Posted by Walfredo on January 26, 2010, at 22:44:11
Hi everyone,
Still continuing on my journey (hopefully to wellness). For more on my specific situation, check out: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20091217/msgs/930645.html
Anyways, I'm thinking I want to try to see if low dopamine is what is giving me problems. My most glaring symptoms seem to be low-energy and poor memory which I think may be indicative of a dopamine problem. I feel better when I am sleep deprived which some have suggested might point to dopamine. Furthermore, the one drug that basically gave me remission from depression (despite trying all SSRI's) was Paxil and apparently that has a slight affect on dopamine whereas most other SSRI's don't. Bleauberry has suggested that Norepinephrine might also be an issue with me and I tend to concur but I am already taking Remeron which should help with some of that.
So, basically, I want to try to boost my dopamine and see if that can help me.
I recently quit Abilify and am wondering it's net affect on dopamine. It certainly gave me no benefit and possibly made me feel worse and/or more medicated/heavy-headed. I know it is somehow related to the D2 receptor as a partial agonist, so I am curious as to if this has the effect of increasing or decreasing the affects of dopamine? If it activates the receptor, is dopamine then uptaken for a net result of less dopamine? Regardless, Abilify did not help me and possibly made me feel slightly worse.
I have also been on Wellbutrin, which I know is supposed to increase dopamine, with little to no therapuetic benefits. I was taking it in conjunction with Lexapro for what that's worth. So, does this totally squash my theory that dopamine is my problem? I don't know.
I came across some posts mentioning Amisulpride (unfortunately not currently available in the US) which was very intriguing to me since it works on dopamine and is used in low doses to treat dysthymia, which is very close to what I have. I had a psych evaluation done recently and I came up as exhibiting "dysthymia" and "major depression" according to this evaluation, for whatever that is worth. My new doctor wanted me to have it done when I started seeing her a couple of months ago and I just met with the pyschologist to discuss the results.
I am curious though what other agents supposedly increase dopamine as I certainly think that giving one a try is worth a shot. My current pdoc is not a fan of the MAOI's, and knowing the side effects, I can't blame her though I am getting desperate to find something that works!
I welcome all you smart peoples' thoughts. At the very least, I'm sure I will learn something.
Best wishes,
Alex
poster:Walfredo
thread:935098
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20100122/msgs/935098.html