Posted by Ant-Rock on January 30, 2000, at 16:35:09
In reply to Re: Suicide linked - Question for Adam - Amoxapine, posted by Scott L. Schofield on January 30, 2000, at 15:46:26
> > Hi Adam,
> > My name is Anthony, and I was hoping you could help me out with some info. You mentioned having some negative effects while on Serzone.
> > A few years back I had a very bad adverse reaction to the drug Amoxapine, which I was taking for depression. My nervous system went into some kind of shock, with my legs feeling like rubber and a severe worsening of my depression. I had tried many different meds in the past and never had a bad experience before with AD's.
> > Anyway,
> > Three years later while taking a small dose of Risperdal, also for depression, I had another severe and lasting reaction much like the Amoxapine one.
> > I guess I was wondering if you could tell me whether these two meds are in any way related or if their mechanism of action are similar. You seem to have a grasp of the way these meds can "cause" positive or negative reactions.
> > Thanks again Adam, or anyone else reading this with any feedback they can provide.
> >
> > Anthony
>
>
> Dopamine.
>
> These two drugs have in common the ability to block (antagonize) dopamine receptors. Amoxapine (Ascendin) is derived from loxapine, an antipsychotic tranquilizer that probably works because of its ability to block DA receptors. I too experienced a worsening of my depression while taking amoxapine.
>
> This is one tricyclic that should never have made it to market. Even the pilot-studies that were done in the beginning of the approval process yielded several cases of EPS (extrapyramidal symptoms). These phenomena include abnormal or uncontrolled movements (dyskinesia), feeling like you want to crawl out of your skin (akathisia), tremor, muscle rigidity, and more. EPS are common side-effects seen with the DA-blocking antipsychotics, and are usually deemed to be an acceptable trade-off for the benefits these drugs can bring. However, such liabilities for an antidepressant like amoxapine would be hard to justify.
>
> My negative reaction to amoxapine over fifteen years ago was one of the facts that I felt corroborated a theory I had developed by that time regarding the major role that dopamine function may play in my case.
>
> Perhaps such a bad reaction to amoxapine is an indicator that pro-dopaminergic drugs like MAO-inhibitors, amineptine, pergolide, low-dose amisulipiride, or psychostimulants may be worthwhile looking in to.
>
> - Scott
>Thank you very much Scott for responding to my post. I can't tell you how good it feels to know that my reactions to these two meds wasn't all in my head. When I first began having the reaction to Amox., the Dr. I was seeing actually wanted me to INCREASE the dosage. It was like he didn't want to even try to understand what was happening to me. My body was shaking, I had overwhelming feelings of intense grief, and this lasted all of 10 days without relief, crying nonstop and wondering what the hell was happening to me.
What started out as trying to get help for a low grade chronic depression/fatigue, turned into a nightmare. Unfortunately Scott, these two reactions have left me in a much worse state than I ever possibly could have imagined. Since 1997 I've been dealing with ongoing anhedonia,fatigue,total loss of sex drive, and inability to even really care about resuming a "normal" life.
I've tried Parnate twice, and it did help to a degree, underwent Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation at Beth-Isreal, which also helped temporarily. I even tried Amineptine. Right now I am on Reboxetine, increased to 8 mgs three days ago and am cautiously optimistic. In my second week at 4mg I had one afternoon where I had so much energy it was like a blast from my past, but this effect didn't continue. I may augment Selegline with the Reboxetine if the 8mgs doesn't do the trick after a fair trial.
I haven't yet tried a psychostimulant or amisulpride. Hopefully someday this muscle weakness and fatigue will remit, and for a while I had given up trying to find out what damage these adverse reactions could have done because the Dr.'s I've seen couln't give me an explanation.
I thank you once again Scott, but am amazed that two psychiatrists & a neuroligist couldn't explain to me that these two drugs target the same substance.Anthony
poster:Ant-Rock
thread:19909
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20000128/msgs/20124.html