but I know what may cause it and what may help it.
From a Chinese medicine point of view, SSRIs have a tendency to exhaust the liver and kidneys.
In this case, we are talking about the hormone regulating aspect of the kidneys, which makes sense because the adrenal glands are perched upon the kidneys. The liver part makes sense too, because SSRIs not only induce/inhibit certain liver enzymes, but also put the liver through its paces in order to be metabolized.
But back to the kidneys. According to Chinese medical theory, kidney deficiency can lead to lower back ache, as well as pain and edema in the legs. The lower back ache is classic kidney deficiency.
There are two classical formulas that help to strengthen the kidneys. They are Liu Wei Di Huang Wan and Jin Gui Shen Qi Wan. The formulas are almost identical; the former is more for strengthening a weak parasympathetic nervous system response and the latter strengthens the sympathetic nervous system. The former is cooling and moistening, good for hyperthyroid type heat and inability to sleep, and the latter is warming and stimulating, good for coldness and a lack of drive.
I've taken both formulas. I took Liu Wei Di Huang Wan for a back injury accompanied by unusual thirst and heat. It cleared up in a few days, whereas painkillers and analgesics didn't do anything. I take Jin Gui Shen Qi Wan on a regular basis because my antidepressant, an SNRI, causes kidney-related symptoms: difficulty starting urination, sexual dysfunction, and apathy. Remember, this is the Chinese medicine concept of the kidneys, which includes hormones. The formulas do what they say they do, since people have been taking herbs for a very long time, and have a good idea how they work in the body.
You can google the formula names and find a number of different forms of these herbs, the cheapest being "teapills" that are an extract of an herbal decoction. We're talking about $3-5 for about a week's supply. Peanuts.
The names really aren't any stranger than "venlafaxine" or "mirtazapine", which are just nonsense words anyway. Get past the foreign-ness of these remedies and you just might find something that can really help.
Good luck getting your doctor to even put the different side-effects and symptoms together. Because he won't.
poster:Hombre
thread:971985
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20101117/msgs/972021.html