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Home > Archive > Depression Medications > June 2005 > A Larry Hooverish question about Inositol
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A Larry Hooverish question about Inositol
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| Nom dePlume 2005-06-15, 12:13 pm |
| Larry, this seems up your alley. I've read some studies that suggest
that the (non-prescription supplement) inositol exhibits comparable
effectiveness to SSRIs in treating depression and obsessive-compulsive
disorder. The proposed mechanism is that it increases the sensitivity
of serotonin receptors. What was particularly interesting was that it
apparently did not have any effect on problems that SSRIs typically do
not help.
Do you know anything about inositol? Two properties in particular
interest me:
1) Its general utility as an antidepressant (not to mention being a
cheap, non-prescription substance)
2) Its lack of SSRI-style side effects, especially libido suppression
and sexual dysfunction.
--
Nom dePlume, Ph.D.
Why, yes, in fact, I am a rocket scientist.
Guide to Medications for Mental Illness:
http://www.geocities.com/nomdeplume1000/
=====
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| welshboy 2005-06-15, 12:13 pm |
| I have never heard of this until I read your post... I'm off out to buy
some RIGHT NOW!!! Does it interfere with meds? I bought a supliment
yesterday called Neurozan that helps with brain function. I will have to
check to see if it contains Inositol.
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| Nom dePlume 2005-06-15, 12:13 pm |
| I don't know if it interferes with meds. If it increases serotonin
receptor sensitivity, it might not play well with an SSRI. You should
be careful about this; you don't want serotonin syndrome.
You can buy it in pure form. The therapeutic dose seems to be in the
6 - 12 gm per day range, based on the studies I've read
(http://www.biopsychiatry.com/inositol.htm). I'd suggest taking it
with food to avoid the laxative effect it causes on an empty stomach.
--
Nom dePlume, Ph.D.
Why, yes, in fact, I am a rocket scientist.
Guide to Medications for Mental Illness:
http://www.geocities.com/nomdeplume1000/
=====
"welshboy" <dylanwyn@nospam.com> wrote in message
news:df37f75aac970d128d145378a77c629e@localhost.talkaboutsupport.com...
> I have never heard of this until I read your post... I'm off out to
buy
> some RIGHT NOW!!! Does it interfere with meds? I bought a
supliment
> yesterday called Neurozan that helps with brain function. I will
have to
> check to see if it contains Inositol.
>
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| Larry Hoover 2005-06-15, 5:52 pm |
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"Nom dePlume" <nomdeplume1000-at-yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:d8lola02u9j@news2.newsguy.com...
> Larry, this seems up your alley.
I do love questions. They get me to review the literature, and see what's been
published of late. It's hard to keep on top of everything.
> I've read some studies that suggest
> that the (non-prescription supplement) inositol exhibits comparable
> effectiveness to SSRIs in treating depression and obsessive-compulsive
> disorder. The proposed mechanism is that it increases the sensitivity
> of serotonin receptors.
I'm a little iffy on that theory. The type 2a receptor is influenced by
inositol-dependent signalling effects, but that's because inositol is involved in
neuromodulation and second-messenger processes. It gets very complex, and very
quickly.
There are two papers, just published this week, which show that depressives have
significantly reduced inositol concentrations in their cortex than do normal people.
This extends earlier findings that mood-stabilization in mania is, at least in part,
due to inositol depletion. The thinking is that there is a continuum, such that low
inositol goes with low mood, and high inositol goes with high mood. What is not
clear is whether the simple act of supplying inositol (in the one case), or
restricting inositol (in the other) will substantially influence brain inositol
function. It appears that inositol acitivity in brain is very highly regulated. As
such, then, inositol levels might be artefactual, i.e. useful perhaps in assessing
the state of the individual's brain, but not so useful as a point of intervention.
What would be useful, IMHO, would be to discover a means of upregulating
inositol-dependent systems, the converse of what we know that e.g. lithium,
valproate and carbemazepine do for the manic brain.
Stoll, the same guy who first brought attention to fish oil for mood stabilization,
is looking at uridine for this purpose. Uridine is not a "household word" just yet,
but don't be too surprised if you hear that chemical coming up in discussions in the
near future. One outcome of uridine supplementation (apart from rapid elevation of
mood) is that inositol accumulates in brain tissue. That part seems to be consistent
with the other research. Uridine is not readily available, but a uridine precursor
is. It's called citi-coline (mis-spelled, but it seems to have stuck). Iherb has it.
I'm sure it's available elsewhere, too.
> What was particularly interesting was that it
> apparently did not have any effect on problems that SSRIs typically do
> not help.
Yes, that is indeed the case. Inositol is associated with digestive upset, and
breathing problems (some references), whereas others list no adverse effects of any
kind. Induction of mania is believed to be a possibility.
In open trials in SSRI non-responders, though, inositol didn't do anything to help
depression, or OCD.
> Do you know anything about inositol? Two properties in particular
> interest me:
>
> 1) Its general utility as an antidepressant (not to mention being a
> cheap, non-prescription substance)
No problem with that part. Pretty unlikely to hurt. Might considerably help. Trials
have given some inconsistent results, though. And here's a bit that goes back to the
tight genetic regulation part. Acute supplementation leads to measurable increases
in inositol and metabolites, whereas continuing with supplementation chronically
leads to reversion back towards the initial, unsupplemented levels.
So, maybe inositol in pulses of supplementation is the answer. I dunno.
> 2) Its lack of SSRI-style side effects, especially libido suppression
> and sexual dysfunction.
I don't believe there are any such concerns.
Lar
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| welshboy 2005-06-15, 5:52 pm |
| I just spoke to my pshycyatrist and he told me that I should not waste my
money on Inositol supliments... I told him when your desperate you will
spend your money on anything! :-(
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