My Brain's Fried
Question:
well… my gf was on remeron, it made her problems worse. my advice is to look at you eating and exercise habits. do you eat a well balanced diet? 3-6 small meals a day? get plenty of regular exercise? how much sunshine do you see in the run of a week? almost everyone i know who has clinical depression had poor eating, sleeping and exercise patterns. fixing those helped more than any anti-depressant did. the a-d meds are supposed to kick you out of feeling depressed, so that the "down" feeling stops being habitual. that plus lifestyle changes often do the trick. i have been sucidally depressed at various times in my life. what typically pulls me out is regular hard workouts. the endorphin rush from a hard workout is way better than any a-d med i have ever tried.
Exercise and diet definitely has it’s merits, but I’ve noticed that whenever by chance I can get my chemicals balanced in my brain for a short while, my feelings of depression lift regardless of what I’m eating or if I’m exercising, and conversely if the meds stop working and my levels are off, no amount of exercise or fruits and vegetables can get me feeling right. So, all things else equal, I’m pretty sure at the core of my depression is a serious neurological imbalance, although I’m sure the best solution would be the precise combo of meds in the right quantities at the correct time, along with a good diet and regular exercise, unfortunately I haven’t yet been able to find that elusive balance, except for fleeting moments. I seem to be constantly ping-ponging between hypo- and hyper-serotonin states. After a terrible experience with serzone, I started taking remeron and stuck with the doctor-recommended dosages for 7 months. For the first few months it worked really well, i was getting solid sleep, sometimes too much, and was overall less anxious and depressed, but after ‘pooping out’ at every stop along the way, reaching then surpassing the max daily dosage I was up to 60 mg/day at the 5 month marker, it was at this point that the remeron began to lose effectiveness for me, It didn’t totally quit on me, technically i would classify myself as a ‘partial-responder’, it still helps with the anxiety and depression just not nearly as well as before, and hardly at all with insomnia anymore. It was at this time that i decided to start experimenting, trying to alternate or augment 5-htp to enhance it’s overall response, since a shortage of serotonin is likely to blame for my current state due to my heavy mdma usage in the past, and the timing of and sudden onset of the entire suite of depression-related effects to the exact day of my last mdma experience. My response to the augmentation therapy is really confusing me, sometimes I feel like I’m not getting enough medication, so I’ll supplement with 5-htp, and then I display typical symptoms of ’serotonin syndrome’, hyper-serotonin state, so i’ll back off the 5-htp a little bit, and after the extra serotonin is metabolized I can feel good for a few hours or even a day or so, but it is difficult to maintain this proper level for any extended period of time. The fact that the 5-htp can stabilize my symptoms has me basically convinced that my depression is serotonin-related and if I’m going to recieve any relief it will come largely through restoring the balance of this chemical, but It seems like I’m constantly going back and forth between over-medicated and under-medicated states with all too brief periods of balance in-between. I’m grateful for any periods of relief, however brief, and will continue to seek that elusive balance, but overall this experience has just left me very confused and a little bit less depressed, because as you may be aware, it’s equally difficult to sleep or feel ‘relaxed joy’ whether you have too much or too little serotonin in the system. By the way, no medication is definitely worse than my current state, and so far I’ve had the best results when attacking this problem as a neurological condition, as opposed to psychological phenomena, although I’m sure it’s a little of both, it is my belief, in the old ‘chicken and the egg debate’ that the neurological condition is the egg and the psychological state the hatchling, so if I can fix the egg the hatchling will be a product of that, at least the only success i’ve had is with that approach thus far. -paul
Response:
heh. It was the best and the worst thing that ever happened to me. It’s poison, serotonin neurotoxin. look up ‘mdma brain damage’ and see how many hits you get.
Interesting, the serotonin neurotoxin research has been exposed as flawed. http://www.cerebral.org/Maps/msg03610.html I tried Remeron too, a horrid mistake, many bad dreams. I’ve done quite well by monitoring/adjusting my caffine/alcohol/sugar intake, balancing my diet, dosing with an occasoinal Ambien, excercising, meditating, recieving massage and hypnotherapy to assist in refocusing and implementing positive patterns. "Life is good!" Experience happy music, dance and watch lot’s of comedy too, Robin Williams seems to be especially therapuetic. 
