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Dr. Bob is Robert Hsiung, MD,
bob@dr-bob.orgShown: posts 1 to 5 of 5. This is the beginning of the thread.
Posted by BrianM on October 18, 2010, at 15:18:04
I currently am suffering from schizophrenia and the depression that it sometimes can cause. A while ago I took about 500mg L-Glutamine and was symptom free for about 30 minutes, only to have another 30 minute 'crash' if you will where I was floridly psychotic, quite worse than before. My question is, what could the problem be that Glutamine causes me this remission of symptoms only to have them come right back?
Posted by Lao Tzu on October 18, 2010, at 16:57:14
In reply to Glutamine Crash, posted by BrianM on October 18, 2010, at 15:18:04
Yes, I am also schizophrenic and had a similar experience with Glutamine. Feels pretty good for a while, a little more energy, then later makes you feel worse. There is a theory that the neurotransmitters Glutamate and GABA play a part in schizophrenia on the NMDA receptors in the brain. Taking Glutamine, thereby, might make a schizophrenic feel worse, whereas Glycine might actually calm a schizophrenic. Further, I remember before my psychosis when I was taking Ativan, a benzodiazepine for anxiety, that eventually the Ativan started to slow me down, so I took 500mg of L-Glutamine for a while, and this combination Ativan plus Glutamine felt like I was more balanced. Without the Ativan, the Glutamine never worked the same. And in fact, I hate the side effects of Glutamine now, so I stay away from it. I still don't understand fully why Glutamine would make you feel worse, just know that it does.
Posted by Hyena on October 24, 2010, at 18:05:49
In reply to Glutamine Crash, posted by BrianM on October 18, 2010, at 15:18:04
> I currently am suffering from schizophrenia and the depression that it sometimes can cause. A while ago I took about 500mg L-Glutamine and was symptom free for about 30 minutes, only to have another 30 minute 'crash' if you will where I was floridly psychotic, quite worse than before. My question is, what could the problem be that Glutamine causes me this remission of symptoms only to have them come right back?
the problem may be glutamate induced toxicity. L-Glutamine can convert to GABA or glutamate. i tried taking it once hoping it would reduce my anxiety but it made me much worse. some of us may have problems converting it to GABA or we are over sensetive to glutamate.
Posted by Lao Tzu on October 26, 2010, at 10:43:49
In reply to Re: Glutamine Crash » BrianM, posted by Hyena on October 24, 2010, at 18:05:49
Yes, I believe there are problems with glutamate and GABA in schizophrenia, so taking Glutamine might cause problems. I'm not saying Glutamine will necessarily cause psychotic symptoms. Maybe it would, but I never found that to be the case. Instead it may cause imbalances between glutamate and GABA which can be troublesome for schizophrenics as they may already have problems with these two neurotransmitters.
Lao
Posted by linkadge on November 22, 2010, at 7:06:09
In reply to Re: Glutamine Crash » BrianM, posted by Hyena on October 24, 2010, at 18:05:49
Along those lines...
Perhaps the glutamate boost was actually helping your schizophrenia. Some studies suggest that there is a hypofunction of glutamatergic function in schizophrenia. This is why glycine an NMDA receptor agonist improves symptoms.
Perhaps when you initially took it, you got a boost in glutamate which improved symptoms. After this you metabolized it to gaba which lowered glutamate.
This is the end of the thread.
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