Posted by morgan miller on July 3, 2011, at 0:19:59
In reply to Re: Zyprexa - Reluctant to Take » morgan miller, posted by bleauberry on July 2, 2011, at 20:35:55
BB, I'm glad you came out of your experience with Zyprexa unscathed. I unforntunately do not believe I did. I never had the problems I have had in recent years until I started taking mood stabilizers and antipsychotics. I never had any major long term issues with brain function after all the times I was on SSRIsl. Everyone's mileage varies though, so I realize that n=1 in my case may not mean much. I will say that I have heard more reports of people feeling that mood stabilizers like lamictal and AP's like Zyprexa screwed them up than SSRIs. I believe all the reports on the internet of SSRIs causing long term issues to be the minority of all the with a history of SSRI use. Also, how can you believe the D2 antagonism is less risky than selective serotonin reuptake inhibition? SSRIs do far more than just selectively inhibit the reuptake of serotonin anyway. They are mostly anti-inflammatory. They can help to restore HPA axis function. Some antagonize sigma 1 receptors(luvox and lexapro), whereas others agonize them(sertraline). Sertraline has been shown to possibly modify the immune system in ways that may be helpful to autoimmune disorders. It also inhibits mTOR and works through another pathway, likely helping to suppress and prevent cancerous growth. I personally think SSRIs get a much worse rap than they deserve. I personally know so so many people that have been on SSRIs for a very long time and are doing just fine.
I completely agree that depression can do a whole lot of damage to the mind. Many people do not take this into consideration when suffering from cognitive function or any other loss of or altering of brain function.
I myself would be very concerned about studies done on monkeys. And who would be out there funding these studies that has an agenda to destroy the reputation of drugs made my big pharma? Other competing drug companies? Maybe, I would like to find out who funded these studies. Actually, I believe one of them was funded by one the company that makes zyprexa and the scientist hired by them tried to spin the results to minimize the results. All I know is that significant brain shrinkage or growth would not be a good thing. And monkeys are out closest animal ancestor genetically, so I'm not so sure we should be brushing these results off because they were not done on humans. As far as brain shrinkage and depression is concerned, I believe the only part of the brain known to be atrophied by depression is the hippocampus, which I do not think was the focus of these studies. My own poor brain is not functioning at the level it should be, so I'm going to have to go back over and read the links I posted to make sure.
poster:morgan miller
thread:989562
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20110630/msgs/990037.html