Posted by Jim on April 10, 1999, at 17:21:26
In reply to Re: Dysthymia/Treatment Resistant Depressions, posted by Wayne R. on April 10, 1999, at 8:07:41
Wayne--
While we're off in speculation-land, here's
my two cents on why naltrexone augmentation might
work for some people. Since naltrexone is an
opiate antagonist that can also help with drug and
alcohol cravings as well as impulse disorders
(gambling, cutting, etc.), I'd reckon that some
depressive states might also involve a counter-
productive "addiciton" to the body's own opiate
peptides. This addiction might be strong enough
to keep somebody chronically depressed by the way
the opiate system interacts with noradrenaline and
especially dopamine, among other things. Just my
personal hypothesis of course, awaiting
refutation!For the record, I recently tried adding very low
dose naltrexone to my Tofranil to see if I could
get your great results. Unforch, all I got were
some VERY unpleasant dreams before I threw in the
towel, perhaps prematurally...--Jim
poster:Jim
thread:4588
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/19990501/msgs/4670.html