Posted by bleauberry on August 25, 2008, at 20:37:18
In reply to An idea for our own unofficial research, posted by Dinah on August 22, 2008, at 9:00:12
> or some articles suggest a lack of balance between the parasympathetic and sympathetic nervous systems.
>
>I think most of us complain that doctors treat us as if anxiety or depression were a single entity rather than an expression of what could be any number of problems.
>Excellent. Well said.
My feelings exactly. The last pdoc I saw said bipolar actually was not much more than the HPA axis control center for hormones, primarily cortisol, out of sync. The whacky hormone waves then affect the neurotransmitters downstream, as well as everything else such as appetite, sleep, weight, energy, everything. All of course items used to diagnose bipolar, depression, and anxiety.
Most drugs have an effect on the HPA axis, either directly, or by negative feedback loops created by manipulating the neurotransmitters with meds. So with some people their depression may improve with a certain med, not due to how it increased a neurotransmitter, but how that increased neurotransmitter impacted the control center for hormones. Drugs especially strong in this regard include Lexapro, Nardil, Reboxetine, and Milnacipran, and Mirtazapine. They all just happen to be top line meds. Coincidence?
Hormones and various systems are so complicated though and hard to test. For example if a doc took a cortisol test, or a dex cortisol suppression challenge test, it is meaningless. What matters is seeing the cortisol curve over a typical 24 hour period, which means taking samples at least 4 times throughout a day, not just once. I have only seen that done in the integrative and naturpathic fields, but it seems fairly unknown in modern medicine. And with another vitally important body-wide and brain-wide hormone, thyroid, we can measure it in the blood, but we cannot see it in the cell where it is received, or maybe not received when it should have been. Ya know? All psych meds have some effects on all this stuff.
poster:bleauberry
thread:847666
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/neuro/20080706/msgs/848319.html