Posted by Cecilia on July 22, 2001, at 2:44:21
In reply to Re: Perfect Drug for Everyone? » Cecilia, posted by Elizabeth on July 21, 2001, at 21:47:49
> > Desipramine was the lst AD I ever tried-only lasted 2 weeks on it-coudn`t stand the racing pulse, sweating, anxious caffeinated feeling.
>
> TCAs do that a lot, and desipramine doesn't have the sedating effect to counteract the activation. I couldn't deal with the anticholinergic effects of most TCAs I've tried, so desipramine seemed like the best choice.
>
> > The only tricyclic I managed to stick with long enough for an adequate therapeutic trial was Nortriptyline and I only managed that by starting at 10 mg and working up to a therapeutic dose over 2 months-still had plenty of side effects even doing it that way.
>
> That's the way ago if ADs tend to make you jittery: start low and go slow.
>
> > I tried 3 separate times to tolerate Effexor, but even starting with a quarter of a 25 mg tablet couldn`t stand the nausea, diarrhea, insomnia.
>
> Did you try Effexor XR? I got sick to my stomach on regular Effexor, but the XR didn't cause that problem.
>
> > I only tried Ritalin for 4 days and Dexedrine for 3-more than long enough to convince me that stuimulants were not the way to go.
>
> What caused you to try stimulants in the first place?
>
> > I really don`t know what else to try, my pdoc is the one at my HMO who deals with the treatment resistant cases and I had a consult with a Big Wig doctor at my city`s university hospital when I was considering ECT.
>
> What did the consultant recommend?
>
> -elizabethI did try the Effexor XR but it was even worse since you can`t start at a dose lower than 37.5 mg. I only did a brief trial of stimulants because of the frequent advice here on Psycho-Babble to try different categories of drugs-all they did was make my insomnia much much worse. I tried a mood-stablizer (Neurontin, plus previously had tried lithium augmentation, though couldn`t tolerate the side effects of that) and anti-psychotics (Zyprexa and amisulpride) for the same reason-the frequent advice here to try all categories of drugs. Even though I`m definitely not bipolar, or psychotic, or ADD, just plain old chronic depression, primarily atypical, plus anxiety and social phobia. My doctor was willing, he didn`t have anything better to suggest. (Though I didn`t tell him about the Amisulpride, ordered it from overseas after so many raves about it on
Psycho-babble). The consultant I went to had, besides ECT, only the suggestions of trying Effexor again, (which I did, 1st the XR and then the regular starting at 6.5 mg day, only made it to 18.5 mg/day), and cognitive/behavioral therapy. I`d already had 7 years of psychodynamic therapy, which ended in excruciating pain when my therapist basically gave up on me, but I did try the CBT for a couple of months, even though from the books I read I`ve never understood how you make yourself believe the "rational"(as defined by the therapist) thoughts. I guess it works for some people, but it just gave me one more failure to hate myself for.
poster:Cecilia
thread:10400
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20010720/msgs/71302.html