Posted by Conundrum on November 28, 2010, at 15:51:09
In reply to Anhedonia and Effexor., posted by Economist on November 27, 2010, at 1:00:21
> Does Effexor help in treating anhedonia?
Hi Economist,
Haven't seen you in awhile. Still searching for an anhedonia cure? Me too. Did you end up ever trying prozac or cocaine?
I've never tried effexor, but I have tried pristiq, which is the main metabolite of effexor, and it did seem to add a sense of color in the beginning, things seemed less grey. Anyway, that effect lasted about two weeks then it started to feel like an SSRI. The bad thing about Pristiq is that raising the dose doesn't make it more effective. Raising the dosage of effexor can make it more effective and increase norepinephrine more.
I think you are looking in the right area. From my own personal experience, increasing norepinephrine is key to treating my anhedonia. Perhaps in the presence of increased serotonin and/or dopamine. Drugs like lexapro or tianeptine that focus mainly on serotonin don't do much for my anhedonia. Nor do drugs that just manipulate dopamine like abilify, or L tyrosine.
Its all about balancing it seems. I know you were taking a bunch of dopaminergic drugs, I had done the same thing with supplements and some drugs, and found no help from them. You probably read a lot of articles on the web talking about how dopamine is critical for pleasure, the "pleasure chemical", etc. A couple articles come to mind. "Dopamine, serotonin's secret weapon" and pretty much everything in the "Good Drug Guide" on bltc.org and biopsychiatry.com. Or every article ever on romantic love and brain chemistry.
Norepinephrine is usually described as the "fight or flight" tranmitter and important for energy and arousal. Its way more complicated than this. Both norepinephrine and dopamine can be arousing and both can play a role in hedonia. For instance norepinephrine depleted mice show no preference for morphine, amphetamine, or saline. Well they actually show preference slightly for the saline. Normal mice choose the drugs of abuse. On the other hand a D2 blocker will cause anhedonia in animals. Personally, I feel like one of those NE depleted mice. Sex, alcohol, whatever, doesn't do anything for me.
My own research, now that I have access to Sciencedirect articles, implicates all kinds of factors into anhedonia, norepinephrine, serotonin, dopamine, neuropeptides like endorphins.
Another option to try would be some kind of opiate drug or naltrexone, that may help with some types of anhedonia, if effexor doesn't help.
Best of luck if you try effexor. Pristiq was the only psych drug that I "liked." It gave me some color, it actually had less side effects than lexapro, and increase sexual arousal. Feel free to babble mail me if you have any questions.Complaints: post-SSRI problems: anhedonia, memory and concentration problems, sexual dysfunction. )
Country:USA
Currently taking mirtazapine, tianeptine, and SAM-e
poster:Conundrum
thread:971409
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20101117/msgs/971597.html