Posted by Lao Tzu on August 31, 2008, at 16:11:37
In reply to GABA and Dopamine, posted by Justin Fernandez on August 22, 2008, at 17:22:50
I have to ask, what exactly are you suffering from? Unipolar depression, anxiety, Bipolar depression? It could be very complicated and wanting to increase GABA and dopamine could either harm you or help you. If you suffer from a mood disorder, then increasing GABA is one way to go. Medicines that do this include Depakote, Gabitril, and maybe Topamax. They are mood stabilizers and are used for epilepsy, mood disorders, and they are used in depression along with antidepressants. If you are clinically depressed, a natural supplement you can try is SAM-E. This supposedly helps increase dopamine, but if you have problems with dopamine, like say bipolars and schizophrenics do, then SAM-E won't really help. It may even make you more anxious if you have severe anxiety. A medication called Wellbutrin XL is for depression and it increases dopamine. It is a dopamine re-uptake inhibitor. It does help a lot of people with depression when serotonin drugs don't work for them, but doctors usually try serotonin drugs first. Another class of drugs that also increases dopamine as well as serotonin and norepinephrine is called MAO (monoamine oxidase) inhibitors. Examples are Parnate and Nardil. I suggest that if you are really going through a rough time and you can't function well in your daily life, to at least go talk to a doctor and get some information about medications that can help you. It's not always as simple as just increasing GABA and dopamine. Good luck and hope you find what you're looking for. :)
poster:Lao Tzu
thread:847727
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/alter/20080612/msgs/849508.html