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Dr. Bob is Robert Hsiung, MD,
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Posted by dragonfly25 on December 29, 2003, at 21:45:30
this may sound like a stupid question but i am serious.... i never noticed or believed that alcohol has had a major depressive effect on me. but recently i am starting to wonder....i am not an alcoholic and i dont drink exsessively, just weekends (sometimes exessively). anyway my point is that i notice an effect in my mood, has anyone noticed a connection between depression and alcohol? i know alcohol is a depressant, but i don't believe everything i read. also has anyone taking wellbutrin had any bad drinking experiences?
Posted by Utopia on December 30, 2003, at 13:32:52
In reply to Drinking and mood......and wellbutrin????, posted by dragonfly25 on December 29, 2003, at 21:45:30
Hi there
Obviously what I say does not apply to you specifically, but Bipolars do seem to err onto the substance abuse side of things.
That doesn't mean only heroin or cocaine (because it's illegal), but heavy smoking, excessive coffee intake, steroid abuse, dope smoking etc etc.even diet pills because of their stimulant action are abused.
To say alcohol is a depressant is correct but why after a night of flying on "E", which is a psychostimulant, you also feel depressed. As a matter of fact, alcohol, at the early part of a drinking night also stimulates dopamine, so it should also be a psychostimulant.
The understanding of all this is that 1) all the natural dopamine, noradrenalin and serotonin pushed by these foreign drugs is not re-absorbed so that it can be re-used. Once it comes out it gets utilised, then it's gone, leaving your reserves empty and 2)alcohol and drugs like opiates or dope have a suppressing quality, they dampen down excitory transmission (something a depressive does not need).Bipolars need as much excitory transmission as possible and at a regulated rate, or you can get anxiety. Foreign drugs (including cigarettes) break this harmony, empty reserves etc, and put the brain in a cycling phase as it tries to compensate for the empty reserves.
I sound a bit like Father Superior here but it could be a good idea to cut down on the alcohol because it also interferes with your liver as your body metabolises the Welbutrin differently. So after a heavy night of drinking your Welbutrin could have doubled in your blood. I speak under correction because I'm not sure if it's metabolised in the liver or kidneys. Anyway, keep it low, probably best.
Bye
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