Posted by bleauberry on October 18, 2010, at 18:58:51
In reply to my personal update, posted by Effexor survivor on October 16, 2010, at 12:50:39
I think longterm use of SSRIs is a dangerous thing. We see it pop up more and more. Some have called it post-ssri syndrome. Basically hypersensitivity to many things...supplements, herbs, meds...and paradoxical reactions being the norm rather than the exception. Brain fog, inability to feel pleasure...but not necessarily depressed. Almost as if something in the dopamine and norepinephrine circuits got screwed up from all the serotonin.
But someone may say Effexor is an SNRI, not SSRI. That's a nice marketing gimic. In reality, Effexor has very little impact on norepinephrine. It is predominantly a potent serotonin med with some as yet unidentified link to the opioid system, and a smidgen of norepinephrine at higher doses and a smidgen of dopamine at even higher doses. But still, almost all serotonin the whole time no matter what dose. It is not anywhere close to being balanced. Marketing, not reality.
For longterm users I strongly prefer to see balanced approaches such as Zoloft+Nortriptyline, so that the treatment does not artificially impact one particular neurotransmitter at the expense of its cousin. Results are usually faster, more complete, and long lasting that way. Psychotripical.com has a lot to say on that topic that I happen to agree with.
So where to go from here? Well, no one knows what is happening, only a few even recognize it is happening, so it's hard to know what to do. We don't know what we're dealing with.
With me, it means starting any new supplements, herbs, or meds, at ultra low doses. Really small. I've gotten good at making tiny custom doses from pills or capsules. With me, it means strict attention to food choices. Only from experimentation can one discover which foods favor them and which are not doing any favors. Food is more powerful than people think it is.
I believe the immune system and hormones have been impacted.
It makes sense to turn to plants that are known for repairing, dealing with stress, fixing what is broken. The knowledge of these comes from thousands of years of use and literally hundreds of studies. They include such plants as eleuthero, licorice root, japanese knotweed, teasel root, and others. Some of the mushrooms...Reishi, Cordyceps...beneficial. These kinds of things are specific for balancing an array of biochemical processes.
The single best med I know of for this situation? LDN. Low dose naltrexone. Learn more about it at its home page. Improvement in brain fog, depression, energy, and a wide array of healing for all kinds of things. I think the discoveries on LDN are just in the early stage but are already more than impressive.
Since I suffer from the same experience as you, with chronic infection layered into to, I can attest to the goodness the above items can bring to an ailing body/nervous system. The trick...super tiny doses when starting anything.
I do not personally believe this is something that time will heal. Something has definitely been thrown out of whack and will stay that way endlessly until nudged back into place.
LDN first. Then experiment with the healthy plants of the world. For every disease or condition, there is a plant to treat it.
poster:bleauberry
thread:965980
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20101009/msgs/966182.html