Posted by blueberry on February 4, 2006, at 5:41:32
In reply to Re: Metyrapone - Has anyone tried this? » blueberry, posted by 4WD on February 3, 2006, at 21:44:14
Hi Marsha,
It was actually my doctor's idea and not my own to take these tests. As for quackery, yeah, I think most doctors would think it is. That's mainly because they aren't trained in it. My doctor has 10 years of experience with this stuff in treating the whole body instead of just the brain symptoms because her goal is to make medications work better, to work at lower doses, and to even eliminate them altogether with some patients.
I'm sure there is a component in the stress test where they want you to buy their supplements. There is no sales pitch or prodding though. They provide good information up front on what the ingredients are and what they do and how to dose them. They also make all the other usual recommendations such as relaxation techniques, diet, and exercise. They also suggest speaking to your healthcare practitioner about how to correct things. I think their supplements are too limited though. They are designed to support good adrenal function, but if we need quick cortisol or dhea adjustments, they probably won't do that.
My doctor does not want to begin treatment until after I have had a sex hormone test next week. She wants some baseline readings. I believe she is headed in the direction of over the counter adrenal cortex supplements, or pregnenalone, or dhea, or licorice root. No surprise, all of these have known antidepressant qualities if used and dosed properly. She also liked the way I responded to a 3 day sample of dl-phenylalanine, so she is already encouraging me to continue taking it once every two to three days (its endorphin boosting qualities keep endorphin levels raised for several days after a single dose).
In your case, lowering cortisol is easy and fast with Seriphos (phosphorylated serine).
I have experienced an improvement in my depression and anxiety, and I can't believe it but it is mostly from the custom vitamin from idealhealth that they made based on my urine test. Long story, too many details, but the vitamins and minerals in it are in different forms than what we can buy over the counter. Since I've taken high dose vitamins and minerals for years with no effect, I was stunned to feel this vitamin actually make a difference. Improvement began 3 days after starting it. I asked myself if this was a placebo effect. But I'm sure it isn't.
Anyway, sorry to ramble. I think the bottom line is that, in my limited knowledge, the adrenal glands seem to be the engine that drives the catecholamines norepinephrine and dopamine. If they are overamped, there are psychiatric problems. If they are sluggish, there are psychiatric problems. And in either case, medications cannot work to their fullest potential or don't work at all.
So sorry Scott, I didn't mean to get off topic from Metyrapone. :-(
poster:blueberry
thread:605287
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20060129/msgs/606204.html