)) I’m proof positive you can regenerate brain cells and establish new neural pathways. peace and much love, loran http://ourworld.cs.com/_ht_a/philowerx1/index.html http://www.mp3.com/philowerx http://philowerx.iuma.com ! ! .. ~
Response:
- Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – well… my gf was on remeron, it made her problems worse. my advice is to look at you eating and exercise habits. do you eat a well balanced diet? 3-6 small meals a day? get plenty of regular exercise? how much sunshine do you see in the run of a week? almost everyone i know who has clinical depression had poor eating, sleeping and exercise patterns. fixing those helped more than any anti-depressant did. the a-d meds are supposed to kick you out of feeling depressed, so that the "down" feeling stops being habitual. that plus lifestyle changes often do the trick. i have been sucidally depressed at various times in my life. what typically pulls me out is regular hard workouts. the endorphin rush from a hard workout is way better than any a-d med i have ever tried. Exercise and diet definitely has it’s merits, but I’ve noticed that whenever by chance I can get my chemicals balanced in my brain for a short while, my feelings of depression lift regardless of what I’m eating or if I’m exercising, and conversely if the meds stop working and my levels are off, no amount of exercise or fruits and vegetables can get me feeling right. So, all things else equal, I’m pretty sure at the core of my depression is a serious neurological imbalance, I agree 101%. Depression is a symptom of many things. The depression could be situational (loss of a loved one, loss of a job, etc.) or endogenous (brain chemistry screwup, from physical or chemical damage). The only way to help someone with endogenous depression is with meds. (See "Mood Swings" by Ronald A. Fieve, M.D., the Australian doctor who brought treatment with lithium to the USA.) Deperession arising from sleep apnea would fall into the endogenous category. If you can’t get quality sleep, you begin to develop cognitive deficits (the ability to think) and to quote a neuropsychologist I encountered, "Who wouldn’t be depressed if they lost the ability to think?) If one has situational depression, I don’t think a sleep test and/or cpap would change the depression at all. That is, if one can’t cope, that’s a psychological problem, not a medical problem. although I’m sure the best solution would be the precise combo of meds in the right quantities at the correct time, along with a good diet and regular exercise, unfortunately I haven’t yet been able to find that elusive balance, except for fleeting moments. I seem to be constantly ping-ponging between hypo- and hyper-serotonin states. Exactly the same for me, until I changed to a psychopharmacologist (psychiatrist specializing in the treatment of endogenous depression….. with meds. In my case a neuropsychiatrist/psychopharmacologist.) Then life became livable, and lovable, again. After a terrible experience with serzone, I started taking remeron and stuck with the doctor-recommended dosages for 7 months. For the first few months it worked really well, i was getting solid sleep, sometimes too much, and was overall less anxious and depressed, but after ‘pooping out’ at every stop along the way, reaching then surpassing the max daily dosage I was up to 60 mg/day at the 5 month marker, it was at this point that the remeron began to lose effectiveness for me, It didn’t totally quit on me, technically i would classify myself as a ‘partial-responder’, it still helps with the anxiety and depression just not nearly as well as before, The same neuropsycholgist, mentioned above, was providing psychological counselling to an M.D. He, of course, was able to write his own prescriptions. She told me that he continually had to change his own medications, going from one to another and then back again. When he became, as you say, a "partial responder", he changed meds. and hardly at all with insomnia anymore. It was at this time that i decided to start experimenting, trying to alternate or augment 5-htp to enhance it’s overall response, since a shortage of serotonin is likely to blame for my current state due to my heavy mdma usage in the past, and the timing of and sudden onset of the entire suite of depression-related effects to the exact day of my last mdma experience. What’s mdma?
heh. It was the best and the worst thing that ever happened to me. It’s poison, serotonin neurotoxin. look up ‘mdma brain damage’ and see how many hits you get. – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – My response to the augmentation therapy is really confusing me, sometimes I feel like I’m not getting enough medication, so I’ll supplement with 5-htp, and then I display typical symptoms of ’serotonin syndrome’, hyper-serotonin state, so i’ll back off the 5-htp a little bit, and after the extra serotonin is metabolized I can feel good for a few hours or even a day or so, but it is difficult to maintain this proper level for any extended period of time. The fact that the 5-htp can stabilize my symptoms has me basically convinced that my depression is serotonin-related and if I’m going to recieve any relief it will come largely through restoring the balance of this chemical, but It seems like I’m constantly going back and forth between over-medicated and under-medicated states with all too brief periods of balance in-between. I’m grateful for any periods of relief, however brief, and will continue to seek that elusive balance, but overall this experience has just left me very confused and a little bit less depressed, because as you may be aware, it’s equally difficult to sleep or feel ‘relaxed joy’ whether you have too much or too little serotonin in the system. By the way, no medication is definitely worse than my current state, and so far I’ve had the best results when attacking this problem as a neurological condition, as opposed to psychological phenomena, although I’m sure it’s a little of both, it is my belief, in the old ‘chicken and the egg debate’ that the neurological condition is the egg and the psychological state the hatchling, so if I can fix the egg the hatchling will be a product of that, at least the only success i’ve had is with that approach thus far. Based on your last three paragraphs, I suugest that you consider going into a good psychiatric hospital, for a few days, where they raise and lower dosages, change meds, and monitor very carefully and very closely. It could save you months of manipulating your own drugs, during which time you feel lousy.
