Has anyone here had their Neurotransmitter tested?

It seems to me without knowing what you're starting with that any attempt at medication is a crap shoot. If you at least knew for sure what needed to be corrected it would make it a much more educated crap shoot.

Anyone had experiences with one of these tests? Are they an effective means of determining Neurotransmitter levels? Of are they too unreliable due to normal level swings throughout the day?

No experience with this yet, but your logic is in line with what I read in Dr. Amen's book. He says that there are several subtypes of ADD and if you take medication for one of them, you may actually be making things worse if it turns out you have a different one, and you can tell them apart under certain types of brain tests now. Specifically, he likes something called a SPECT which measures activity in different parts of the brain.

Yeah, his SPECT stuff is outrageously expensive. Sounds like you can get a Neurotransmitter analysis from a simple urine work up. I just don't know if it's accurate or not?

It is not real accurate. That is why it is not in widespread use for diagnosis and then subsequent treatment. The levels of NT's are generally so low that many times the test can produce misleading or false results. I did a report on it a few years ago.

A good explanation of how neurotransmitters work

http://www.beatcfsandfms.org/html/BrainChem.html


Sleepz