Posted by 4WD on September 4, 2004, at 17:18:51
In reply to Re: To Scott (SLS) Cortisol question, posted by SLS on September 4, 2004, at 17:00:29
> Hi.
>
> > If one's cortisol levels are out of whack, though, what does one do about it? I mean if there is a problem with the HPA axis, is there, then, a treatment?
>
> One way to bring about the normalization of the HPA axis is to bring depression into remission. It really doesn't matter how you go about it. Both drugs and ECT work. Abnormal DST normalizes when the depressive state improves. It is considered a state-specific rather than a trait-specific abnormality. For those people who do respond to antidepressants initially and in whom DST does not normalize, the risk of relapse is significantly greater.
>
> http://www.psychiatrist.com/pcc/pccpdf/v03n04/v03n0401.pdf
>
> I don't think it is fully understood which comes first, depression or HPA dysregulation. Is HPA dysregulation the result or the cause of depression? Might it represent a self-reinforcing loop between the two? It very well might. This might account for why there has been some limited success treating depression with anti-glucocorticoids (anti-cortisol agents) such as ketoconazole and mifepristone. As part of the HPA regulatory machinery, CRH (corticotropin releasing hormone) is a substance secreted by the hypothalamus to initiate the events leading to the production of cortisol. New drugs are being developed that block the receptors for CRH, and might thus interrupt the dysregulated HPA loop. In addition, CRH acts as a chemical messenger within the brain itself, where several subtypes exist. In fact, there is now some speculation that a substance other than CRH might also act as a messenger at these receptors.
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> - ScottThere's definitely a link there. My pituitary gland keeps instructing my adrenal glands to produce excess prolactin, resulting in abnormal production of small amounts of fluid from my breasts (galactorrhea). Taking bromocriptine stops this symptom but it returns when the bromocriptine is stopped. Dopamine depletion in the brain can result in galactorrhea. The galactorrhea started shortly after starting antidepressants (non-dopaminergic ones). I feel that I am producing excess cortisol. I can't quite wrap my mind around the implications of these somehow related facts but I know there is a significance there somewhere.
Marsha
poster:4WD
thread:386371
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20040904/msgs/386443.html