Natural Anxiety Treatments for trichotillomania (Part 2)

photo credit: Hljod.Huskona

In the first part of Natural Anxiety Treatments for trichotillomania, I discussed what happens when the body takes a medication called a reuptake inhibitor, which essentially traps neurotransmitters in the chemical synapse.

If you need a review, check out How Natural Anxiety Treatments Work on Neurotransmitters Part 1.

Enzymes release, neurotransmitters deplete

At this point in our story, the neurotransmitter is trapped in the chemical synapse.

The body produces a constant supply of enzymes.  The big players are monoamine oxidase MAO and catechol-O-methyltransferase (COMT).  These break down neurotransmitters in the synapse to keep equilibrium.

The longer a neurotransmitter stays in the synapse the greater chance there is that it will be destroyed by these enzymes.

The body, at this point, senses the presence of extra neurotransmitters in the chemical synapse.  It knows it has enough neurotransmitters in the post-synaptic nerve cell, and it thinks it has enough neurotransmitters in the pre-synaptic nerve cell, after being unwittingly duped by the reuptake inhibitor.

It thus sends out enzymes to destroy the neurotransmitters and keep the balance in the system even.

Neurotransmitters under siege

In addition, most drugs only work on one neurotransmitter (either serotonin or dopamine or norepinephrine), which creates the glut of those particular neurotransmitters in the synapse.

The body doesn’t know this, however, and it uses the same enzyme systems to degrade all neurotransmitters.

Therefore, the reuptake inhibitors not only cause a depletion of neurotransmitters, they are causing a relative imbalance in neurotransmitters as well. (All will be destroyed, only some will be destroyed in higher quantities.)

Eventually, the neurotransmitters in the synapse run low, and the reuptake inhibitor is no longer effective.  The inhibitor is designed to work on neurotransmitters, but it can’t if there are no longer any neurotransmitters to work on.

At this point, the body won’t help.  Duped by the reuptake inhibitors, it’s lowered its supply.  There’s nothing more for it to send.

This is what we mean when we say that the reuptake inhibitors work, but only for a short time.  Eventually, they will cause the neurotransmitter supply to dwindle.  That’s when problems like trichotillomania return.

Supplements – a natural anxiety treatment

Our approach is to rebuild the natural supply of neurotransmitters, and then eventually work to achieve a better balance of excitatory and inhibitor neurotransmitters.

To do this, we use amino acid supplements that supply the necessary amino acids and precursors (other nutrients involved in the biochemical formation of neurotransmitters from their specific amino acid precursors).  These help restore the necessary amino acids and co-factors the body needs, and help produce more neurotransmitters.

What we’re trying to do is not trick the body, but work with it.  That’s why our approach has proven to be so effective in the past, and why it can work for you in the future.

Take the first step toward recovery.  Contact us for a consultation and discover how to stop pulling hair out.