Re: Low norepinephrine?

I agree with much of what you've said 155216...you make some really good points.

Personally i've hopped on the 'new-ager' train, the allopathic, the ancient healing wisdoms....all angles of 'healing' i've tried to keep an open mind about and engage in what felt right for me.

I've done worse when i stick to just one method of healing.
For instance - EFT, 'mind-work'..positive-thinking et al....on the premise that what we think and believe we manifest.....well, for me - that didn't speed me to the path of cure...i was genuinly optimistic too! lol
Or just downing supplements while carrying on with a crazy fast-paced lifestyle etc...that doesn't work.

What is helping me the most find balance with so many imbalances is to embrace methodologies from all camps.

Allopathic medicine is useful...mainly in understanding of body mechanisms and technological advancements to test and diagnose (IF you can get MD's to USE the damn technology to help you instead of arbitrarily prescribing psych meds of course!)

Neurotransmitter imbalances are a living hell. I've been lucky to avoid SSRI's etc, everyone i've known who's taken them is no longer living, which has been pivotal in me avoiding them. I do understand how they help people but as has been said, the under-lying imbalances are being masked...forcing a person to remain on them for years.


I understand the place you describe Amber of no life-force flowing through, no interest in anything...even too switched-off to feel anxious, which was a new one for me personally!
As a woman i'm finding that the monthly cycle and neurotransmitter imbalances are linked. I have to cancel the week of menstruation as i can't function. No mental/physical energy at all - can't be bothered to eat, speak, look at anything, think about anything. I just don't want to know anyone or anything.


From what i understand a neurotransmitter blood platelet test is useful. Drawbacks are that it is a snap-shot in time of levels at the time of blood draw. The results also don't tell you what is causing the imbalances either. Yet it could be useful to know which ones from the main group are out so you can try alternative methods of balancing them rather than SSRI's.

One of the most interesting results i got from my gene test was 6 mutations linked with GABA synthesis. Ironically it was the main supplement i've been using to help with anxiety. Everything else others recommend for anxiety just heightened it more, like inositol makes me jumpy as a cat on hot coals!
I have to be careful as synthesis of GABA is limited aswell as breaking it down - so i can only take a bit, too much and i'm tranquilised.

Research has me to understand that supplementing to help neurotransmitters is like a sea-saw effect...as most are synergistic with another transmitter, so taking a high dose of one pushes another down.
It's a hard balance to find supplementally, and without knowing the route cause of original imbalances it's just a quick fix anyway...however, i do realise how treating symptoms, though not ideal, is sometimes the only choice we have.

Lam's model of AF is the sea of norepineprine followed by exhaustion. There's wired yet tired AF exhaustion and there's almost Addisonian exhaustive AF. Norepineprine levels, as you mentioned Amber, seem to fall-off when exhaustive AF evolves. Without Nor., cortisol levels are low.

http://www.lifeconnectionmag.com/Archive/jun11/gersten.html


"The amino acid L-tyrosine enters the brain and is converted into the neurotransmitter dopamine, which then converts into norepinephrine. For an adult, 1000 mg of L-tyrosine twice a day will bring results. Tyrosine must be taken 45 to 60 minutes before or after breakfast and lunch. Protein is made up entirely of amino acids, and several amino acids will compete with tyrosine to cross the blood-brain barrier to get into the brain.

L-tyrosine requires pyridoxal-5-phosphate, P-5-P, to get converted into norepinephrine. P-5-P is the active form of vitamin B6, pyridoxine, and must be taken as an enteric-coated capsule. If you purchase P-5-P in a capsule, it will do little good, for it will be broken down by stomach acids and rendered useless.

The biochemistry that increases serotonin is similar to that of norepinephrine. The amino acid L-tryptophan, on an empty stomach, enters the brain, and in the presence of P-5-P, gets converted into 5-HTP and then serotonin. There is no controversy about whether L-tryptophan turns into serotonin, but there is debate about the efficacy of 5-HTP, which is unpredictable in getting into the brain.

The simple equation is this: L-tyrosine, in the presence of P-5-P, increases norepinephrine brain levels. L-tryptophan, in the presence of P-5-P, increases brain serotonin levels. The total biochemistry is a long chain of events in which a weakness in any part of that chain will interfere with the goal of increasing a deficient neurotransmitter."





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