Posted by Ktemene on January 12, 2005, at 8:28:30
In reply to Re: Selegiline+DLPA (pseudonym, Ktemene, others) » Elroy, posted by KaraS on January 11, 2005, at 21:54:34
Hi Kara and Elroy,
When I wrote that post I had some hope that amisulpride would come to the United States. But it looks as if it won’t. I found an old (1999) article in the Psychiatric Times that was already saying that amisulpride would not be available in the U.S. Here is the quotation:
Psychiatric Times May 1999 Vol. XVI Issue 5
Two other drugs that are unlikely to come to the United States are amisulpride (Solian, Sanofi-Synthélabo), a D2 and D3 antagonist licensed in France that is used both as an antidepressant and as an antipsychotic, and moclobemide (Novartis Pharmaceutical Corp.), a reversible monoamine oxidase inhibitor licensed in most parts of Europe and in Canada.
"They are like orphan drugs," [Ira D.] Glick said, "It's hard to say if they will be profitable."But after thinking about it for a while I decided it was just as well. Amisulpride seems to have a lot of side effects, even for men. And it can cause nasty hormonal problems in women. So I have put it at the bottom of my list for possible things to try. (By the way, I had a physical recently and discovered that I have abnormally low testosterone levels. My doctor suggested that I try taking 30mg-90mg DHEA for a few weeks and then have my testosterone level checked again. I am wondering whether this low testosterone level might not be a big factor in the severe episode of depression I suffered five years ago. I noticed at the time that my muscle mass seems to melt away as my depression deepened. Anyway, I started 50mg DHEA a few days ago, and I seem to have lots more energy,but then it could be the mighty power of Placebo.)
Concerning Selegiline and anxiety, I do think that Selegiline is apt to increase anxiety, although not everyone has experienced increased anxiety with Selegiline. It certainly causes insomnia in a lot of people, and I am one of them. I have been taking Remeron for the last few weeks in addition to Selegiline +DLPA or Tyrosine. The dose that works best for me is fairly high, 60mg. But it is a very effective medication for sleep and anxiety. I have had no weight gain from it at all. This may be because the dose I take is so high, or because Selegiline and Adderall (which I also take) both tend to suppress appetite. Or it may be that Remeron just does not have the side effect of increasing appetite in me (since not everyone gains weight on Remeron).
I was doing some searching for Remeron in the Babble archives and I noticed that JRBecker has had some success with Remeron, despite his having the same sort of anergic anhedonic atypical depression that I have. He also says that medications that enhance dopamine function tend to help him but that they also tend to make him sleepy. That made me think of you, Kara. I don’t know what he is currently taking, but maybe his symptoms are enough like yours that his reactions to medications might give you a sense of what would work for you.
If you don’t mind my putting my two cents worth in, I think that it might be worthwhile for you to take the Parnate plunge. You would not have to begin with a big dose. David Burns in his "Feel Good Handbook" says that many of his patients thrive on just 10mg Parnate per day. Burns speaks very highly of the MAOI class of antidepressants. He also mentions that very few of his patients have had trouble with the diet. I suspect that worries about the diet are overemphasized by some pdocs, because they think it would be tactless to mention the real reason that they hesitate to prescribe MAOI’s, namely that it is risky to give severely depressed patients an easy way to kill themselves. And MAOI’s are particularly risky because it is easy for patients to kill themselves in a way that makes it look like an accident. Of course this is just the speculation of an overly cynical person. And I should confess that I sort of wish that I had decided to try Parnate instead of Selegiline. At the time I had the idea that since I am the Queen of ADD (all lesser incompetents should bow to me) I would forget about the diet and carelessly ingest something that would send me to the hospital. But I find that I do automatically keep track of MAOI-incompatible foods and medicines, and so I doubt that I really would have had a problem. Anyway, YMMV, as always, but I think Parnate might well be a good medicine for you.
By the by, I tried Beyond A Century’s cheap Rhodiola Rosea a few days ago. (It has been sitting on my medicine shelf since last summer.) And I was astonished to find that it did give me a lift in both energy and mood. I remember that you tried the most highly recommended version from a company in Sweden, and you did not notice any good effect. It might be worth trying the cheap stuff, just to see how you do. Who knows, maybe there is some chemical in the plant that enhances the active compounds for some of us that gets filtered out in the expensive version. I thought I would mention it because most OTC’s have no effect on me at all. But just in the last few weeks I have tried two OTC’s, Taurine and Rhodiola, that both produced good effects for me.
Best of luck to you,
Ktemene
poster:Ktemene
thread:430276
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20050108/msgs/441085.html