Chemicial imbalance

How do you know if you have a Chemicial imbalance? are their symptoms or test that canbe done to determinr this?

[Bob_D]

It is difficult to measure the levels of neurotransmitters in the brain. The "chemical imbalance" idea is an unproven hypothesis and, since everything material is made of chemicals, it is so vague as to say almost nothing. I suspect there will be a deluge of posters familiar with the substances seretonin, dopamine, and norepinephrine that have gained currency in the popular culture. However, since there are over one hundred neurotransmitters it is extremely reductionist to consider those three only.
Pharmacologists are not certain of the mechanism action of antidepressants. Presumably they change something in the brain, and since everything in the brain is made of chemicals, voila, you have "chemical imbalance".
The point is that antidepressants work at least to some extent in the majority of people who take them.

[Hensley258]

Bob hit the nail on the head in his reply to you.

It's just is not an exact science yet. In my case I suspect that it is strictly a chemical imbalance of Norephinepherine, simply because I have suffered for 17 years and have never had a tramatic life event that could have triggered it.

Even my Psychiatrist admits that my condition is completly non-situational because I have no past worldly reason to be effected.

I respond better to SNRI drugs than I do to SSRI meds, which leads me to the assumption that I may have a Neorephineperine depletion problem in my brain.

Science is now discovering many other different Neurotransmitters in the brain that may also play a part in treatment resistant depression and anxiety. Soon we will see the approval of the worlds first Melotenergic antidepressant. This AD works on a completly different mechinisim of action that may hold hope for people thhat have not fully responded to other traditional AD meds. Noe if the FDA would stop dragging their heals on it we could have it.

I expect that in the next few years we will see many other AD meds that target Neurotransmitters that many of us have ever heard of.

There is also some evidence that some depression sufferers can suffer from EDS (Endorphine Deficiancy Syndrome) this can trigger and cause VERY severe depression and anxiety that is cronic (chronic) and does not fully respond to traditional AD meds.

The verdict is still out on that one, but many people have found relief for the first time by taking drugs for Endorphan Deficiany such as Suboxone.

I am trying this now, but I screwed up my first dosage and did WAY too much. I took 1Mg and it kicked my but hard core. I later discovered that I should have started at 1/4 Mg.

It is a VERY powerful drug. It may not help me, but I figure it's worth a shot because AD's sure are not helping much.

Caution: This is not a call for others to experiment with such a powerful drug as Suboxone. It is an extreamly powerful drug and if too much is taken it can make your depression worse and give you a VERY dirty high.

I am still trying to find the sweet spot with the dosage. It is starting to help at 1/4 Mg every other day. I find it is replacing some of the missing endorphans in my brain. I still take my SNRI and Lamictal because I need them too.

The Suboxone is an attempt to kick me into full remission. By doing this I risk potential dependency on the drug so it is not without risks.

I would not advise it until absolutly every other treatment has been exhausted.

[birdie0907]

" drug and if too much is taken it can make your depression worse and give you a VERY dirty high."
Having gone through a depression with no high then no depression with so far sustained acceptable upper range happiness, I can only imagine what you feel like with a very dirty high.

[Hensley258]

It was a very ugly experience for sure. It took me two days to recover from that high dosage of Suboxone. That stuff is like Dynamite in a micro tablet.

They say it is 20 times more potent than Morhine and I learned that the hard way.

I was racked with Panic for two days after the experience. I honestly thought it was going to kill me. I had NEVER been that high before in my life and it really gave me the fear for a prolonged period as the half life of Suboxone is 36 hours.

If you have absolutly no opiate tolerance then it will hit you like a freight train at mach 10.

It went from, "ok this is being effective with a slight mood lift - to OMG I'm gonna die, in just 45 minutes.

I can tolerate 2 Mgs of Xanax at one time no problem and that was nothing in compairison to this Suboxone at 1Mg.

I have a new found respect for strong Opiates. Never again will I do that.

[therese83]

There are no tests.  a skilled experienced psychiatrist can sort of tell what you need by listening to your symptoms.  If you are a little bit paranoid, if you have false beliefs etc......if you are thinking of death..... they can sort of tell what might work with you.

Then they try the medicines out on you and there is a procedure they follow, eg.  if it doesnt work after so much time they add something else.

[ILADVOCATE]

Two pieces of information. For general information on anti-depressents look up "Depression Central". As for the phrase "chemical imbalance" science is learning more and more about that. For example for myself as person with schizoaffective disorder, the Phase II experimental antipsychotic I take glycine restores the level of glutamate transmission to the brain. It is a glutamate antagonist, a new form of anti-psychotic in development and genetic studies confirmed people with schizophrenia were lacking in glutamate transmission. The current hypothesis works on dopamine but the newer medications target the exact receptors more closely and have a far more favorable side effect profile and recovery rate.
   As for depression take the Phrase SSRI (all the ones from Prozac to Luvox) Selective Serontonin Reuptake Inhibitor. For depression clearly the level of serotonin being out of balance is a factor. Its just finding a class of medication that will target it more precisely and not hit unwanted receptors which is where side effects come from. For more information on medications in development google "psychmeds123".
  So to answer your question briefly can psychiatrists currently test for a precise chemical imbalance? No. But in the future that may very easily change.