IUBio

Mushrooms, luvox and OCD

et_al at my-deja.com et_al at my-deja.com
Thu Feb 7 02:26:00 EST 2002


On 6 Feb 2002 18:36:38 -0800, mnover5 at aol.com (MnOver) wrote:

>Hi.  I have recently heard that studies are being conducted where
>psilocybin is being testing in the treatment of obsessive compulsive
>disorder.  This has made me curious because I have experimented with
>mushrooms and it has also raised a question in my mind.
>
>From what I know about OCD it is usually treated with pro-serotonin
>drugs like Luvox.  Now, mushrooms from what little I know about them
>are sort of anti-serotonin and when you are on a SSRI it will
>completely block their effects.  So what I'm getting at is... well now
>I'm confused.  Uh, why do both seem to put OCD symptoms in remission?

SSRIs don't actually increase serotonin levels. Nor are anxiety and
depression caused by having too much or too little of it.  

SSRIs do trigger a short lived serotonin increase, but bio-feedback
mechanisms bring that back to baseline within a few weeks. Some believe
that levels actually drop slightly below.

The French  antidepressant Tianeptine is a Selective Serotonin Re-Uptake
Enhancer. That is, it does the direct opposite that what SSRIs do. If
you take both it and an SSRI they will cancel each other out. Yet it
appears to be just as effective as any of the re-uptake inhibitors.

It should also be noted that while SSRIs reduce the effects of LSD, they
have no effect on psilocybin.

Extracts from some papers that you might find interesting can be found
at the following URLs

About stress/anxiety increasing brain serotonin levels:

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov:80/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&list_uids=10065930&dopt=Abstract
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov:80/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&list_uids=8121642&dopt=Abstract
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov:80/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&list_uids=8955925&dopt=Abstract
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov:80/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&list_uids=7524966&dopt=Abstract
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov:80/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&list_uids=7688645&dopt=Abstract

About SSRIs reducing serotonin synthesis or on levels changes produced
by antidepressants (SSRIs and tricyclics) 
[Note serotonin = 5-hydroxytryptamine (5-HT):

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov:80/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&list_uids=11218075&dopt=Abstract
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov:80/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&list_uids=10844134&dopt=Abstract
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov:80/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&list_uids=10647094&dopt=Abstract
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov:80/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&list_uids=10374710&dopt=Abstract
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov:80/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&list_uids=9375680&dopt=Abstract
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov:80/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&list_uids=7683363&dopt=Abstract
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov:80/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&list_uids=3045106&dopt=Abstract

About Tianeptine:

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov:80/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&list_uids=10701468&dopt=Abstract
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov:80/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&list_uids=10683709&dopt=Abstract

Note: If your newsreader line wraps URLs you may need to cut and paste
these into your browser's URL field in sections.


Ian




More information about the Neur-sci mailing list

Send comments to us at biosci-help [At] net.bio.net