Posted by Cseagraves on February 10, 2009, at 14:16:28
In reply to Marplan - Is what is happening to me normal?, posted by Cseagraves on February 9, 2009, at 11:50:43
Hi again to all!
Went to go and see my GP today and told him what had been going on. We had a long talk and he gave me a book to read by David Brownstein, MD called "Drugs that don't work". I'm sure some of you are already aware of this information, but wanted to write some of what is said about the use of ssri's.
The brain works to try and maintain homestasis. During stressful situation, the brain will increase the productin of certain neurotransmitters (adrenaline) and hormones (nonadrenaline) to help the body respond to stress. During relaxation, other neurotransmitters (seratonin) and hormones (melatonin) are produced to help the body relax.
Many things can disrupt the brain's ability to maintain homeostasis. Nutritional deficiencies can disrupt many vital functions in the body, including the maintenance of homeostasis. When there are vitamin and mineral deficiencies, the body will be unable to create the precursors necessary for the adequate production of neurotransmitters and hormones If the body does not have the basic raw materials to manufacture the substances it desires, homeostasis cannot be maintained. The end results of these deficiencies are the onset of chronic illness such as depression, anxiety, ADHD, cancer and fatigue.
Drugs can also disrupt the brains ability to achieve and maintain homeostasis. Drugs that block receptors or poison enzymes will, by their nature, disrupt the normal functioning of the body. The end result of many drug therapies is an inability of the body to achieve and maintain homeostasis.
The most commonly used antidepressant drugs all block receptors or poison enzymes in the brain, as well as in other tissues in the body. For the ssri's the substance that is most commonly disrupted is serotonin. It is impossible to achieve your optimal health by poisoning a crucial enzyme or blocking an important receptor for the long-term.
It is known that serotonin can affect many different areas of the brain by binding to its receptors. However, the effect of serotonin is not consistent between different individuals In some, it may cause happiness; in others sadness.
According to the Big Pharma, serotonin deficiency is thought to underlie many cases of depression. Big Pharma has created a whole class of medications that poison an important enzyme in order to promote higher serotonin levels in the brain. In order for the cells of the brain to communicate with one another, there has to be adequate amounts of all of the neurotransmitters. The brain cannot think, feel, keep us alert, or perform any of its vital functions without the optimal production and ratio of neurotransmitters.
SSRI's are the most widely prescribed psychiatric medications and generate billions of dollars in sales. According the Big Pharma, the ssri's were developed to lessen the side effects associated with the older classes of antidepressants. Furthermore, the newer classes of antidepressants were touted as more effective than the older classes of medications.
Unfortunately, the research has shown that the ssri's are neither more effective nor have few side effects as compared to the older class of antidepressants. The ads for the antidepressants claim that antidepressant medications, especially ssri's, effectively treat imbalances in the neurotransmitters. The imbalance is generally referred to as a serotonin deficiency. It is interesting that patients are being told they have a serotonin imbalance or a chemcial imbalance in their brain even though they have never had their serotonin levels measured.
Big Pharma would have you believe that low levels of neurotransmitters such as serotonin and/or dopamine are the underlying causes of depression. Therefore, Big Pharma's logic would dictate that in order to elevate the low levels, ou need a drug that blocks the reuptake of the neurotransmitters.
However, Big Pharma's logic does not make sense We must keep in mind that depression is not an illness that is caused by an "antidepressant medication deficiency". If someone is deficient in a neurotransmitter(s), then why not supplement with the agent(s) necessary to increase the neurotransmitters?
Serotonin reuptake inhibitors have been studied for over 25 years. Although Big Pharma would have you believe otherwise, little is known about much of the effects of serotonin (or the other neurotransmitters) in the brain Big Pharma gives doctors seminars and glossy brochures telling them the virtues of blocking the reuptake of serotonin in the brain. Over 90% of the body's serotonin is produced OUTSIDE the brain. What are the consequences of blocking the reuptake of serotonin outside the brain? No one knows. There have been no studies looking at this.
Anyway, he goes on to talk more about healthy levels of amino acids in the body. That a deficiency in tryptophan can lead to a deficiency in a serotonin. He also talks about unbalanced hormones in women and vitamin D deficiency can cause depression and anxiety, which I am deficient in both, but am working hard to get them straight.
All I know is that until about a year ago, I could handle my little anxieties with small doses of zanax. Because of alot of stressful things that were going on at that time, I had my first nervous breakdown. My pdoc (at the time) decided that he thought I was bi-polar, which I totally disagreed with. I showed no symptoms of that condition. The conditions that were very apparent, were extreme anxiety and panic. He decided to put me on Seroquel, which was some god awful sh*t. He would'nt listen to me when I tried to tell him that I couldn't handle the med at the dosage he was trying to get me to which was 400mgs daily.
So, I switched pdocs. The new one agreed that I wasn't bi-polar. Extreme GAD and Panic, which has now led itself into agoraphobia. Since then every med I have tried I have had severe reactions to. I am more upset now that I probably never needed an anti-psychotic to begin with and all of these different ssris, tca's and now trying an maoi has made my condition worse instead of better.
Not sure what to do at this point. I have alot of thinking to do. I'm sure that starting me out at 10 mgs of Marplan was to high a dosage and I should have known better. My head has still not quit spinning and nauseau is still very persistant. Legs feel like jelly and still have awful headache, feel almost like flu symptoms. Not sure how much of this is med and how much of this is nerves at this point.
I know everyone is different and responds to meds differently, but I don't think I can handle feeling like this anymore trying any more meds. Am even to scared at this point to try Marplan at a lower dosage.
I will be discussing things further with pdoc in a couple of days.
Thanks for listening and all of your advice.
Courtney
poster:Cseagraves
thread:879090
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20090203/msgs/879268.html