(One of the side effects I'm dealing with, at present, is talking a lot / having difficulty simplifying things. I'm working on it, but for now I'm stuck with being wordy. My apologies in advance. Also, you may already know most or all of it. But it's the best I can offer right now. )
The exciting and frustrating thing about neurochemistry is that everyone's is different.
The reason that there are 88 commonly Rx'd medications for ADHD (the disorder I'm most familiar with), instead of 1 (or even 1 from each company) is that even in brains with the same baseline.... Everyone's neurochem reacts differently. Sometimes in small ways, sometimes in major ways. So there are 5 or 6 different classes of drugs, and then dozens of minor variations. What's best for one person is worst for another person and middling for a third. The exciting thing is being able to match- eventually- the best med for You. Instead of 50 years ago where it was 1 size fits (almost no one)? But it's all we've got. These days, neurologists have figured out how much variation there IS between individuals, so there are literally hundreds of variations. 5 or 6 families/ 88 commonly prescribed within those families, hundreds of dose & combo differences. And that's just with one "baseline" disorder. Baseline, in that everyone with ADHD has a brain that responds in a similar way.
So you take something like PTSD, which can and does affect anyone and everyone, and you don't even have the same baseline. I have ADHD & PTSD. My brain is going to react differently to someone who is neurotypical, or bipolar, or depressed, etc... Just straight out the gate.
Finding the "right" med or combo of meds is part science, part luck, and part collaboration. Unfortunately, there's no scan that says for your brain SamIam take the following percentages A10% B22% C51% D17%, and for Lorax take A94% M6%, meanwhile Sneech needs 10% A-J.
- Science is that we have a general idea of what most drugs should do, based on what we already know about the medication & your own brain (like having PTSD).
- Luck simply happens to be what order you try things in. Sometimes the best gets tried first. Sometimes not until the eleventysecond.
- Collaboration is the process in which different medications, at different doses, are tried... And you and your doctors discuss how well somehting is working, and what side effects are in play (side effects can be good, neutral, or oh heck no!)
Think of it like ordering pizza
You know you want pizza to help with your hunger problem...
But you've never eaten it before.
And someone else is ordering it for you / you don't find out the toppings until it's delivered.
You may get lucky and the first pizza is your best ever pizza.
But usually there will be some experimentation.
Like the first one is edible, but you really aren't a fan of cream sauce.
So you ask for one without cream sauce.
The next one you can't even eat. It's piled high with things that make you ill.
The next one you can eat, but the super veggie delux needs some more protein.
So you either add meat toppings, or get chicken wings.
A lot of people, though, think that the first med or two is "it".
It's supposed to fix the problem, it doesn't, has side effects you aren't fond of, etc.
But instead of asking for a different pizza, or hold the anchovies, or add meat?
(Collaborating with your docs)... Just throw out the pizza.
Even more, know darn well that it's an ongoing experiment, but get sick and tired of all the gross pizza they have to eat to find the right one.
Ahem. All parallels break down eventually... So I'm just going to drop it there.
Because the last thing to know / think about:
Herbal/ natural/ and other remedies?
Work (or not) because of the chemicals inside of them that affect your brain.
Most Rx meds start (or started out) as a plant or fungus.
Poppies = Opiates, Foxglove = Digitalis, Coca Plants = Cocaine
* Just because something is still in plant/herbal form doesn't make it safe*
In fact, because herbal pharmacology isn't regulated in most countries... The doses & strengths tend to vary a great deal.
Also, because the chemicals in them are chemicals, they can interact with other chemicals (duh, right? Chemistry at work)... Often adversely, or overdosing (like people are brought into the ER all the time drinking "good for your heart" tea (containing digitalis) while taking Rx Digitalis.
In addition to collaborating with your docs... Make sure to check with your pharmacist before taking anything OTC, "supplemental", "herbal", or "natural".
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Crap. Crap. Crap. Again, I'm sorry. Ordinarily I could shrink this Ito 2-3 paragraphs. This past week,though, my filter is just screwed up. If any of this is overwhelming or doesn't make sense, I'm sure someone else can simplify.
