Posted by Cybele on August 7, 2005, at 20:42:20
In reply to Re: Tecknohed and Racer..., posted by tecknohed on August 5, 2005, at 19:20:04
> Also I thought that it was the Endorphins which were responsible for excercises mood-lifting effects.
>
> Of course there's a lot of reports on PEA's activity also. Maybe its only active if manufactured from inside the body.
>
> Maybe my brain just ticks overtime!?Kev,
I think too much, as well :)
I've also always thought it was merely endorphins. When I was in my early 20s I met with a therapist who had written her dissertation on exercise helping depression. Her name is Judith Carl and I've never seen a copy of her diss., but would love to get my hands on it. She wrote it in the early 1980s, I believe.
From her research, she found that an individual needed to build up an "endorphin base" by exercising at least 5 days a week for 45-60 minutes. When you first start out your endorphin levels will peak after exercise, but then crash back down after 6-18 hours (or so). After exercising 5-6x/week for several weeks an endorphin base will be established and you would then be able to enjoy the antidepressant effects of the endorphins 24/7, without the peaks and crashes. The exercise needs to use the large muscles of the legs and at a sufficient level to break a sweat. It needs to be continuous, not stopping and starting.
My experience over the last 20 years has pretty much supported this. I found that three spinning classes a week pretty much covered it when I was feeling well, until real life stuff started becoming too stressful and it stopped doing the job. I went through a period of stressing out a lot (e.g., losing my temper with my kids, feeling like I wanted to punch walls or gouge my arms with my fingernails, overeating). After a while of this the major depression thing settled in and I worried about the things I wasn't getting done due to my lack of concentration. Then a new stage hit about a week ago where I just stopped caring about the things that weren't getting done. That's when I started this thread.
So, I've been on Desipramine since that day. I rang my doctor's office and she called it in right away. I am taking 12.5 mg 2x a day, and have had almost no side effects. I was a touch sleepy the first day.
Keeping my fingers crossed. I exercised 4 days this last week. If only I could get it to 6, but some days I just can't stand going to the gym and being around all the people there.
In the latest Harry Potter book, J.K. Rowling penned the word "wrackspurt" for things that float around a room and can enter your head and make it feel all fuzzy for a moment. I feel like I've hard a wrackscrum (wrackscrimmage?) in my head lately!
Cheers,
Cybele
poster:Cybele
thread:536807
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20050803/msgs/538874.html