Posted by Marc Boucher on November 21, 2005, at 15:23:03
Hi all, I'm now here.
Last month I went to New York, and met with Dr. Eric Braverman at Pathmedical : http://www.pathmed.com/
I stayed there for two days. On the first day, I'd a physical, then a number of tests namely :
electrocardiogram complete
ultrasound : duplex scan of carotid
Ultrasound : carotid (physiologic)
penile vascular study
urinalysis, non-auto scope
blood draw
dual energy X-ray study of bone density
Doppler echocardiography color flow velocity mapping
echocradiography, transthoracic, real time with image documentation (2D) with or without M-mode recording; complete.
doppler echocardiography, pulsed wave and/or continuous wave with spectral display
Visual evoked potential (VEP) testing central nervous system, checkerboard or flash.
auditory evoked potentials for evoked response audiometry and/or testing of the central nervous system ; comprehensive.
Electroencephalogram (EEG) extended monitoring ; greater than one hour.
Digital analysis of electroencephalogram (EEG) (eg. for epileptic spike analysis).
Neurobehevioral status exam (clinical assessment of thinking, reasoning and judgement, eg, acquired knowledge, attention, memory, visual spatial abilities, language functions, planning) with interpretation and report, per hour
Millon/MMPI-II
MBT/Murphy-Meis
WMS II/Wais R
GAMAAll of the above are the tests that I was performed. Now regarding my hormone blood test results I don't have any printout of those yet, but I spoke with Dr. Braverman last week and he said that :
thyroid's fine
Total testosterone is a tad low
Free testosterone is fine
Estradiol is fine
DHEA is elevated
Cortisol is fine
DHT is a tad low
GH is fine
Prolactin is fineHe ordered that DHEA, TT, FT, SHBG be tested. Blood sample was taken and I'm waiting for the results to get in. He wanted DHEA to be re-tested to validate the first elevated value.
The BEAM test results revealed high acetylcholine at 310, high dopamine at 9.3 mV, and low GABA and Serotonin (5-HT).
The final diagnosis was : Dysthymia and ADHD for which he prescribed the following :
magnesium
zinc
brain energy
brain mood
cernilton
prostate formula
citrinate/citrin chromium
brain calm
brain memory
vitamin D3
Vitamin E
CLA
fish oil
CES (cranial electrical stimulation)
DHEA
Ativan 1 Mg (PM)
Klonopin 0.5 Mg (bedtime)
Paxil 10 Mg (morning)My most obvious symptom is loss of libido--that is the reason why I went to see Dr. Braverman about. I've not started on the Paxil and other pharmaceutical drugs, as I fear Paxil is further going to worsen my lack of sex drive/desire. I also fear the addiction of Benzos. I've found that tryptophan works a bit towards restoring normal libido, and helps with sleep. I tried taking it in the morning and it made me feel awful. Of course it was originally prescribed as a sleep aid, so taking it for daytime use isn't relevant in my particular case I guess, but I wanted to give it a go nonetheless.
Magnesium and zinc which I'd tried before meeting wit hthe good Dr. and both either taken alone or in combination restore my sex drive to normalcy, and help with attention.
I'm puzzled though cause it seems serotoninergics help with my libido, and that's the part that I DON'T quite understand--everyone keeps telling that Dopamine reigns in libido. I know everyone is different, but I've never read much literature about serotonin boosting a flagging sex drive--in fact I've read quite the opposite in that serotonin is a libido killer, and also causes anogasmia. So now I'm really confused about that.
Further, isn't ADHD connected with dopamine (catecholamines) only ? I think it is connected with a deficiency of dopamine in certain regions of the brain.
The list of formulas including : BRAIN ENERGY, BRAIN MEMORY, BRAIN MOOD, and BRAIN CALM can be seen here for a list of the ingredients they contain : http://www.totalhealthsupplements.com/ph/vitamins.html
I'd like to get some of your feedbacks WRT natural options that have helped some of you with Dysthymia and ADHD.
I'll keep a close watch on this posting.
Thanks all in advance.
Marc
poster:Marc Boucher
thread:580925
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/alter/20051025/msgs/580925.html