Dopamine

[Libby]

http://www.reuniting.info/science/articles...ogical_distress

So, my question is: do AAP's increase the availability of dopamine? Sorta the way that SSRI's increase the availability of seratonin?

This guy's symptoms definitely sound familiar.

[AirMarshall]

No. They reduce dopamine, but they do a number of other things as well. It isn't a simple on/off equation.

This single element experiment using a young healthy subject, while interesting, is probably not a good model for mental illness and treatment. There are many hundreds of laboratory and clinical trials in psychiatry that better indicate which medications are appropriate for which conditions.

Looking at a "love" website for mental health info is questionable. The author takes a single minded view that somehow dopamine plummets after sex and causes depression, etc. In fact sex also increases oxytocin which creates increased emotional bonding as well. Which is it? Experience indicates we don't have epidemics of people getting out of bed and walking out the door after sex.

a.m.

[Libby]

I didn't go to a love site looking for info on AAPs, Air Marshall. Jeezus. I came across the symptoms being linked with dopamine depletion and found THAT part interesting, and it sparked a question in my mind about the correlation. Geesh.

[AirMarshall]

Pharmacodynamics

SEROQUEL is an antagonist at multiple neurotransmitter receptors in the brain: serotonin 5HT1A and 5HT2 (IC50s=717 & 148nM respectively), dopamine D1 and D2 (IC50s=1268 & 329nM respectively), histamine H1 (IC50=30nM), and adrenergic a1 and a2 receptors (IC50s=94 & 271nM, respectively). SEROQUEL has no appreciable affinity at cholinergic muscarinic and benzodiazepine receptors (IC50s>5000 nM).

The mechanism of action of SEROQUEL, as with other drugs having efficacy in the treatment of schizophrenia and acute manic episodes associated with bipolar disorder, is unknown. However, it has been proposed that this drug

[Libby]

it has been proposed that this drug

[scream_phoenix]

that's an interesting article libby. i know i came across a similar abstract somewhere about dopamine depletion causing ocd like symptoms in a normal test subject, maybe its the same one. but i don't think seroquel has quite the same effect as dopamine depletion post orgasm, or the two states (dopamine depletion post-sex vs. dopamine antagonism b/c of AAP action) are easily correlated. i know taking seroquel can sometimes make me depressed, but having too much dopamine can also make me crazy (like its doing now with zoloft) my theory is that having an orgasm uses up a lot of the dopamine you have available in your brain in order to experience a reward sensation, and it takes awhile for your body/mind to build it up again. which might cause depression, anxiety etc. but it is not quite like having your D1 and D2 receptors blocked, like seroquel does.

[Velvet Elvis]

DA function is majorly complicated. There are several receptor subtypes. To think of it in terms of raising or lowering dopamine levels is to largely misunderstand how it works. To think of any neurotransmitter without accounting for the loci of action is to misunderstand how it works. The where is just as important as the what.

[Libby]

I found clarification of the above at http://www.crazymeds.us/

[null0trooper]

It might be better to deep-link on to Antipsychotics (Crazy Meds!) or Atypical Antipsychotics (Crazy Meds!), but I didn't see much mention of dopamine depletion. Then again sometimes Jerod has put very useful info in very odd (to us NTs) places.