Posted by Questionmark on November 11, 2007, at 22:08:13
In reply to you have a point, but I think it's not so bad. » Questionmark, posted by rgb on November 6, 2007, at 12:25:44
I'm basically of the opinion that, given enough time, eventually an SSRI will begin to exert the zombie effect, so to speak. Maybe that's pessimistic; maybe it's wrong. It could very well be for some people. But it's how i feel about it. I hope your positive response to sertraline continues.
And i don't mean one becomes completely like a zombie, like it is black and white. Of course there are variations on the scale. Also, if it is only "making the negative emotions more manageable," that is not what I'm talking about. I'm specifically referring to a condition in which both positive and negative emotions are dampened.
P.S. That was a great if simple point about the difference between strictly serotonergically derived happiness or well-being and "dopamine euphoria"-- that there "is zero desire to redose" with the former. I never really thought about it in those terms (that i remember), but it's completely true and a good way to describe the difference. Strange actually, too.P.P.S. In your second post you stated the following:
"I do find MAOIs interesting, but since sertraline works for me so far, I don't want to bother with MAOI interactions. Also, noone seems to want to prescribe the "irreversible" and nonselective ones, which look most promising to me."
First, if an SSRI is working for you, then ***by ALL MEANS*** stay on it before trying to get onto an MAOI. I would actually try to talk you out of getting on an MAOI. Absolutely. But for people in whom they're not working, especially if severely depressed or "debilitated" (or if having certain comorbid anxiety disorders), my stance is stop freaking struggling with that same class of drugs and try an MAOI.
And yes, you also will find that trying to find someone to prescribe you an MAOI can be a freaking chore in itself-- which is ridiculous, unfortunate, and unnecessary, in my opinion.> Sorry to hear that you had difficult experiences with them.
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> But what makes you think that your experience is a "inevitability" (unless you were only talking about how they affect /you/ there)?
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> I've been on sertraline for half a year and it's still working fine. Though I agree that the beginning was the best (I had some really nice feelings starting on day 3, but as you say, not the stimulant-kind euphoria, actually it slightly reminded me of 5-HT2A agonists :) A major advantage over dopamine euphoria is that there is zero desire to redose.).
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> Maybe the apathy will slowly creep up on me, but for now I will stick with the sertraline and see how it affects me /personally/.
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> I do have /some/ dampened emotions (mostly negative ones are dampened, I was pretty anhedonic at base-line anyway). I don't think this is necessarily bad. It doesn't mean that one is a zombie, it's not so black and white. It might merely make the negative emotions manageable. There is more to life than emotionality; I for one like the fact that it seems to enable me to think beyond my negative feelings, look at outside things.
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> Motivation still seems to be somewhat increased.
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> I do try to counteract the dampening with caffeine (I don't have to watch the dose for anxiety reasons anymore :)) and nicotine gum though. Not sure whether it's doing anything in the long-run when you are tolerant though.
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> Regards,
> rgb
poster:Questionmark
thread:793535
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20071104/msgs/794484.html