Serotonin, Depression and SSRI Antidepressants

[SusanJ]

Have no clue if there is a difference. The only thing I can think of is that as a supplement, you'd want it to dissolve or mix well, and perhaps not as important in baking?

[Stavia]

Careful with amitriptyline. It has sedative and anticholinergic effects. I very seldom prescribe it in the elderly and only if there is no other option.
https://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/838788

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[Orangeblossom]

Careful with amitriptyline. It has sedative and anticholinergic effects. I very seldom prescribe it in the elderly and only if there is no other option.
https://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/838788

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Yes, I was suprised that it seemed to come out top for effectiveness. It is totally zombifying in higher doses, I used very small doses for neuropathic pain but came off it ASAP. (10-20mg) (I was concerned about other side effects as Stavia mentioned, it can also cause heart rhythm problems on the leaflet too.) It is extremely sedating, for small doses it gets a bit better with time. It is not an SSRI, but an old style tricyclic antidepressant. The doses they use for depression can be much higher. The study did say other ones had a better tolerability. I can totally understand why it wouldn't be suitable in the elderly.

[Orangeblossom]

Have no clue if there is a difference. The only thing I can think of is that as a supplement, you'd want it to dissolve or mix well, and perhaps not as important in baking?

I'm on a budget so have ordered it. Will see how it goes.

[Orangeblossom]

Feeling like a weight had lifted, today, since stopping the methyl folate headache has gone and generally feeling better. I People who get on well with it must be lucky as I didn't seem to tolerate it at all well. Not going to give up on folate though and swapping to natural sources and keeping levels high with un-methylated forms in supplement, bearing in mind some natural forms may be that way anyway.

After reading this, may well go back to my normal multi vitamin with small amount of folic acid in, and continue to eat lots of veg. https://www.merrittwellness.com/mthfr-m ... out-mthfr/

[SusanJ]

Glad you're feeling better! Some people just can't tolerate it, and it seems you're one of them.

[Orangeblossom]

It seems they are doing more research and possibly trials into using antidepressants low dose as a possible preventative measure. I can't find anything here in the UK, but just going to try doing the same kind of thing myself for the time being (have been told to keep taking a low dose long term anyway to prevent relapses)

So just for info, here

http://www.dana.org/News/An_Antidepress ... heimer_s_/

A big question now is whether a chronic, daily SSRI dose that is low enough to be safe in terms of side-effects can also reduce amyloid beta production sufficiently. Sheline and her colleagues have started a new trial that hopefully will answer that question, this time using escitalopram (Lexapro). The latter is identical to citalopram except that it includes only one of the two mirror-image structures (stereoisomers) of the drug molecule. The idea is that the included stereoisomer is the more active one, and thus escitalopram is more selective and potent, bringing fewer side effects (not everyone agrees that this is the case).

"One of the goals of the trial is to determine the minimal dose necessary to achieve lowering of CSF amyloid concentrations," says Yvette Sheline, a researcher at the University of Pennsylvania who was lead author of the amyloid-lowering study. "If we can demonstrate that SSRIs produce a sustained effect, rather than just an acute effect, then we would plan a longer-term [Alzheimer's] prevention trial."

Porsteinsson agrees that citalopram/escitalopram has the potential for long-term use to prevent Alzheimer's. "With a little more fleshing out of the effect and the mechanism of action, this could become a prime candidate for a large prevention study," he says"

However, I am personally finding I prefer Curcumin to fluoxetine and finding I need it less and less. And taking the two together is maybe not a good idea for me, I feel. And after reading things like this https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2 ... 101908.htm I'm going to possibly just stick with it instead. Well, will see how that goes anyway.

I may try adding 5HTP after fluoxetine is out my system if i get any withdrawal symptoms, which should help.

[Orangeblossom]

Day 4 of no fluoxetine (prozac) after slowly tapering the time between doses first to two then three days, interested to find the Curcumin is making a difference and having no withdrawal affects this time. have got some 5HTP but going to leave that for a few days as took some yesterday and felt a bit buzzy with it. Seem to be more sensitive to serotonin in general (or things which increase it) since making some dietary and health changes), anyway will update in a week or two as to how it is going. Might be others lurking who are also on antidepressants struggling with the same kind of thing.

[wgtnz]

Hi, I am new to this forum and was interested and heartened to see this thread as I have just resumed taking Citalopram after a year of being off medication and am also E3/E4. I suffer from Dysthymic Disorder and was hopeful that the "road back" supplements and later the micronutrients I was taking ( having read about Julia Rucklidges research with them), might have worked for me but they didn't. Although my doctor has suggested continuing with the micronutrients may allow me to take a smaller dose of C. Having recently received my ApoE results I was concerned about resuming C and whether it posed an increased risk factor for AD. So it was kind of reassuring to know that this may not be the case.

[Orangeblossom]

Hi, I am new to this forum and was interested and heartened to see this thread as I have just resumed taking Citalopram after a year of being off medication and am also E3/E4. I suffer from Dysthymic Disorder and was hopeful that the "road back" supplements and later the micronutrients I was taking ( having read about Julia Rucklidges research with them), might have worked for me but they didn't. Although my doctor has suggested continuing with the micronutrients may allow me to take a smaller dose of C. Having recently received my ApoE results I was concerned about resuming C and whether it posed an increased risk factor for AD. So it was kind of reassuring to know that this may not be the case.

Glad to hear the post has been helpful, it's a tricky issue isn't it? Interesting that your doc felt it might help you take a lower dose, that is what I am finding myself. I know we need to take care of our mental health and look after ourselves that is the main thing! It will be interesting to see that these new studies find. As you are new to the site, just wanted to give a welcome and mention you might find the Primer, viewtopic.php?f=33&t=1418 which is helpful for new members.