Posted by zeugma on February 25, 2004, at 19:22:51
In reply to Re: Chairman - TX reply What's your dx and rx » BobS,, posted by Chairman_MAO on February 25, 2004, at 18:21:36
For people with anxiety disorders, however, life padded by benzodiazepines is a lot more rewarding than life with psyche-splitting anxiety.
I don't feel 'padded' at all on a tiny dose of clonazepam. I feel like an anxious, but passably normal-anxious, person. I was used recently as an illustration of the word 'anxiety' by a person who knows me well, explaining the term to a non-native English speaker. That is how anxious I am without meds.
I am BP2 (cyclothymia) with inattentive ADD and social phobia. It's quite a combination, let me tell you, although, as Bob Marley said, "Every man think his burden is the heaviest". I have all too much experience with a slew of drugs; there was a time that I thought they were the sole answer to my problems
Inattentive ADD is a lot more crippling than a lot of people imagine. Severe ADD is typically comorbid with a slew of other disorders, in my case: endogeneous depression, social anxiety, so-called 'generalized anxiety disorder' (the disorder that Buspar, ahem, is supposed to treat), narcolepsy.
It wasn't until i went all out in researching my conditions, and finding people who would believe me about the symptoms I have (my therapist recently commented that many of my symptoms are so bizarre that she could understand why trained observers would conclude that I suffered from simple 'psychosis' rather than the amalgamation of disorders that tons of meds are more or less effectively treating. But as I said, comorbidities are the rule with severe ADD), that things got better. And I am on a slew of drugs, mostly noradrenergic enhancers (the TCA nortriptyline and Strattera, plus buspirone, which works through every neuroreceptor and to seemingly so little effect for most, but it helps me sleep). NE is in many ways acetchyholine's opposite number, interestingly enough.
>Lastly, where do you get galantamine and what are the upside and downside of it? Is it doctor prescribed or secured otherwise? I need further info to discuss that compound with my doctor, especially, if it has any anxiolytic properties.
It is anti-manic (people who need this effect really should give a cholinesterase inhibitor a try) and can be mood darkening, can make anxiety worse, may cause sleep disturbances, and has some physical side effects. At the right dosage, however, it really boosts cognition/memory/attention and strengthens erections, among other things--with a low side effect profile. Look up Reminyl on www.rxlist.com. You may also check out www.nivalin.com or Google for information. You may have your doctor prescribe it for you, but if you do not have insurance, Reminyl is EXPENSIVE. It is somewhat cheaper if ordered directly from the Nivalin web site, and although it's impossible to know for sure, the quality is probably just as good as the US brand. It sure worked like a charm for me.
This is totally in line what what I've been learning about the interactions of the cholinergic/ monoaminergic systems. That cholinergic enhancer would be anti-manic makes perfect sense, considering that many potent antidepressants have either direct or indirect anti-cholinergic effects, and that cholinergic enhancers shorten REM latency dramatically (they are the most potent REM enhancers known), while all known AD's (with the interesting exception of Wellbutrin- maybe you could shed some light on this?- I sure didn't last long on Wellbutrin) are REM latency prolongers and general REM suppressants.
That cholinergic enhancers improve memory and cognition, while potentially darkening mood for already REM-bombarded depressives, makes an interesting echo to the finding that BZD inverse agonists/antagonists improve memory, but cause similar disruptions in the sphere of anxiety.
The puzzle is beginning to fit together.
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poster:zeugma
thread:314552
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20040223/msgs/317683.html