Serotonin |
|
Taken from a favourite book of mine (rewritten in my own words):
Scientists have identified about 40 chemicals (some experts say there's 100's) that work as messengers in the brain. There are about 10 major neurotransmitters which fall into 3 main groups - single amino acids, neuropeptides and monoamines. The group I'll talk about here is the monoamines - of which there are 2 main families - Catecholamines which include dopamine, norepinephrine and epinephrine (adrenaline), and Indoleamines which include melatonin and serotonin.
Serotonin (also called 5-hydroxytryptamine or 5-HTP) plays many vital roles in brain chemistry. Not only does it control your moods, behaviour, eating patterns, pain transmission, sexual behaviour and sleep, but it also regulates other neurotransmitters. Having an adequate amount of Serotonin produces a 'Serotonin effect' which is a feeling calmness, mild euphoria and relaxation. If your Serotonin levels are too low will lead to the opposite effect - your brain and whole body will perform poorly and produces feelings of depression, anxiety, being irritable, impatient, impulsive, short attention span, scattered thoughts, insomnia and other problems.
So ... how does it work?
Every thought, feeling, emotion and instruction is sent from the brain to organs, cells and fibres in the body via electrochemical signals which zip along a network of billions of cells called neurons. From here there are fibres (called Dendrites) that reach out (looking like branches of a tree) but they don't touch the Axon of a neighbouring neuron. The nucleus is the 'headquarters' of the cell which is responsible for organising and carrying out the cell's function, and from here a long tail like fibre stretches out which electrical signals travel along to the other end called the Axon (terminal ending). The space between the Dendrites of one neuron and Axon of another neuron, is called a Synapse which is minuscule, and chemical messages pass over (or swims) in this space and from nerve cell to nerve cell (neurons). Serotonin passes along the neuron, across the Synapse and to the next neuron.
There's a number of factors that can affect the activity of Serotonin in the brain, for example the amount released may be too low, or the pump that reabsorbs Serotonin (one neuron to the other) during reuptake may not be working as well, or it could be that too many enzymes are present and may attack and destroy Serotonin somewhere along the system, or sometimes molecules can block the receptor, preventing reuptake.
SSRI medicine hangs onto Serotonin already made by your body in the Synapse gap before being reabsorbed by the next neuron (reuptake), but if your body isn't making enough Serotonin in the first place or its being attacked by enzymes though allowing some through, this could be why it takes some people far longer than others to recover on these medicines as it'll take longer to gather. You will have some Serotonin passing through, but it'll be quite low, which could be why SSRI medicine doesn't work for some people.
5-HTP actually makes Serotonin, so if your body isn't making it, then its worth discussing with your doctor about medicine that will 'make it' rather than 'hang onto it'. Tryptophan is one medicine that can be prescribed.
5-HTP can be bought over the counter but please DO NOT TAKE THIS WITH PRESCRIPTION SSRI MEDICINE AND DO NOT STOP TAKING ANY PRESCRIPTIONS MEDICINES as I'm not a doctor, pharmacist, scientist or any other medical professional and am just giving some interesting facts here that may be of help.
Scientists have identified about 40 chemicals (some experts say there's 100's) that work as messengers in the brain. There are about 10 major neurotransmitters which fall into 3 main groups - single amino acids, neuropeptides and monoamines. The group I'll talk about here is the monoamines - of which there are 2 main families - Catecholamines which include dopamine, norepinephrine and epinephrine (adrenaline), and Indoleamines which include melatonin and serotonin.
Serotonin (also called 5-hydroxytryptamine or 5-HTP) plays many vital roles in brain chemistry. Not only does it control your moods, behaviour, eating patterns, pain transmission, sexual behaviour and sleep, but it also regulates other neurotransmitters. Having an adequate amount of Serotonin produces a 'Serotonin effect' which is a feeling calmness, mild euphoria and relaxation. If your Serotonin levels are too low will lead to the opposite effect - your brain and whole body will perform poorly and produces feelings of depression, anxiety, being irritable, impatient, impulsive, short attention span, scattered thoughts, insomnia and other problems.
So ... how does it work?
Every thought, feeling, emotion and instruction is sent from the brain to organs, cells and fibres in the body via electrochemical signals which zip along a network of billions of cells called neurons. From here there are fibres (called Dendrites) that reach out (looking like branches of a tree) but they don't touch the Axon of a neighbouring neuron. The nucleus is the 'headquarters' of the cell which is responsible for organising and carrying out the cell's function, and from here a long tail like fibre stretches out which electrical signals travel along to the other end called the Axon (terminal ending). The space between the Dendrites of one neuron and Axon of another neuron, is called a Synapse which is minuscule, and chemical messages pass over (or swims) in this space and from nerve cell to nerve cell (neurons). Serotonin passes along the neuron, across the Synapse and to the next neuron.
There's a number of factors that can affect the activity of Serotonin in the brain, for example the amount released may be too low, or the pump that reabsorbs Serotonin (one neuron to the other) during reuptake may not be working as well, or it could be that too many enzymes are present and may attack and destroy Serotonin somewhere along the system, or sometimes molecules can block the receptor, preventing reuptake.
SSRI medicine hangs onto Serotonin already made by your body in the Synapse gap before being reabsorbed by the next neuron (reuptake), but if your body isn't making enough Serotonin in the first place or its being attacked by enzymes though allowing some through, this could be why it takes some people far longer than others to recover on these medicines as it'll take longer to gather. You will have some Serotonin passing through, but it'll be quite low, which could be why SSRI medicine doesn't work for some people.
5-HTP actually makes Serotonin, so if your body isn't making it, then its worth discussing with your doctor about medicine that will 'make it' rather than 'hang onto it'. Tryptophan is one medicine that can be prescribed.
5-HTP can be bought over the counter but please DO NOT TAKE THIS WITH PRESCRIPTION SSRI MEDICINE AND DO NOT STOP TAKING ANY PRESCRIPTIONS MEDICINES as I'm not a doctor, pharmacist, scientist or any other medical professional and am just giving some interesting facts here that may be of help.