Posted by Cindy W on March 19, 2000, at 14:21:21
In reply to Re: Antidepressants Hallucinogens, posted by Cam W. on March 19, 2000, at 11:39:29
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> Cindy - That's an interesting concept. I don't know if your response to hallucinogens predicts response to antidepressants. SSRIs and hallucinogens (like LSD or psylocibin) both act on serotonin receptors. Both are thought to act by increasing serotonergic transmission (SSRIs via reuptake blockade and LSD via direct agonist action at a certain serotonin-2 subreceptor - ?2F-alpha). Here's a research project for a budding PhD.
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> As to the long term effects of antidepressants, the answer is, we don't absolutely know for sure. Many recent studies have suggested that there have been no long term problems in the offspring of mothers who were pregnant while taking TCAs or Prozac. These kids are in their 20's now & so far no real differences from their peers (wait another 5 or 6 years until these 'Prozac babies' have past the most common age of first break for psychiatic disorders - eg schizophrenia and bipolar). A lecture I attended (Dr.E.Roy Chengappa) had suggested that the reason for the increase in bipolar disorder since World War II probably wasn't because of better reporting or change of diagnosis, but could be caused iatrogenically by antidepressant use. I have not seen any published studies suggesting this. In a nutshell (no pun intended), many of us have taken antidepressants for extended periods of time and we still have grown a third eye or started a religious cult based on brocolli, so it is probably safe to say that any long term, permanent changes would not manifest themselves until long after our normal lifespan, but I have no proof. Hope this helps - Cam W.Thanks, Cam! Enjoyed your comments. If I didn't already have my degree, I'd consider doing a dissertation on this (I did mine on staff burnout). Thought it might be interesting...in college, my favorite DOC was mushrooms, for self-medication; now I respond best to Effexor-XR and Serzone (esp. enjoyed the visual "trails" I got sometimes with Serzone, but unfortunately it didn't help OCD so discontinued it). Don't know if there is a connection. Since I have taken very high-dose SSRI's for a long time, I want to make sure I keep my serotonergic receptors though! (If the DEA is reading this, I only use prescription Rx. now!)
poster:Cindy W
thread:27200
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20000312/msgs/27578.html