Posted by bob on April 17, 2000, at 22:49:52
In reply to Re: John!, posted by elise on April 17, 2000, at 8:39:52
Any place we can put that post of JohnL's for simple reference in the future? ;^)
Bonnie, similar to what JohnL and ChrisK had to say, I was a non-responder to seratonin-based meds. Nortriptyline made a huge difference. Getting off of SSRIs, for me, made an even bigger difference! I've also added Ritalin and its helping me punch some holes in that anhedonia an AD can get you to but, sometimes, not get you past. My pdoc just switched me to desiprimine -- we think that the nortrip might be just a little too sedating. Desiprimine tends to be more activating ... otherwise, the two TCAs have favorable side effect profiles compared to the rest of this class. Desiprimine also has been used as an anti-anxiety/panic med ... another issue of mine that resurfaced when I left zoloft behind (it did do that ONE thing for me).
Elise -- panic or anxiety often goes hand in hand with depression, so if you don't treat both you may not find the relief you need. It never occurred to my "team" and I, even though I first started seeing my therapist because of some severe, daily panic attacks, that we should be treating my panic disorder until a drug interaction created a bit of a crisis for me. My pdoc put me on klonopin, and ever since then a big, nasty part of my life is just plain gone ... and I don't miss it one bit. Since I went off zoloft about 6-8 months back, there's always been a bit of an edge that the klonopin hasn't been able to tackle, but the ritalin I've just started has taken some of that away and I've got my fingers crossed on desiprimine handling the rest.
Anyway, maybe this is one issue to raise with your pdoc. A lot of folks don't like using benzodiazepines like klonopin long-term, since they can be addictive, so as JohnL suggests, zyprexa may be another good option. [as a result of that little crisis of mine, the ER psychiatrist put me on zyprexa for a few weeks ... my pdoc favored switching to klonopin ... everyone has their favorites.]
cheers,
bob
poster:bob
thread:30297
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20000411/msgs/30416.html