Posted by Lao Tzu on January 31, 2011, at 13:00:34
Probiotics may affect tryptophan levels over time, I read somewhere. Not that I really care about tryptophan levels. I'm already taking an SSRI and I still have social anxiety. I did read somewhere about someone who used specific brands of Probiotics to cure his social anxiety. I can't find any other source to back it up, but I have been investigating the link between health of the digestive system and its impact on the mind. So far, it seems rather vague to me, not a lot of scientific proof or clinical trials. I do in fact believe that the mind and gut are closely tied together because I have had digestive problems ever since I've had the bipolar disorder/schizophrenia. A long time ago it started off as sluggish bowel with a lot of severe constipation, bloating, gas, etc. More recently, it's been a very severe case of GERD. The sluggish bowel is nearly gone due to the medications I'm on. In other words, the doctor treated the depression, so the bowel problem resolved itself. Similarly, if you treat a gastrointestinal problem with a drug, it likely will have some impact on the brain due to a sharing of similar neurotransmitters. Whether Probiotics will have a significant impact on mental health is debatable, but it is in the realm of possibility. To what degree, I don't know. Could it cure a mental illness completely? I'm skeptical. I just haven't seen the proof yet. However, I have begun taking a probiotic everyday to see if it helps with anxiety over the long-term. I will post my results in a couple months if I stay with the treatment.
Lao
poster:Lao Tzu
thread:978392
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/alter/20101202/msgs/978392.html