Posted by Liz on April 19, 2000, at 18:48:44
In reply to Re: Cam - serotonin and dopamine opposition, posted by Zeke on April 18, 2000, at 15:13:52
> Be careful generalizing transmitter function with higher level functions such as mood; Different dopamine agonists have different effects for example on mood: amphetamine tends to improve mood while levodopa tends to lower mood.Zeke,
I took levadopa (Sinemet) for several months in an attempt to treat a movement disorder. Sinemet is a combination of levadopa / carbidopa which can cross the blood brain barrier and then is converted to dopamine. It was THE most mood altering drug I have ever taken. An hour or two after the a.m. dose I felt like the king of the world. It was really good. However, due to the short half-life of the drug, this effect would wear off in a few hours and subsequent doses did not have the same effect until the next morning. Just my experience although I have heard from others that levadopa improves mood.
Of course, most taking levadopa have Parkinson's disease which has depression as a co-morbidity related to basal ganglia function, not levadopa.
Liz
poster:Liz
thread:29285
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20000411/msgs/30607.html