SSRI`s
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As I have already revealed in a previous post I decided to use an anti depressant about 5 weeks into tx. Prozac is the original SSRI . The drug companies have brought out about half a dozen others but this is probably because each firm likes to have it`s own brand so they make more money. Please don`t ever think that drug companies are run by nice people who want the best for us and have our best interests at heart. They are in this for the money and they make sure they make plenty of it.
My medication, just for combo itself without all the other little extras is £14,000. If you want to see how much drugs cost go to the British National Formulary site. It’s the official NHS pharmaceutical guidelines and tells you everything.
I first used prozac in 1999 for some moderate depression. I liked it a lot and it really helped. Prozac works by cutting down the amount of serotonin that is taken up by certain receptors in the brain. The result is the brain gets more serotonin than usual. If the depression is caused by low serotonin levels then the prozac raises those levels back to normal.
I don`t like being on any medication for a long time because your body gets used to it, there may be side effects (sides) and you could always get physically or psychologically hooked. So after awhile I discovered a herb that is natures equivalent to prozac. St Johns Wort has been used in Europe (particularly Germany) for centuries for depression. I found it to be as effective as prozac but without the sides.
St Johs Wort (SJW) is used for Seasonal Affected Disorder (SAD) which is a depression some people get in winter due to lack of sunlight. Sunlight stimulates the pineal gland which increases the amount of serotonin released by the brain. So since 2000 I routinely used SJW during the winter months and found it a massive help.
My nurse told me I would have to stop using SJW before commencing tx. There`s a very good reason for this as SJW speeds up the rate at which chemicals are metabolised in the liver. As combo is there to kill the virus we want it to stick around the liver for as long as possible doing it`s job. We don`t want our daily dose of riba being hurried out of our poor old livers before it`s done it`s work.
So SJW was out and I did without for awhile. But tx hit me hard and I needed a chemical boot.
The bog standard dose of prozac (and all SSRI`s) is 20 mg a day. There is a reason for that. The drug dealers do a series of tests on the new drug. In the case of prozac they discovered that the effective dose was anywhere from 10mg to 40 mg. So they split the difference and produce a bog standard capsule of 20mg.
I quickly discovered that I didn`t need 20 mg and having self medicated all my life I just opened up the capsule and took half. Sometimes I just took one every two days. Whichever way, I was in control. If I felt myself getting too hyper I just missed a dose one day. I never increased the dose. The horror stories in the media are probably of people who have taken too much SSRI by accident or on purpose.
I did know of one girl who if she had an argument with her boyfriend would take 2 extra prozac along with a couple of spliffs. Such people tend to be the headline makers.
There are different SSRI`s and the one you will get is probably dependant on which drug dealer gets in first with the free set of golf clubs for the doctor.
But surveys show that 70% of patients get what they want from their GP if they know what to ask for.
The depression experienced on combo can be crippling. If it`s a decision between taking an SSRI for awhile or giving up tx – I know what my choice is.
As I have already revealed in a previous post I decided to use an anti depressant about 5 weeks into tx. Prozac is the original SSRI . The drug companies have brought out about half a dozen others but this is probably because each firm likes to have it`s own brand so they make more money. Please don`t ever think that drug companies are run by nice people who want the best for us and have our best interests at heart. They are in this for the money and they make sure they make plenty of it.
My medication, just for combo itself without all the other little extras is £14,000. If you want to see how much drugs cost go to the British National Formulary site. It’s the official NHS pharmaceutical guidelines and tells you everything.
I first used prozac in 1999 for some moderate depression. I liked it a lot and it really helped. Prozac works by cutting down the amount of serotonin that is taken up by certain receptors in the brain. The result is the brain gets more serotonin than usual. If the depression is caused by low serotonin levels then the prozac raises those levels back to normal.
I don`t like being on any medication for a long time because your body gets used to it, there may be side effects (sides) and you could always get physically or psychologically hooked. So after awhile I discovered a herb that is natures equivalent to prozac. St Johns Wort has been used in Europe (particularly Germany) for centuries for depression. I found it to be as effective as prozac but without the sides.
St Johs Wort (SJW) is used for Seasonal Affected Disorder (SAD) which is a depression some people get in winter due to lack of sunlight. Sunlight stimulates the pineal gland which increases the amount of serotonin released by the brain. So since 2000 I routinely used SJW during the winter months and found it a massive help.
My nurse told me I would have to stop using SJW before commencing tx. There`s a very good reason for this as SJW speeds up the rate at which chemicals are metabolised in the liver. As combo is there to kill the virus we want it to stick around the liver for as long as possible doing it`s job. We don`t want our daily dose of riba being hurried out of our poor old livers before it`s done it`s work.
So SJW was out and I did without for awhile. But tx hit me hard and I needed a chemical boot.
The bog standard dose of prozac (and all SSRI`s) is 20 mg a day. There is a reason for that. The drug dealers do a series of tests on the new drug. In the case of prozac they discovered that the effective dose was anywhere from 10mg to 40 mg. So they split the difference and produce a bog standard capsule of 20mg.
I quickly discovered that I didn`t need 20 mg and having self medicated all my life I just opened up the capsule and took half. Sometimes I just took one every two days. Whichever way, I was in control. If I felt myself getting too hyper I just missed a dose one day. I never increased the dose. The horror stories in the media are probably of people who have taken too much SSRI by accident or on purpose.
I did know of one girl who if she had an argument with her boyfriend would take 2 extra prozac along with a couple of spliffs. Such people tend to be the headline makers.
There are different SSRI`s and the one you will get is probably dependant on which drug dealer gets in first with the free set of golf clubs for the doctor.
But surveys show that 70% of patients get what they want from their GP if they know what to ask for.
The depression experienced on combo can be crippling. If it`s a decision between taking an SSRI for awhile or giving up tx – I know what my choice is.
posted by Paul | 7:17 PM
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