Posted by avid abulia on July 12, 2003, at 21:47:05
In reply to Re: blocked for 2 weeks » Caleb462, posted by Dr. Bob on July 8, 2003, at 22:16:55
Hey, you guys are mostly a lot smarter than me here, but i've never seen this posted here, so i thought that perhaps i would tell you guys that salicylates (including aspirin) are inducers of tryptophan hydroxylase, the rate-limiting factor in the production of serotonin. It is occasionally successful in treating Tourette's syndrome, for that reason, and one well-respected expert on Tourette's, Dr. David Comings, published in his authoritative tome "Tourette's Syndrome and Human Behaviour" that his first recommendation to all new patients is to try taking two aspirin in the morning to see if that controls symptoms.
When used for this purpose, it is (according to his book) useful primarily in children... which would cause some very serious potential risks... but as i assume few on this list are children young enough to develop Reye's syndrome, that wouldn't be such an issue and you might try talking to your doctors about it if you want an augmentation strategy for serotonin synthesis.
So far as opiods go--i'm not a fan myself, i think mainly because i've used them for very severe pain (basilar migraines) in the past, but some people do quite well on them, and i'm not one to knock another's drug. And, incidentally, chronic (but not acute) morphine ingestation has been shown to induce tryptophan hydroxlyase as well... but, sticking to more practically relevant
info here (i can just see it... "Doc, I'm depressed... I hear morphine might do me some good, though." "Uh-huh... well, I'm not that kind of doctor. You might try that old croaker down the road with a forged medical license, though.")... well, tramadol (a codeine analog with low affinity for mu-opiod receptors and serotonin and noradrenaline reuptake inhibitory properties) has recently been shown in several clinically trials in several different countries to be an effective, rapid-onset antidepressant for some people, and... I think it was in Australia, if i remember right... it is currently going through the approval process to treat depression, obsessive-compulsive disorder, and Tourette's syndrome. Unlike morphine, tramadol has very low abuse potential, and shows no immuno-suppressive effects. In fact, it actually enhances natural killer cell function.~AA
poster:avid abulia
thread:239530
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20030708/msgs/241328.html