Posted by Elizabeth on April 17, 1999, at 9:33:06
In reply to Re: Refractory depression--naltrexone, posted by Jim on April 15, 1999, at 11:53:10
Jim, I'm thrilled to hear that things are going so well for you. How long have you been taking the naltrexone?
Could you describe in more detail your reaction to the 25mg dose of naltrexone? I'm curious because you compared it to your response to SSRIs - some folks with panic disorder experience an "activation syndrome" if they start on normal doses of an SSRI (they have to start out at, say, 5mg of fluoxetine), and I'm wondering if this might be the same thing. (Dunno if this happens with other anxiety disorders.) (Did you try the start low/go slow strategy with SSRIs?)
BTW what are your diagnosis (-es?) and predominant symptoms?
I'm interested in particular because while I had a phenomenal response to buprenorphine, the side effects were just too much. (I'd hoped it would be better than morphine, but no such luck.) So I'm going back to Parnate, augmenting with lithium and possibly a tricyclic. I don't have impulse-control problems (eating disorders, substance abuse, self-injury, etc.) or poop-out issues (with Parnate, anyway) so I'm not sure if naltrexone would be right for me, but it would be useful to get a better idea of when it works for other people.
Best of luck to you.
poster:Elizabeth
thread:4588
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/19990501/msgs/4986.html