Posted by temoigneur on March 29, 2008, at 18:57:11
In reply to Re: Happy Ending :P - OCD/major depression/psychosis, posted by bleauberry on March 28, 2008, at 18:28:39
> I have often thought Memantine might have some unknown potential in psychiatry. There is evidence that it prevents or reverses tolerance to opioids and stimulants. I sometimes wondered, if someone's own receptors are so tolerant of natural dopamine that the receptors don't work and leave the person depressed, maybe memantine could reverse that to normal? Purely hypothetical, but something I have pondered over the years. The thing is, there was one case study done where a small group of depressed patients were given Memantine and not a single one of them got any benefit. So I think research and interest just isn't there. But still, there is some nagging suspicion deep within me this drug holds more promise than anyone knows. Anything that has even a hint of potential at reversing tolerance deserves some serious attention.
>
> You are proof of that. I love your post. I have no idea how they ended up choosing Memantine for you or what the reasoning was, but I'm sure glad they did.Thank you so much for the feedback:)..
Here's a list of my current medications, all in use since Oct/07:Memantine 30mg, Dexedrine 60mg, Modafinil 300mg, Abilify 5mg, Prozac 20mg, Clonazepam 1mg
Modafinil and Dexedrine** were introduced with Memantine, I had been on each of the other three agents for a minimum of ~ 3 months.**
When I initially took dexedrine, before starting memantine, it seemed to help substantially, for 2 - 3 days. In retrospect, I was in a high functioning manic phase, which was always followed by a crash into amphetamine psychosis, lasting 2 - 4 weeks.
Because of this, my psychiatrist raised my antipsychotic dose, and dexedrine would work as well as anything can in combination with an elephant tranquilizer. Again, this would last for about two days, then its effect would seem negligible.
30mg Memantine, at night, from initation this past Oct, has completely eliminated tolerance.When I started memantine, I was on a high dose of Abilify, (30mg), so it would have been hard to speculate whether memantine was making a difference with the psychosis.
I have, however, since been able to taper down to 5mg, with no recurrent mania or psychosis, and have experienced a return of all intellectual function, save the effects of 1mg clonazepam, which I am still tapering off of.
Re-pasted below**, is a related theory I found, addressing memantine and prevention of tolerance to stimulants. This prompted me to try memantine. It was taken from a public bulletin board, so unfortunately I have no idea about the source.One thing of tremendous interest to me, is my acute sensitivity to msg - monosodiumGLUTAMATE.
Before memantine, I was overwhelmed much of the time, and made little attempt to look into possible dietary triggers. After starting treatment, however, I realized that I was likely having a reaction to msg.. I think.
After eating Chinese food, in particular, I become dysfunctional in about 20 minutes. The paranoia, fear, looping, religious obsessions, they all come back at roughly 40%, and taper off over the course of 2 - 4 hrs.
re-paste.With no background in biochemistry, I haven't been able to look into this very deeply, but I did read that msg is thought by some to be a neuro-toxin capable in sensitive indivuals of over exciting neurons, ending in cell death.
For the life of me, considering the magnitude of my recovery, and the seemingly hopeless state of so many treatment refractory patients, I'm a little suprised that my recovery has been met with such indifference.
I really appreciate your feedback, and sincerely hope that someone in a position to evaluate my case, and potentially help others, does so, very soon. Until then, I'll be loud and congenial:) You take care,:)
Ben
poster:temoigneur
thread:820264
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20080316/msgs/820559.html