Posted by tom2228 on June 12, 2015, at 18:37:27
In reply to Where can I learn about all serotonin receptors?, posted by kilo8 on June 11, 2015, at 21:43:52
> I would be interested in knowing what kind of effects agonizing or antagonizing the different 5HT receptors has and WHICH drugs effect the different receptors.
> Are there sites which sum this up?
>
> Does this even make sense? I mean is it likely that you can find your "perfect drug" this way by looking at what kind of effect it would have to block 5HTx and then you look which drug does this and then take it.
>
> Or does this make no sense?It can be interesting if you're into neuropsychopharm... But it's of no practical relevance when it comes to your own treatment.
For example the finding that 5-HT2c antagonists release dopamine and norepinephrine in certain brain areas may sound intriguing, but more dopamine (for example) does not mean relief; in some disorders there may be "too much" activity of a neurotransmitter in one area and "too little" in another (gross oversimplification) or a dysregulation of activities of several neurotransmitters. Everyone's neurochemistry is different, and in any individual disrupting the balance of chemicals in any one brain area may be either beneficial, detrimental, or a net result.
Now add in the fact that pretty much none of the drugs we have out there, even most research chemicals, are selective for any one particular neural target -- by the time you've attempted to add a certain medication to touch upon the receptor you have in mind, you're adding the multiple other targets of that drug whose effects all interact so it becomes impossible to sort out what has happened, and by that time you've identified a particular receptor target, you've got a huge confirmation bias -- placebo effect.
It's as logical as stating that the defining feature of a rainbow is the color orange.
It is the combined action of all the neuropharmacological targets of a drug at a given dose, the individual's biology, and the individual's current psychosocial issues (big one!) and the presence of other meds the person is on, all interacting to produce a response to a particular medication.
I'm sorry you're having a rough time finding a combination that works for you, but this way of thinking isn't going to help. But thinking about all this is a nice way of distracting yourself from the work you could be doing to improve your symptoms. Meds don't do much if you don't work on yourself. Except for 2.5mg Zyprexa and half the amount of Abilify, I'm on the same regimen I was 6 months ago when I was suicidal, unemployed, terrible anxiety and prostituting myself for i.v. meth... Now I'm in or close to full remission, working near full time, sober and happy. Yes medication plays a huge role because I dod not respond well to the 42 other meds I took before, and the minor changes to the Abilify and Zyprexa did help... But the major thing that changed was me.
poster:tom2228
thread:1079665
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20150520/msgs/1079706.html