A study showing differential gene methylation patterns in cells exposed to Citalopram in vitro:
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Antonei Csoka (“Epigenetic Side Effects of Common Pharmaceuticals”) and Joseph Ben-Sheetrit (Characterization of PSSD) are listed as authors.
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Good articles Thanks!
Great post and also scares the heck out of me
Yeah, I also took low dose Citalopram for many years a few years ago before developing PFS this year.
Great, thanks Dubya. This is super interesting. Also, contains a description of Waddington’s Canal - an early conceptual explanation of epigenetic cell differentiation - and its relevance here:
This is a term derived from the original work by C. H. Waddington and represents a series of branching valleys depicting developmental pathways and ridges between valleys that are barriers to transitions between steady cellular states that reside in the valleys [50]. Waddington also coined the term “canalization,” meaning that, up to a certain threshold, any genetic variation or environmental insult to a cell will be nullified and the cell will remain within its groove, but above this threshold, the cell would flip over into an adjacent pathway or “valley” [51]. A modern example of altering canalization is the phenomenon of reprogramming somatic cells to pluripotency, which is achieved by activating epigenetic switches and driving a cell back up its lineage to the highest point in the landscape via the reversal of differentiated gene expression to a fully embryonic-like state [52]. Interestingly, such total reprogramming of differentiated cells to pluripotency can now be achieved by the use of small molecules alone [53]. Therefore, we reasoned that if a chemical cocktail alone is capable of reversing a cell’s lineage, then there is also a possibility that pharmaceutical drugs in isolation or in combination (as in polypharmacy) can alter cells’ epigenetic profiles sufficiently that they are no longer in their original differentiated state.
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Also, the conclusion is very telling as to the wider relevance of our novel disease:
Pharmaceutical reprogramming could affect cells and tissues at the submicroscopic level but might not be evident microscopically or macroscopically. It will be important to explore this hypothesis further in future studies, in order to better understand the epigenetic effects of drugs capable of affecting cellular function and integrity. The implications of these findings, if true, could have enormous importance for human health.
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Absolutely!
I’ve had my fingers crossed for Csoka and company (or someone else expanding on his original epigenetics paper) to do a similar study on the effects of Accutane on some pertinent cell type. Just for the fact that the drug is expected to have long-term effects after cessation and because he specifically mentioned Accutane in the “epigenetics” paper.
btw- Nice concept about going over the “epigenetic threshold”.
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Pending the results of our projects I’ll definitely be getting in touch. Thanks again!
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Is citalopram the only option being presented to you? I would hope that they would be willing to discuss alternatives as they should be working with you on this.
Hey scotsman, I think they told me it’s the most effective for my symthoms. I just don’t know the biology behind all of the medications so i wouldn’t really know what’s best for myself.
I’d presume it’s safe for the average person but since the whole PSSD/PFS thing I’ve been afraid to try anything.
Do not touch a SSRI ever. I’m here because of it.
Try inositol 12gr. There studies where Inositol was more effective then fluoxetine.
Also you can try lavender oil.
Try NAC. I also take it. Best stuff ever for mental symptoms.
Thanks for the tip! What kind of NAC and how much do you take? What mental symptoms did it help with?
N Acetylcysteine. Helps with mood, motivation, pleasure, libido. It raises dopamine. I take 2400mg (4 capsules). Take it 30-45 min before meals, empty stomach is best.
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NAC affects AR negatively i think, beware
Thats wrong. It has no negative effect on the AR.
Do you have study or where you read it inhibits ar?
my bad I confused it with ALA, apparently NAC can be beneficial to AR?
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