Posted by zeugma on September 30, 2004, at 17:21:24
and Ritalin doesn't? Here's my theory: my ADD is actually a form of movement disorder in which it is extremely difficult to coordinate my thoughts to motor output, including even verbal output. (Writing for me is sheer hell.) This abstract inspired my theory:
1: Neurosci Lett. 1998 Sep 4;253(2):135-8. Related Articles, Links
The effects of modafinil on striatal, pallidal and nigral GABA and glutamate release in the conscious rat: evidence for a preferential inhibition of striato-pallidal GABA transmission.Ferraro L, Antonelli T, O'Connor WT, Tanganelli S, Rambert FA, Fuxe K.
Department of Clinical and Experimental Medicine, University of Ferrara, Italy.
The effects of the anti-narcoleptic drug modafinil (30-300 mg/kg i.p.) on GABA and glutamate release were evaluated in the basal ganglia of the conscious rat, by using the microdialysis technique. Modafinil (100 mg/kg) inhibited striatal (85+/-4% of basal values) and pallidal (85+/-2%) GABA release without influencing local glutamate release. At the highest dose (300 mg/kg), modafinil induced a further reduction of pallidal (75+/-2%) but not striatal (82+/-7%) GABA release and increased striatal (134+/-11%) but not pallidal glutamate release. On the contrary, in the substantia nigra modafinil reduced GABA release only at the 300 mg/kg dose (59+/-5%) without affecting glutamate release. The preferential reduction in striato-pallidal GABA release at the 100 mg/kg dose of modafinil suggests that modafinil may be useful in the treatment of Parkinsonian diseases.
According to my textbook, the striato-pallidal region is the last CNS step before the motor system produces output. It was markedly easier for me to initiate physical actions while on provigil compared to Ritalin or any other med for that matter. I conclude from this that I have some kind of Prakinsonian disorder. Lending further support to this idea is the fact that nortriptyline also produced some improvement in this area, albeit to a vastly lesser degree than Provigil. Nortriptyline is anticholinergic and anticholinergic drugs have some efficacy in movement disorders such as Parkinson's. All of this is of theoretical interest, really, since I cannot tolerate Provigil's side effects, even at a low dose, and there is no other drug with similar actions to modafinil that I know of, other than its parent drug adrafinil, which produces modafinil as a metabolite. I am contemplating going back on Strattera as a desperation move, as my concentration is suffering on Ritalin and I do not have a job where my mind can wander in the mists for long periods of time.
-z
poster:zeugma
thread:397388
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20040927/msgs/397388.html