Psycho-Babble Medication Thread 694583

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memantine-what does everyone think???

Posted by rovers95 on October 13, 2006, at 20:19:49

hi, fed up off suffering from my long term anxiety w/depression-im considering using memantine to augment lamictal (which i start next week), what do people think and what are peoples experience with memantine.....i.e. is it worth the cost!!

mark

 

Re: memantine-what does everyone think???

Posted by SLS on October 14, 2006, at 6:25:47

In reply to memantine-what does everyone think???, posted by rovers95 on October 13, 2006, at 20:19:49

> hi, fed up off suffering from my long term anxiety w/depression-im considering using memantine to augment lamictal (which i start next week), what do people think and what are peoples experience with memantine.....i.e. is it worth the cost!!

I responded to memantine intermittently over the course of two weeks at a dosage of 20mg. I was taking Lamictal at the same time. Another person posting on PB experienced a more stable, albeit inadequate response to a low dosage of approximately 5mg. I can't recommend it, but I would not want to dissuade you from trying it either.

The NIH trial showed memantine to be ineffective in treating unipolar depression. They are still studying it for bipolar depression.


- Scott


---------------------------------------------


: Am J Psychiatry. 2006 Jan;163(1):153-5.

A double-blind, placebo-controlled study of memantine in the treatment of major depression.

Zarate CA Jr, Singh JB, Quiroz JA, De Jesus G, Denicoff KK, Luckenbaugh DA, Manji HK, Charney DS.

Mood and Anxiety Disorders Program, National Institute of Mental Health, Department of Human Health Services, Bethesda, MD, USA. zaratec@mail.nih.gov

OBJECTIVE: This study was designed to assess possible antidepressant effects of memantine, a selective N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptor antagonist in humans. METHOD: In a double-blind, placebo-controlled study, 32 subjects with major depression were randomly assigned to receive memantine (5-20 mg/day) (N=16) or placebo (N=16) for 8 weeks. Primary efficacy was assessed by performance on the Montgomery-Asberg Depression Rating Scale (MADRS). RESULTS: The linear mixed models for total MADRS scores showed no treatment effect. CONCLUSIONS: In an 8-week trial, the low-to-moderate-affinity NMDA antagonist memantine in doses of 5-20 mg/day was not effective in the treatment of major depressive

 

Re: memantine-what does everyone think??? » rovers95

Posted by Emme on October 14, 2006, at 8:49:13

In reply to memantine-what does everyone think???, posted by rovers95 on October 13, 2006, at 20:19:49


Hi. I took it with Lamictal. I had a sustained antidepressant response to it. Unortunately, it made me spacey and not terribly animated at the dose that worked the best for the depression. So I had to keep the dose on the low side and I've since had better luck with Abilify. My pdoc has had success with some of her other patients with memantine. As Scott said, the data aren't coming out very positively, but based on personal experience, it might be worth a shot. Can your doctor give you a starter pack or two while you try it out?

If you start titrating Lamictal while you're trying menmantine, you may have a hard time telling what's doing what. Also, I did find it took some time (like a few weeks) for the memantine to have an effect, so if you try it, be patient.

emme

> hi, fed up off suffering from my long term anxiety w/depression-im considering using memantine to augment lamictal (which i start next week), what do people think and what are peoples experience with memantine.....i.e. is it worth the cost!!
>
> mark

 

Re: memantine-what does everyone think???

Posted by rovers95 on October 14, 2006, at 23:16:54

In reply to Re: memantine-what does everyone think??? » rovers95, posted by Emme on October 14, 2006, at 8:49:13

thanks emme, wot sort of doses has ur pdoc been getting results at??......the tablets available to me are 10mg.

to be honest anything that makes me feel less animated would be gratefully received so im quite willing to give this a shot!!

i see what you mean about combining the memantine and lamictal, think i might build up my lamictal dose before adding the memantine!

do you believe one may make the other more effective since their actions are kinda related?


thanks

mark

 

Re: memantine-what does everyone think???

