Sometimes people care about taking care of and helping people who seem to be out of control. I was very young and thought that if I loved him enough, I could help him get past all his problems. I have a lot of compassion for people, and he seemed to need my help and even begged for my help to change. I have trouble turning my back on people who ask for my help, and yes... that has lead me down a path of danger in more than one instance. It was nearly 20 years ago, and I learned my lesson. I don't involve myself with people who would put my life in danger any more, but I wouldn't change it because despite having a son who is bipolar, he's a beautifully creative child and he's smart and funny. We all make mistakes, draqon. Me, maybe more than most, but I do the best I can with what I have and what I have is a very big heart. I genuinely care for other people, and I'd rather be loving and caring, passionate and kind... then be someone who really doesn't care about my fellow man. In the end, it's the impact you have on others that is your true legacy, and I know that I have always treated people with love and respect despite what I did or did not get out of it. I do a lot of volunteer work, I participate in fund raising events, and I spend my Sunday afternoons at the nursing home teaching ladies how to knit and knitting booties and shawls for them in my spare time. I haven't always made the right choices for myself, but I have loved to the best of my ability and for that, I won't ever apologize or be ashamed.
Sound like you had a shit time, but you shouldn't let your personal experiences colour what Stryder was actually saying in his post.
Well, for example, I no longer drink alcohol midweek, nor caffeine after midday. Both as you know are diuretics, and of course, if you are drinking a diuretic, you aren't drinking the water you need to replace what you pee, so I guess people that drink booze and caffeine are likely to suffer from slight dehydration. That can mean concentration problems, loss of motivation and mean tiredness can come on more easily, and that sleep will be less restful. Couple this with a poor diet and sedentary lifestyle (which I've never had) and this can exacerbate other problems. I think people sometimes forget they are apes, with electric light bulbs. Despite modern distractions, we need to look after our inner ape. Treat that ape to a decent diet, fresh air, exercise and sleep. Give it a frikking banana, and cut down on processed foods. Do Zookeepers give their apes burgers, fries, and cola? Keep them up late? Make them sit still for hours on end? No? I wonder why!
that is why you cant take things personally on the internet because you dont know what the other person is going through. generally speaking.
Despite your assertions otherwise, I am not basing my opinion on "personal experience" but on the many seminars, classes and support groups I have sat through because of my personal experience. But here, since you just want to beat a dead horse and think your opinion constitutes exactly what Stryder was saying, which is the same thing you are accusing me of; http://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/publications/bipolar-disorder/complete-index.shtml http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/bipolar-disorder/DS00356 http://www.enotalone.com/article/4114.html http://www.mentalhealthamerica.net/...zophrenia/schizophrenia-what-you-need-to-know No amount of diet/exercises/sleep will help someone with a chemical imbalance of dopamine and seratonin in their brain. It can be verified with a PET scan, and has at least for my son and I know others as well. You simply should not tell someone that those things will lessen their symptoms. It will for someone with mild to moderate depression maybe, but that's not science either, is it? It may even seem to lessen the symptons temporarily of someone with a chemical imbalance, but they should be seen by a medical professional, not a gym guru who things they are doing right by them but are really prologing the treatment they need to improve their quality of life. You have to study the person, they symptoms and the brain before you dole out advise on how to fix them. Again, this is not based on my personal experience or personal emotion, but a lot of reading and studying in an effort to help my son. I'm not "taking things personally" or being emotional. I am saying this because telling someone that there is nothing wrong with them that they can't fix and setting that unattainable goal for them is negligible.
"chemical imbalances" are responsible for every emotion. Every time you feel sad it's because of a reduction In Serotonin, dopamine, norepinephrine, endorphins, and/or endocannabinoids. This does not just happen in so called clinically depressed people. My major problem with using drugs to treat neurological disorders is a lack of testing. If someone is depressed, tests should be performed to see if his body is not producing sufficient quantities of the neurotransmitters known to influence mood. If one them is low, than treat the patient with a drug which raises levels of that particular neurotransmitter. Currently, subjective questionaires and evaluation of symptoms are used to determine if a person is depressed. If a person is determined to have depression, an SSRI is almost always prescribed. The obvious problem with this is that serotonin is not the only neurotransmitter known to effect mood. My guess is that many people who are on SSRIs do not have a problem with serotonin but with one of the many other neurotransmitters.
