Posted by KaraS on April 15, 2005, at 16:05:58
In reply to Re: Read this before answering my previous post » KaraS, posted by franco neuro on April 14, 2005, at 11:42:10
> Hi Kara,
>
> I need to use the CES device more. I really bought it for the relaxation, but I guess over time it should help depression too. I'm not sure if the $300 could have been better spent at this point, but what the heck I thought I'd get it anyway.
Don't judge it until you've used it a lot over a significant period of time. You may be surprised at the results.
> Actually, the Wellbutrin and thyroid were my suggestions and he just agreed with them. He really hasn't had much to offer. I wish he did because I know he's smart. He made the right call with my friend. But I have to say he pretty much told my friend that he was bipolar and Lamictal is a big bipolar med. So I still don't know if it's the bipolar effect that's helping him or the Goldstein anti-glutamate chronic fatigue stuff. Maybe it's both.The Wellbutrin and thyroxin any pdoc could have agreed to. I would hope he had more up his sleeve than that for all of the testing and expense you've endured. Same with the Lamictal for your friend. I bet both are helping your friend along with the CES.
> I haven't called Braverman's office. I'm just stuck. I called Dr. Podell's office and the woman said she "wasn't aware" if he was using IV ketamine or IV lidocaine. Good answer. So now I'm back to where do I go from here. Should I call the psychopharmacologist pdoc that's in the yellow pages and is located nearby? Maybe I can persuade him to let me try some of Goldstein's oral meds. Maybe not. Braverman does give IV's in his office but I think they're just vitamin drips. Maybe I can persuade him to give me a ketamine or lidocaine IV. I did find a couple of websites about IV ketamine and how it's being used for chronic pain from RSD (regional sympathetic dystrophy). The only doc I could find is in Arizona. There is a RSD support group in Bloomfield so maybe I can call and ask them. This sucks.I don't blame you for not calling Braverman's office. I wonder if it would be worth it for you to have the rEEG done since you've already gotten the QEEG imaging but I can see that you're more interested in Goldstein's protocols at this point.
What are the lidocaine and ketamine used for? What are the rationales behind their usage? Too bad Dr. Goldstein doesn't have a list of doctors who follow his protocols. (I'm assuming that his book doesn't give this info and that he doesn't have a website with this info either.)
How did you find the doctor in Arizona? I made a mistake in my last post when saying that I reside near you. I think I was confusing you with Elroy or Chris O or someone else who lives in San Diego. Anway, I have a friend in Arizona that I visit occassionally so this might be a doctor for me to keep in mind for the future. (It wouldn't be Dr. Dharma, would it?)
> Well I took 1200mg in one dose the other day and I must say my brain felt a little weird. Sort of muffled if that makes sense. I'm going to try an experiment 600mg guaifenesin + 300mg lipoic acid + 1 benedryl all at the same time. They are all NMDA antagonists. I want to see how my brain feels with that combo.
Sounds interesting. How long will you try it out for? The long term effects may be quite different than the way you feel initially.
> It's another psychiatric test. The one Dr. Braverman gives is like the SAT. It's about 175 questions. I'm not sure how up to date it is. The problem is it says my two main issues are anxiety and dysthymia which it says should be treated with serotonin and GABA agonists. But the Brain Mapping says my brain serotonin and GABA are already high and dopamine is low. The dysthymia definitely comes from the chronic physical discomfort. The anxiety I think is part of the whole hypervigilent neurosomatic symptom complex. I shouldn't be anxious with all the serotonin and GABA in my head. So why am I? Back to the NMDA/glutamate theory. Which Braverman's Brain Mapping doesn't check. I don't even know if it can be tested. I'm even thinking of trying Amerge which is a serotonin antagonist considering I felt really good for the couple of days after I stopped Zoloft. I'm going to read through "Tuning the Brain" yet again and make a concise list of the major meds and what they work on.
Dr. B. should be the one answering that question. I wonder what he would say - assuming you got enough time with him to ask! I felt very sexually hypersensitive when I stopped Zoloft. Someone here suggested that it was because of dopamine surging back. I hadn't heard of Amerge. I'll have to check it out. Another med that came to my mind when reading your last paragraph is tianeptine. Have you considered that one? I've read some really good things about it and some very scary things about it.
> Let me leave you with this cheery tidbit from "Tuning the Brain"...it concerns mice who were bred to have overactive NMDA receptors...
>
> "Because the activity of the NMDA receptor is associated with memory and learning, these mice are smarter than normal ("wild-type") mice but are also more sensitive to pain caused by tissue injury and inflammation."
>
> There you have it. The same thing that's causing us to be anxious, depressed, fatigued and in pain has also made us smarter than the average mouse! A cruel twist of fate indeed...:-) That's comforting indeed. Next time I'm feeling overwhelmed I'll just think of those dumb mice...
K
poster:KaraS
thread:473033
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20050413/msgs/484781.html