Posted by zeugma on February 24, 2005, at 15:46:55
In reply to Re: addendum-and an SOS for SLS » zeugma, posted by SLS on February 23, 2005, at 6:23:51
> > I guess tomorrow I can try 1/2 cup of half-caffeinated coffee, and see if the peripheral stimulation and anxiogenicity is less pronounced.
>
> You are pretty sensitive to caffeine. I hope you can find a dose that enhances your functional state rather than detract from it.I self-medicated with caffeine for years. So the sensitivity to caffeine is a recent phenomenon, and is most pronounced with concomitant Provigil usage. I first encountered the phenomenon with Strattera, and that's why I'm convinced the latter drug has stimulant properties, regardless of how fatiguing I later found it. I took about 50 mg Provigil with lunch, and found the onset of pm drowsiness very much attentuated. That's especially noteworthy considering this is Thursday, and I experience a steady increase in drowsiness as the week progresses. Going without caffeine today was not a planned move, although I had planned not to take any after the second modafinil dose. I was simply too run down this morning to make coffee this morning. But Provigil's onset of action seems rapid enough to wake me up by the time my morning commute is over.
I also experienced a burst of ravenous appetite around 1:30. That's a good sign when you consider that stimulant-induced anorexia has been a lifelong obstacle to treatment for me.
>
>
> > By the way, Scott, what was the result of your abilify experiment?
>
> I discontinued Abilify using a rapid taper. I went from 10mg to 5mg for a few days and then stopped completely. Abilify has a long half-life. The only withdrawal symptom I had was some mild anxiety. I did experience a return of some libido. However, without the Abilify, I began to lose some energy and motivation, and was getting less done. Since I really, REALLY can use all the help I can get to attenuate the depression, I restarted the Abilify. I also found that Abilify reduces ruminations during difficult times (for which any sane person *would* ruminate) and helps prevent the evolution of suicidal states.
It sounds like the Abilify is worth the s/e then. Have you experienced similar benefit from any other atypical AP? It seems that Seroquel is considered least likely to cause sexual s/e:http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=pubmed&dopt=Abstract&list_uids=15672600 But it might well be too sedating for you to tolerate an effective dose.
>
> I hate having to rely on so many drugs for so little benefit.
>
> <growl>
>
> Parnate 70mg
> nortriptyline 100mg
> Lamictal 300mg
> Abilify 10mg
> memantine 20mg
>
>Any discernible effect from memantine yet?
-z
> - Scott
>
poster:zeugma
thread:446337
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20050222/msgs/462810.html