Posted by lil' jimi on September 16, 2003, at 15:36:01
In reply to Re: Lexapro troubles - day 11, posted by BLKVETTES on September 16, 2003, at 13:10:57
hello everyone,
> > > >>> But I thought Lex was supposed to take a shorter time to kick in than other SSRI's, not longer! 6-8 weeks is longer than it took Prozac to work with me. I guess it's different for everone, but I heard some people began to feel the benefits at week 1 or 2 with lex.
> > >
> > >
> >
> > Yes some people get results right away, but from the posts I've read, it seems the number is small. Many more, myself included, report 6-8 wks. If you are not one of those lucky ones, please give it the full 8 weeks before you decide to quit, as the results are well worth the wait.
> >
> > Keep us posted on your progress!~~~8|8
>
>
> If one is trying to balance chemicals in the brain this takes time. There is no super med that works in a week or two. What they say is that you may BEGIN to feel better or see results in a week or two. My crying jags quit after the first dose. I became numb, but would still cry time to time. So I guess looking back I did get results very early on if you want to call that getting results. But it took a good 6 weeks before I hit what I would call feeling better. If one is feeling like their old selves in a week or two I have to believe their depression or anxiety was minor to begin with. TAKE CARE!!!!!!
> WAYNE
>... i am so like Wayne sometimes
... i thought about not replying here
... ... And Mariposa is / was great, as always
... ... did i really need to post this ?
... ... would this be like a big help to anyone ?
... thinking about it some i decided that the answers to those two questions were,
No.
.... period... then it came to me
... what do i know ?
... who am i to say i don't post ? (?)
... i've been wrong before ! (!)
... how am _i_ to know i'm not wrong this time ? (!!!)so ... drawing strength from my doubts about my insecurities ... i have chosen to go ahead on ...
individual variation
individual variation, my friends, is what i have preached here, too many times perhaps for some ... yet the newly arrived ones must hear the gospel for the first time ... ... i dare say it shall not be the last ... ....
... ... this is his gospel of individual variation, according to .... me ! ... ... ... HA!the difference in the response to lexapro from one individual to another is so great that ...
... it can be greater than the difference between one individual taking different meds ... ....boring, huh?
... the ends of the synapses of a pair of neurons ... one on each side of an intersynaptic junction ... the ends are covered hundreds of bee hives and specific varieties of hives harbor specific species of bees /wasps/ dragonflies ... .... dozens of species ... ... (i'm making this up ... ... you could tell?) .... .... back inside each of the hives/nests (inside the synapse) there as interconnections ... ... everything interacts with everything else ... .... just like real life ...
.... this is the picture i use to try to model neurotransmitters' lifestyles ... ... all of the bees /wasps/ dragonflies are the neurotransmitters, of course ...
... i imagine that on a good day there would be flights in formation, swarms curving gracefully, flocks diving and swooping ... ... all in constellations of mutual interaction ...... ... then some hives start to struggle and their species become depleted ... other hives of other species react ... depleted hives try to increase production ...
... the grand coordinated choreography of the bees ... degrades into a mechanical struggle to continue ...
... about here is where i walk in and throw 10 milligrams of lexapro onto the swarms .... ... i see 10mg as about the size as Dorothy's house on my made-up scale of this intersynaptic landscape ...
... Dorothy's house from the Wizard of Oz ... ... the house she landed on the Wicked Witch of the West ...... i imagine the house exploding into pieces that completely upsets all of the bees and their friends ... it completely disorganizes any remaining order to the flights of transmission ...
... here's where my SEs begin ...
... Central Nervous System wide, every neural communication gets pushed toward chaos ... ... possible candidates for responding adversely?
... digestion
... respiration
... circulation
... reproduction
... urination
... perception
... sleep
... motor controls
... endocrine stuff
... you name iteach of us is as individual as our neurotransmitters dynamic equilibrium ... ... snow flakes unique? ... ... they only are ‘no two are the same’ unique .... ... for neurotransmitters’ phase states not even one is the same (!) ... ... excuse my hyperbole ... ... just emphasizing the individuality of these bees’ swarms’ interactivity ... ... sorry there
... ... but after a while (a while equals X number of weeks, such that X may be a number from a very small number to something bigger) ... these pieces of Judy Garland’s house begin to have a magical effect in the hives ... ... as the reuptake gets selectively inhibited .... reuptake of certain serotonin bees ...
... ... the depleted bees recover
... ... the population balance of the species is restored
... ... ... and the harmonious symphony of flying things returns
... (if i’m making it up, i get to have a happy ending) !!still boring, huh? ... ... no news ... ... just fancy pictures for that buzzing in my head ... bah!
i use these models to imagine hypothetical responses to the Judy Garland’s .... Dorothy’s house ....
theoretically ... ... hypothetically, i could have, say, a very severe swarm failure ... i mean neurotransmitter dysfunction ... ... one that was totally disruptive and debilitating ... ... i could even be at risk ...
... and although my condition is very serious and persistent ... ... ... it turns out (and i have no way to know this) that for as bad as this is affecting me ... .. and as bad as the swarm’s incapacity has become ....
... all i need is just the right nudge, just a little ... and the whole dynamic equilibrium comes back ... ... almost immediately ...
... ... i’m suggesting that it is possible for our neurotransmitters’ dynamics to get trapped in catastrophic phase state ... ... oh, say, by a strange attractor or something ... a disastrous unrecoverable collapse ... ...
... yet the ideal beneficial small input could just tip the system to avalanche positive reconstruction back to full restoration ...
... it could happen ! ... ... i say so because we can imagine...all too easily... the reverse process ... .. ... where the triggering event creates the destructive cascade .. ... ... and i’m just positing that there’s no intrinsic reason why this process couldn’t happening in the other direction and i’m just suggesting this is _possible_ ... albeit very unlikely ... ...... okay! ... very, very, Very unlikely ... nevertheless ... ...
it is possible that recovery time may not be an indicator of the severity of neurotransmitter dysfunction ...
... of course, i like Dorothy’s house also because it killed the Wicked Witch of the ... ... west? ... was it the west?
... then you could replace my buzzing bees, in my allegory, with the Munchkins ... ... ... okay, we’ll save that one for another day, kids ! .... ... HA!((Notice! All of my “HA!”s are me laughing at me .... and only me ... please .... thank you!))
i guess, instead of that buzzing in my head i could have those singing Munchkins in there ... ...
... ... HA!TAKE CARE !!!! !!
~jim
poster:lil' jimi
thread:109458
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20030912/msgs/260702.html