that is very good advice, do you know of any in northern california, maybe UCSF? what complicates the matter is I’m out of work and have no health insurance, how much would a visit like this cost out of pocket? if i can afford it, it sounds like it would be worth it. Or maybe there is a way i can get some sort of financial assistance? Although I was suicidal when I went to the UCLA NPI (Neuropsychichiatric Institure), if I had know what a difference it would make in my life, I would have gone long before. (BTW, at UCLA NPI, they have separate accomodations for schizos than for the rest of us. <g
My friend, I am forever in your debt. : -) -Paul
Response:
- Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – well… my gf was on remeron, it made her problems worse. my advice is to look at you eating and exercise habits. do you eat a well balanced diet? 3-6 small meals a day? get plenty of regular exercise? how much sunshine do you see in the run of a week? almost everyone i know who has clinical depression had poor eating, sleeping and exercise patterns. fixing those helped more than any anti-depressant did. the a-d meds are supposed to kick you out of feeling depressed, so that the "down" feeling stops being habitual. that plus lifestyle changes often do the trick. i have been sucidally depressed at various times in my life. what typically pulls me out is regular hard workouts. the endorphin rush from a hard workout is way better than any a-d med i have ever tried. Exercise and diet definitely has it’s merits, but I’ve noticed that whenever by chance I can get my chemicals balanced in my brain for a short while, my feelings of depression lift regardless of what I’m eating or if I’m exercising, and conversely if the meds stop working and my levels are off, no amount of exercise or fruits and vegetables can get me feeling right. So, all things else equal, I’m pretty sure at the core of my depression is a serious neurological imbalance,
I agree 101%. Depression is a symptom of many things. The depression could be situational (loss of a loved one, loss of a job, etc.) or endogenous (brain chemistry screwup, from physical or chemical damage). The only way to help someone with endogenous depression is with meds. (See "Mood Swings" by Ronald A. Fieve, M.D., the Australian doctor who brought treatment with lithium to the USA.) Deperession arising from sleep apnea would fall into the endogenous category. If you can’t get quality sleep, you begin to develop cognitive deficits (the ability to think) and to quote a neuropsychologist I encountered, "Who wouldn’t be depressed if they lost the ability to think?) If one has situational depression, I don’t think a sleep test and/or cpap would change the depression at all. That is, if one can’t cope, that’s a psychological problem, not a medical problem. although I’m sure the best solution would be the precise combo of meds in the right quantities at the correct time, along with a good diet and regular exercise, unfortunately I haven’t yet been able to find that elusive balance, except for fleeting moments. I seem to be constantly ping-ponging between hypo- and hyper-serotonin states.
Exactly the same for me, until I changed to a psychopharmacologist (psychiatrist specializing in the treatment of endogenous depression….. with meds. In my case a neuropsychiatrist/psychopharmacologist.) Then life became livable, and lovable, again. After a terrible experience with serzone, I started taking remeron and stuck with the doctor-recommended dosages for 7 months. For the first few months it worked really well, i was getting solid sleep, sometimes too much, and was overall less anxious and depressed, but after ‘pooping out’ at every stop along the way, reaching then surpassing the max daily dosage I was up to 60 mg/day at the 5 month marker, it was at this point that the remeron began to lose effectiveness for me, It didn’t totally quit on me, technically i would classify myself as a ‘partial-responder’, it still helps with the anxiety and depression just not nearly as well as before,
The same neuropsycholgist, mentioned above, was providing psychological counselling to an M.D. He, of course, was able to write his own prescriptions. She told me that he continually had to change his own medications, going from one to another and then back again. When he became, as you say, a "partial responder", he changed meds. and hardly at all with insomnia anymore. It was at this time that i decided to start experimenting, trying to alternate or augment 5-htp to enhance it’s overall response, since a shortage of serotonin is likely to blame for my current state due to my heavy mdma usage in the past, and the timing of and sudden onset of the entire suite of depression-related effects to the exact day of my last mdma experience.
What’s mdma? – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – My response to the augmentation therapy is really confusing me, sometimes I feel like I’m not getting enough medication, so I’ll supplement with 5-htp, and then I display typical symptoms of ’serotonin syndrome’, hyper-serotonin state, so i’ll back off the 5-htp a little bit, and after the extra serotonin is metabolized I can feel good for a few hours or even a day or so, but it is difficult to maintain this proper level for any extended period of time. The fact that the 5-htp can stabilize my symptoms has me basically convinced that my depression is serotonin-related and if I’m going to recieve any relief it will come largely through restoring the balance of this chemical, but It seems like I’m constantly going back and forth between over-medicated and under-medicated states with all too brief periods of balance in-between. I’m grateful for any periods of relief, however brief, and will continue to seek that elusive balance, but overall this experience has just left me very confused and a little bit less depressed, because as you may be aware, it’s equally difficult to sleep or feel ‘relaxed joy’ whether you have too much or too little serotonin in the system. By the way, no medication is definitely worse than my current state, and so far I’ve had the best results when attacking this problem as a neurological condition, as opposed to psychological phenomena, although I’m sure it’s a little of both, it is my belief, in the old ‘chicken and the egg debate’ that the neurological condition is the egg and the psychological state the hatchling, so if I can fix the egg the hatchling will be a product of that, at least the only success i’ve had is with that approach thus far.
Based on your last three paragraphs, I suugest that you consider going into a good psychiatric hospital, for a few days, where they raise and lower dosages, change meds, and monitor very carefully and very closely. It could save you months of manipulating your own drugs, during which time you feel lousy. Although I was suicidal when I went to the UCLA NPI (Neuropsychichiatric Institure), if I had know what a difference it would make in my life, I would have gone long before. (BTW, at UCLA NPI, they have separate accomodations for schizos than for the rest of us. <g
