Posted by Larry Hoover on January 14, 2008, at 13:05:28
In reply to Medical Freak of Nature!, posted by becksFLA on January 13, 2008, at 12:24:30
> Both myself and my pdocs have been baffled by this for a long time. I have been dx'd with ADHD and Social Anxiety disorder.
>
> The strangest part is I need MEGA doses of benzos to control the anxiety (only partially). This is one of only two classes of drugs that have worked at all for me. I have maxed out on everything else with zero effects. The other that works is stimulants. This is the bizarre part - with having such a ridiculous tolerance for everything else, it's the opposite with Stims. I have to take the tiniest dose, and even then sometimes cut those in half. When I do, on a dose that a 5 year old should be taking, I lose all my apetite, become anti-social, and anxiety goes way up.
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> What gives?
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> ThanksWanna hear some speculation?
The benzodiazepine receptor lies in one particular domain of the GABA(A) receptor. As far as I know, no endogenous ligand (i.e. a natural bodily substance that binds there) for the benzo receptor has ever been identified. In any case, natural mutations in the receptor structure (usually no more than a single amino acid substitution) have been identified, that significantly reduce benzo binding affinity. You sure sound like you're describing just such a situation.
Even more speculative, though, is that may even set you up for the other thing, stimulant hypersensitivity. If the GABA-mediated signal is inherently weak, the rest of the various interacting receptor types may be up-regulated in order to capture the weak signal.
There are other non-benzo GABA sensitizers, though. Have you tried magnesium? How about niacinamide?
Lar
poster:Larry Hoover
thread:806148
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20080114/msgs/806420.html