breaker there are reasons SSRI's are used rather than other drugs. The other widely used drug is a NARI (nor-adrenilin reuptake inhibitor) however this one can have serious cardiac effects because nor-adrenilin and adrenilin (which it breaks down into) effect the sympathetic nervious system. Seritonin has alot less systemic effects which means by boasting it you can cover for drops in other nerotransmitters and yet still exclusivly target the brain
While serotonin can cause depressive behavior if sufficient quantities are not produced, it is certainly not the only neurotransmitter in the brain which plays a role in depression. Even some hormones such as testosterone, estrogen, DHEA, and cortisol can make one depressed if levels are low. Why than would you treat depression which could be caused by low testosterone, dopamine, or acetylcholine with something which increases serotonin levels? Tests should be performed on every person who is suspected to be clinically depressed to make sure that low serotonin is the cause. Another problem I have with antidepressants is doctors fail to inform their patient of the numerous side effects of the drugs such as weight gain, apathy, sexual dysfunction, and possible permanent changes in brain chemistry not to mention the inevitable withdrawal symptoms.
i cant comment on where you live but thats simply not true here. For starters the law REQUIRES them to inform there pts, so must the pharmisist AND the drug itself must have info on side effects. Secondly, its difficult to test for ALL of those hormones and nero transmitters and gain any sort of insight as to which paticular one is at fault, just excluding normal variations would be dam near impossable. Lastly even if they COULD pinpoint a paticular hormone or nerotransmiter which was low in the brain doesnt mean its low systemically and there for boasting it could have MASSIVE side effects. lets go through some of them shall we? Nor-adrelilin, increased workload on the heart leading to arythmia's, increased vasoconstriction leading to necrosis at the extremities endorphins, work on the morphine parth ways. Get this one wrong and the pt stops breathing and doesnt even know it endocannabinoids, i dont know much about these so i will need to check them out testosterone increased agression, increased sex drive (good side effect for the most part), increased HR possably leading to arythmias through increased sympathetic nervious activation estrogen im unsure of any side effects with this except breast growth in men and an increased chance of breast cancer in both sexes. Oh and for some reason, increased chance of stroke through increased clotting dopamine increased risks of alzimers DHEA dont know this one cortisol- athrytes, cardio vascular disease Seritonin on the other hand as far as im awear only has 2 effects. Its mood effects and a slight involvment in inflimation. There for its the safest to play with
Sure, they have to warn them of the potential drowsiness, nausea, and dizziness, but I'm sure that most people taking antidepressants are not well informed of their potential, more serious side effects and withdrawal symptoms. I can tell you from experience that doctors are ready to suggest SSRIs at the very mention of possible depression without discussing the other options. They already prescribe SNRIs for depression. Hell, they prescribe AMPHETAMINE to kids who supposedly have ADD. Obviously, the FDA doesn't think drugs which increase norepinephrine have to great a side effects profile to be prescribed. A small increase in endorphins, especially if they were already low, would not cause morphine like respiratory depression. The increased aggression caused by testosterone is grossly overestimated in the media. It is rare and if testosterone is low, exogeneous testosterone can actually help make a person more calm. Increasing dopamine levels above natural levels could lead to numerous side effects such as compulsive behaviour, but I have never seen a study or even read that increased dopamine could lead to alzheimer's. In fact, dopamerginc drugs may help to lessen some of the symptoms of alzheimer's. While there are many side effects of to much cortisol, there are side effects to not having enough cortisol as well: low energy, weakness, and yes, depression. Even if the potential side effects to increasing all of these hormones were great, it would seem that they would still have their use. After all, if a person is depressed and on the verge of committing suicide aren't a few side effects worth feeling better? And speaking of side effects, surely you have heard the horror stories of antidepressants permanently changing people's personality or of their horrible withdrawal symptoms?
