2019-02-23 at 5:15 AM UTC
in
Men should feel ashamed.
gadzooks
Dark Matter
[keratinize my mild-tasting blossoming]
It's also worth noting that all arguments and claims that have resulted from the aforementioned original post are considered fruit of the poisonous tree.
gadzooks
Dark Matter
[keratinize my mild-tasting blossoming]
At least I assume you were trying to post images...?
gadzooks
Dark Matter
[keratinize my mild-tasting blossoming]
That's a dog?
It looks like a fucking lion.
WTF?
2019-02-23 at 3:16 AM UTC
in
Barack Obama is gay.
gadzooks
Dark Matter
[keratinize my mild-tasting blossoming]
Literally fake and literally gay.
2019-02-23 at 2:36 AM UTC
in
So tell me about Gabapentin
gadzooks
Dark Matter
[keratinize my mild-tasting blossoming]
The differences between Gabapentin and benzodiazepines more broadly are probably mostly differences of degree, not so much type (for the most part, there might be some unique effects that I'm not too familiar with - reduction of pain is kinda outside the typical scope of expected benzodiazepine effects, but, since GABA activity is primarily inhibitory, it does make sense on some intuitive level that it might affect pain in some ways).
2019-02-23 at 2:33 AM UTC
in
So tell me about Gabapentin
gadzooks
Dark Matter
[keratinize my mild-tasting blossoming]
Benzodiazepines have a relatively large cluster of effects. Their two main medical uses are for epilepsy and anxiety. They basically have a "calming" effect on the entire brain. Calling it a "calming" effect is a gross oversimplification at worst, and, at best, a bit of an anthropomorphizing of biochemical activity occuring WITHIN the brain, rather than the external, experiential activity we experience as the "effects" of such pharmacologicals).
But I use the word "calming" because, most of the activity of GABA synapses is inhibitory.
The opposite would be excitatory. NMDA/Glutamate activity is one such example. I actually wrote a bunch of undergraduate papers on their use for enhancing cognition. Super interesting stuff, but literally the opposite of GABA activity, so a tad off topic for this thread.
BTW: The overall inhibitory/excitatory mechanisms are describing the likelihood of propagation of an action potential occurring at a particular synapse. In macro-terms, this means that the more inhibited a particular region of the brain is (i.e. More GABA activity), the LESS LIKELY it is to achieve stimulation of that particular reaction.
This is why pretty much all GABA-based drugs have effects commonly described as being "CNS depressant".
Reduction in anxiety (due to "less active thinking", in a sense).
Reduced chances of epilepsy (since the epileptic events are less likely to be propagated due to the inhibitory activity).
Reduced memory storage (thus leading to the amnesic effects).
And so on...
2019-02-23 at 2:08 AM UTC
in
So tell me about Gabapentin
gadzooks
Dark Matter
[keratinize my mild-tasting blossoming]
By the way, for all I know, you knew a lot of this stuff already... You work in a medical field from what I gather?
But you likely won't get much response in the way of first-hand experience around here regarding Gabapentin specifically. Like I said, maybe one or two people, but I start threads about GABA-based meds all the time and they get very few posts.
2019-02-23 at 2:07 AM UTC
in
So tell me about Gabapentin
gadzooks
Dark Matter
[keratinize my mild-tasting blossoming]
Now in terms of differentiating different GABA-targeting drugs based on subunit specifity... That gets a bit more advanced, but it just so happens I'm currently working on something of a comprehensive GABA pharmacology visual aid to give a better feel for how these different drugs influence particular subunit activity, since, at least presumably, that's how they have differing effects from each other (i.e. some will render you absolutely unconscious, while others will keep you awake, but with little to know memory of your actions - KINDA SCARY, ACTUALLY: This is something definitely worth taking into consideration with ANY GABA-targeting drug).
The different GABA subunits are variations on GABA-α, GABA-β, and GABA-γ... i.e. There are essentially subtypes of subtypes.
