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Friday, February 04, 2011 styxfan asks

Q: Can SSRI's damage Dopamine Receptors. (Lexapro combined with Remeron)

My Pdoc says that is what has happened to me. I was on 45mg Remeron and he combined it with Lexapro 10mg. I only took 2 nights of the Lexapro and I got hit bad. (Nightmare=HELL). I have been battling this now for 19 months. I don't work and my wife had to quit her job to stay with me. My Pdoc says that I had an SSRI reaction that burned out my dopamine receptors. Do you know how long it takes to grow them back? I can't find ANY information on the internet. My Pdoc said about 30 months so I should have about 11 months left. PLEASE help me....I am on my 2nd Kidney Transplant so time is VERY valuable to me.

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2/ 5/11 8:30am

I haven't heard of this, but I have had the same question about other psychotropic meds -- can they cause unwanted changes in brain function/biology/chemistry and can those unwanted and unforseen changes be reversed?  When I was taking Zyprexa and I would relapse within 2 days of going off of it, I just had to wonder if it was because my mental illness was really on the rebound or whether the medication had "guaranteed" relapse through changes to the brain that were supported by the med.  Does that make sense?  I'm not saying the Zyprexa didn't help, because it certainly did.  I was just wondering when/if I would ever be able to go without it.  Now, I have switched to Saphris and seem to be doing fine w/o the Zyprexa.  And I'm not going to go off the Saphris to find out if I can do without it.  Why would I when I am functioning so well with it?  I'm sorry you had a hellish experience with the Remeron and Lexapro combo.  What helps one person often can and does not do the same for another.

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By styxfan— Last Modified: 02/05/11, First Published: 02/04/11