Posted by jazzdog on March 31, 2002, at 13:25:20
In reply to Re: SSRI, adrenal exhaustion » jazzdog, posted by JohnX2 on March 28, 2002, at 23:27:04
Hi John -
The thing that impressed me about the notion that ssri's have longterm implications for the endocrine system is that it gelled so well with my experience. When I first took zoloft, I had about a year of incredible well-being - energy, creativity, libido, a capacity for joy - it was like a reprieve from a lifelong anhedonic sentence. And only once before, on a two-week treatment with hydrocortisone - had I ever felt so well. Then began a long decline - my ability to cope with stress decreased, my energy disappeared, I gained weight, got very foggy-minded, and started sleeping excessively once again. I guess you'd call it poop-out. I developed a bunch of physical symptoms relating to a mild kidney ailment, so I started seeing an endocrinologist. I found out I had severe hyperinsulinism and low cortisol levels - this after eight years on zoloft. I never connected the two before, but when I ran across that website stating that ssri's caused hyperinsulinism and adrenal exhaustion, I felt a eureka moment. It's thanks to you that I started thinking about ssri's causing dopamine depletion, and this seemed to me to be a possible answer - don't the adrenal glands produce dopamine?
I know this thinking would be greeted with skepticism by many psychiatrists, but here's the thing: psychiatrists seem unwilling to think outside the box of neural pathways - they seem to resist a more organically connected whole-body approach. This seems to be true in all medical disciplines - not seeing the forest for the trees. Also, most articles I read on mood stabilizers, ad's, and ap's seem to contain the sentence: 'the exact mechanism is not clearly understood.' Maybe we need more research into the endocrine - neural axis, expecially since so many neurotransmittors are manufactured by the adrenal/pineal/pituitary glands.
I'd be interested to hear your thoughts on this. I always value your opinion. :>)
- Jane
poster:jazzdog
thread:100358
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20020327/msgs/101130.html