Posted by Questionmark on January 29, 2004, at 20:48:20
In reply to Re: Cigaretts-the worst addiction of all! » Tiss, posted by Chairman_MAO on January 27, 2004, at 9:58:22
Thanks for that info on galantamine. i looked up some stuff on it, and i am highly interested in it. Not only would the nicotinic effects seem to be helpful, but i have some pretty bad cognitive and anticholinergic effects from the med i'm on now (Nardil)-- which is helping a great deal, but the side effects are a royal pain. .. So i was wondering if you think that galantamine would be a beneficial drug in terms of alleviating anticholinergic side effects.? i'm almost sure it would with the cognitive aspects, which would be wonderful in itself, but the other ones would be nice to alleviate too.
Also, you said it is available in the States, but it is very expensive? Correct? That's disappointing.
What would be the best way to ask a pdoc for this do you think? i'd mostly want it to improve my cognitive abilities and alleviate my anticholinergic symptoms from Nardil, but that might not be enough. Plus i don't really smoke. So, i duno. Anyway, thanks.
> Reminyl is $$$ in the US, unless you have insurance to pay for it. If you cannot afford it here, I suggest ordering it from overseas @ www.nivalin.com (they're the people that first produced it as a pharmaceutical in Bulgaria). Check out www.nivalin.com and www.us.reminyl.com for some basic information.
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> Ever noticed how nicotine enhances your thought processes? That's because it stimulates receptors appropriately named nicotonic acetylcholine receptors; they're intimiately implicated in learning and memory (such as the acquisition of the smoking habit, heh). Galantamine--approved for Alzheimer's disease in the US--inhibits the breakdown of acetylcholine, thereby allowing more of it to be available to stimulate cholinergic receptors. It also directly stimulates nicotinic receptors as nicotine does. It was first used to reverse the actions of curare, which is the poison used on the ends of arrows by some South African tribes to paralyze prey and in modern medicine to control convulsions during surgery.
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> I must emphasize that my suggestion to use this drug only comes from my personal experience as well as my substantial--but not professional--knowledge of central nervous system drugs. In general, though, galantamine is a very safe drug with little toxicity, and you may very well have success using it as a nicotine replacement. It also is WAY more potent at enhancing cognition than nicotine (one would imagine that if it improves the symptoms of Alzheimer's disease, it helps one think, heh); some people refer to it as a "smart drug".
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> Quitting smoking is important, and I'd imagine your doctor would allow you to try just about anything he/she'd consider safe to that end.
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> I'd imagine galantamine combined with a dopaminergic agent such as Wellbutrin/Zyban or selegiline would be even more powerful in eliminating nicotine cravings. Just remember that addiction itself is not medical (despite what many will tell you); it is behavioral. There is no drug that will eliminate the habit, only symptoms.
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> Any other questions, let me know.
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> Best of luck!
>
> -cm
poster:Questionmark
thread:305910
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20040127/msgs/307074.html