Posted by rovers95 on October 14, 2006, at 23:23:20

In reply to Re: memantine-what does everyone think???, posted by SLS on October 14, 2006, at 6:25:47

> > hi, fed up off suffering from my long term anxiety w/depression-im considering using memantine to augment lamictal (which i start next week), what do people think and what are peoples experience with memantine.....i.e. is it worth the cost!!
>
> I responded to memantine intermittently over the course of two weeks at a dosage of 20mg. I was taking Lamictal at the same time. Another person posting on PB experienced a more stable, albeit inadequate response to a low dosage of approximately 5mg. I can't recommend it, but I would not want to dissuade you from trying it either.
>
> The NIH trial showed memantine to be ineffective in treating unipolar depression. They are still studying it for bipolar depression.
>
>
> - Scott
>
>
> ---------------------------------------------
>
>
> : Am J Psychiatry. 2006 Jan;163(1):153-5.
>
> A double-blind, placebo-controlled study of memantine in the treatment of major depression.
>
> Zarate CA Jr, Singh JB, Quiroz JA, De Jesus G, Denicoff KK, Luckenbaugh DA, Manji HK, Charney DS.
>
> Mood and Anxiety Disorders Program, National Institute of Mental Health, Department of Human Health Services, Bethesda, MD, USA. zaratec@mail.nih.gov
>
> OBJECTIVE: This study was designed to assess possible antidepressant effects of memantine, a selective N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptor antagonist in humans. METHOD: In a double-blind, placebo-controlled study, 32 subjects with major depression were randomly assigned to receive memantine (5-20 mg/day) (N=16) or placebo (N=16) for 8 weeks. Primary efficacy was assessed by performance on the Montgomery-Asberg Depression Rating Scale (MADRS). RESULTS: The linear mixed models for total MADRS scores showed no treatment effect. CONCLUSIONS: In an 8-week trial, the low-to-moderate-affinity NMDA antagonist memantine in doses of 5-20 mg/day was not effective in the treatment of major depressive


>>>Thanks scott, iv heard a mixed bag of info and seen as its side effects seem relatively mild i might as well give it a try and see what i get!!

mark

 

ironic, memantine may be helpful for OCDw/Hoarding

Posted by iforgotmypassword on October 18, 2006, at 11:37:20

In reply to Re: memantine-what does everyone think???, posted by rovers95 on October 14, 2006, at 23:23:20

this is important as very little is. (low functioning anterior cingulate is seen in hoarding)

this is only a maybe, as i am extrapolating this.

ketamine increases blood flow to the anterior cingulate.

article on pubmed: "[Glutaminergic hypothesis of schizophrenia: clinical research studies with ketamine]"

now, strangely even though in this case it is positive in the article (lamotrigine cutting out ketamine induced pos. and neg. symptoms), there may be chance lamotrigine cancels out NDMA benefit.

or maybe they are a good match, with lamotrigine attenuating bad effects. who knows.

it is also pretty messy with its binding affinities according to rx list, some of these receptors that even cause squirelly effects even with slight interaction:

"Memantine showed low to negligible affinity for GABA, benzodiazepine, dopamine, adrenergic, histamine and glycine receptors and for voltage-dependent Ca2+, Na+ or K+ channels. Memantine also showed antagonistic effects at the 5HT3 receptor with a potency similar to that for the NMDA receptor and blocked nicotinic acetylcholine receptors with one-sixth to one-tenth the potency."

 

Re: ironic, memantine may be helpful for OCDw/Hoar

Posted by rovers95 on October 19, 2006, at 5:45:25

In reply to ironic, memantine may be helpful for OCDw/Hoarding, posted by iforgotmypassword on October 18, 2006, at 11:37:20

thanks, but do the anti-glutamate actions of lamictal not kinda calm/"downregulate" the nmda receptors? or have i got this wrong?

mark


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