SSRI's and stress hormones

[bipolair]

I just read the following on http://www.antidepressantsfacts.com/pinealstory.htm

"But why do I hear people talking about benefits from these SSRI-AntiDepressants?", you might want to ask in this stage. "They surely must work somehow don't they?" The answer is yes, they "work" somehow, but not in a very proper way. The mechanism of action on serotonergic neurons implies a lot of other neuro- endocrine responses. What actually happens when you increase serotonergic neuronal activity or elevate your serotonin levels is this: the stress hormones "Cortisol" & "Adrenaline" (Epinephrine) in the brain and body are triggered by increased serotonergic activity or elevated serotonin levels. It is a natural reaction from the body to combat the excessive serotonin levels. These released hormones, cortisol and adrenaline, are secreted from the "Adrenal Glands." They give the human personality a boost, producing a euphoric state, which can last for a prolonged period of time. In this manner SSRI-AntiDepressants initially produce the deceptive results the doctor and "patient" are both expecting. *

If I understand correctly, taking a SSRI wil produce higher coritsol and andrenaline levels. And aren't those hormones known for their anxiety like side-effects?

So is this why some people experience Anxiety if put on a SSRI?
And according to this i don't think SSRI's are an appropriate drug for people experiencing anxiety, at all.
(On condition that the anxiety isn't really caused by depression)


[edit]
Hmm lol, I dind't read the whole story, a text further on the site says the following:

If a patient continues to ingest a particular SSRI-antidepressant over a prolonged period of time, eventually the bodies Adrenal Glands may lose their efficiency and "Adrenal Exhaustion Syndrome" will be the end result. Adrenal Exhaustion causes levels of adrenaline initially to fall and levels of cortisol to rise. Ultimately, also cortisol levels fall. When untreated, Adrenal Exhaustion will lead to seriously declining physical health. Many (former) SSRI-AntiDepressant users reported fatigue as a long term side-effect or were diagnosed with "Chronigue Fatigue Syndrome." People suffering from stress are generally diagnosed with this disorder. Symptoms range from simple exhaustion to much more complex problems that are secondary to excessive output of adrenal hormones in the bloodstream, leading to Adrenal Exhaustion. Unlike the other hormones, it takes a long time before the Adrenal Glands have their adrenaline levels restored. Could we say that the SSRI-AntiDepressant "works" by slowly excavating the body's Adrenal Glands?

My english isn't perfect, so I don't know if I really understand the text like I should
But what i'm getting from it is that Anti-depressants work by just eliminating Cortisol and Andrenaline on long-term (Maybe this explains why they take like 4-6 weeks to really get to work) so that the patient doesn't have to deal with high-stress levels, thereby can relax easier.

But this method of action looks reeaaaly unhealthy in my eyes.


Can anybody say more about this?

[edit]
Hmm, i'm reading more and more and it just seems like a fucked up drug to take for non-life threathening depression.
And damn, that site, especially the REM/dreaming part is fucking interesting.

 

[BilZ0r]

Well I wouldn't really hold much faith with what you read on that website.

The mechanism of action on serotonergic neurons implies a lot of other neuro- endocrine responses. What actually happens when you increase serotonergic neuronal activity or elevate your serotonin levels is this: the stress hormones "Cortisol" & "Adrenaline" (Epinephrine) in the brain and body are triggered by increased serotonergic activity or elevated serotonin levels. It is a natural reaction from the body to combat the excessive serotonin levels. These released hormones, cortisol and adrenaline, are secreted from the "Adrenal Glands." They give the human personality a boost, producing a euphoric state, which can last for a prolonged period of time. In this manner SSRI-AntiDepressants initially produce the deceptive results the doctor and "patient" are both expecting.

For one, that first sentance doesn't even make sense. Secondly, the rest of that quote is complete, concentrated bullshit. Lets break it down, sentance for sentance.

• The stress hormones "Cortisol" & "Adrenaline" (Epinephrine) in the brain and body are triggered by increased serotonergic activity or elevated serotonin levels. No they're not. Serotonin selective SSRIs (like citalopram) cause a decrease in plasma noradrenaline[1]. Indeed, even antidepressants which block noradrenaline reuptake decrease plasma noradrenaline levels [2]. Likewise, SSRIs decrease plasma cortisol levels [3].

• It is a natural reaction from the body to combat the excessive serotonin levels No it's not. As you can see, increased serotonin doesn't increase noradrenaline, but even if it did, increased brain levels of noradrenaline (or adrenaline) have limited effect on serotonin release, and what effect it does has, INCREASES serotonin release. [4].

• These released hormones, cortisol and adrenaline, are secreted from the "Adrenal Glands.". Wow, they got one close to the truth their, but if I was really anal, it's still not perfectly corect.

• They give the human personality a boost, producing a euphoric state, which can last for a prolonged period of time. What the fuck? Adrenaline rushes are intense, and when accompanied by something fun, like bungy jumping, they can be great; but if you honestly get shit scared, you get an adrenaline rush, and it doesn't feel so great. Further more, one of the big, widely agreed facts about depression, is that people who are depressed (and people who are chronically stressed) have HIGH levels or adrenaline and cortisol[5]. Injects of adrenaline or cortisol do not make people euphoric, in fact, they can induce panic attacks.

• In this manner SSRI-AntiDepressants initially produce the deceptive results the doctor and "patient" are both expecting Antidepressants produce a euphoric state? Has this person ever known anyone on antidepressants? They do not (apart from old MAOIs). I mean seriously.. wtf... Furthermore, the antidepressant effect of antidepressants takes weeks, if not months, to occur, so that doesn't make sense anyway.

You need to ignore everything on that site, because it will be very hard for you to tell what is true, from what is false (and it seems that most of it is just lies).

If you're interested in how antidepressants work, find a real Pharmacology textbook, and read it; not rubbish put up on the internet by a fool.