Posted by Racer on November 18, 2006, at 13:51:00
In reply to Re: CLEVER ONES!..NEED INFO ON BRAIN NEUROTRANSMITTERS » linkadge, posted by tallclaire1982 on November 18, 2006, at 12:09:28
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> THANKS ALOT I WAS HOPING U WOULD JUMP IN LINKAGE. I WAS THINKING I NEEDED SEROTONIN, DOES IT SOUND LIKE IT FROM MY SYMPTOMS? ALSO IF IT MAKES ME MORE ANXIOUS DOES THAT MEAN I DONT NEED SEROTONIN OR THAT I NEED SOMETHING ADDED LIKE SOMETHING TO MAKE UP ANOTHER TRANSMITTER, MAKING SENSE?First, it's a lot easier to read if you take capslock off... ;-)
The thing about the neurotransmitter theories is that they're general guidelines. While the theories are there, and there is support for them, they're not necessarily as black and white as "if you have anxiety, that's serotonin; if concentration is an issue, that's dopamine." It's much more of a "well, anxiety often responds best to serotonergic medications, so it's probably related to the serotonin system..." Also, while the drugs can be broadly classed -- serotinergic drugs, etc -- they're all much less selective than that might sound. While a drug might be basically dopaminergic, for example, it may also effect, say, liver enzymes that will effect something totally unrelated to the dopamine system. The selectivity of these drugs is not absolute. And finally, every time you manipulate one neurotransmitter, you're going to change the balance between them all. Even if you had a drug which ONLY affected one neurotransmitter, it would still create a different ratio between them all. These are the reasons it's not really possible to say, "If you have this symptom, this neurotransmitter has to be changed."
And beyond all that, your mileage will vary... We all react differently to medications, because of differences in our personal chemistry. If you're female, you'll also react slightly differently throughout your menstrual cycle; and everyone will react differently at different stages of life.
So, after all that, what do I think in your case? I think your best bet is to look back at the drugs you've tried, at which of them seemed to help, which made things worse, which symptoms each affected, etc. That's usually a pretty good starting place when you're looking for a new medication. Also, you listed a few pretty vague symptoms, but you didn't mention some other things: is there a pattern to your symptoms? Have you received any diagnosis from a doctor? Is it major depressive disorder? Bipolar? Froot Loops? (I dunno, just ran out of what dx's there are out there...) Those things can make a difference, too.
In terms of your specific symptoms: low moods on some days could be anything -- including normal variation. Could be you're just sad some days, for normal reasons. Concentration troubles can be from anxiety, and OCD-like symptoms are anxiety related. Serotonin is associated with anxiety, so an SSRI is likely a good starting place. (Dopamine isn't particularly associated with anxiety, as far as I know.)
Good luck.
poster:Racer
thread:704599
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20061117/msgs/704899.html