Posted by Conundrum on November 7, 2010, at 11:04:18
In reply to Re: Chemicals And Fillers, posted by linkadge on November 7, 2010, at 7:54:18
I felt strangely religious after coming off prozac 7 years ago. I started reading the Bible and became more of a Christian on my own than a Catholic. I also was very obsessive about things, like one girl who rejected me. I couldn't stop thinking about her for a year until I met my next g/f. It was a very intense period of my life. I also was into astrology and numerology, which generally doesn't work with Christianity, but in my mind at the time all were connected, and sometimes I felt that connection and it was very moving. Sometimes I'd well up at work. The downside was I also believed in a lot of conspiracy theories. So my head really was not in the right place. Also I thought about religion so much I could not enjoy life, since according to strict Christian beliefs most fun things were off limits. No more rock music, or movies with violence. Also I had to wrap my head around the fact that most of the earth's population was going to hell and was I cool believing and loving a god that would do that.
Well I had been taking ginkgo since stopping prozac and it didn't help much with memory. So after about 2 years I stopped it and a month later the religious/paranoid feelings went away. The anhedonia got much worse, and part of me felt like the world had died, but I had my rational mind back. I was no longer tormented by thoughts of if I was going to hell, or my family and friends, or whether people are elected or choose to believe in Christ. I was able to look at the Bible and see contradictions and things that just don't make sense to a logical mind. The same was true with the conspiracies, they all just fell apart. I am no longer religious and no longer paranoid. I don't get that connectedness feeling, but I am much more peaceful now and glad its over. Although I miss the creativity when playing music.
My guess is that after stopping prozac there was some kind of dopaminergic rebound that ginkgo biloba made even worse, which triggered religious, connectness, and paranoid feelings. Stopping ginkgo allowed me to return to a more recognizable and rational version of myself.
So I do think chemicals can increase and decrease religious feelings.
It was one of the best/worst/ most interesting periods of my life. Most people will never get to experience that, but I'm not sure I can say they should envy that.
> >What is great about Dex is that I know it >doesn't interfere with my christian >spirituality, where Ritalin/Concerta does.
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> Because I have had waxing and waning of spirituality on certain medications, I often ask myslef how accurate my religious belief system can be, if my connection with God is blocked by a molecule. Maybe I am inducing a brain chemistry similar to that of an athiest? How can I go back to "believing", in an all powerful force which can be selectively shut out by a simple molecule. What about the children raised on ritalin? If they fail to develop a meaninful connection with God because of the actions of methylphenidate imposed on them from early life, are they destined for hell? Could there concievably be a drug which works the opposite way? I.e. a drug which turns an athiest into a believer? If so, would religious groups deem it ethical to use such drugs as part of their church growing practices? You know, "welcome to the neighbourhood, try this pie spiked with Religinoft --> if you feel strangely religious, here's our church's buisness card". What about patients, like yourself, who respond well to a drug except for the disturbing side effect of "loss of religous belief", would they be candidates for Religinoft augmentation? Hmm, maybe I should start such an application on freepatents.com.....
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Complaints: post-SSRI problems: anhedonia, memory and concentration problems, sexual dysfunction. )
Country:USA
Currently taking mirtazapine and tianeptine
poster:Conundrum
thread:968420
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20101107/msgs/968951.html