Posted by SLS on February 4, 2009, at 15:55:00
In reply to Re: Long Term SSRI Use Has Destabilzed Me, posted by NewQuestions on February 4, 2009, at 14:25:08
> In my humble opinion, discontinuation syndrome is a form of hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis dysregulation.
Maybe we can put our humble heads together and come up with a more comprehensive theory. I feel that something must precede the HPA dysregulation. I suggest that the withdrawal syndrome is the result of neural hyperactivity in several areas of the brain, including the amygdala, the fear center of the brain, thus producing anxiety as one of the symptoms. I think it might be the kindling of glutamatergic pathways that leads to the persistence of withdrawal syndrome after discontinuation seen in some people.
It is my suggestion that it is a kindling effect that a rapid discontinuation of a SRI drug induces that makes one more sensitive to drugs subsequently.
Somewhere in here is, of course, serotonin. It is probably the loss of serotoninergic inhibition of glutamatergic pathways that allows for the withdrawal syndrome to manifest.
- Scott
poster:SLS
thread:874312
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20090203/msgs/878005.html