Posted by bleauberry on November 16, 2007, at 19:26:09
In reply to Re: Does l-phenylalnine inhibit natural dopamine p, posted by Anonymoose on November 15, 2007, at 7:40:27
I sympathize with you. I am in that anhedonic state too. I always figured it was a dopamine thing or a norepinephrine thing. But honestly, everything I have tried along those lines, either natural or drug, made me feel so much worse. I am now of the thought that it is not a matter of how much NA or DA are there, but how much is firing. How much actual communication is going on between cells.
Keep in mind that no matter how much DA or NA you have onhand, they are controlled by the glands...adrenal and pituitary. You can increase DA and NA all you want, but if those glands are sluggish, the neuros won't work. A saliva test (4 samples in a day) can be taken by online labs to measure your adrenal function. Wouldn't surprise me at all if it is burned out, based on drug history, the stress those drugs put on the adrenals, and your symptoms.
The first hint of this to me was when I was on antidepressants and I had a daily pattern...fair morning, bad sinking in the afternoon, miraculous recovery feeling quite well in the evening. Every day. Over and over. When I got my adrenals tested, guess what, my cortisol levels followed the pattern exactly...or more accurately, caused the pattern.
A cheap easy test...buy good quality Maca Root powder, tab, or capsule. Try it. It directly stimulates all the glands...adrenals, pituitary, hypothalamus, and thyroid (but doesn't increase thyroid lab readings). You should know within 1 day to 1 week what it does for you. If it does anything and you like it, then you know your problems are not neurotransmitter related, but glandular related.
What is really strange with me is that while our symptoms seem related to DA or NA, serotonin manipulation actually helps me more. DA and NA manipulation make me worse, or if they work they only do so for a day or two. Again, that is a sign of sluggish glands unable to keep up.
Sounds easy enough. But treating hypoadrenalism (low cortisol) is a marathon of its own. Unless you can find a doc who will prescribe phsyiological replacement doses of hydorcortisone (5mg 1 to 3 times per day). Those docs are rare. Also, keep in mind thyroid. Even if your T3, free T3, T4 free T4, TSH and thyroid antibody tests all look "normal", a doctor needs to treat the patient not the numbers on paper. Many people who appear normal on paper, but have symptoms, have improved dramatically with small doses of T3 or Armour.
I don't know. We all tend to get engrossed in thinking about how the brain works, but we forget about the control centers that are telling the brain what to do. No matter how many neuros we give the brain either naturally or artificially, if the brain isn't getting the right instructions on what to do with them, they are useless.
Mercury clogs up receptors causing many psychiatric disturbances, anhedonia being one of them. No matter how much NA or DA is there, it doesn't matter because the receptors are clogged. Do you have amalgam fillings? Have you had a lot of flu shots? If so, you need look no further to figure out where the anhedonia and sluggish glands are coming from.
Anyway, just stuff to think about. I hope deprenyl works great. That would be awesome.
poster:bleauberry
thread:795241
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/alter/20071031/msgs/795511.html