Posted by TriedEveryDrug on February 15, 2009, at 9:34:13
I have ADD, inattentive-type, for which my doc has tried various stimulants and other psych drugs.
I also have CD for about 18 years now. It is mostly under control with 6-mercaptopurine and Pentasa. I have the occasional flares, but mostly I'm pretty good.
One of the first ADD drugs I ever tried, desipramine, actually seems to improve my crohn's. The doc thinks it is because it is constipating, but I'm sure there is more to it because pain and blood go away too. In fact, a colonoscopy I had after I had been on this drug for a while looked very good, according to my gi doc. Unfortunately, I have a hard time staying on this drug because it makes me moody and angry and makes my heart pound. Has anyone else had this experience with desipramine? Focalin XR also seems to help my crohn's, to a lesser degree.(BTW - I'm trying desipramine + abilify right now, as people suggested here on the forums - still too early to tell)
Also, some of the drugs I've tried seem to trigger flares. Remeron, which seems to be great for anxiety, sets me off. As does Effexor XR, Pristiq and Wellbutrin XL. (I have not noticed this with the wellbutrin SR, but it may have happened too. It makes me wonder though if it is something about the extended-release polymer they use in these drugs that may set off flares. I looked up the one for wellbutrin xl and it is designed to release in the colon.) How it starts is I have bad diarrhea from these drugs and then it progresses to a flare up.I have tried to find information online about how pysch drugs interact with crohn's but found little. There was one clinical trial using wellbutrin as a treatment for crohn's (the theory is wellbutrin is a tnf inhibitor), but I don't know the results of that.
It's a real drag, since I rather liked Pristiq, remeron and wellbutrin for different reasons (not all at once, obviously!)
poster:TriedEveryDrug
thread:880250
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20090213/msgs/880250.html