Posted by Cam W. on April 3, 2000, at 0:18:13
In reply to To Cam W: Zyprexa for Derealization?, posted by Greg on April 2, 2000, at 13:54:49
Greg - I really know nothing about "brain fog", but I can tell you about Zyprexa. In short, Zyprexa probably works by decreasing the amount of dopamine neurotransmission in the brain.
I will first use an analogy from Aldous Huxley in his 1954 book "The Doors of Perception) (which incidentally is where Jim Morrison got the name for his band). Huxley believed that mescaline opened the brain's reducing valve (thalamus?) allowing the brain to perceive stimuli not ordinarily noticed when one's brain is focused or attending to something (eg background noise, the feel of your clothing, etc.).
*Caveat* - The following is only my brain working overtime, I do not believe everything I am about to say has been proven.
I believe that a person with schizophrenia has a "stuck open reducing valve". They get too much external information to be adequately processed by the brain. This could be due to the lack of synaptic pruning that may occur in people who are predisposed to schizophrenia. Ordinarily, as our brain develops the neurons branch out making connections (synapses) with surrounding neurons. As we lay down neural maps in our brain (eg learn to walk, talk, speak, think abstractly, etc.) many of these connections are broken or disconnected. The brunt of this pruning occurs into ours 20s, but may, to a lesser extent, happen throughout our lives. A person predisposed to schizophrenia (either genetically or virally) may lack the enzyme that does the pruning and hence receives too much information at one time, overloading his senses. The overabundance of dopamine connections acts like adding too much dopamine to the system. Or, put another way, the reducing valve is stuck open. By blocking dopamine receptors, we are able to partially shut the reducing valve by decreasing the amount of dopamine transmission.
I am not saying that you have schizophrenia, but probably another one of several disorders in which excess dopamine is a problem. Zyprexa is worth a try.
Many scientists say that the atypical antipsychotics, like Zyprexa, improve cognition. I am not convinced. The older, traditional neuroleptics dulled cognition and when switched to an atypical the dulling is just removed. "Ah", say other scientists, "but when we give Zyprexa (or other atypical) their cognition improves". Sure, when you give a drug that stops voices from telling a person what to do, naturally it will be easier for them to concentrate.
Now, for side effects. The big side effect in the news is weight gain. Most of the older, traditional neuroleptics caused weight gain, too. It was just that the older drugs also caused profound movement disorders, making weight gain a non-issue. The more underweight you are, the more you can expect to gain. Also methods to keep weight off (eg a strict, nutritious diet and regimented exercise program) are far more successful than trying to take the weight off once it has been gained. The weight gain does seem to plateau in about 8 months, for most people. Carbohydrate cravings seem to be at least a partial culpert for the weight gain.
Other side effects include headache, nausea, dizziness, drowsiness or insomnia, and agitation. These side effects usually dissipate after taking the drug for a couple weeks, as your body adjusts to the drug.
Hpoe this helps - Cam W.
poster:Cam W.
thread:28705
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20000401/msgs/28726.html