Posted by SLS on February 4, 2009, at 16:32:45
In reply to Re: Long Term SSRI Use Has Destabilzed Me, posted by NewQuestions on February 4, 2009, at 16:04:15
> Thanks Garnet. My sense is that you are not experiencing what I am experiencing. My body has adapted to the drugs, I have become hypersensitive to them, I am now off of them and my body is stressed because of the withdrawal, and the HPA axis is not in balance. My sense with you is that you are still struggling to find the right drug to begin with. Therefore, the information might not be of much value to you.
There is always the "spit test". It is a quick way to get a cortisol level. In depression, cortisol is often elevated. This test used to be used routinely in the 1980s in some clinics.
There is also the dexamethasone-suppression test (DST) to evaluate the state of the HPA axis. The subject takes a single dose of dexamethasone, a corticosteroid. In a healthy person, this will produce a negative feedback loop that reduces (suppresses) the amount of ACTH released by the pituitary gland. This can be assayed in the blood. In many depressed people, ACTH secretion is not inhibited. So, dexamethasone non-suppression is an indication of major depressive disorder.
- Scott
poster:SLS
thread:874312
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20090203/msgs/878014.html