Posted by Conundrum on June 12, 2010, at 19:49:25
In reply to Re: Parnate good for anhedonia?, posted by jade k on June 12, 2010, at 16:27:13
Thanks for the replies guys.
Jade, I believe you have tp be diagnosed with something other than anhedonia. At this point anhedonia and cognitive slowing, or as Gilman puts it "Mental Aenemia," isn't recognized as a stand alone disorder in pyschiatry. Iatrogenic anhedonia most certainly isn't. That would be a profit killer.
So you would have to be diagnosed with some other disorder like depression, schizo, or BP to get drugs that help with anhedonia, unless you are dealing with a particularly enlightened doctor.
I've been told I have depression by my GP and OCD from one pdoc and possibly mood stability issues according to another pdoc. I don't think anyone is really sure, but it doesn't seem like they're comfortable prescribing drugs unless you fit into one of those boxes.
The thing I find most annoying is that they just go from one type of drug to another and never look for a moment at partial responses and how it related to pharmacology. For example I noticed an increase in what I call "color" from pristiq for the first 2 weeks, which then faded and felt more like an SSRI. Now SSRIs for me are dulling. So one would think logically, why not try taking a NRI tricyclic and see if those feelings will be intensified and not dull since there won't be as great an increase in serotonin. But noooooo they throw the baby out with the bathwater. Now I'm taking lamictal 250 mg and it feels like a placebo. Some headaches but other than that it does nothing.
Or another example. Low doses of prozac increase motivation for me. Prozac is a 5 HT2C antagonist. SO why not prescribe another relatively safe drug that is a 5 HT2C antagonist but not an SSRI, instead of prescribing a 5 HT2A antagonist that could cause liver failure in someone with an already elevated liver function?
I'm trying to trust doctors but its hard after all that has happened. I'm hoping lamictal will help with my symptoms but I'm doubtful. In someways this is worse than being depressed. Atleast being depressed is accepted as an actual disorder in most parts of the industrialized world. But if you say anhedonia people tell you that you are bored, or you are lazy, or tell you that you need to go out and party and drink and you will feel better. Thats why I want a brain scan so badly, because I think it will prove that something is not functioning correctly, and I can point to this and say, "Look, this proves I'm f#&ked up, but unlike an xray of a broken leg it won't get better."
Post-SSRI syndrome: iatrogenic anhedonia, memory and concentration problems, sexual dysfunction. [NOTE no sadness or anxiety]
Location:USA
Currently taking 25mg Lamictal.
poster:Conundrum
thread:950779
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20100604/msgs/950833.html