Posted by zeugma on June 10, 2004, at 20:17:07
In reply to Re: strattera trial ends » zeugma, posted by Ktemene on June 10, 2004, at 0:36:15
Thanks for the responses, Viridis and Ktemene.
I only needed about two and a half cups of coffee today- a fraction of my prior intake, and despite some more insomnia. I made a pot of coffee when i came home, mostly to keep up my focus as I installed my air conditioner. But I found that it made me somewhat nauseous, and that I didn't really need it.
I called my pdoc's office to tell his secretary I was cancelling my next appointment. When she learned I didn't want to reschedule she told me she'd have the dr. call me back. I agreed to this although I was worried he'd convince me to continue with him.
He called back and I told him I'd discontinued the strattera. His first question was whether I had enough meds on hand, especially clonazepam, as that has a serious discontinuation syndrome. He asked me what my plans were to treat my ADD. I told him I planned to try a stimulant, and he advised me to try a short-acting one, as my last stim trial was of a long-acting one (Cylert) and I was forced to discontinue because of weight loss. Ok, this was reasonable, he asked me if I would continue with him and I told him I would get back to him after a week but that I was doubtful. I thanked him for his concern and advice. I could comment more on this, both positively and negatively, but that's all I want to say right now about it.
About the nortriptyline: Yes, I am continuing with it. It has some similarities to strattera in that I recognize an 'alerting' feeling when it hits (much more slowly than Strat) but this is accompanied by, and almost completely muted by, a drowsiness that is clearly antihistaminic. These feelings are faint at 50 mg, unmistakable at 75 mg. By morning there is nothing but usual morning grogginess. It improves the quality of my sleep, especially when combined with buspirone, for some reason.
My plan this summer is to get on a TCA-stimulant combination (plus 1 mg clonazepam, and possibly regular use of 15 mg buspirone at night). It sounds like this pdoc is amenable, and he seemed to acknowledge his mistake. The whole experience is sobering, and as my emotions cool as the Strattera effects subside further I am going to weigh the whole matter carefully.
I have heard a lot about the synergism of Provigil and Strattera, but how much of that is simply provigil's countering the strattera fatigue? That is simply a thought I have had when I considered adding Provigil to strattera myself.
Why don't more philosophers write about the philosophical implications of depression? Maybe because they're too depressed to publish the results of their speculations- or too depressed to write at all.
poster:zeugma
thread:353502
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20040608/msgs/355560.html