Posted by musky on May 31, 2006, at 0:25:03
In reply to Re: Cymbalta withdrawal - Publicity, posted by Mark23 on May 30, 2006, at 12:22:01
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Just reading this post... and thats just great.. now Im a little concerned about permanent changes the drug ive been on has done... I always thought that this is just temporary and that the brain will recover after stopping the med... I mean there is so much out there that peoples addictions and personal experiences of people that have overcome their addictions and are fine.
Unless you count people that have been on hard street drugs... Im hoping that a/d are not as severe as Heroin... gee Now i really really wish I hadnt taken this damn a/d!!!
I agree with your comment about turning down the thermostat... I believe this too be true ,,, get at the ROOT of the problem, not just mask it with meds..
Meds may be usful for short term... even then I have my doubts.. but certainly not for long term.. thats where cognitive retraining comes in.musky
Unfortunately research has a LONG way to go. An interesting book "The Second Brain"
> by Michael Gershon discusses what's going on in your stomach (a lot more serotonin activity than in your brain and the reason people have GI trouble taking SSRIs). That's one reason you start SSRIs at a low dose. After reading it I came to the conclusion that many medications treat symptoms and your body eventually overrides or at least diminishes the effect of the meds.
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> For example if you take antacids for heartburn you stomach says "hey the pH is too high" and it pumps even more acid. The best thing would be to remove the stress that caused the heartburn. If it's cold outside and someone had set the thermostat too high, you don't open a window to cool the house, you turn down the thermostat! Opening a window might help for a while, but your house will not function properly and you heating bill will go up.
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> Similarly the body works hard to counteract the SSNRIs and in the meantime we suffer side effects. Until the pharmilogical industry learns how to turn down the thermostat instead of opening a window we will never be as helped as we could be.
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> >
> > There is an incredible amount of research being conducted in this area. Neuroscience is a field exploding with investigation. Internet search engines should provide you with evidence as to how large in scope and depth this research is.
> >
> > > When addicts withdraw they have similiar symptoms and these are known to cause long-term damage to the brain...
> >
> > Which things are known to cause damage, the drugs themselves or the withdrawal process? I think both can produce changes that persist. Unfortuately, these treatments are not what we would like them to be.
> >
> > > anything that alters the brains way of working can permanently change things in the brain.
> >
> > How do you know this? That is a rather sweeping statement that I have not yet seen stated in medical literature.
> >
> > > Consider someone who is addicted to pain medicine, why? Because it has changed the way their brain works and chances are the change is permanent.
> >
> > I am not sure that the permanence of these changes has yet been ascertained in research.
> >
> > One thing that has not yet entered into this discussion is the impact mental illness has on one's ability to function and their quality of life. I feel that the degree to which these illnesses debilitate and cause pain is severe enough to be treated aggressively with drugs that are not yet perfect.
> >
> >
> > - Scott
> >
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poster:musky
thread:466069
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/wdrawl/20060505/msgs/650777.html