Yesterday on the train both my palm and laptop were out of charge. So I started reading the leaflets for my medications, Sereupin and Xanax. Dunno if laws changed and now the leaflets have to be more informed or something, but they have become real encyclopaedias, not just "take this much, don't take if, don't take with, when in doubts ask Ratchet." They explain quite a bit how they work and what they are supposed to do. It's stuff I already know from my personal researches, because I want to know what happens to me and what I'm taking, but it's good that now the average user can be informed too. Sereupin (paroxetine) says that it's for depression and a million other symptoms I have. In short, depressed people have less serotonin in their brains, and Sereupin enhances it. But what's serotonin? From Wikipedia: "serotonin is believed to play an important role as a neurotransmitter, in the modulation of anger, aggression, body temperature, mood, sleep, sexuality, and appetite." It's still a field that it's being studied, but it makes sense. Briefly, if I have low serotonin, all of the above (even body temperature - I get a fever when I'm upset) goes haywire. I'm thankful that I don't have big problems with sleep and appetite - when I lose it, it's usually my choice. Xanax (alprazolam, of the benzodiazepine class) treats all of the above but doesn't seem to be strictly related to serotonin. I'm still studying this neurological stuff. Before you worry, yes, alprazolam was among the stuff that poor Heath Ledger took when he died. I'm safe - these two things are all I'm taking, under medical control. A few months ago I even asked for a couple of other things to be taken away, and my doc (who is a lady, not an orange-red bot) agreed. I'm doing this responsibly and I believe it's working. I'm not sure about the relationship between serotonin and endorphin. I've just found this article but I haven't got time to read it and I don't know if it's sound, still they are both neurochemicals that affect mood. Endorphines lower pain, something that I badly need. That's why I can't stop thinking about my weird stuff even when I work, because there are moments when I'd do anything to stop the mental pain. Then there are the natural endorphin producers, such as friends (which I've managed to recover), exercise (which I've abandoned a bit but shouldn't) and cats. Went to my parents' yesterday and found my room still full of feathers, however we're submerged by cats and I'm feeling great despite the desperate work situation. (Will they sue me? BTW, I know I should work now but I NEED to vent.) Right now there's an extremely large and dirty black cat sleeping against my leg. The Cat Who Isn't There, aka Fluffy, DIDN'T ask me to take her in this morning and is now NOT sleeping on our couch in the other room. My aunt's house is full of tabby tails. The tally is: 5 striped youngsters, 2 senators and 3 "unfortunates" (to use a Victorian term). We literally took them from the streets and sterilized them, and it seems this entitled them to declare us their humans and settle down in our house. Cirilla in particular is turning out to be a really sweet cat, thin and not young and very badly used, who now just needs lots of love. No problem! Even the parents are an endorphin source, now that I'm a little calmer, even though this TF movie scene still plays often in my mind: Ironhide: [brandishing large cannons] The parents are very irritating. Ratchet: [trying to calm him] Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah! Ironhide: Can I take them out? Optimus Prime: Ironhide, you know we don't harm humans. What is with you? Ironhide: Sorry, I'm just saying, we could... it's an option. |