Posted by friendofbillw on January 14, 2004, at 23:12:02
In reply to Re: effexor xr and lexapro anyone? » lam, posted by ayuda on January 17, 2003, at 22:55:16
> > If alcohol really does counter act the AD then if I don't drink, this AD could possibily work for me?
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> It should be able to -- I don't know how many people are not responding to Lexapro, since few people who are not benefitting from it participate on this discussion board. I know that it works well for me, and I am no longer gaining weight like I was on the Effexor XR.
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> As for alcohol, I have spoken with several doctors, and my mother, who is a nurse, and I have also spoken with a pharm rep (my roommate's dad), and every one agrees, regardless of what some people may say are their personal experiences, that the sole purpose of alcohol is that it is a CNS depressant, which is why 1) you are warned against mixing it with other CNS depressants, such as Valium or Codeine, and 2) most alcoholics also suffer from depression [On the Lexapro website, it says: "At-risk traits—tell your healthcare provider how often you drink alcohol or use drugs." Meaning that these are traits that make a person at-risk for depression. From the webiste, http://academic.hws.edu/alcohol/events/AwareWkLec/sld001.htm, "alcohol decreases serotonin activity." I include this link to this presentation because it goes step-by-step through explaining the link between alcohol and depression and serotonin on slides 3, 4 & 5.]
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> The purpose of SSRI's such as Lexapro is to change the way your body absorbs serotonin, increasing serotonin activity. The Britannica Precise Dictionary says that, "Some cases of depression are apparently caused by reduced amounts or activity of serotonin in the brain; many antidepressants counteract that condition." There are many other places where you can get information concerning the action of SSRI's on serotonin, because that is the sole purpose of an SSRI (selective-serotonin reuptake inhibitor).
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> So if alcohol causes a decrease in serotonin activity, and depression is characterized by a decrease in serotonin activity, and SSRI's are designed to increase serotonin activity, then it logically follows that alcohol does the opposite of what your Lexapro does, which means it counter-acts it.
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> The detailed explanation hopefully helps you to understand that I am not giving you my personal opinion, but have researched this topic, and there are plenty of medical studies about this. So the bottom line is, if you do not drink alcohol, you give the SSRI a chance to do its job.
LOVE YOUR POST! Talk about detail and great information. Thanks so much. I'm an alcoholic who has been sober 5 years. Hazelden, a treatment center in Minnesota, is prescribing many patients an AD and they are very careful about prescriptions. I do believe in my case that I either had low seratonin previous to active alcoholism (a beer binge drinker), or had depleted it. Whatever the cause, as you stated, AD's and alcohol don't mix. If you can't stop drinking while on AD's you may want to take a look at your drinking.Best to all.
Billw
poster:friendofbillw
thread:109458
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20040114/msgs/300960.html