![[dr. bob]](/dr-bob-sm.gif)
Dr. Bob is Robert Hsiung, MD,
bob@dr-bob.orgShown: posts 1 to 7 of 7. This is the beginning of the thread.
Posted by Psycho D on September 1, 2003, at 1:56:03
Hello,
I've been studying a little bit about different pyscho acting drugs and i have my first appointment with a psychiatrist ever in a week.... soooo i was just wondering if anyone out there could tell me what are the differences between dopamine and seratonin. My basic understanding is that dopamine is the neurotransmitter that has to do with "pleasure" and is usually stimulating... where as seratonin is more a mood regulator and constitutes well-being. I assume to COMPLETELY understand this you need to go to medical school or something but if anyone could enlighten me a little more on this i would be very grateful.:) I want to go into my first appointment with a pretty good understanding on how it all worksI also ask this because my pract. prescribed me 5 mg. dexedrine and when i take it it makes me feel 'good', but doesn't really cure any ADD for me, it only seems to stimulate my ADD, making it worse. (lol if that makes any sense) I feel like a praire dog on it, like i look around at everything and can't really just chill! I also took in hopes of an added benefit for my Social anxiety and sometimes and i sorta feel more talkative on it but it kind of makes me impatient, serious, and... well a jerk. Anyone have similar experiences on stimulants??
Posted by Caleb462 on September 1, 2003, at 2:22:45
In reply to DOPAMINE vs. SERATONIN....?, posted by Psycho D on September 1, 2003, at 1:56:03
> Hello,
> I've been studying a little bit about different pyscho acting drugs and i have my first appointment with a psychiatrist ever in a week.... soooo i was just wondering if anyone out there could tell me what are the differences between dopamine and seratonin. My basic understanding is that dopamine is the neurotransmitter that has to do with "pleasure" and is usually stimulating... where as seratonin is more a mood regulator and constitutes well-being. I assume to COMPLETELY understand this you need to go to medical school or something but if anyone could enlighten me a little more on this i would be very grateful.:) I want to go into my first appointment with a pretty good understanding on how it all worksYou seem to have got the jist of it.... in a very simplified way. But trust me, you aren't going to be going into your first appointment with a good understanding of how it all works - not even neuroscientists and psychopharmacologists know how it all works.
The brain and body's serotonin system is enormously complex, much more so than the dopamine system - thus it is much harder to generalize about the serotonin system. Dopamine controls drive, motivation, sexual activity, reward/pleasure - as well as involuntary movement.
Serotonin tends to act as a filter for sensory information, perhaps emotional response, etc. It is the "civilising" neurotransmitter, and keeps a check on what information is conciouslesly perceived and and/or acted upon - or that is the theory atleast.
>
> I also ask this because my pract. prescribed me 5 mg. dexedrine and when i take it it makes me feel 'good', but doesn't really cure any ADD for me, it only seems to stimulate my ADD, making it worse. (lol if that makes any sense) I feel like a praire dog on it, like i look around at everything and can't really just chill! I also took in hopes of an added benefit for my Social anxiety and sometimes and i sorta feel more talkative on it but it kind of makes me impatient, serious, and... well a jerk. Anyone have similar experiences on stimulants??
>
>
Posted by cybercafe on September 1, 2003, at 4:17:05
In reply to DOPAMINE vs. SERATONIN....?, posted by Psycho D on September 1, 2003, at 1:56:03
i find serotonin tends to make the things i'm not doing right now seem really fun and interesting, whereas dopamine tends to make what i am doing now really fun and interesting
Posted by DSCH on September 1, 2003, at 6:49:29
In reply to DOPAMINE vs. SERATONIN....?, posted by Psycho D on September 1, 2003, at 1:56:03
http://www.nutritional-healing.com.au/neurotransmitters.htm
Don't forget norepinepherine and acetylcholine and GABA too. Note also that too much is also bad. It's about having a proper balance.
Blake, what were your refs for that chart?
The receptor up/down regulation business that causes the delayed reaction response to the reuptake inhibitors I do not understand yet. It would appear that simply raising the number of available neurotransmitter molecules of a "deficient" class in the synaptic gap does not always do the job by itself.
Linkadge has some interesting things to say regarding the importance of BDNF (brain-derived neurotrophic factor) rather than this set as well.
Posted by Blake G on September 1, 2003, at 21:55:35
In reply to Re: DOPAMINE vs. SERATONIN....? (BlakeG?) » Psycho D, posted by DSCH on September 1, 2003, at 6:49:29
DSCH,
There where dozens of sources of info for this chart including documents by Dr. William Walsh and Physiology text books.
Regards, Blake
Posted by tealady on September 2, 2003, at 5:41:50
In reply to Re: DOPAMINE vs. SERATONIN....? (BlakeG?) » Psycho D, posted by DSCH on September 1, 2003, at 6:49:29
>>
> The receptor up/down regulation business that causes the delayed reaction response to the reuptake inhibitors I do not understand yet. It would appear that simply raising the number of available neurotransmitter molecules of a "deficient" class in the synaptic gap does not always do the job by itself.
>
http://www.psycheducation.org/mechanism/introduction%20to%20mechanism.htmNot sure if you've seen this, I think it explains downregulation simply
Jan
Posted by DSCH on September 2, 2003, at 13:51:13
In reply to Re: DOPAMINE vs. SERATONIN....? (BlakeG?) » DSCH, posted by tealady on September 2, 2003, at 5:41:50
This is the end of the thread.
Psycho-Babble Medication | Extras | FAQ
Dr. Bob is Robert Hsiung, MD,
bob@dr-bob.org
Script revised: February 4, 2008
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/cgi-bin/pb/mget.pl
Copyright 2006-17 Robert Hsiung.
Owned and operated by Dr. Bob LLC and not the University of Chicago.