Symptoms Of Unipolar Depression

Q: I wonder if anything with knowledge in the effects of brain chemistry could give a brief explanation in layman terms why SSRI's kill the libido?

A:I can see your problem. Still, Wellbutrin is often good for libido. So are dopamine agonists, such as bromocriptine, Dostinex, and Mirapex. If libido is a concern, you really do need to investigate these alternatives. By the way, the use of dopamine agonists to treat depression and libido problems is experimental, though very effective for me, and your psychiatrist almost certainly has never done anything of the sort. If you want to move in this direction at some point, feel free to ask me for more information. ...My understanding was that lithiium was for bi-polar disorders? Do I have that wrong? I have unipolar depression. Some of it because of recent "sorrows and joys" ,as you succintly put it, and some of it caused by the various other life-saving medications that I need to take for the rest of my life. Who knows how much of it is the other medications I take. I've tried various different brands of drugs to eliminate some of their side effects but I can't stop taking some of my other meds for to do so would be possibly life threatening. Lithium is effective in both bipolar and unipolar disorders and often used as an adjunct (just one article substantiating this but it is well known); i think there is some pop medicine "legends" that have floated around linking lithium to bipolar alone, probably because lithium is SO, perhaps more effective

in manic depression. http://www.priory.com/psych/lithium.htm http://www.biopsychiatry.com/lithium-antidepressant.htm http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&... http://willmar.ridgewater.mnscu.edu/library/nursing/gomez.htm etc. on the net :-) I must say though, that lithium requires an vigilant doctor for the blood level monitoring; it is a high-maintenance drug in that way and perhaps that is why drs. mistakenly think that the newer drugs such as SSRIs and tri and tetracyclics are somehow easier to manage. They are not. They also have serious side effects and unlike lithium are very difficult to withdraw from.