Posted by SLS on March 13, 2012, at 7:03:28
In reply to Adding Parnate and prazosin., posted by SLS on December 29, 2011, at 6:55:56
Anyway...
The last three days have been the best yet. The improvement is unmistakable, albeit gradual and uneven. I try to evaluate my condition in terms of weeks and months rather than days. That is not to say that I don't get frightened and frustrated when I experience a period of worsening. These valleys are not as deep as they had been, though. Along with the progression of higher and higher peaks, I conclude that the outcome of my treatment follows a trend towards further improvement.
Far out!
I am currently taking:
Parnate 80 mg
nortriptyline 150 mg
Lamictal 200 mg
Abilify 10 mg
lithium 300 mg
prazosin 6 mgIt appears that each drug contributes a therapeutic effect that is complementary to the others. Attempting to remove any one of these drugs results in relapse.
I think that some people might profit from making a list of those drugs from which they experienced a partial response, and then consider using them in developing a polypharmaceutical treatment. That's basically what I did. My choices were based upon clinical, empirical observation rather than theory. Pondering theories for why these drugs work for me is interesting, but retrospective.
As I have noted, I hand-picked the first 5 drugs on the list that I was taking. I gleaned only a minimal partial improvement, however. My doctor then proposed the brilliant idea to add prazosin. I would never have thought to do this myself. However, it is obvious that prazosin is not sufficient to operate monotherapeutically for me. As Ed_UK so insightfully noted, it seems that prazosin might be effective when combined with a noradrenergic drug. Of course, both Parnate and nortriptyline are noradrenergic. That is not to say that prazosin wouldn't augment serotonergic drugs just as well.
I do not use theory to exclude drugs from consideration. I do use it to include drugs for consideration.
I feel so relieved to think that my pain and frustration of depression might be coming to an end. <deep breath> Phew.
A few more prayers to the higher power wouldn't hurt.
- ScottSome see things as they are and ask why.
I dream of things that never were and ask why not.- George Bernard Shaw
poster:SLS
thread:1005781
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20120302/msgs/1012948.html