the point your overlooking is that metabolically the levels may well be NORMAL (or even high) and yet they are low in the brain. So how do you expect to hold the effects PURLY in the CNS? as i said thats why seritonin is used, because it has the least amount of metabolic effects making it the safest to use. Your right about the endorphines effect though. You just want to be VERY sure they are closly monitored when you put them onto it. In fact hospital protocal for morphine (oviously in pain relief) is that the person has to at least have nasal specs on and an SpO2 monitor because of the chances of respitory depression. Now its POSSABLE this wouldnt be a problem in low doses but you also have to concider that the pt may well be used to a lower than normal range for morphine and there for more suseptable to its effects. Further more im glad you brought up peads. What effect do you think introducing sex hormones into a pead would have? Not to mention that the sex hormones (especially testostirone) have some VERY interesting Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image! effects if missused. For instance apart from rage they can cause female development in men because of the build up of estrogen as a result (look at all the former east german swimmers if you dont belive me MASSIVE tits in men and alot of them of both sexes have now had sex changes)
Perhaps there is no simple test which can determine the level of neurotransmitters in the brain, but I know they can test for neurotransmitter receptors using brain scaning and imagining and specific drugs. I certainly would rather pay for a brain scan then pay for some possibly unnecessary drugs which could have lifelong consequences. I'm not sure what you mean by pead, so I can't comment. As I stated earlier, increased aggression as a rare side effect which can occur if testosterone levels are boosted far above their normal levels as is the case with AAS abusers. Gynecomastia as well, tends to occur only when estrogen levels are far above normal due to AAS abuse. These are not side effects which occur when testosterone is boosted into the normal range.
peadiatrics, ie kids And as for the rest what i mean is that you assume what your talking about is easy. Sure just test for a low transmitter and then boast it but that is simply not the way the body works. Your incorectly assuming that because something is low in the CNS its low (or even normal) in the rest of the body and that just boosting it will fix the problem. Thats just not the case, as i said nor adrealine could well be low in the CNS and HIGH in the rest of the body so you boost it and cause tachicardia progressing to ectopic beats and then to VT. Thats why salbutamol (ventalin) was invented in the first place because it was to dangerious to give adrenaline for every asthma atack because of its cardiac effects so they had to find a SPECIFIC beta 2 acting drug. Nor adrelinilin is certainly NOT selective and when it metabolises into adrenilin its DEFINITLY not. Your also assuming that even if something IS low that the body hasnt naturally adapted to funtion with a lower amount of it. Here morphine is a perfect example because if you look at adicts it takes stronger and stronger doses to get them high. Its logical to assume the reverse is true to and if you just give a shot to bring a person back to "normal" you are risking opioid induced type 2 (wont breath) respitory failure which is even more dangerious than type 1 because the pt cant tell its happerning (there is no struggle to breath). For the sex hormones just look at where we are currently doing exactly as your suggesting. Ie hormone replacement theorpy for women post menopause. The dangers in just that group FAR out weight an SSRI and thats ignoring the unkown effects these drugs would have on reproduction if we started using them on younger men and women and even children. I mean think about that, we already have problems with early pubity and we could be giving hormones which induce it because they are low on them? How are you going to keep the doses stable and that exact as to prevent the side effects like early pubity and yet still have the stabilising effects? How are you going to make sure these drugs ONLY work in the CNS and not systemically?
Perhaps prodrugs are the answer. Similar to the way we treat parkinson's by coadministering L-dopa and carbidopa, to prevent L-dopa from being metabolized into dopamine in the periphery. Or maybe we can develop drugs which only act on receptors which are specific to the CNS. For example, CB1 receptors are found almost exclusively in the brain, where as CB2 almost exclusively in the periphery. If we developed drugs which acted solely on CB1 receptors we could complete eliminate the peripheral side effects of cannabinoids. The body never fully adapts to low levels of neurotransmitters. Does a drug addict ever become so tolerant that they function as a normal person? We know that exogeneous testosterone greatly lowers sperm count, but if a person is willing to accept this side effect I don't see any dangers of giving a person who has already gone through puberty testosterone to boost them into the normal range.
Cymbalta - aww. i agree with you Liebling... What is Cymbalta? Cymbalta (duloxetine HCI) is approved for the treatment of depression and generalized anxiety disorder, and for the management of diabetic peripheral neurophatic pain and fibromyalgia. :roflmao:
