Serotonin Level Test?
Depression Medications Sale!
Find the best savings and discounts on all depression medication and drugs!
| Drug Name | Price | Purchase |
| Venlafaxine XR 75 mg | $85.66* | Buy Now! |
| Venlafaxine XR 150 mg | $101.45* | Buy Now! |
| Escitalopram 20 mg | $98.79* | Buy Now! |
| Escitalopram 10 mg | $81.21* | Buy Now! |
| Wellbutrin XL 300 mg | $252.99* | Buy Now! |
| Wellbutrin XL 150 mg | $172.36* | Buy Now! |
Does anyone know how serotonin level testing can be used to diagnose / treat depression? I found some sites that show that this type of testing exists, but I don't know how it is used?
Answer:
If there is someone suggesting that they can somehow measure your serotonin levels somewhere in your body, and that this has some relationship with how you feel or with how much or what type of medication to give you, I personally would be VERY suspicious. While one can measure serotonin, I know of no reason other than in a research setting why one would want to do such a thing. Well, you are probably right here, but strickly speaking, there is as yet no way that *I* know of to accurately measure the serotonin nor anything else in the exact neurons responsible for the feelings of depression. Simply because at this point in time nobody knows what or where to measure. But even if we *could* measure those things that are important in those exact places where they are important, the only way that we would know we have it right is by the "correlation" between these measures and the moods we hope to be measuring (it's just another "return" to old posts of mine on "patterns"). It is always a "correlation" if you will. There are many studies which attempt to correlate a variety of measures (for instance "body serotonin" might be one) with the severity of depression, or the prognosis of various treatments. It is just that to my (albeit somewhat limited) knowledge, I know of no good clinical correlation between any biochemical or physiological or functional measure and depression or the prognosis of treatments for depression (aside from thyroid tests which can help diagnose depression which is related biochemically to hypothyroidism I think). Hence depression is generally diagnosed by it's "signs and symptoms". (ie. those things that other people see, and those things that the individual feels themselves.) If there are better "correlations" out there, the market force will drive them to the fore. I personally believe that if there is a good correlation out there, it will get widely disseminated pretty damn quickly.
| Depression FAQ Main Page | Depression Medications | Anxiety Depression | Depression Symptoms | Depression Treatment | Manic Depression | Depression And Anxiety | Depression Help | Causes Depression | Clinical Depression | Depression Effects | Depression Therapy | Chronic Depression | Depression Drugs | Teenage Depression | Severe Depression |