Posted by Pfinstegg on December 31, 2005, at 10:42:33
In reply to Re: Revolutionary approach to depression, posted by linkadge on December 30, 2005, at 16:45:18
I've taken tianeptine for a year, after many years of taking SSRI's and antipsychotics. I also use ongoing rTMS treatment, although not as much as I would like, because I live far away from Dr. Hutto in Atlanta. None of this is perfect, but I am a lot less depressed, and also am completely side-effect free. So I think there is something important in what you say- that flooding the intercellular spaces with serotonin may cause a cascade of abnormalities to both transmitters and receptors which, over time, may make our brains less normal than they were before the onset of HPA axis dysregulation and the brain abnormalities associated with that.
Although I began being treated for severe depression 12 years ago, I had never had a suicidal thought until nine years ago- after I had been on SSRI's for three years. Those thoughts persisted endlessly until six months after I stopped the SSRI's one year ago. And I am far from being a child!
The things I'm doing now- tianeptine and TMS- plus psychotherapy, of course, were things I first read about right here on Babble, and then researched as extensively as I could. I was looking for the most neuroprotective things, rather than the latest drug whose long-term efects were unknown. I know my choices wouldn't be the right ones for everyone else, but I am very grateful for learning about them. Luckily, I have a doctor who supports me on all these choices.
poster:Pfinstegg
thread:593368
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20051231/msgs/593712.html