Posted by Chairman_MAO on May 6, 2005, at 11:00:31
In reply to Re: Stimulant Side Effects: The Definitive Thread » Chairman_MAO, posted by AC75 on May 2, 2005, at 12:21:49
The idea is not to stop and piss every few minutes. the idea is for the system to be activated, for you to piss to be lighter on your feet and subsequently fight or flee. Then, the system is supposed to take a back seat and let the parasympathetic nervous system dominate once again.
It is downright frightening that your doctor did not know this. Find a new doctor; I'm serious. Any shrink that doesn't understand this should not have a license. A first year, second semester biology student should know this stuff.
Stimulants keep this system continually activated. As my psychopharm prof. wrote in the textbook I used to have, "[stimulants] pepare the mind and body for an emergency that does not exist."
That's why the pupils dilate from high doses of stimulants; dialated pupils increase the "depth of field" of your visual system, thereby allowing you to bring both distal and proximal objects into focus simulatenously as well as letting in tons of light to improve night vision. Eye doctors use sympathomimetic drops to dilate your eyes during examination. Sympathetic activation also causes appetite suppression and sometimes nausea to prevent food intake which would take energy away from the muscles. The extremities become cold because all of the energy is shunted to muscles, the cardiovascular system, and the brain. Problems with the GI tract also can happen because it takes a lot of energy to digest food, and stimulants take energy away from that system. Parasympathetic activation, on the other hand, increases salivation, excretion, constricts pupils, etc. There are actually two seperate systems of nerves that each innervate all the body's organ systems, etc., corresponding to the symp. and para. systems. They counterbalance each other. Isn't all of this fascinating? That's why I love this subject so much.
poster:Chairman_MAO
thread:491641
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20050504/msgs/494505.html