Status report, aka Me! Me! Me!

[hawkwing_lb]

Hello, livejournal. My life has finally stopped its downward descent into the pits of hell. It's holding steady now. There is potential for the reversal of my late disturbing trend to ignore everything and hide in a corner.

For college, I'm going off books on medical grounds for the rest of the year. I'll be repeating first year, and transferring out of French, probably to biblical and theological studies, or - if I'm lucky - to medieval history. I won't be doing exams this year.

Oh, and a favour? Is there anyone out there who can point me at information about 'Serotonin re-uptake inhibitors'? What they are, what they do, how they work? I know they're anti-depressants, but that's about all I know, and Google hates me tonight.

Comments

[etumukutenyak.livejournal.com]

Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors, or SSRIs are what the name says: they inhibit or prevent the re-uptake of serotonin, which is a neurotransmitter. By preventing re-uptake of serotonin, somehow one prevents or reverses the chemical condition that we describe as "depression".

Each one works slightly differently in terms of speed; IIRC, Paxil works fast and Zoloft works slow. Sometimes therapists/doctors will start a patient on a fast-acting version and add in the slower acting version until enough time has passed for the slower one to kick in, then they drop the faster one.

If you take an SSRI, expect things to go along much the same at first, then things change. The way it's been described to me is "One day I woke up and everything was wonderful". Other people have described it as "blunting the swings of emotion", where they could feel the mind trying to go into (for example) an anxiety attack, but it couldn't.

I'll go searching the intarwebs for you, and post a few links once I dig them up.

Never fear. Life is all about meeting the new challenges and learning how to deal with them. :-) I wish I could repeat my first year of university...I'd do so much better the second time around. Well, we all learn from our attempts, falls*, bruises, mistakes, and general misery -- and life really does go on.

*except, that is, my son. He has to repeat all his falls and bruises numerous times. I wish I knew why. The other morning he was on his skateboard, without his helmet, and heading directly for the steps that lead to the street. Do you think he would have learned by now, after having rolled down the hille into the car, hitting the front tyre with his face? Yes, you and I would think so, but apparently not himself.

Anyway. Off to search google.

[etumukutenyak.livejournal.com]

http://neuroland.com/psy/ssri.htm -- looks like a formulary

http://www.biopsychiatry.com/ssris.htm -- appears to be a psychiatric reference. Look it over and let me know what your questions are; I can translate for you.

http://psychcentral.com/library/choosing_ssri.htm -- looks more approachable for the layperson.

http://history.nih.gov/exhibits/bowman/SSssri.htm -- some of the history behind serotonin.

http://www.emedicinehealth.com/ssris_and_depression/article_em.htm -- medical information for the layperson.


I should stop here and let you process the information. Feel free to email me directly if you'd rather not share all the questions with LJ. :-)

::innocently drops chocolate on the table::

[hawkwing-lb.livejournal.com]

I owe you, you know that? :-) Thanks.

[etumukutenyak.livejournal.com]

Hey, I owe you...for Naomi Novik, amongst others. So we're even.

[hawkwing-lb.livejournal.com]

Naomi Novik

Throne of Jade is out, isn't it? I'll just wander over to Amazon and drool at the page for a while :-).

(And still, thanks)

[etumukutenyak.livejournal.com]

I'll join you in drooling over the page, as I haven't got my copy yet. ;-)

Oh, you're welcome.

[jmeadows.livejournal.com]

*hugs*

Glad to hear you've stopped the pits of hell thing. That sounds really not good.

[hawkwing-lb.livejournal.com]

It wasn't good, no. But it is going to get better (mantra, repeat one hundred times before breakfast), and hey, at least I have a course of Happy Pills now.

Okay, maybe I shouldn't have admitted that. :-)

[davefreer.livejournal.com]

hugs. Hang in there. And dropping french is good.

[hawkwing-lb.livejournal.com]

Hanging in, hanging on. :-)